Hi Susan,

You are the first slim healthy Chinese women asking me this same question. A number of guys I met asked the same and a few women with “average” BMI also asked. I can see all of them can benefit by slimming, but they wondered why I also bother to slim down.

• Reason — self-control. It is an understatement to say I have a tendency to overeat (at least 1.5 times the daily calories intake of people my age) and put on weight. See binge. This is a result of a life-long eating habit since secondary school, when I typically ate twice of other boys’ intake, and I won a few eating contests, undefeated. Basically no one in my class could eat more than I did, period. As I grew older, my metabolism slowed, but eating habit and appetite persisted. I put on weight many times. For more than a decade (probably since my early 30’s) I have been monitoring and often controlling my intake level. Now it’s not about intake level, but all about calorie restriction. Once a while I relax my control and eat more in one meal than an average middle-aged man eat in a day. It’s either a binge, or a controlled release.

By slimming down, I either maintain or enhance control on my diet. When I see the result in weight, I feel a tremendous sense of self-confidence and self-mastery. Mind over body. I consider my recent weight improvement harder and more important than earning my Master’s degree. I would say very few things I have achieved in my life are harder than calorie restriction that I practice. Constant self-discipline. Daily battle. With 75% effort and 25% luck I’m winning this battle.

Looking back, achieving my weight loss was harder than the research, analysis and “legwork” involved in my property investments.

• Reason — family history of hypertension and cholesterol, from both parents, esp. my mom. Low BMI is a major protection for my heart. In contrast, borderline-high BMI is more hazardous to me than the average individual. I once consulted a doctor about this point.

Based on my limited understanding, BMI was developed primarily for heart-health monitoring, prediction and management. My BMI is now around 20. I want to lower it to 19.5 and further down. In terms of BMI and heart health now I’m very safe in the green zone, and I want to get deeper green and then even deeper green. The more deeper green, the safer. I would have more healthy years to work productively, stay active and stay engaged, move freely by myself, and enjoy my life.

Green vs amber BMI is a life-n-death matter, impacting my longevity and quality of my later life.

Self-knowledge about our own health and genetic make-up is crucial.

• Reason — fitness. I always run longer, faster when lighter. Now I’m the lightest in my adult life and can perform more chin-up than anyone in my circle, in fact, more than anyone I have met in my entire life. The most chin-up I have seen one guy did was in high school, at the age of 17 or lower, but I recently beat that record, largely due to my weight improvement.

• Reason — self image. I always hate my fat around the navel. Now I have less fat around my abs than any time in my adult life. I have always wanted to have the abs on men’s magazine covers. It’s less about muscle size more about elimination of fat. It’s extremely hard to lose fat there, except for the professional athletes. Now my abs look that good — unthinkable all my life until a few months ago.