Totally disappointed. Also woulda thought there'd be some easy calorie-counting method built into the site.
Am now going to check out other options; this is much less than I'd expected.

BTW I too made something up on the weight stats just to check out the site. The site designers might want to reconsider their entry options.

Weight is only part of the equation and we need to make sure it's not given more emphasis than the other parts of the equation. For me it's about the total rather than the individual elements.

I'd like to be able to:

. enter blood pressure,
. use the site to calculate BMI (does anyone know how to do this? I've not found it yet if it's there - just a box to enter your known figure into),
. enter cholesterol levels
. use/enter results from health checks etc

and then have some feedback as to what's good and not so good with some recommendations.

Focussing too much on just one aspect (eg weight) can actually be detrimental to your health - too much/excessived weight loss for example can affect your levels of calcium, which could lead to bone problems, etc etc.

So please, any help with an overall plan combining lots of factors would be great!

Want to feel healthier and lose a bit of weight in the process without getting into the counting weighing thing? Easy. Why not think positive and decide what you are going to do MORE of - eg drink more water, eat more fruit, get more exercise. You'll find you'll lose a few pounds without trying. You can use the Track Anything tool to record how you're getting on. If you sign up motivators they'll get an email about your progress every week.
You can also join the Body&Soul group - I'll be letting everyone know about helpful articles you can read each week. This Saturday, for example, nutritionist Amanda Ursell is writing about lots of easy ways to save 100 calories.
Hilly Janes
The Times Body&Soul editor

Hazel,
I believe if you into your homepage section, choose "weight" and input your weight and height, your BMI is calculated there.
Also, on the same homepage, if you go into "track" you can customise what info you put into graphs, so if you want to input blood pressure etc you can do that there.

For what it's worth, its a free site. I signed up on a paid site to get not much more actual input from what I have got here from other members and tips etc. If its a personal assessment of your health, then this probably isn't the place to do it.

Good luck!

I started eating sensibly and exercising more when I couldn't face buying size 18 clothes. Now I want to get within my ideal BMI range and weight is part of that. Weight is one indicatior of health although not the only one. It will be important for a high percentage of members.

But the day to day positive bit is that I now buy size 12 clothes!

HI MYNAMES PAUL ITS OBVIOUS THIS SECTION IS POPULAR AND RIGHTLY SO PRO RUGBY PLAYERS ARE MOSTLY CLASSED AS OBESE YET ARE VERY FIT SO WEIGHT ISNT EVERYTHING ITS BECAUSE 2 PEOPLE CAN BE THE SAME HEIGHT AND WEIGHT YET ONE HAS MORE FAT TO MUSCLE RATIO THAN THE OTHER PERSON WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE I ONCE HAD A BODY FAT TEST WHICH DETERMINES MUSCLE AND BODY FAT I LOST 4 POUND IN 1 WEEK BUT ACTUALLY 3 WAS MUSCLE AND ONLY 1 FAT SO THE MORAL IS 2LB A WEEK IS ADEQUATE RETAIN MUSCLE BY WEIGHT TRN YES EVEN YOU GIRLS PLUS CARDIO TOO GAIN MUSCLE WHICH IN TURN BURNS MORE FAT GYM WORK IS GOOD AS YOU CAN MIX BOTH MY OPINION IS ANYONE WHO SMILES ///LOOKS GOOD///

I like the personal targets rather than the weight. I have added inches lost. I would like to be able to keep a food log rather than calories as I find it more motivational to eat well. I don't have a calorie counter so I have to keep guessing!

I only joined today so very new. My problem, scarily, was that I was exercising a lot, doing something most days at the gym, eating and drinking moderately and still gaining weight. I put on about 5 pounds for no apparent reason. I wondered what on earth was wrong. I have now dropped a few pounds (phew). But I think the calorie counting for me will be helpful because I was probably eating more than I realised. It focus me more to record everything I eat.

I'm also disappointed by what's available here. I know it's free but I'd have expected something better from the Times!

I'm not interested in counting calories. If I could just list what I've eaten that would be much more doable. And I was hoping there'd be advice about how to reach your goals, not just ways for you to record your progress (or lack thereof). Seems like just a glorified notebook so far!

I think (well from a personal point of view of course) that it would be good to have also sections aimed at all other aspects of healthy/non healthy lifestyle.. example number 1 being cigarette addiction, in my case a lot harder to fight than 30g of chocolate. I love going running and doing sport, do not need to loose weight at all (just like Amanda had to make up some goal in order to create my profile), just enjoying the feeling i get out of sport and the toning effect.. however, getting motivators/help on little demon mentioned above - am i the only one here? - would be great.

You have my sympathy, Paule, as I used to struggle with cigarete addiction and it really is unbelievably difficult!

Someone I knew once used a website that was dedicated to that - people motivating one another to stop smoking and stay stopped - and found it very helpful. Sorry I don't know which website that was, maybe Google knows?

It is so very worth the effort though, you will feel so much better in yourself, and if you like sport then you will find that so much easier once your lungs get cleaned out!

oops. Missed the second page which makes my post a bit misplaced, hence why I've edited it.


Sorry

I agree Kate. As chief cook in this house, I cook from first principles and avoid using excess fat, sugar and salt in our diets. Occasionally, like last night, I use a good quality prepared meal ( Waitrose ), but much prefer not to.
As soon as I slip in the odd pudding, at festive periods for example, or have a few too many meals out, I feel tired and lethargic. As soon as I increase the raw food ( salads and fruit ) and the exercise I feel more energetic again.
I too, like others who have posted, am here for the exercise and general healthy living boost.:up:

Sorry, that last p[ost of mine was intended for another topic. I don't know how it got here!

The BMI is just a guide and nothing more. And for fit, muscular people it can show quite alarming results! Try these indicators:

1) Can you pinch over an inch on your belly? Y=possibly too much fat.

2) When you jump up and down, breasts or testes apart, do you wobble in a phulumpy way? Y=possibly too much fat.

3) Is your waist bigger than 32" (women) or 26" (men)? Y=possibly too much fat.

I've been very ill and got fat and weak with it, but my goals are different, in that it's not weight per se I'm worried about. The goals are:

1) Stop the heart burn (done)
2) Stop my feet aching (done)
3) Bend over to tie laces without cutting off oxygen supplies (done)
4) Get into size 14 (and then 12) jeans I have bought (not yet done)
5) Get more toned (it's beginning to happen)
6) Be ready by May to not be embarrassed to be seen in a bikini when we take my mum for her 70th to Spain
7) To get physically stronger (beginning to happen)
8) To find the energy to cook properly (happening 3x a week now)
9) To balance blood sugar better (getting there)
10) To decrease PMT problems (a better diet and some exercise are helping a huge amount)
11) To keep bad stress out of my life (life is getting pretty good now)

Weight? Sure, I'll weigh myself on occasion ... but why depress myself! Little bits like feeling better help a lot more to keeping on track.

PS: Hazel, if you do want to work out your BMI, Wikipedia gives you imperial and metric formulae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index), and loads of sites have a calculator.

Ooh I'm so glad I've found this thread! Have been following "smaller people losing weight" thread, but alarmingly people are putting their weight own and I'm so not in the same ball park!!

My weight goes up and down like a yoyo so that even when I think I've had a loss it goes up again days later.

Am wondering wether to get body fat measured at the gym. Anyone got experience of that? And is it reliable?
Been gyming like a loony since New Year, clothes looser but no reliable difference on scales. It's all so confusing.
Wendy

Wendy - I didnt mean to start that thread that offended anyone?

In a way, I intended it to be similar to this one - in my own opinion, I need to lose a little weight but it's more about being healthy and feeling more toned and therefore comfortable with myself.
What I was trying to say is that just becuase I am 'slim' or 'average' build, doesn't mean that I don't need to do anything to put things right.

I too think that there is too much emphasis on weight - but as we all know, this comes hand in hand with alot of things, but I personally think that being and feeling more healthy is alot more important that my actual weight.

Wendy, the gym body fat things are reliable - done through electrical resistence.

You are smaller but weigh the same because you're losing fat (= get smaller), and gaining muscle (which is denser than fat), so it's all looking good. Keep it up!

Thanks, I'll pluck up courage and get it measured then! But I will not be posting the result here!

I know this isn't meant to be competitive and I'm not exactly offended Elisha (sorry if spelt wrong) it's just that it's disheartening when people are worried about getting their BMI to 20 when probably most of us just want to be in the normal weight category. That's like climbing a mountain as it is.

Wendy

Yes, those of us who have plenty of weight to shift can feel like we're climbing the Everest. That's why I've set myself a small interim goal - what weight I'd like to reach by my next birthday - rather than look at the whole thing at once. It's like that old joke: how do you eat an elephant? (the answer: one bite at a time)

A few years ago when we moved house and so registered with a new doctors' surgery, I had to do the new patient check with the nurse and that included getting on the scales. She had this bmi chart on the wall - the part where you're supposed to be is green, orange is "overweight" and red (for danger, I suppose) is officially "obese". I was in the red bit. She started talking about how much I'd have to lose to get to the green bit. I said, 'Yes, well, now back to the real world, how much do I have to lose to get to the orange bit?'

It's not that I don't want to get to the green bit eventually, but let's do it slowly and give ourselves a chance!

Agreed Wendy & Berale, it's one bit at a time.

We all have targets and aims - and we all struggle and cope with different parts of our lifestyle/eating habits.

Trust me Wendy, your pic shows you looking great! I'm not even brave enough to out mine on, its all about self confidence.

I think I am just about in normal catagory, not sure really - I just want to feel healthier, not too bothered about my actual weight though.