If you need to know how to lose weight fast it is important to understand how much weight you need to lose and to do this. You would be best advised to understand the definitions of obesity to see where you fit in on the scale. Once you do then you will be able to get the best advice you can on how to lose weight fast.

How To Define The Levels Of Being Overweight Or Obese

The definitions of Overweight and Obese are both certain labels which are designed to help us know the best approach if we are looking to know how to lose weight fast. They represent the ranges of weight but both are identified as being over what is commonly considered to be the healthy weight for a given height. The terms also do identify the ranges of that weight that have been shown to significantly increase the chances of certain diseases and the other many health problems.

Definitions for Adult Males & Females

For all adults, the overweight and obese ranges in weight to height ratio are determined by simply using your weight and height to calculate a certain number which is called the “body mass index” (BMI). The BMI is used commonly around the world because, for the majority of people, it easily correlates with the amount of body fat they are carrying.

  • An adult male or female who has a BMI of between 25 and 29.9 is considered to be overweight.
  • An adult male or female who has a BMI of anything over 30 is considered to be obese.

It is very important for us all to remember that whilst the BMI does correlate with the amount of our body fat, the BMI does not really directly measure body fat so it shouldn’t be treated as a body fat measure, strictly speaking. As a result then, some people, such as top athletes, may have a high BMI that identifies them as being overweight even though they do not have a shred of excess body fat. This is because in very fit and strong individuals their weight is made up primarily of muscle tissue which is, in itself, much heavier than the fat cells most of us mortals are carrying around with us.

There are other methods of trying to work out body fat and help us in our mission of how to lose weight fast such as skin fold thickness and our waist circumference, also a calculation of the waist-to-hip ratios, and other techniques such as ultrasound tests and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Definitions of Obesity and being Overweight in Children and Teens

Given the specific challenges of children and teens who are still growing the BMI ranges above a normal weight have very different label names (overweight and obese). Additionally, the BMI ranges for these children and the teen populations are defined so that they have to take into account the many normal differences in body fat between males and females of this age.

How To Assess The Health Risks That Are Associated with Being Overweight or Obese

The BMI is just one of many indicators of the potential health risks that are associated with being out of shape. For assessing your likelihood of developing an overweight-or obesity-related illness, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has some guidelines that recommend looking at two other things:

  • The individual’s circumference at their waist
  • And The other risk factors the individual might have for diseases such as high blood pressure or a sedentary lifestyle.

There are numerous sources of advice to be found on how to measure where you are on the scale for being overweight but perhaps the best place to start would be your doctor.