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Is a BMI of 52 harming your health?

Is a BMI of 52 harming your health?

If you have a BMI of 52, then you probably know that your body mass index is too high. But how can you change this safely?

First of all, before you actively start trying to lose weight, you’ll want to talk to your doctor so that they can give you a health checkup and then, hopefully, give you the go-ahead to exercise.

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Why is a BMI of 52 too high?

A BMI 52 female drinking her water

A BMI of 52 is too high for a male or female to live in good health. Why?

Because a body mass index score of 52 is around 22-23 points higher than average for men and women.

This is particularly striking when you consider that the almost-obese average is already too high and the fact that you can still be abdominally obese while not even being overweight.

Overly thick thighs and chubby arms aren’t anywhere near as bad for health as a large waist is. This is because excess abdominal fat is associated with the development of visceral fat.

Unlike the subcutaneous fat that you can grab, visceral fat is internal fat that wraps around your abdominal organs and, if left untreated, sometimes leads to dangerous diseases and life-altering health problems like diabetes, stroke, and high blood pressure.

How long do results take?

An obese jogger with a BMI of 52

Because a 52 BMI is so high, results can come quite quickly, and you can see dramatic physical differences in the space of just a few months.

In order to actually trigger the weight loss, however, you’ll need to cut your calories so that your body can burn fat. 

Some dieticians will recommend a 40% calorie deficit initially so that you can lose weight rapidly in order to get your body weight out of the severely obese category as efficiently as possible.

While fast weight loss is possible for individuals who have a body mass index of 52, you shouldn’t panic if the weight doesn’t fly off you straight away. 

What matters most is that you’re consistent and that you create positive nutritional and exercise habits that will outlive your temporary weight loss diet.

Why do people end up with a BMI of 52?

A 52 BMI male getting food from the fridge

Obviously, we don’t know everyone’s story. Some people struggle to perform exercise due to physical disabilities or because of other complex problems (both mental and physical).

On the other hand, some of us just get into bad habits, which can be difficult to break without the right help.

After all, despite offering a good selection of fitness facilities, our modern societies do seem to make it easier than before to pile on excess weight.

Anyway, the good news, of course, is that reducing your 52 BMI is not only possible, it’s likely to happen if you have the courage to seek the help you need.

Conclusion

As I’m fond of saying, even though you might not be happy with having a BMI of 52, things will get better because your weight loss results will be very dramatic.

Many obese individuals understandably loathe their new routine initially and feel like they’re forcing themselves to eat healthily and exercise. 

Yet, to their surprise, after the new habits become more or less automatic, they begin to feel less stressed about the task ahead and actually begin to enjoy the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.