Body Mass Index and weight loss

I think you mean body fat percentage, not BMI (BMI is just a ratio of weight to height).

The body fat percentage scales work by sending a very small electric current through your body and measuring how much it's impeded (fat impedes the current differently than muscle). The problem with this approach is that it is also significantly affected by how much water is in your body at any given time -- the same person with the same amount of fat and muscle would get two wildly different readings when they're well hydrated vs. dehydrated. Since hydration issues are pretty common in ostomates, I would guess that these scales are even less accurate for us than for the general public.

The other issue is that in order for your body fat percentage to truly change favorably, you have to lose fat while gaining or maintaining muscle. Without proper nutrition and exercise, your weight will decline while you lose both fat and muscle, and your body fat percentage will stay constant. You might need more resistance training and a higher protein intake to maintain your muscle while losing weight than you did before you had an ostomy.

I hope this helps!

Peace&Harmony said...
I know how this works. Body fat % is the same a BMI.

No it ain't.

BMI doesn't take into account body composition, i.e., how much of your weight consists of muscle and how much of it consists of fat. Muscle weighs more than fat, hence some athletes who pack a lot of muscle have a BMI that's in the overweight or even obese range: clearly this is nonsense.

Likewise, it's possible to have a normal BMI with relatively high body fat. Two people can have the same BMI yet a significantly different body fat %.

PS: The missing colon shouldn't make any detectable difference. Minus poop, the colon weighs less than a pound, so junking it doesn't make you lose any weight. I suspect Pluot is correct when she talks about hydration; the human body is 60% water after all.

Post Edited (NiceCupOfTea) : 8/3/2014 9:19:34 AM (GMT-6)

It's not an argument.

BMI does not equal body fat %, that is not up for debate because it is a fact and not an opinion. I suggest doing some googling on the subject of BMI vs. body fat percentage.

@NCOT Just FYI, my surgeon said that my colon weighed over 10 pounds...I had lots of inflammation (and no poop).

Not a fun way to lose weight. Lol.

    I dunno BMI from IRS....all I know is that on Friday night (my 50th high school reunion) I was able to squash into the dress I wore to my daughter's wedding in 2012.  So, tonight I had a super duper ice cream sundae for dinner.