What does that mean and how do you do it? Your body mass index (BMI) is a ratio of your weight to your height, and it helps us to determine what our weight category is.
Get your heart pumping
If you want to reduce your BMI, regular physical activity is a must. The UK government recommendation is to participate in 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise. It also recommends doing at least two resistance training exercises per week. You should try to mix up your fitness routine by including a combination of aerobic exercise (like walking, cycling, swimming) and resistance training (lifting weights).
Vigorous intensity activities include:
- Running or jogging
- Fast swimming
- Cycling fast or uphill
- Gymnastics
- Using a skipping rope
- Playing sports like football, rugby and netball
Learn about nutrition
Speaking with a professional dietition would be really beneficial in order to learn about what to eat but also to get tips for meal planning. The general rule for lowering your BMI score is to consume slightly fewer calories than you burn on a daily basis. As a rough guide, you can use an online calculator to determine how many calories a day you burn. Please note this can only be used as a rough guide and you should always seek guidance from a professional dietitian before making any big changes to your diet.
Watch out for hidden sugar in your diet. The UK government recommends that adults should consume less than 30g of sugar a day. Eating more than the recommended amount of sugar will hinder your efforts when trying to maintain or decrease your BMI score. When trying to lose weight or decrease our BMI, the obvious solution is to cut out sweet treats like chocolate, ice cream and fizzy drinks. However, sugar often creeps into a lot of unexpected foods. For example:
- Pasta sauces
- Granola and cereal bars
- Salad dressings
- Tinned fruit in syrup
- Ketchup
If you’re trying to decrease your sugar intake, take time to read the nutritional labels on foods you’re about to consume, you may be surprised to see how much sugar they really contain.
Get support from your family and friends
Making changes to your diet and upping your exercise routine can be challenging, which is why it’s best to tackle it with the support of friends and family. Whether it’s educating your household on the importance of eating 5 a day or spending time preparing home-cooked meals as a family, there is always strength in numbers. The right encouragement from friends and family can make a huge difference to your success. You could meet friends for walks rather than drinks or invite them to play tennis after work. Or you could try something competely new and join a group workout class and meet new people!
Last but definitely not least, it is important to remember to stay positive! All of these small changes that you can make will make a big difference, and they all add up. Start by making a plan today to add a few new habits to your routine and before you know it, you’re already on your way!
