Waist-to-height ratio: one number more important than BMI

BMI is weight divided by height squared. It is the same for an athlete with 20% body fat and a woman with 35% at the same weight. It is “normal” for a thin person with fat and “overweight” for a muscular woman. It does not know where the fat is: on the hips it is almost harmless, on the abdomen it is dangerous. Large studies have shown that waist-to-height ratio predicts diabetes, heart disease and mortality more accurately than BMI at all ages and in both sexes.

In the morning, before eating, after using the toilet. Place the tape at the level of the navel or at the narrowest point — choose one and always measure there. Horizontally, not tightly, with your abdomen relaxed, while exhaling. Divide by your height in centimetres. 72 at a height of 165 — 0,44, good. 84 at 165 — 0,51, visceral fat is present, and this is the first goal. An analysis of the fat itself — visceral fat.

Visceral fat responds to insulin first: remove sugar and flour — it goes away before subcutaneous fat, and your waist gets smaller faster than the number on the scales changes. Walk daily, do strength training twice a week, sleep 7-8 hours, and use a fasting window. Losing 1 cm from your waist in two weeks is an excellent pace; 0,5 is achieved by most people in 3-6 months. How to track it — why the scales lie.