BMI?

sheldonklein
sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
At what I consider to be my realistic goal weight, I'm still borderline obese on the BMI scale. No rough in hell could I maintain at a healthy BMI#. I find that discouraging. So does anyone know if there is a scientific basis to BMI? How well does it correlate to life expectancy or any other meaningful health outcome?

Replies

  • grantevans11
    grantevans11 Posts: 114 Member
    BMI doesn't accurately take into consideration your body fat % or muscle mass. I have a BMI of 24.0, which is borderline overweight but a body fat of 16.8%. I'd use body fat as a more accurate reading of whether you are under/overweight.
  • Local_Atlantis
    Local_Atlantis Posts: 262 Member
    I personally find BMI a bit harsh - there are a lot of things to take into consideration that BMI doesn't, like body fat %age etc..

    My goal weight is just in my healthy weight catagory. Like literally by a pound.

    What are your goals?
  • joejward95
    joejward95 Posts: 104 Member
    BMI was designed for use on whole populations. That said, it is still a good guide for health. Yes certain bodybuilders have BMI's of 33 due to insane muslce mass, but for the average person you still want a BMI of 20-25 there are many studies that show health strongly correlates with BMI. You say "No rough in hell could I maintain at a healthy BMI#" why is that? 4 Months ago I had a BMI of 35(Pretty damn obese) , I now have a BMI of 26.1. In another month I hope to be at around 23 and maintain there.
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
    joejward95 wrote: »
    BMI was designed for use on whole populations. That said, it is still a good guide for health. Yes certain bodybuilders have BMI's of 33 due to insane muslce mass, but for the average person you still want a BMI of 20-25 there are many studies that show health strongly correlates with BMI. You say "No rough in hell could I maintain at a healthy BMI#" why is that? 4 Months ago I had a BMI of 35(Pretty damn obese) , I now have a BMI of 26.1. In another month I hope to be at around 23 and maintain there.

    "No way in hell" because I'd need to weigh less than when I was 12 years old to be in the healthy/normal bmi range. I'm now 230, down 30 pounds in 10 weeks. I think 200 is achievable. 150 is not.
  • joejward95
    joejward95 Posts: 104 Member
    edited November 2014
    How tall are you? I currently weigh less than I did when I was 14, so I see no reason why you cant achieve this? If it's your healthy BMI then the human body has evolved over millions of years to to be at this weight. It is totally possible and it necessary for optimal health! Congratulations on the 30lbs loss by the way!
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
    "Can't" is not literal. More accurate to say that it would involve a level of sustained food deprivation that I find undesirable and I doubt I would feel healthy at 150ish. Of course, the feeling healthy part is speculation, as I've never tried it.
  • joejward95
    joejward95 Posts: 104 Member
    What is your height may I ask?
  • dallasjet
    dallasjet Posts: 2 Member
    My new doctor seems to be all about it. Especially after I told her my father had developed Type II diabetes from being overweight. But, why not just make your goal...hang out there for a while, then decide? No need for the extra pressure right now!
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
    joejward95 wrote: »
    What is your height may I ask?

    Interesting question. I've always thought of myself as 5'10", but I had a physical yesterday and was told 5'7". I may have shrunk with age, but not that much, so I'm telling myself that I must have been hunching and the real number is in between.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    For the majority of the population, if you get down to a healthy BF% you will probably be in the healthy range on the BMI scale, or very close to it. for some reason so many people think they carry more muscle than the "average" person.
  • joejward95
    joejward95 Posts: 104 Member
    edited November 2014
    .
  • parasshelawala
    parasshelawala Posts: 29 Member
    Body fat % is a better measure, however BMI is super easy to measure so that's why doctors tend to prefer using that. Even at home, I find my scale to be super accurate with weight but the built body fat measurement is all over the place. Consider BMI as a good rule of thumb but not a perfect measure.
  • bjshields
    bjshields Posts: 677 Member
    If you have much muscle, ditch the BMI and look at your waist size compared to hip size, what size your clothes are and how you feel.
  • Relentless_0ne
    Relentless_0ne Posts: 38
    Yes
    sheldonklein wrote: »
    At what I consider to be my realistic goal weight, I'm still borderline obese on the BMI scale. No rough in hell could I maintain at a healthy BMI#. I find that discouraging. So does anyone know if there is a scientific basis to BMI? How well does it correlate to life expectancy or any other meaningful health outcome?

    Yes. Excessive body weight is associated with (not correlated) with a myriad of health related risks such as cardio vascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, osteoarthritis, some types of cancer, pregnancy related complications, shortened life expectancy, and decreased quality of life.

    Scientific evidence indicates that the risk for disease increases with a BMI of 25 or greater. Here is the kicker. Even though research indicates that premature death and illness increases with a high BMI score, it also increases with people who are underweight also.

    http://info-centre.jenage.de/assets/pdfs/library/durnin_womersley_BrJNutr_1974.pdf
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9414324
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    For the majority of the population, if you get down to a healthy BF% you will probably be in the healthy range on the BMI scale, or very close to it. for some reason so many people think they carry more muscle than the "average" person.

    How much LBM does the average person carry?

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    sheldonklein wrote: »
    joejward95 wrote: »
    What is your height may I ask?

    Interesting question. I've always thought of myself as 5'10", but I had a physical yesterday and was told 5'7". I may have shrunk with age, but not that much, so I'm telling myself that I must have been hunching and the real number is in between.

    you had a physical and don't believe your height?

    plus you are happy at an obese BMI? (not just an overweight one due to muscle mass)

    Methinks something is awry here
  • JenniDaisy
    JenniDaisy Posts: 526 Member
    Unfortunately alot of medical proffessionals rely on BMI as a health indicator, BUT if they suspect you have a condition caused or exacerbated by your weigh, they'll use it in conjunction with other things like waist measurement.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    For the majority of the population, if you get down to a healthy BF% you will probably be in the healthy range on the BMI scale, or very close to it. for some reason so many people think they carry more muscle than the "average" person.

    How much LBM does the average person carry?

    I don't know if there is a "average" amount but maybe take the mid point in BMI weight for your height, and mid-point for healthy BF% and should give you a starting point from which to work from.
  • xXKelsieXx3
    xXKelsieXx3 Posts: 1
    I don't understand what bmi signifies though... I have a bmi of 17.9
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    For the majority of the population, if you get down to a healthy BF% you will probably be in the healthy range on the BMI scale, or very close to it. for some reason so many people think they carry more muscle than the "average" person.

    How much LBM does the average person carry?

    I don't know if there is a "average" amount but maybe take the mid point in BMI weight for your height, and mid-point for healthy BF% and should give you a starting point from which to work from.

    I only ask because liek BMI that takes populations of data like what would be a way to find out if you are in fact having more LBM at your current weight than the average person. My friend was surprised by my bod pod results thinking my body fat was way higher than it was. No one every guesses my weight correctly. Not even close.

    I would like to know if I am stronger and muscular at my current weight than the average at my current weight and height.
  • sljohnson1207
    sljohnson1207 Posts: 818 Member
    Get your BF % checked and set your goal weight and/or goal BF% from there. My hubby got great news this week. He's been classified by doctors and the BMI charts as obese at 5'10" tall and 218 lbs (BMI 31.3).

    He's been trying to lose weight, but it's slow going. He has lost some, though. I insisted he get a hydro-static weighing at a local university's human performance lab to find out the real story. According to BMI, he'd still be just barely overweight at 175 lbs (BMI 25.1).

    Well, his BF% is a little higher than what it should be at 21% (he's 54 yrs. old), but his lean body mass is 172 lbs.

    This is important because if he weighed 175 lbs, he'd have 3 lbs. of fat (1.7%), and 3% is essential fat for men. Or, if he dieted his way down to that weight, he'd lose a lot of lean mass that burns calories and lets him EAT a lot of food.

    So, what does this mean? According to the HPL at the university, a good weight for my hubby would be 202 lbs, if he only loses fat, and no lean mass. This would put him at around 15% body fat, which is good for his height, age, etc. And by the way, at 202 lbs. he'd still be classed at the upper end of overweight (BMI 29).

    This is why BMI is not always accurate. However, for general population it is usually pretty close. If you really want to know what your goal should be, dig a little deeper.
  • AskTracyAnnK28
    AskTracyAnnK28 Posts: 2,817 Member
    I feel your pain! I had a physical on Monday and my doctor told me that my BMI was way too high (26.2) and I got the "what are you doing about it??!!"

    Meanwhile - I'm only 7 pounds away from a healthy BMI for someone my height. Stupid BMI!

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