How To Calculate Your BMI

For starters, what does B-M-I mean?

The answer: Body Mass Index

BMI is broken out into 5 different categories; Underweight, Healthy, Overweight, Obese, and Extremely Obese. The following chart has each category broken out by color.

How do we calculate our BMI? We’ll show you!

Using lbs and inches

Your BMI is your weight over your height squared. If using lbs than do the calculation using inches.

The first step is is to weigh yourself. For this example I’ll use my own personal data.

175lbs

Second step, we need to figure out how tall we are and convert it into inches. I’m 5’11, which converted into inches is 71 inches.

71 Inches

Third step, Always remember the number 703. Your going to times your weight by this number.

175 x 703 = 123,025

Fourth Step, take your calculated weight and divide it by your height.

123,025 / 71 = 1,732.75

Fifth Step, Take the calculation in step number four and divide it by your height a second time. (height squared) This will give you your BMI

1,732.75 / 71 = 24.4

Based on the chart above, I’m teetering between a healthy and overweight BMI… too many peach cobblers at camp?!

All kidding aside, the one issue that I have with the Body Mass Index is that it does not put in an account of what your muscle mass is. Not trying to make excuses for my own measurement, but if a person who works out every day and has some pretty good muscle mass (which I do not) calculated their own BMI, their measurement would always be in the upper ranges of overweight to obese even when they look like they have been chiseled from a block of marble.

Even though the chart tells me that I’m borderline overweight, knowing your own body and being happy with yourself and how you feel and look is more important than some number on a chart.