{"id":11274,"date":"2024-02-20T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=11274"},"modified":"2024-02-08T17:42:20","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T17:42:20","slug":"how-much-weight-do-you-actually-need-to-lose-it-might-be-a-lot-less-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/how-much-weight-do-you-actually-need-to-lose-it-might-be-a-lot-less-than-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"How much weight do you actually need to lose? It might be a lot less than you\u00a0think"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n \n Flotsam\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nNick Fuller<\/a>, University of Sydney<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

If you\u2019re one of the one in three<\/a> Australians whose New Year\u2019s resolution involved losing weight, it\u2019s likely you\u2019re now contemplating what weight-loss goal you should actually be working towards. <\/p>\n\n

But type \u201csetting a weight loss goal\u201d into any online search engine and you\u2019ll likely be left with more questions than answers.<\/p>\n\n

Sure, the many weight-loss apps and calculators available will make setting this goal seem easy. They\u2019ll typically use a body mass index (BMI) calculator to confirm a \u201chealthy\u201d weight and provide a goal weight based on this range.<\/p>\n\n

Your screen will fill with trim-looking influencers touting diets that will help you drop ten kilos in a month, or ads for diets, pills and exercise regimens promising to help you effortlessly and rapidly lose weight. <\/p>\n\n

Most sales pitches will suggest you need to lose substantial amounts of weight to be healthy \u2013 making weight loss seem an impossible task. But the research shows you don\u2019t need to lose a lot of weight to achieve health benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using BMI to define our target weight is flawed<\/h2>\n\n

We\u2019re a society fixated on numbers. So it\u2019s no surprise we use measurements and equations to score our weight. The most popular is BMI, a measure of our body weight-to-height ratio. <\/p>\n\n

BMI classifies bodies as underweight, normal (healthy) weight, overweight or obese and can be a useful tool for weight and health screening. <\/p>\n\n

But it shouldn\u2019t be used as the single measure of what it means to be a healthy weight when we set our weight-loss goals. This is because<\/a> it: <\/p>\n\n