One of the ideas we had when starting this site was to emphasize other measures of health than weight. BMI (body mass index) I suppose is not terrible, although I am not sure it is a great index. At my current 220 lbs and 6’5″, I am categorized as overweight and not sure if I will likely get any lower.

But some measurements that we thought were more productive and indicative of overall health are heart rate and blood pressure. In the past, I would check my BP at the automatic grocery store machines. Partly due to denial I can’t tell you a “worst” figure, but I bet I broke into the 130/80′s neighborhood or at least a range the machine would classify as “prehypertension”. I would say, “My arm is not the right size for the cuff,” or “I just had a Coke with caffeine,” and chalk it up to that.

More recently, we’ve both been getting much better numbers at the grocery store. Sometimes we “compete” although Eyegirl has always had great BP.

Here is one of mine:

And hers:

Usually I only have a shot at winning the pulse category, but you never know maybe an upset is on the horizon!