Nutrition & Physical Assessment

According to Cleveland Clinic, many people believe the number on the scale tells whether they are healthy or not. However, being healthy depends more on how much you weight. Other factors are what you eat, how nutritious it is and how much your body fat percentage is. Cleveland Clinic states: "Overweight refers to an excess of body weight compared to set standards. ... Obesity refers specifically to having an abnormally high proportion of body fat. A person can be overweight without being obese."

Nutrition Overview

• According to the United States Department of Agriculture's food pyramid, it is important to eat a balance of beans and meats, fruits, vegetables, low or non-fat dairy, whole grains, and minimal fats and oils. It also states to drink plenty of water.

Nutrition Portion

• Caroline Moses, personal trainer at the Buffalo Athletic Club, encourages people to prepare their meals the night before to keep them from cheating on their diet. Eating low-calorie meals every three or hours is essential because it fuels your body's metabolism.

Body Mass Index

• According to the body fat calculator on the body mass index (BMI) website, BMI is a measurement of how to calculate your body fat based on your height and weight. This formula is the same for men and women ages 18 to 65.

BMI Formula

• According to the body fat calculator, the formula to figure out your body mass is: BMI = (weight in pounds / ( height in inches ) x ( height in inches ) ) x 703.

  For instance, for a 6-foot, 174-lb. man, the formula would be:
  174 / (72 x 72) x 703 =
  (174 / 5184) x 703 =
  .03 x 703 = 23.6

Normal BMI = Assesment

• The BMI website states: "BMI can be used to indicate if you are overweight, obese, underweight or normal. A healthy BMI score is between 20 and 25. A score below 20 indicates that you may be underweight; a value above 25 indicates that you may be overweight."