About Change In Seconds

Change In Seconds is the home of the Body Visualizer, a free tool that shows a body at your current weight and at your goal weight side by side, plus pages on what different weights look like and weight loss before and after. It is part of the 24/7 Media Group, alongside our health and fitness site PopularHealth.

How the visualizer works

The bodies are a fixed set of models, not a picture of you. The first model is a set of pre-rendered 3D bodies in three body types (apple, pear and hourglass), each in 17 weight steps of about 10 pounds, which turn once so you can see every angle. Your height and weight pick the closest step. The 3D model stops changing at about 250 lb; the two AI-generated front-view models have a few heavier steps and go up to about 290 lb.

The second and third models, a Black woman and a man, are front-view images generated with AI from the 3D model's matching steps, so each step keeps the same body size as the original; the few steps above 250 lb carry on past the 3D model. Each one was made from a short written description of the body at that step, and the pages that show them quote it. We review every generated image and regenerate any that come out wrong.

Nothing you type into the visualizer is saved, and your numbers stay in your browser. Only when you press Share this result do they go into the link, so the person you send it to can see the same pair.

Where the numbers come from

• BMI and its categories (underweight, healthy weight, overweight and obese) follow the CDC's adult BMI categories. Our pages split obese into obese, very obese and severely obese at BMI 35 and 40 to make the pictures easier to describe.
• Healthy weight ranges for a height are the weights that give a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9.
• Waist size guidance (above 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men raises risk) is from the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Aim for a Healthy Weight.
• Pace of weight loss (about 1 to 2 pounds a week) follows the CDC's steps for losing weight.

What it cannot tell you

BMI is a screening number. It does not measure body fat directly, and it can mislead for very muscular people, older adults and some ethnic groups; the CDC explains the limits in About Body Mass Index. The visualizer is meant to help you picture a goal, not to set one. For advice about your own weight and health, talk to your doctor.

Questions, corrections or ideas? Get in touch.