I'm not real concerned with the number attached to my body fat composition. But I have been curious about how it may have changed since last April when a fitness instructor at Tucson's Canyon Ranch pinched me here and there and told me I registered at 24 percent on the body fat scale. Since then, I've lost 15 pounds and spent considerable amounts of time working out. Surely, I have less fat, right? I mean there's less skin on my body. That must mean there's less fat to pinch.

I do think my body is carrying around less fat. It looks like it is, anyway. But that's about all I have to go on because after meeting with another fitness instructor today, I came away with a few new numbers. One was high. One was low. One right in the middle.

My first pinch test -- my instructor pinched my fat and measured with calipers a chunk of skin on my right arm, my side, and my thigh -- put me in the 27 percent body fat category. Ouch. My second test, with a device I held out in front of my face (height and weight were the only considerations for this one) told me I was in the 20 percent range -- I like this one. And my third test, a re-do of the pinch test, summed me up as a girl with 24.6 percent body fat.

What ever do I do with this information? Nothing, I suppose, except conclude that there really is no surefire way to detect how much fat is storing itself on this body of mine. Which is fine with me. I was just curious. And now my curiosity is satisfied.

For more on body fat measurement options, click here.

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Want to put this obesity crisis into perspective? Check out this post from The Agonist. It shows several maps, which represent the percentage of obese people in each state via colour coding. The maps go from mostly blue (low levels of obesity) to all red, orange and yellow (high levels of obesity.) In fact, in 2004, no state has less than 15% obesity among it's residents, and most have above 20%. And that was three years ago -- I'd be willing to bet that these stats have gone even high since.

Obesity seems to be growing exponentially, and it's clear that if we don't do something soon, a huge chunk of the nation is going to kill themselves with their own indulgence. But how do we stop this epidemic before the entire map turns red?

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Are you surprised at all when I tell you American obesity rates are soaring? Probably not. I wasn't when my husband told me about this weighty article he'd read. It revealed that not one state showed a decline in obesity during the year 2006. Mississippi was the first state to crack the 30 percent barrier for obese adults. West Virginia and Alabama were just slightly behind. Colorado was the leanest state with a 17.6 percent rate. This year's report, looking at overweight children for the first time, has the District of Columbia topping the charts with heavy kids and Utah boasting the lowest rates for little ones.

Obesity is becoming an epidemic. And we need to treat it as an emergency. First step: determine where you stand. My hubby located this body mass index (BMI) calculator. I share it with you today so you can chart your own measurement. Just enter your height and weight and then calculate your BMI with one click of your mouse. If you come up with the number 30 or higher, you fit the definition of obese. If you find yourself in this predicament, you're in the right place. That's Fit offers an abundance of health and fitness tricks that can help you whittle away at your digits. If you are below the 30 mark, pat yourself on the back. And keep on truckin' in the direction of health, fitness, and wellness.

There's just one way to fix our nation's obesity problem -- plain old hard work. Each and every one of us must eat right, exercise right, and minimize our health risks. Only then can we watch our obesity statistics, like our BMIs, melt away to more perfect numbers.

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Body weight, BMI, body measurements, calories eaten, calories burned, ideal body weight, muscle mass, percent body fat...it seems like there is nothing but numbers flying around out there when it comes to measuring people's health! Do you know what they all mean? How do you measure your own personal fitness? Do know if it's really the most accurate for you?

Take this quiz and see how much you really know (I like it because it gives an explanation after each answer), and read this article for some great information (or do it the other way around and read the article first -- then you'll do a lot better on the quiz!).

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Obesity isn't just a health issue for ourselves, but for our pets also. As our society gets larger and larger our dogs are getting fat right along with us. So it makes sense that as you work for a healthier lifestyle and pounds lost you can take your dog along for that trend too. Whether you're putting Spot on a diet or taking him out with you walking (or both), now you can easily monitor how much progress he's making. There's a new handy body fat checker for dogs that will give you a reading just by touching it to the dog's back. So far it's only available in Japan, but I wonder if there's really a market for something like this over here? How often would you use it, honestly?

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