-Diablo's Journal, 07 Sep 19

Your Waist-to-Height Ratio: A Better Tool to Measure Your Health

But waist-to-height ratio isn’t just simpler; it’s also better. Researcher Margaret Ashwell made the case for this measurement last year after studying the health of 300,000 patients. She found that waist-to-height ratio is better than BMI at predicting diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks and strokes.

BMI doesn’t take into account lean body mass versus body fat, so a very muscular person could end up classified as overweight and at-risk. Waist-to-height ratio does a better job of avoiding that problem by including the waist, where abdominal fat lives. Abdominal fat seems to be the worst kind when it comes to disease risk.

How to measure
To be healthy, your waist circumference should be less than half of your height. For example, if you are a 5-foot (60 inches) female, your waist circumference should be 30 inches or smaller. Keeping that ideal ratio will reduce your risk of disease — and increase your life expectancy.

To get an accurate waist measurement, don’t just measure where your pants sit — and avoid the urge to suck in your gut like you’re in a photo. Instead, relax, and start the tape measure just above one of your hip bones and below your lowest rib, keep it level at the belly button all the way around. You want the tape measure to be snug, but not compressing your body.

If the measurement is more than half of your height, use that as motivation. You can make smart choices, lose that harmful abdominal fat and give yourself a longer, healthier life in the process.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/beyond-bmi-a-better-tool-to-measure-your-health/

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3038 kcal

Fat: 81.25g | Prot: 215.47g | Carbs: 436.99g.   Breakfast: Pears, Pears , Pure Protein Chocolate Deluxe High Protein Bar (Small), Quest Birthday Cake Protein Bar, Chobani Strawberry Blended Greek Yogurt, Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats Bite Size - Original. Lunch: Ole Extreme Wellness High Fiber Low Carb Tortillas, Plum, Quest Chocolate Sprinkled Doughnut Protein Bar, Mission Pizza Company Italian Sausage Thin Crust Pizza, Funnel Cake. Dinner: Claussen Kosher Dill Sandwich Slices Pickles, Trader Joe's Bread & Butter Pickles, Carl Buddig Thin Sliced Honey Ham, Ole Extreme Wellness High Fiber Low Carb Tortillas, Whole Milk, Quest Chocolate Brownie Protein Bar, FlapJacked Mighty Muffin Chocolate PB. Snacks/Other: Kellogg's Special K Protein Original Multi-Grain Touch of Cinnamon, Sugar. more...

3507 kcal

Exercise: Sleeping - 7 hours and 40 minutes, Sitting - 8 hours, Weight Training (moderate) - 1 hour and 10 minutes, Bicycling (leisurely) - <16/kph - 2 hours and 35 minutes, Resting - 4 hours and 35 minutes. more...