BMI and SUCH

I started this journey with a BMI of 50. 48 which put my in the in the category of morbidly obese. 

BMI is over 40 (Obese Class 3 : Morbid Obesity)

**With a BMI of 40+ you have an extremely high risk of weight-related disease and premature death. Indeed, you may have already been suffering from a weight-related condition. For the sake of your health it is very important to see your doctor and get specialists help for your condition.**

After surgery not only have I kept track of my weight, I have also tracked my BMI very closely. 

  BMI (Body Mass Index) is a measurement of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both men and women between the ages of 18 and 65 years.

BMI can be used to indicate if you are overweight, obese, underweight or normal. A healthy BMI score is between 20 and 25. A score below 20 indicates that you may be underweight; a value above 25 indicates that you may be overweight.

As of today My BMI is now 24.9 and that means I am no longer overweight!!!

BMI 's between 18.5 and 24.9 (Normal Weight)

**People whose BMI is within 18.5 to 24.9 possess the ideal amount of body weight, associated with living longest, the lowest incidence of serious illness, as well as being perceived as more physically attractive than people with BMI in higher or lower ranges. However, it may be a good idea to check your Waist Circumference and keep it within the recommended limits.**

As the BMI calculator suggested I then checked my waist circumference which now is 33 inches. I wish I had done this before so that I would have a past measurement to compare with. My next step was to check my waist to hip ratio.

Your waist to hip ratio is an important tool that helps you determine your overall health risk. People with more weight around their waist are at greater risk of lifestyle related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes than those with weight around their hips. It is a simple and useful measure of fat distribution.

Use a measuring tape to check the waist and hip measurements.

- Measure your hip circumference at its widest part.

- Measure your Waist Circumference at the belly button or just above it.

The Waist to Hip Ratio Calculator indicates your probable health risks. People with more weight around the waist, face more health risks than people who carry more weight around their hips.

My waist as I said measures at 33 inches and my hips are now at 41 inches. My ratio came out to be a 0.8.

Waist to Hip Ratio Chart
Male	Female	Health Risk Based Solely on WHR
0.95 or below	0.80 or below	Low Risk
0.96 to 1.0	0.81 to 0.85	Moderate Risk
1.0+	0.85+	High Risk

Your health is not only affected by how much body fat you have, but also by where most of the fat is located on your body. People who tend to gain weight mostly in their hips and buttocks have roughly a pear body shape, while people who tend to gain weight mostly in the abdomen have more of an apple body shape.

If you have an apple shaped body rather than a pear shaped body, you are at increased risk for the health problems associated with obesity, such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and high blood pressure - that's something you inherited, and have had since birth - but you can take special care to keep your weight at a healthy level, eat nutritiously, exercise as appropriate, and maintain other healthy lifestyle habits.

As long as you avoid excess weight, being an apple shaped body or a pear shaped body doesn't put you at special risk - it's just one of those things to keep in mind. And even pear shaped people should take particular care to keep their weight within normal limits, to avoid the health problems associated with obesity.

I personally have a pear shaped body as you can see in my photo above.

People with a Pear Body Shape have hips wider than their shoulders because their bodies store fat there and on the thighs. Pear shaped bodies carry their extra weight below the waistline, and do not seem to have as high a risk of developing health problems like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, ... than people with an Apple Body Shape.

Pear shaped people usually lose fat in the upper body, so their overall shape doesn't change much when they lose weight.

I was a little disappointed to read that my body won't change to much with weight loss but that still won't deter me from hitting my goal weight. I am shopping around and researching the possibility of having a full body lift about 6 mos or longer after reaching the weight I like. right now my goal weight is 130 pounds but I may go back to my original goal weight of 120 pounds. 

Right now I have 10 pounds to go and I'm pretty sure these will be the hardest 10 pounds to loose in my life. But as always I am keeping my eye on the prize. Wish me luck!!! :)

Transformation Tuesday 11/12/13

Transformation Tuesday

On the 18th of this month I will be 7 mos post-op. If you have read my earlier posts you will agree it has not been an easy journey what so ever. But I have been a tough ol' broad and I have and still continue to stick with reaching my goal.

The picture on the left I weighted just about 300lbs and the picture on the right was last night at 153lbs. I am continuing to loose weight but thankfully it has started to slow a little. It stated to scare me at the rate I was loosing. To this day I have lost a total of  125lbs. On the left I wore a size 26 in pants, 2-3XL in shirts, and was a 44F in bra Now I sport size 12 pants, M-Lg shirt and wear a 34DD bra.

**PAST POST** MAKING CANDY APPLES: STORE BOUGHT MIX VS. HOMEMADE RECIPE

In the spirit of Halloween and to mark off another activity on our fall bucket list we decided to make candy apples. Since I usually buy them yearly this turned out to be a real learning experience being that this was my first time ever making them.

( YOU WILL NEED A CANDY THERMOMETER FOR THIS!!)

I looked online for a recipe and headed out to the store to buy my supplies. While shopping I found that you can actually buy a pre-made mix. I went ahead and threw it in the cart just in case I fouled up on my first try and to test to see the differences in the two.

Of course in both recipes you have to have your apples. I personally love the sweet Red Delicious apples but majority on the house like tart. So we used the Granny Smith Apples. Your first step is to wash and dry the apples, and remove the stems.

Next you insert the sticks down the center where the stems were. You can use Popsicle sticks or I found Candy Apple sticks at our local Lowes Foods store. With this step completed you can set your apples to the side.

RECIPE:

1. You'll need 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup light corn syrup,and 3/4 cup water

2. Mix sugar, corn syrup, and water in a small sauce pan (mine was a bit to big). set on burner turned to low to medium low. Stir mixture constantly, until all sugar is dissolved.

3. Continue letting mixture cook with out stirring for 30-45 minutes or when the thermometer reads 275-300. it's ready when a spoonful dipped in a glass of water hardens immediately.

4. Stir in vanilla and food coloring. For a Halloween look I decided to make this batch of apples black. I told the kids they were black poison apples and they seemed to enjoy that idea. I also did it so I could tell the batches apart.

5. Dip apples immediately into hot sugar mixture. hold each apple upright by the stick to coat. then let excess drip back into pan.

6. Set coated apples on a greased cookie sheet upright until candy hardens, at least 1 hour.

*** I had intended on making 5 apples in each batch. I was only able to make 3 black apples. {{You have to devote your full attention to the dipping process or the sugar with harden or of on the burner it will burn}} in my case I was trying to do two things at once and burned my sugar mix.***

And here is the finished product!! I will admit I did sneak in a couple drops of red food coloring to give it a deep black red color. but they turned out pretty and tasted great.

PRE MADE MIX:

With the pre made mix all you have to supply is 2 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water. the box contains the mix and sticks

With my second batch I used a small pot and it worked great. The directions are basically the same. You just add the mixture with the sugar and water. and stir till sugar is dissolved.

Allow to bubble till the thermometer reads 300 and it's time to coat the apples.

Once again, here is my finished product. :)

SIDE NOTE:

Both batches were super simple. one just required you to supply more than the other. They both require your full attention so I'd recommend doing this when you know your not going to have any distractions. Lastly taste!! The only difference between the two in taste was that the store bought batch was noticeable sweeter. But they both tasted great!!

This recipe is featured on "Host Blog Link" and

http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com Linky Party