I'm all muscle. And my doctor tells me I'm much heavier than I should be.

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thewritingviolinst1
thewritingviolinst1 Posts: 125 Member
in Motivation and Support
Okay. I understand that on a BMI chart, I'm higher than I "should" be, but I am a year-round athlete. I train everyday, and I eat clean. I know that "extra" weight is all muscle, but that is really, REALLY difficult for me to hear, mainly because of my history with my weight. (Back story...prepare yourselves) When I was six years old, I started separating food into "good" and "bad" then when I was eleven I stopped eating the "bad" food altogether. When I was 13, I started restricting and purging. And I went in and out of hospitals, got told I was going to die within the year, but I FINALLY started to recover. I'm an athlete. I'm pretty darn proud of my body (most of the time.) So when my doctor told me I was "very overweight" it was like a slap in the face and kind of nudged at my eating disorder, like "hey, your turn to release all hell again." So, I don't know. I'm determined not to fall back into old habits, because tennis and track are too important to me, but I guess I could just use some support and validation that my "extra weight" is muscle.
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Replies

  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
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    Sadly, some doctors arent very educated on this type of thing. It sounds like he lacks the understanding that certain people may appear heavier on those charts when in reality they arent heavy at all. He just read what the chart said and just doesn't get the bigger picture here. Its supposed to be used as a guide, not an exact science.
    The good news is, it sounds like you already know he was wrong . So try hard not to take it personally. He just isnt properly educated on this topic. If he was , he would've considered other factors before making such a statement. He coulve compared the results with other methods and would've saw a big difference. But like i said, i think you know he was way off and wrong so don't let this eat at you.
    Please try your hardest to shake this off and forget about it. It sounds like youve worked very hard to recover and become an athlete so you dont want to jeopardize that. If you continue to feel like your disordered eating is sneaking back up, please seek help right away. Its too serious of an issue to ignore so please definitely talk to a trusted family member, doctor, counselor or religious leader if you feel that its becoming an issue again.
    Best of luck to you ! Continue to a great athlete and try to let the comment from the doctor go.
  • gothicfires
    gothicfires Posts: 240 Member
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    BMI isn't a perfect indicator of health. If you are very muscular then I would find out how much bodyfat you should have and try to maintain that. Your weight should be based on how you feel about yourself. I'm over 200 pounds and there are members of my family who weigh less than me who are physically bigger than me. Currently I am in the obese category. When I get to my goal weight I will be at the low end of overweight. And I won't have a single problem with that. If you'd like you can add me as a friend. I'll be happy to keep your goals realistic.
  • PixelPuff
    PixelPuff Posts: 901 Member
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    Thorsmom01 said everything I wanted to.

    I do believe it would be in your best interest to get a different doctor, though. That doctor has no tact, especially since it is likely written in your medical history to avoid certain triggers, if you were in and out of hospitals for such. That doctor either has no tact or is irresponsible.
  • cyronius
    cyronius Posts: 157 Member
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    Once you start to develop muscle, BMI isn't really useful anymore. As @gothicfires said, start looking at your bodyfat. If that's in a healthy range, then it doesn't matter what your scale weight is.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
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    To add to what the poster above ( @gothicfires )is saying ,
    Im 135 lbs but can fit into size 4 and even size 2jeans. I have friends who are 115lbs who also fit the same exact jeans but weigh much less then i do. So it shows that sometimes these calculators or even the number on the scale, aren't always very accurate in these situations.
    You stated that in general that your pretty happy with your body and proud of yourself, so thats all that matters!! You know he was wrong so try hard not to let this trip you up.
  • Caitoriri
    Caitoriri Posts: 87 Member
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    Maybe consider changing your doctor, if it's at all a possibility. You definitely don't need anyone undoing all the good work you did fighting off your eating disorder, just because they could use some educating in certain areas.
    Also, if you see him again, consider telling him that in his prime body-building days, Arnold Schwarzenegger had a BMI of 33, which would have put him well into the obese category, even though we know he was all muscle.

    By the way, I used to suffer from an eating disorder and I know how hard it can be... and that the little devil in the back of your head sometimes never truly goes away. Good on you for beating it, and do whatever you need to do to keep it gone.
  • Kathy379
    Kathy379 Posts: 49 Member
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    Sorry your doctor said that.. He sounds like an *sshole who has no concept of muscle versus fat especially if you are very fit already. Shake it off! :)
  • Soccermavrick
    Soccermavrick Posts: 405 Member
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    If you see this doctor again, please point out the small print at the bottom of the BMI chart, something to the extent of Atheletic individuals fall outside the scope, or something like that. I am used to nurses telling me this, most of my doctors know better though. I love though when the nurse tries to tell me that I am not only overweight, but obese according to her chart. Then I take off my shirt. I am not perfect, and am working on even that, but I am far from Obese.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    thewritingviolinst1 wrote: »
    Okay. I understand that on a BMI chart, I'm higher than I "should" be, but I am a year-round athlete. I train everyday, and I eat clean. I know that "extra" weight is all muscle, but that is really, REALLY difficult for me to hear, mainly because of my history with my weight. (Back story...prepare yourselves) When I was six years old, I started separating food into "good" and "bad" then when I was eleven I stopped eating the "bad" food altogether. When I was 13, I started restricting and purging. And I went in and out of hospitals, got told I was going to die within the year, but I FINALLY started to recover. I'm an athlete. I'm pretty darn proud of my body (most of the time.) So when my doctor told me I was "very overweight" it was like a slap in the face and kind of nudged at my eating disorder, like "hey, your turn to release all hell again." So, I don't know. I'm determined not to fall back into old habits, because tennis and track are too important to me, but I guess I could just use some support and validation that my "extra weight" is muscle.

    Find another dr. Tell the story you wrote here and ask for advice. If you are an athlete, maybe discussing the issue with your coach will help. He/she should be able to point you to a dr involved with athletes, so you will not have to worry.
  • gothomson
    gothomson Posts: 215 Member
    edited June 2015
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    Exactly what definition of "very overweight" is your doctor using? I say the wrong one! You are in no way "very overweight" far, FAR from it. I gave up on BMI a while ago, I tend to use two methods: 1) how do I feel in my own body 2) height/waist ratio. Most doctors are good and admit the limits of BMI - mine does - frankly if I was you, and its possible to do this, get another doctor.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    Please don't worry about what the Dr said - many know a little about a lot, but not a lot about very much.

    My husband recently had an argument with a Dr who told him he was obese. We do bodybuilding and my husband has muscle - he is not fat or unhealthy. It took my husband so long to get him to understand that the bmi wasn't the best measure, and that to be "healthy" he'd have to be extremely low (unhealthy and unsustainable) body fat or lose muscle mass...
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
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    It's *kitten* like this which is why I don't like primary care docs and haven't seen on in over 2 years. I had one pull something very similiar.

    Do your best to ignore the doc, shake it off, and find a new doc.

    Congrats on your recovery and turning everything around. That's absolutely fantastic
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    thewritingviolinst1 wrote: »
    ...I guess I could just use some support and validation that my "extra weight" is muscle.

    I'm not sure how we can provide that. None of us know you, you haven't shared any numbers of pics, there's no diary, etc.





  • whatatime2befit
    whatatime2befit Posts: 625 Member
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    Unfortunately doctors aren't always right. Get tested to find out your body fat %, and go by that, not the scale weight. BMI is almost useless for anyone with heavy muscle mass. Would you rather be thin and fall in the BMI, or healthy/fit with awesome muscles? :)
  • patrickfish7
    patrickfish7 Posts: 190 Member
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    Jeez. BMI is still used? Based on BMIs ridiculous measures, Usain Bolt is considered as overweight and would have a BMI more than me. Go figure.
  • thesupremeforce
    thesupremeforce Posts: 1,206 Member
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    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    thewritingviolinst1 wrote: »
    ...I guess I could just use some support and validation that my "extra weight" is muscle.

    I'm not sure how we can provide that. None of us know you, you haven't shared any numbers of pics, there's no diary, etc.

    I had the same reaction. Sure, BMI isn't a big deal to me. The doctor might be 100% wrong.
    I don't know anything about the OP whatsoever, so it's tough to take her word for it either.

    Nothing personal, there's just a total lack of information here.

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    Your doctor is probably correct if you are really "very ovrweight" by BMI, unless you are taking some type of muscle enhancing drugs. Women rarely develop the type of muscles to put them in the overweight category without also having too much fat. It's possible to be a little overweight and not overfat, but probably not "very overweight" and not overfat.

    If you were a man, this could easily be the case, but it's not likely for a woman.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    whatatime2befit wrote: »
    Unfortunately doctors aren't always right. Get tested to find out your body fat %, and go by that, not the scale weight. BMI is almost useless for anyone with heavy muscle mass. Would you rather be thin and fall in the BMI, or healthy/fit with awesome muscles? :)

    I disagree that weight is not a problem if your BF% is good. My BF% is in the healthy range but my BMI is high. I don't kid myself though. I have too much fat. I just also happen to have a lot of muscle for a woman.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    Does your doctor know about your ED history?

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