Your Weight Trajectory - What It Is & Why You Need To Track It
Have you given any thought to what the trajectory of your health is? Given your current health status and previous health, what is the trajectory of your future health? This is something you should be thinking about now, no matter what age and stage you are. The earlier you do this, the better. In my experience, when people hit their early 30’s they start to give their current health and future health more serious thought.
The trajectory of your health as you could imagine encompasses a lot and that’s a conversation for another day. For now, we are going to focus on an aspect of your health trajectory, that being your weight trajectory.
Why should you weigh yourself?
Your weight is one of the easiest and most reproducible ways to track your health. All you have to do is step on the scales and job done.
For some, the thought of stepping on the scales and seeing their weight is scary. Ignorance is bliss right? But what is not knowing and turning a blind eye to it going to do for you?
Everyone is different and of course you need to do what you think is best for you and your health trajectory. But what if you could flip the script in your mind about the scales, from being a scary encounter, to an encounter where they are simply giving you a small nudge in a different direction when it comes to your health. Nobody needs to know what the scales say but you. It’s not a number that you need to overthink and get your knickers in a twist about. It’s a check-in that you are doing for yourself, for the greater good of your health!
Your health is one of the most important things in your life. You only get one body, one life and you need to look after it. Getting a gauge on your health through your weight is one of the simplest and easiest ways to track your health.
Sometimes we are simply living life, not thinking we are gaining weight, then jump on the scales at some point and think oh sh*t is that what I weigh now? This is what happened to me after moving into my first full-time sedentary office job.
Jumping on the scales can be one of the best things someone can do. It can help you see, oh shivers I am 5kg heavier than what I thought and help you get your weight trajectory back in the direction you want it going in. The earlier you take the action and catch yourself in the midst of your weight creep, the better. Catching yourself means you can halt the weight gain and turn it around.
How often should you weigh yourself?
Weight management guidelines in New Zealand outline that for adults who have a healthy weight BMI of 18.5-24.9 kg/m² (see calculator below to check your weight status) to monitor their weight annually. So once a year, jump on those scales and RECORD IT. Write it in a notebook, create a health trajectory spreadsheet with weight being one of your measurements that you track. If your weight is trending upwards, shift to monitoring your weight 6-monthly.
You should also monitor your weight 6-monthly if your weight status is overweight (pre-obese) AND your waist circumference is less than 88cm (women) or 102cm (men). See more on how to measure waist circumference below.
If your weight status is overweight (pre-obese) AND your waist circumference is over 88cm (women) or 102cm (men) then you should be consulting a health professional. As to if your weight status is classed as obesity.
In adults, overweight (or pre-obesity) is defined as a BMI of 25-29.9 kg/m², while a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² defines obesity.
NB: In certain populations like elite athletes and body builders an elevated BMI doesn’t directly correlate to their health status due to their increased muscle mass and weight falsely increasing their BMI. Asian populations have an increased risk of disease even at a BMI ≤25 kg/m².
What is the optimal BMI?
The optimal range for body mass index (BMI) is 21-23kg/m² which sits inside the healthy weight BMI range of 18.5-24.9kg/m².
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend this to be the median goal for adult Caucasian populations as there is an increasing risk of excess weight above this optimal range.
Waist circumference
Waist circumference (WC) is another easy and reproducible measure. Like BMI, it is an indicator of chronic disease risk. There is an increased risk of developing obesity related chronic diseases for men with a WC of ≥94cm and for women ≥80cm. With substantial increased risk for men with a WC of ≥102cm and for women ≥88cm. To measure, grab a tape measure and place around your waist which is usually just above your belly button.
Health consequences of being overweight
Having overweight (pre-obesity) or obesity can have a serious impact on your health.
Health problems can start when someone has only very slightly overweight and these problems increase as someone has more overweight. The fact that health problems can start when someone has only very slightly overweight is not widely known.
Pregnancy
If we look specifically at pregnancy, maternal obesity increases the risk of obstetric complications including sub-fertility, early pregnancy loss and poor pregnancy outcomes.
Almost 50% of women in Australia entering into pregnancy now have overweight/pre-obesity (BMI 25 to <30 kg/m²) or obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m²).
A key driver of the global epidemic of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease for women and their offspring is the trans-generational impact of obesity in pregnancy.
Want some good news?
With modest weight reductions, health benefits can be achieved!
With >2.5% weight reduction: improvement in glucose metabolism, reduction in triglyceride blood levels, improvement in PCOS and infertility.
With >5% weight reduction: improvement in quality of life, depression, mobility, sexual function, plus much more…!
What now?
Think about an approach that is going to work for you! What is going to make you feel good about your weight and health trajectory? Don’t be scared! This is your journey and you get to decide what you want to do when it comes to protecting your health. Take the first step today.
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