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Chapter 2 - Assessment
“The
first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does
exist.” -Zig
Ziglar
The
objective of this chapter is to honestly assess your current
physical condition, and establish realistic health and fitness goals
based on your particular height and frame size. I’m
sure you’re familiar with the “Serenity Prayer,” written by
American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. He first published it in a
magazine column in 1951, but he had been using it in his sermons
since the early 1930’s. One popular modern version goes like this: Two
things about your body that you just have to accept are your height
and frame size. You cannot change them, so serenely accept them. Jesus
said in Matthew 6:27: “Which of you
by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” Jesus
also said in Matthew 10:29-31, “Are
not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls
to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of
your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more
value than many sparrows.” I
used to love my long hair when I was a teenager. It never occurred
to me back then that I would someday be bald, but God already knew.
That’s something I can’t change, so I just serenely accept it. At
5 feet 5⅝ inches tall, I am often “looked down upon” by
taller men. But I am the height that God made me. That’s something
I cannot change, so I serenely accept it. Psalm
139:13-16 says: For
You formed my inward parts; You
wove me in my mother’s womb. I
will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous
are Your works, And
that my soul knows very well. My
frame was not hidden from You, When
I was made in secret, And
skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your
eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And
in Your book they all were written, The
days fashioned for me, When
as yet there were none of them. You
are a unique creation of God. You are fearfully and wonderfully made
by your Creator. Your adult height and frame size were determined
before you were born. They are unchangeable. However,
there are two aspects of your adult body that are determined by you,
and not by God: they are your weight and waist size. Here is
where you may need courage to change the things that only you can
change. In
this chapter you are going to take an honest look at your height and
weight to discover your Body Mass Index (BMI); and your waist and
hip measurements to determine your Waist-to-Hip ratio,
Waist-to-Height ratio, and Waist Circumference. Our
Current Reality “Almost 30% of People In
the World Are Obese or Overweight.” That’s the title of an
article on time.com
dated June 12, 2017. Studies have linked overweight and obesity to a
higher risk for health complications like type 2 diabetes, heart
disease, depression, respiratory problems, major cancers and
more.” According to the World
Health Organization: ·
Worldwide
obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. ·
39%
of adults aged 18 years and over were overweight in 2016, and 13%
were obese. ·
Most
of the world's population live in countries where overweight and
obesity kills more people than underweight. ·
41
million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in
2016. ·
Over
340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were overweight or
obese in 2016. ·
Obesity
is preventable. Healthy
Weight 2020 is a project intended to open the eyes of anyone who is
serious about regaining and maintaining their health: to bring into
clear focus some simple truths about nutrition and lifestyle. Over
the course of this video series and on our website,
healthyweight2020.com, I will refer to numerous lectures, websites,
articles and books. Please keep in mind that I don’t agree with
anybody about everything, so even if I recommend a particular book,
video, article or website, it does not mean that I agree with
everything in it. I
don’t always agree with the World Health Organization, but I do
agree that obesity is preventable. So is overweight. I also know
that they are reversible, and that is precisely the focus of this
initiative – to show anyone who is interested, step-by-step, how
to reclaim and maintain their healthy weight, the way God intended. We
all have that friend who can eat anything they want and never gain a
pound, but for most of us the struggle to maintain a healthy weight
is real and constant. But it is doable, so let’s get it done! Determine
Your Height The
first thing you need to do is accurately determine your height. For
years, I thought I was 5 feet 7 inches tall, because that’s what
was on my driver’s license. Finally one day I actually measured my
height and was surprised to discover that I’m actually a little
less than 5 feet 6 inches tall, so the next time I renewed my
license I had it corrected. Don’t
go by what’s on your driver’s license or how tall you think you
are. Take a few minutes to accurately measure your height. Gather up
a tape measure, a pencil, and a small plastic level, ruler or hard
cover book. It’s easier to do if you have someone to help you, but
it can be done alone. Stand
up straight, barefoot on a hard surface, against a wall or door
where you can make a small pencil mark. Set the level, ruler or book
on your head. Be sure it is parallel to the floor, and place a
pencil mark along its bottom edge on the door or wall. Then measure
from the floor to the pencil mark, and that’s your height. Weigh
Yourself To
determine your BMI, you also need an accurate weight. Weigh yourself
with as few clothes on as possible. Establish
Your
BMI Now,
look at a BMI Chart. If you don’t have one, there is a link to one
on our website. Note that this applies only to adults; there are
special charts for children. Find
your height in the column at the far left; follow that row across to
the right until you come to your weight; follow that column up to
the top and you will see your BMI. As
an example, I am over 65½ inches tall, so I round my height up to
66 inches. According to the BMI chart, the “normal weight” range
for a person of my height is between 118 and 148 pounds. Marshia is
61 inches tall, so her “normal weight” range is between 100 and
127 pounds. Establish
Your
Frame Size The
easiest method to establish your frame size is to wrap your thumb
and middle finger around your wrist close to your hand. If your
fingers overlap then you are small-framed; if they meet then you are
medium-framed; and if they don’t meet then you are large-framed. A
more accurate method is to measure your wrist, then refer to the
following chart. Keep
this in mind as you consider your “normal weight” range on the
BMI chart. In my case, I am medium-framed, so I figure that my
“normal weight,” according to the BMI chart, should ideally fall
within the range of the middle numbers. For my frame size, I don’t
think I would look healthy at 118 pounds. If
your BMI is less than 19 you are considered to be “underweight.”
Don’t despair! I believe that if you follow this series to the
end, and adopt the necessary diet and lifestyle changes, your body
will gradually and naturally settle at your optimal weight. Also,
keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat. A serious bodybuilder
could be at a healthy weight even though the BMI chart says they are
overweight. That’s why we don’t depend solely on the BMI chart.
You need to take two more measurements while you have your tape
measure out; they are your waist and your hips. We’ll start with
the waist. Measure
Your Waist Now
don’t go running to your closet to check the waist size of your
favorite, best-fitting pair of jeans. The waist size of your pants
is not the size of your waist! My
employer provides a free health screening every year. Since my shift
is 8:00 to 5:00, I have to attend the screening first thing in the
morning, already dressed for work. A couple of years ago I got there
and the nurse asked me my height and weight, and I told her; but
then she told me that she was going to measure my waist! I was
wearing my duty belt around my “waist,” or at least what I
thought was my waist. I
said, “Do you want me to remove my belt?” She said, “No.” I
was confused, but I complied. She took a measurement between my duty
belt and ballistic vest, which was just above my navel, and then
informed me that my waist size was 3” bigger than the waist of my
pants! So,
it turns out that your true waist measurement is taken at or just
above your navel. And sure enough, as I looked back at pictures from
my parents’ and grandparents’ day, I realized that men used to
wear their pants pulled up to their actual waistline. To
get an accurate waist measurement, stand barefoot, up straight;
breathe naturally; hold the end of the tape measure just above your
navel on your bare belly and wrap it around your waist, keeping it
parallel to the floor; breathe out, and with the tape measure snug
but not too tight, take the measurement. Repeat the procedure, and
if you get a different result, do it a third time and average the
three results. That is your waist circumference. Measure
Your Hips Next,
measure the distance around the largest part of your hips, the
widest part of your buttocks. Waist-to-Hip
Ratio Now
determine your waist-to-hip ratio by dividing your waist size by
your hip size. For men, that number should be 0.95 or less, and for
women 0.85 or less. If it is higher you have an increased risk of
suffering a heart attack or stroke. Waist-to-Height
Ratio To
determine your waist-to-height ratio, divide your waist size by your
height. As a general rule, your waist size should be less than half
your height. Waist
Circumference Abdominal
obesity, also called central obesity, beer belly, beer gut, or pot
belly, is an excess of visceral fat in the abdominal area. It gets
packed between the internal organs such as the stomach, liver,
intestines, and kidneys. There is an increased risk of disease
associated with too large a waist circumference. For men the risk
increases with a waist circumference of 40” or larger, and for
women 35” or larger. If you are a man and your waist circumference
is 40” or larger, you need to lose weight. If you are a woman and
your waist circumference is 35” or larger, you need to lose
weight. Assessment To
quote Zig Ziglar again, “The first step in solving a problem is to
recognize that it does exist.” If
you are overweight and/or your stomach is too big, you have a
problem. You have taken the first step in solving that problem - you
recognize that it does exist. Now the next step is to take action -
to change the things in your life that only you can change in order
to begin to move toward your healthy weight. To
quote Carol Burnett, “Only I can change my life. No one can do it
for me.” God
has done His part. He has designed for you a body that will
gradually return to its optimal weight and shape when given the
right conditions. No matter how far away you are from your ideal
weight, you will get there by patience and perseverance. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it very eloquently, “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
Patience
and Perseverance James
5:7 says, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the
Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter
rain.” The
virtues of patience and perseverance apply to every area of life.
Take finances, for example. Jesus had a lot to say about money. In
Luke 16:11 He said: “Therefore if you have
not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your
trust the true riches?” And,
in Luke 14:28-30, He gives us a lesson in financial responsibility:
“For which of you, intending to build a
tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has
enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is
not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying,
‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?” A
contemporary Christian proponent of financial responsibility is Dave
Ramsey. One of his many wise sayings is, “There are no shortcuts
to getting out of debt.” I
can testify to that! I can say from personal experience that it
requires patience and perseverance. It requires sacrifice and hard
work, but it is well worth the effort. It took us three and a half
years to pay off all of our debt except our house. It required
patience, week by week, month by month, and year by year. But, with
God’s help, we got it done. There
are no shortcuts to excellent health, either. The primary goal of
Healthy Weight 2020 is to get you into excellent health and keep you
there for the rest of your life. Once you get there, your weight
will take care of itself. Let me remind you of a quote by Hippocrates that I shared in chapter one that says, “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.”
Don’t
miss this opportunity. There are no shortcuts to truly good health.
It may take time, but it will be worth it. It will be time well
spent. Whether you need to lose twenty pounds or two hundred, you
will never reach your goal if you don’t start moving toward it. As
Lao Tzu wisely said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with
one step.” Take
that step right now. Make up your mind that you will do whatever it
takes to get your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, back to a
healthy weight and shape. I
don’t know about you, but for me time flies. The years go by
almost like months. How will you feel a year from now if you don’t
take control of your health right now? I’m going to show you how
you can easily lose a pound a week, without starving or giving up
everything you love to eat. That’s 50 pounds in a year! If you
need to lose 100 pounds it will take you two years. If you need to
lose 200 pounds it may take you four years. So
what if it takes you a year, two years or four years to reach your
health goal? Can you think of a better way to spend the next few
years? And one thing’s for sure; if you keep doing what you’re
doing now you will never reach your health and weight goals! I
really like a quote that’s often attributed to Albert Einstein.
I’m pretty sure he didn’t originate it, but it sounds like
something he would have said. “Insanity
is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different
results.” But,
here is something that he did say for sure, “The significant
problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with
which we created them.” It’s
time to take our thinking about health, nutrition and lifestyle to
the next level. The
Key Word is “Health” Remember,
the main focus of Healthy Weight 2020 is not actually weight, but
health. While overweight and an oversized waist are risk factors for
disease, there are other risk factors that we will address in the
coming chapters. So even if your weight and waist are within the
“normal” range, you may still be putting your health at risk by
what you are eating, drinking, doing or not doing. Stay
with us throughout this series to find out more about how you can
obtain and maintain your HEALTHY weight, not just your “normal”
weight. Our
Next Chapter Our
next chapter is about water. I find it very interesting that
approximately 71% of the earth’s surface is covered in water, and
the human body is composed of a similar percentage. Water
is essential to life. A person can go weeks without food, but only a
few days without water. In the next chapter we’ll examine not only
how drinking the proper amount of good water is the foundation of
good health, but also how it is a major key in regaining and
maintaining your healthy weight. Until next time – to your health!
Bibliography
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
http://time.com/4813075/obesity-overweight-weight-loss/ https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmi_tbl.htm https://medlineplus.gov/ency/imagepages/17182.htm https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/obesity/WHO_TRS_894/en/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/abdominal-obesity-and-your-health
Copyright © 2019 by Robert May |
You can contact me here: rmay@goitc.net |
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