“It’s only 3 kilos, that’s nothing!” he said to me … what did he know?
A strange and interesting thing happened to me last week. Some Wednesdays, I work with a corporate client and last week they were having a “Safety Week” event that included information from Weight Watchers and one of the leading health funds.
There was a “station” manned by the health fund with a machine that measures whether you are standing evenly across both feet. Naturally I was curious to find out if I stand evenly across both feet – the fact that there is a machine that measures this suggests to me that there are probably quite a few people who not in fact stand evenly across both feet.
It was a popular “test” so while I waited my turn I tried out another machine that reads body weight, body fat % and BMI all at the same time. The machine looks like a set of scales and the young man operating it tapped in my information; my height, my age and female. He looked at the results and said a couple of interesting things:
The first was: “Don’t worry about the BMI score. BMI was never intended as an individual measurement; it was always intended as a measure of a community”
I’ve never really thought the BMI made much sense; now I know why.
He then went on to say “Your weight is on the high end of the range for your height and age; should be between 50.4 kg and 68.1kg. It would probably be a good idea for you to be about 59-60kg so you need to lose about 3 kilos.”
“Oh,” I replied “lose three kilos?”
He then said “Hey, it’s only 3 kilos, that’s nothing. Just cut down on the fats and you’ll see “easy peasy” ”
Not once did he ask me anything about what I eat, how I exercise, anything about my lifestyle or my general health.
“It’s just 3 kilos, that’s nothing”
I said “OK, Bye” and left. I didn’t have time to wait for the balance test.
Afterwards I thought about what he had said and I have a couple of issues. Firstly, the fact that he thought for me to lost 3 kilos would be “nothing”. I presume by “nothing” he means “effortless”. I have been this same weight for more than 10 years and I have not ever really tried to lose weight. I just eat a healthy, balanced diet and do some sort of exercise every day. I did wonder about this young man’s personal experience at losing a prescribed amount of weight for him to say “3 kilos, that’s nothing”. Maybe for him it “is nothing”
I believe strongly in the power of measurement and statistics, after all this is Health Check Tuesday; the Numbers that Matter
In this case the weight range from lowest to highest for my height is almost 18 kilos – the chart said “between 50.4 kg and 68.1kg”. In my mind my 63 kg seems OK to me.
When I’m talking to my clients about any types of measures I always emphasise that it is important to note when there are changes in a result – is it going up or down to a significant degree. Regarding weight it would be if there is a gain over time, weight creeping on.
A second and related issue regarding weight is the concept of “set point”.
Dr Amanda Sainsbury-Salis talks about “set point”; which is the amount of body fat that the body decides is right for a point in time. Of course “set point” is not fixed but it does take a deliberate strategy to change the body’s “set point”. I feel that my body has reached a comfortable “set point” and I would need a very deliberate strategy.
In business we find “set points” as well. A level at which the business functions to a certain degree and makes money, “ticks along”. Measures are really important at this stage of a business because like weight it is the incremental changes that might be happening that go unnoticed.
What measures are you tracking?
Health Check Tuesday; the Numbers that Matter
