Know Your Body Mass Index This Holiday Season

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With the holidays upon us, good luck maintaining your ideal weight. Although I avoid mindless eating, if someone offers me a homemade Christmas cookie, I will be gracious enough to eat it. Life is a balance, and I would not risk hurting a giving person's feelings by refusing his/her hospitality. Now if that someone tries to get me to eat a dozen homespun cookies (and you know who you are!), no matter how delicious they are, I must beg off, not to mention that I too bake Christmas cookies.

Knowledge is willpower. According to AARP, here's what we should weigh using our body mass index, or BMI.

The following formula should help us with discipline:

Woman: 100 pounds of body weight for the first 5 feet of height, plus 5 pounds for each additional inch. Example: An average frame 5'7'' woman = 135 pounds, ideally.

Men: 106 pounds of body weight for the first 5 feet of height, plus 6 pounds for each additional inch. Example: An average frame  6'1" man = 184 pounds, ideally.

If you have a small frame, subtract 10%, and if you have a large frame, add 10% to your total weight.
This is timely information as we face a festive period of constant temptation. Remember: Everything in moderation. Stay strong, peeps! For the holidays enjoy a few treats. Be festive, just don't be crazy, over indugent festive.

Since many of us will consume more sugar over the holidays, it helps to add some exercise to our routine. Walk wherever you can. Eat mostly balanced meals. Include fiber. Aim for single servings of treats. And for heaven's sake, try not to eat around the clock. Repeat: Thou shall not go up a trousers size!

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