If You Ate Whatever you wanted, no excersize, what do you think would be your stable bmi/ weight?

Gamliela

As I see some MFP people maintain on well over 2000 calories, I am curious to know what you would guess your weight or bmi would get to and stabelize at if you left off counting and ate whatever you wanted naturally.

Mine is around 27 - 28 bmi, I'm 65 years old and do some outdoor walks for groceries and such.

jgnatca

I'm still deciding how much I want to eat in a day. Sometimes I eat out of habit not hunger. I think if I stopped tracking my BMI would go up from it's current 31.8. I am still rated as obese. If I didn't exercise, I believe my weight would steadily rise to it's previous level, morbidly obese.

Gamliela

I usually eat around 2,400 calories a day, give or take a couple hundred.
I know what you meanabout habits, I get in ruts where I eat monotonous menus
and cooking for two tends to become routine. Its hard to know what changes could be beneficial, as I read that less people die in the overweight and obese ranges than in the middle range bmi!
In other words its better, after age 51, to be overweight or obese because there is less chance of dying than if you are in the middle range bmi category.

MJ_Watson

Well, I did eat whatever I want and not exercise for years (which is why I'm here, haha). My weight stabilized at exactly 267lbs which is a BMI of 43.1 and stayed there for 4-5 years. So I'm fairly confident that, if I were to eat whatever I wanted (yay!) and stop working out (nooo!), I'd end up just as morbidly obese as I started.

Now that I've been doing this almost two years and have lost 75+lbs, I'm tempted to say I could never eat the amounts that got me to that weight again... but if I weren't counting, who am I kidding? I'd love to eat an entire pizza for dinner multiple times a week and not have the consequences stare me in the face. That's why I track my food. Constant vigilance!

emdeesea

For most of my life, I hovered at around 193, that was eating whatever I wanted and no exercise, which put my bmi at 31.1 (obesity). I never went over 200, which is at least something but as I have both diabetes and high blood pressure in my family, I could not keep that up without it being detrimental.

AlysonG2

If I truly ate whatever I wanted and didn't exercise, I would be extremely obese, like I was before. I'm not even sure I could put a cap on it.

Gamliela

Hi MJ, how many calories are you at?

Francl27

205 pounds or so is what I maintained for about 6 years. I gained 8 pounds from steroids and it's what motivated me to lose weight though. I'm 5'5" so I guess my BMI was 34.1.

Sabine_Stroehm

No clue. if I LITERALLY ate what I used to want, when I wanted, as much as I used to want, (at my age) and didn't exercise, I'd be always increasing in weight, I suspect.

My sisters are obese, my nieces are obese... I assume I would be as well, If I literally ate what I used to want, as much as I used to want.

AmandaHugginkiss

No clue. It's been so long since I've eaten whatever and not exercised. I've eaten whatever and exercised or eaten almost nothing and not exercised, but the last time I did both I think I topped out in the 180s. Now, I honestly don't have a clue because I lose my appetite if I don't work up an appetite.

Gamliela

Hi emdeesa, how old are you?

Gamliela

Hi Amanda, I know what you mean about having to work up an appetite!

Jruzer

Yeah, I'd be 210-220 lbs like I was when I started. BMI ~ 33.

Gamliela

So, mostly I'm getting you all pretty much feel your natural bmi is in the obese range then?

Jruzer

cloudi2 wrote: »

So, mostly I'm getting you all pretty much feel your natural bmi is in the obese range then?

For me, yes. I resonated with a quote from an obesity researcher in another thread. I feel like I have "obesity in remission."

crystalflame

I don't really know, but based on how I gained weight in college, I'd guess somewhere between 200-210 lbs, BMI of 33-35.

Gamliela

If science proved that a bmi in the overweight and above range was not unhealthy in any way, would you keep dieting?

Jruzer

cloudi2 wrote: »

If science proved that a bmi in the overweight and above range was not unhealthy in any way, would you keep dieting?

That's quite a hypothetical! I'm much closer to maintenance now, although I am working off a few pounds I gained over December. I would say yes, I would work to maintain my weight close to my target, because I look and feel better there.

Sabine_Stroehm

cloudi2 wrote: »

If science proved that a bmi in the overweight and above range was not unhealthy in any way, would you keep dieting?

If science could LITERALLY cover every variable from heart disease to breast cancer to diabetes? And PROVE that being overweight was healthy?

Probably I'd still aim to be at a healthy weight because I'd feel more attractive at that weight.


Next up: if people felt that overweight people were as attractive???

Gamliela

There are some studies that actually show those results!! But anyway, one vote for maintaining the weight loss for comfort and appearance then!

Sabine_Stroehm

cloudi2 wrote: »

There are some studies that actually show those results!! But anyway, one vote for maintaining the weight loss for comfort and appearance then!

Show what?

Gamliela

Right on Sabine! Next up! Or if anyone of us felt oveweight and above people are attractive, as I do, would eating less than is desireable still be worth it?

DsAdvocate

Eating whatever I want I end up around 160lbs, BMI of 25.8.

LivingtheLeanDream

If I ate what I liked and didn't exercise I would be back to being fatter! That's how I gained in the first place.
When I was at my heaviest my BMR was 27. It's now 24 and in the normal/healthy range which was my aim of losing.

Regardless of what science proved with a higher bmi I looked ok but not great, I hated how clothes looked on me. Now I feel so much better in every way, not just body composition but fit and full of energy.

Gamliela

Dsadvocate, sounds great, unless you are over 51 years. Then its better to be 27 bmi or more, you know for bones, muscles and all that!

MJ_Watson

cloudi2 wrote: »

Hi MJ, how many calories are you at?

At TDEE-500, I eat around 1,900 calories on average. (I have a Fitbit and eat back exercise calories so that number does vary.) I'm losing almost a pound a week. I wager I'd be losing the whole pound, but I'm usually over by a couple hundred a week... What can I say? I love food!

If you need more stats, I'm 5'6", 25, and female. Oh, also I've lost just over 85lbs, not 75! (Oops.)

Gamliela

Sabine, the new research shows that there is less mortality, death, at bmi stable overweight and obese than in the middle bmi range! Especially for people 51 years and over.

Sabine_Stroehm

cloudi2 wrote: »

Sabine, the new research shows that there is less mortality, death, at bmi stable overweight and obese than in the middle bmi range! Especially for people 51 years and over.

Can you cite that research?
Oh, for OVER 51. okay, that's a bit different.
but still, can you link me to something?

Gamliela

Wow, Watson , thats a lot of weight gone.

crystalflame

cloudi2 wrote: »

Right on Sabine! Next up! Or if anyone of us felt oveweight and above people are attractive, as I do, would eating less than is desireable still be worth it?

I feel so much better when I'm eating right and exercising. The husband and I pigged out on our honeymoon, and by the end of it I was starting to get physically ill. I remember being 30 lbs heavier and feeling sluggish and weak all the time. Eating whatever I want isn't worth feeling that bad again, even if it could be proven to be healthy and was generally seen as attractive. (Personally I find my overweight husband very attractive, but I don't like that look on me, so it's really a stretch to imagine my views on myself could change enough...) Maaaybe I'd be ok with eating a lot more and keeping up with my workouts. It's a lot easier to get PRs when you're well fed.

zyxst

Weight of 320#, BMI of 60.5. Not much of a guess because that's where I started 3 years ago.