Body mass index (BMI) is a way of monitoring whether you're at a healthy weight, using calculations based on your height-to-weight ratio. The advantages of using BMI as a measure of fitness or body fat is that it's free, quick, easy to use and does correlate directly with other methods that measure body fat directly. The downside of using BMI is that it doesn't measure body fat directly. Because of this, it may sometimes return an incorrect "overweight" evaluation for individuals who are in fact quite lean, but carry a lot of muscle weight.
Step 1
Measure both your height and weight as precisely as possible. The ideal standard is to have your doctor's office do this for you at a regular visit. Otherwise, just use the most accurate scale you have access to and make sure to use the same scale every time you weigh for BMI from now on. Also, have someone help you measure your height as you stand straight against a wall.
Step 2
Find your height--or the closest measurement to it--along the left-side column of a BMI chart. Next, locate your weight--or the number closest to it--along the top of the chart. Read across from your height and down from your weight until you find the number on which they both intersect. This is your BMI.
Step 3
Check the color-coding of the square you landed on against the key at the bottom of the chart. The color of the square indicates whether you are under, at or over a healthy weight. In general, a BMI under 18.5 is considered underweight, between 18.5 and 24.9 is normal weight, and anything 25 or above is generally considered to be overweight.
Tips and Warnings
- You can also calculate your BMI using an online BMI calculator.
Things You'll Need
- Scale
- Tape measure
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