Your body mass index or your BMI is a way to determine if you should lose weight. The BMI compares the fat to muscle in your body and tells you if you need to gain or lose weight.

There are several online calculators that can help you to determine your own BMI. You will need to know your height and weight in order to get your BMI from the calculators.

If your doctor wants a more accurate gauge of your BMI, he may order a test where you are weighed out of the water and in the water. The ratio of the two weights can be used to calculate your BMI.

Persons with a BMI higher than 25 are considered to be overweight. Once the BMI passes 30 the person is considered to be obese. If the BMI is below 18.5 you may be underweight.

If, after determining your BMI, you need to lose weight, you will need find a healthy way to lose that weight. One of the best approaches is to design your diet based on your Basel Metabolism Rate or your BMR. The BMR determines the number of calories needed to maintain your current weight. If you decrease your calorie intake to slightly below the BMR and eat a balanced diet you will usually lose weight.

If you start eating less and exercising more, you can still lose weight at a healthy rate. Increasing activity may be some small steps that you take. You may want to consider exercises that increase your core strength or those that will tone muscle groups. This will help you to build muscle as you lose fat. It can prevent loss of muscle mass in the weight loss process.

As you build muscle and lose weight, your BMI will drop. In addition, it will take fewer calories to maintain your new body so your BMR will also be lower. Over time you may need lower the number of calories that you consume each day in order to continue to lose weight.

If you eat a balanced diet based on your BMR, you should not feel hungry. In fact, many people have difficulty in eating all the food that the plan requires. This is one eating plan that you can remain on for the rest of your life and lose or maintain your weight. You will not be starving yourself with the latest fad diet.

As you work to lower your body mass index, you may begin to see many health benefits of your new diet plan.

Check out how you can tell your body mass index. Knowing your BMI will allow you to know just how much fat you need to lose in a diet. Go online and find out more today.