The wisdom of setting scientific weight loss goals: from BMI measurement to embracing your unique body's genes.

The following articles will guide you to understand the wisdom of your body, the wisdom of nourishing your body, and the wisdom of using your body. It is through the combined effect of these three elements that your current body has been formed. The influence of family, friends, and the media has caused dissatisfaction with your body, leading you to start dieting. However, dieting doesn't solve the problem; you gain weight, your activity levels become increasingly difficult, and you become even more dissatisfied with your body... You're trapped in this vicious cycle. The result? You become increasingly devoid of body wisdom. You don't know who you are, what you want, when to eat, what to eat, or that your body is born to be active. If you can understand the difference between people in the media and people in real life, eat healthily without overly restricting yourself, and exercise for health rather than just weight loss, you will gain greater body wisdom.

Do you need to lose weight? How do you know you're fat? Why do you think you're fat? Do you feel like your belly looks like a lifebuoy when you sit down? Do you feel your body lacks definition? Or have you checked a height and weight chart and found your weight is far off the standard? Many people are dissatisfied with their bodies and feel they are fat, but you might be underweight. You may feel like you're all fat, but humans need fat. After all, we're not clothes hangers with only bones, no muscle, no blood, no water, no fat. Especially for women, having more fat than men is fundamental to maintaining your feminine characteristics, and that fat is the foundation of your health.

Being overweight isn't about comparing yourself to others. If everyone in your family is overweight, your chances of being thin are slim. Everyone's genes are different, so weight will vary, making comparisons meaningless. To become a media "hottie," besides hard work, genetics are crucial. But those genes are extremely rare. Most people, no matter how hard they try, may never achieve that in their lifetime. Over the years, people have designed various healthy weight figures to suit different needs, such as height, weight ratio, and BMI. While these figures have their scientific basis, they still cannot completely determine whether someone is overweight or underweight. Genes play a decisive role in a person's weight; can a single numerical range encompass all the diverse and numerous genes? Someone might be considered overweight according to a height-weight chart, but genetically, that's their minimum weight-they are already very healthy. As for those who are obsessed with being "outstanding" and want their weight to be even lower than the lower limit of the chart, that's even more dangerous.

Find a full-body mirror, preferably one where you can take off all your clothes, and take a good look at yourself. Are you truly too fat, or do you feel overweight because you compare yourself to others or to so-called body shape charts? Or are you experiencing other problems that make you feel bad, and you attribute all the reasons to your body shape, believing you're fat? Although everyone says they lose weight for health, when they actually start dieting, everyone knows it's just a lie. Many people say, "I'll do anything to lose weight," even if they already have a lot of health issues. So, let's drop the pretense and talk about the truth. You lose weight to be beautiful. But where does beauty come from? If you think you're beautiful, you are; if you think you're not beautiful, you aren't. Whether or not to lose weight is a very subjective thought. Objectively look at your body, and you'll find that you're not as bad as you think! As long as you feel good about your body, you don't need to actually diet. What you need is a healthy and positive life, to love yourself, and to respect yourself. Then your figure will naturally be fine!

However, it cannot be denied that some people still need to lose weight because their body shape has already affected their health. Currently, the Body Mass Index (BMI) is commonly used to measure whether your weight is within a healthy range. The specific calculation method is to divide weight (in kilograms) by the square of height (in meters), i.e., BMI = weight / height (kg/m²). For Chinese people, a BMI between 18.5 and 23.9 is considered normal, meaning your weight is normal. A BMI between 24.0 and 27.9 is considered overweight, meaning you are overweight and need to lose weight. A BMI greater than 28 is considered obese, meaning your weight is not only overweight but also affects your health.

Another important indicator for assessing whether your weight poses a threat to your health is your waist circumference. Some people are overweight overall, while others are overweight in their upper body but not in their belly; then there's the "beer belly" type. Many people, especially men, start gaining weight in their thirties, jokingly calling it "the rise of the central region," as if it were a sign of success. But a harsh reality is: want to know if your risk of heart disease is high? Feel your belly! A high proportion of abdominal obesity is a characteristic and potential danger of obesity in Chinese people. Even for people with a normal or not very high BMI, if their waist circumference is greater than 101 cm for men and greater than 89 cm for women, or their waist-to-hip ratio is greater than 0.9 for men and greater than 0.8 for women (indicating abdominal obesity), the risks are just as high as for those with a high BMI. This reminds us that when judging whether someone is overweight and the extent of their health risks, we should not only pay attention to their BMI but also measure their waist circumference, because Chinese people have their own unique way of gaining weight.

If you're serious about losing weight, you must be clear about the reality of your goals when setting them. An unrealistic weight loss goal will not only fail to promote weight loss but will also destroy all your confidence and efforts. For example, the current weight loss market is full of lies: "No dieting, no exercise, lose weight wherever you want, lose as many pounds as you want..." When you hear these highly persuasive words and enthusiastically set this as your goal, your goal exceeds your actual ability to achieve it. Although you work hard towards your goal, you can't see hope ahead, and you can't see results behind you. Weight loss is a process. In this process, results are the driving force that propels you forward, and hope is the pull that pulls you forward. Even though you know there's a "golden apple" hanging in front of you, when you've tried your best but can't see anything, you can only give up in frustration because it's unattainable. Therefore, when choosing a goal, abandon these "grand" but false goals and choose goals that you can actually achieve.

Besides setting a realistic goal, you need to distinguish between goals achievable through weight loss and goals achievable without weight loss. For example, a common saying is that weight loss gives you confidence. Weight and confidence are not directly related; this is just an excuse for insecure people. This kind of weight loss goal isn't about your weight, but about how you feel. Even if you lose weight, you may never achieve your goal. Because weight isn't the answer; psychological problems need psychological solutions. A wise weight goal is a reasonable and realistically achievable weight. Although there are various forms of height-weight indexes, you don't have to use that number as your goal. While that weight might be ideal for you, it might be unrealistic based on your genes, or simply unsustainable in the long run; setting such a goal is pointless. Specifically, how do you determine a weight goal numerically? A realistic and simple method is to set a 5% to 10% weight loss as your initial goal for the weight loss phase. If you easily reach this weight and can maintain it comfortably for a period, you can set a new, lower weight goal. Determine a target weight that is appropriate for your height and body type. The more weight you lose, the harder it becomes to lose more. Because as your weight decreases, you move less weight and burn fewer calories.

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