Second Course – Use caution when analyzing your BMI

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a score that most of us have probably heard about but are generally unaware what it means. To simplify, your BMI score will determine whether you are characterized as underweight, average weight, overweight, or obese. There is a simple calculation that must be completed in order to determine your particular BMI (weight in pounds)/(height in inches*height in inches) * 703), but it is important to understand that you should take additional factors into consideration before considering yourself as obese or underweight, etc. This measure generally takes your height and weight into consideration but fails to consider whether you are heavily muscular or assess the BMI based upon your type of build. For instance, a muscular man who is 6′1″ tall and 200 pounds will have a higher BMI than a less muscular man of the same height simply due to the fact that muscle weighs more than fat and therefore he will weigh more. However, that doesn’t mean that the muscular man is in any worse shape. Just remember to use caution when analyzing your personal BMI.

First Course

The first topic that I would like to discuss is fiber.  On a daily basis, the typical male is expected to intake roughly 25-30 grams of fiber every day.  This requirement is probably one of the most unrelatistic expectations from a nutritional perspective since it is nearly impossible to eat that much fiber without putting any significant effort into it.  In fact, I clearly try to reach this goal on a  daily basis but find it hard to do so without my daily breakfast of a cup of fiber one cereal.  Before getting into the benefits of fiber, I would first like to explain the differnt types of fiber available.  There is soluble fiber and insoluble fiber, both of which count towards that 25-30 gram goal.  You can imagine that soluble fiber is absorbed into the bloodstream and thus removes cholesterol from the blood.  On the other hand, insoluble fiber is clearly not absorbed in the bloodstream and bulks up within your intestines, thus pushing out of the system. Insoluble fiber is more helpful in the digestive process. You can always find the number of grams of fiber for any food in the food’s label, which clearly explains the number of both soluble and insoluble grams per serving. Remember to look at the number of servings within each package of food in order to understand roughly how much fiber you are taking in. There are several benefits of fiber. Soluble fiber will reduce the amount of cholesterol within your body and insoluble will keep you regular and clear your body on a regular basis. Oatmeal is a strong contributor of soluble fiber and fiber one cereal and all bran cereal happen to be strong contributors of insoluble fiber. What you try to eat depends on your overall goal. Insoluble fiber also tends to fill you up more throughout the day, so if your goal is to lose weight, a quick snack of a high fiber food should keep you satiated longer. Remember that foods such as beans, fruits, vegetables, high fiber breads, and cereals are all good sources of fiber but read the labels and understand how much food it will take to get to the 25-30 gram goal. While highly fibrous foods should help you lose wait and keep you satiated, it is important to acknowledge that this degree of intake may cause large amounts of gas and may give you a bloated sensation.

I have a lot more information to contribute on this topic but will continue discussing additional topics until I hear back from anyone and learn whether anyone would like to discuss any of these issues further.

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