Читать книгу The 7-Day GL Diet: Glycaemic Loading for Easy Weight Loss - Nigel Denby - Страница 34

Take some measurements before you begin the diet so you can see how much weight you lose.

It’s useful to know your BMI (body mass index). No weight-for-height charts are perfect but we prefer the BMI because it gives you an indication of the risk to your health from your weight. It’s also useful because there is a wide range for each classification, and for people with a lot of weight to lose it’s really helpful in setting staged targets. It’s important to remember, though, that the BMI is a guide, not the Holy Grail.

For your reference there is a BMI chart on our website. There is good evidence that having a BMI of 20–22 has greater health benefits than a BMI of 23–25. However, we wouldn’t recommend that you try to achieve a BMI of less than 18.5.

If your current BMI is between 20 and 25 then you really don’t have a huge amount of weight to lose. You can probably expect a weekly weight loss of about 2lb as it tends to be slower the less you need to lose. If your BMI is between 25 and 30 you’ll lose a little more each week, and if your BMI is above 30 then it wouldn’t be unusual to lose more then 5lb in seven days, especially if you are able to be more active than usual, but check this first with your doctor.

It’s also a good idea to take some body measurements such as your waist, hips and bust or chest. Use a tape measure and make sure you measure the same spot each time. Keep the tape measure straight for the most accurate result.

  To measure your waist – measure around the naval or belly button

  For hips – measure at the widest point of your bottom

  For bust or chest – measure around your nipples

If you are working on increasing your day-to-day activity levels then measurements will be especially important. You may well change shape and lose inches faster than you lose weight. This is because as you increase your activity level, you replace some fat with muscle, which weighs more than fat. Physical measurements, especially around the waist, are just as meaningful as actual weight changes. Besides, if your goal is to drop a dress size or get into jeans two inches smaller than your current pair, does it really matter how much you weigh? No, of course it doesn’t!

The more you move about, the less you’ll wobble

There’s more information about goal setting coming up in the next chapter.