Your Body Mass Index, or BMI, is a measure of body mass based on your height and your weight. This measurement was previously hailed as the best way to determine if you’re at a healthy weight. But recently, the value of a person’s BMI has been debated because this number fails to take into account the ratio of fat to lean mass, or the distribution of fat on a person’s body. Packing excess abdominal fat is more dangerous than the extra fat on your hips and thighs because the fat around your middle is closer to your vital organs. To really determine if your body composition is healthy, some experts recommend tossing the BMI and concentrating on waist-to-hip ratio. To find your ratio, divide the circumference of your waist by the circumference of your hips (use a tape measure to get the values). Women are at an increased risk for heart disease and other health problems when this number exceeds 0.8, and for men it’s 0.95. This means that if your waist is as big as or bigger than your hips, your health depends on you losing weight. Many people who are at a normal BMI still have a sizable unhealthy belly paunch, which is why this method isn’t as accurate as once thought.