More Numbers.

Body Mass Index is calculated as your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared. It is used to help figure out healthy (and not so healthy) weight ranges for individuals based on their height.

It beats the method my Mother taught me in my teens: 100 lbs for 5 feet plus 5 lbs for every inch. (Though, as that turns out it's not a bad way of reckoning.)

This way of calculating BMI is quite crude, of course. It doesn't differentiate between muscle and fat. And as we know, an inch of muscle weighs a lot more than an an inch of fat. I remember when I weighed 135lbs and exercised 6x a week: Folks were aghast to think I weighed "that much." My mother called me "tiny." Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of me from that super healthy time.

There is a great calculator for those of us metrically challenged over at the CDC website and a chart.

The chart is as follows:

BMI Weight Status
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5—24.9 Normal
25.0—29.9 Overweight
30.0 and Above Obese

For someone 5' 6" the numbers translate as follows:
Below 114.5lbs Underweight
114.5--154lbs Normal
155--185lbs Overweight
186lbs+ Obese

So, the first goal, I guess, is to get down to 185 lbs. That would be good.