Encouraging Health

Body Shape Chart

Your measurements may come as a shock. Mine certainly did! The new twist here is body shape. WebMD’s calculator give Your Waist-to-Height Ratio, recommended below .50. Mine was .43 and my BMI is 22.9, so i’m healthy (but still have belly fat to lose).

This is a great new tool for people to find out how their exercise and dietary guidelines are helping them. If anything is off, they give tips and hints on how to tweak your lifestyle, with their other interactive items like the Food & Fitness Planner, Diet Health Check and even has a Diet Buddies section to help you find someone to commisserate…er…support you in your quest for a more healthy lifestyle.

Health takes hard work, determination and dedication. Lately I’ve become complacent and need to crack that whip on myself. Would be nice to find some walking buddies here in Seattle, I must admit. Love walking along the waterfront and around downtown Seattle. So much to see and do. I know, there’s no excuse.

What are the risks of belly fat? Read on!

How Does Belly Fat Harm You?
Belly fat doesn’t just lay idle at your beltline. Researchers describe it as an active “organ” in your body — one that churns out hormones and inflammatory substances.

“Abdominal fat is thought to break down easily into fatty acids, which flow directly into the liver and into muscle,” says Lewis Kuller, MD, DPH, professor and past chair of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health.

When these excess fatty acids drain into the liver, they trigger a chain reaction of changes — increasing the production of LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol and triglycerides. During this time insulin can also become less effective in controlling blood sugar, so insulin resistance sets in, he explains.

Blood sugars start to get out of balance. Fats and clots get into the bloodstream, and that sets the stage for diabetes, heart disease, and more.

And research shows that abdominal fat triggers a change in angiotensin, a hormone that controls blood vessel constriction — increasing the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attack, Kuller explains.