 You can do IT is a regular feature of laterlife.com
aimed at trying to help laterlife visitors make the most of Information Technology on or
off the web.
Jackie Sherman who runs the You can do IT
Question & Answer section is an IT trainer and author. Jackie has spent her career in
education and specialises in teaching IT to adults. Her courses for adults include such
topics as MS Office, the Internet, e-mail and basic web page authoring. 
Jackie has also written the two books shown here - you can find
more details about these by clicking on the cover images above. Jackie has also been running a course specifically for over
50s.
Via laterlife.com Jackie aims to particularly help those new to IT and the web to
build up knowledge and confidence, so no question is too basic. At the same time she will
cover Q&As for the more experienced user.
So if you
would like to ask a question of Jackie, why not email her jackie@laterlife.com
or if you
have discovered something which may be of interest to others in making the most of the
web, then she would love to hear about that too jackie@laterlife.com
June 2004
Q: I want to lose
weight, and have been told that it is best to use my BMI (body mass index)
as a measure of progress. Can you show me how I could use my computer to
work out the figure and keep it updated as a diet?
A: Spreadsheets such as
Excel are excellent for doing complicated sums and monitoring changes, as
long as you can provide the correct formulae. Instead of relying on actual
weight, you can keep track of your healthy weight by working out your BMI.
For new dieters, the international
classification for BMI is:
Below 20 –
underweight
20 – 25 –
acceptable weight
25 – 30 –
overweight
30 – 40 – obese
Over 40 – very
obese
Here is what you would need to do to work out
your BMI on paper:
Example: if you weigh 10st 2 lbs,
as there are 14lbs in 1st, your total weight in lbs is (10 x 14) + 2 =
142lbs. Divide by 2.2 and this becomes 64.5kg.
Example: if you are 5ft 5”, there are
12” in 1ft and so your height is (5 x 12) + 5 = 65”. Multiply by 0.025 and
this becomes 1.6m.
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