Bmi chart do you use it or no to choose a goal weight.
Replies
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BMI is an okay tool for your average population. Ignore it if you are a professional athlete or the like, it's not designed for people like that.
If you are just a "normal" person, with a normal job and an normal lifestyle then it is a good guide line.
If your overweight, you should be targeting just to hit the "healthy weight" for your stats. Don't worry about the range, just get down to the top end. Then you can re-evaluate how you look and feel and make new goals.
Likewise for those people underweight, you gain weight until you are the minimum healthy weight and then re-evaluate.0 -
It's most inaccurate for taller people, and isn't bad to use as an initial goal setting guide.
That being said, it wasn't formulated for the purposes or type of population it's used for anyway, and studies typically show that being slightly overweight based on BMI, regardless of body composition, is associated with lower mortality rates across age ranges for most causes of death. Being in the obese category is no good under almost any circumstances, however.
For you at 5'2", I'd say it's a fair measure to start with.0 -
It is not the "be-all-and-end-all" of weight management but it is one metric to look at. My goal weight is right on the line between normal and overweight. I decided on my goal because it is 10 lb heavier than when I looked my best. Why the extra 10 lb? Because, when I looked my best at 150, I was 30 years old with nothing saggy and a "B" cup. I will never have that body again without surgery (and major surgery to reduce my bust which has grown a lot and won't go down much) so I need to allow for it.
ETA: this goal weight might change when I get closer. I may go to 155 and try to stay withing that 5 lb range. We'll see0 -
I'm 5'2 and I don't want to be 110 lb. That is to skinny, I think. I can't imagine that it looks healthy but that is my personal opinion. Just go with the weight you feel comfortable with.0
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For that height, 101-136 is average. That's pretty much the standard. BMI however doesn't calculate well for people who are very athletically built though.
I'm considered borderline obese.
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Yes, but you've been lifting for what, 20 years? Unless you've been consistently lifting for years BMI probably applies to you. I'm big framed and lifted as a teen, but I was inside the normal BMI range (by like 2-3 lb) and could have lost 5lb of fat if I wanted to look ripped (I never truly understood how to bulk/cut at that age).
While what you say is correct, too many people use it as an excuse to be fat.0 -
Alatariel75 wrote: »I thought BMI was a load of crap too, when I was 50kg overweight. Me? at 67kg at the heaviest! ludicrous! I'd be a stick! Now that I'm less than 20kg overweight, I see how much I'm still carrying and I totally get it.
This. For my height (5'6"), I always thought even the top range of the BMI chart, 150 lbs, sounded unreasonably underweight. Of course, I thought that when I was 241 lbs. Now that I'm 175, I recently re-evaluated my weight goal and changed it from 150 to 135.0 -
But it's not the BMI chart's fault that people are delusional about how athletically built and how much "muscle" mass they have.0
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I use BMI to pick my goal weight because that's what the doctors go by to determine "healthy" when they have nothing else to go on.
You don't like BMI? Don't use it.0 -
jojorocksforeva wrote: »Why do so many go off of that or that they should get their goal weight off of that when its a scam i hate bmi charts so much because they set you for unrealistic goals what do you think.
BMI charts are not unrealistic goals. In fact, they are very realistic.0 -
I use it somewhat. I mean, I'd like to be able to say I was in the healthy BMI range. It's not a "scam". It's a statistical marker.0
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An individual can be in the "healthy" range and have obesity-related complications, while someone could be morbidly obese and be completely healthy.
You're half-right here. Someone can be in the healthy BMI range, and still be obese (Obese is excess fat). However, you cannot be in the morbidly obese and be completely healthy. That's just impossible.0 -
jojorocksforeva wrote: »Why do so many go off of that or that they should get their goal weight off of that when its a scam i hate bmi charts so much because they set you for unrealistic goals what do you think.
i don't think scam means what you think it means...BMI isn't a scam
to use a BMI chart you have to understand what it is first. a lot of people don't seem to understand that BMI is a range for the purpose of accommodating various builds, not so that they can arbitrarily pick some number within that range and call it good.
trying to get to the high end of BMI is a good enough place to start with establishing weight management goals but people should also be paying attention to BF%, etc. I initially set my goal weight to be the highest end of BMI for my stats...as I started losing weight, I realized that it was going to be very possible for me to be overweight by BMI, but at a perfectly healthy BF%. I'm 180 and overweight per BMI, but right around 12% BF.
people should be looking at multiple things in RE to weight managemen goals0 -
coreyreichle wrote: »An individual can be in the "healthy" range and have obesity-related complications, while someone could be morbidly obese and be completely healthy.
You're half-right here. Someone can be in the healthy BMI range, and still be obese (Obese is excess fat). However, you cannot be in the morbidly obese and be completely healthy. That's just impossible.
Not really. Technically healthy means free of disease and ailment. You can be obese and fit that description. You will always carry a higher risk factor for many diseases if you are obese, but risk is not a guarantee of disease. It just means the odds are greater for you than for someone at a healthy weight.
I am an older woman with a family history of disease. I carry those risk factors, yet I am healthy.0 -
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arditarose wrote: »But it's not the BMI chart's fault that people are delusional about how athletically built and how much "muscle" mass they have.
yeah, my guess is the OP is looking at the chart and thinking to get to the low end would be unrealistic...and probably so...but it suggests that she doesn't really understand why there is a range and that it is a range to accommodate various builds and whatnot...not so that you just arbitrarily pick some number just because it's the lowest.
OP...my best friends wife and my wife are the same height (5'3") but completely different builds...my buddies wife is very petite with a tiny bone structure and looks great at about 115 Lbs or so...my wife would look sickly at that weight even though it's within the healthy range...my wife has an athletic build and medium frame...she looks great and ready to kick some *kitten* at around 130-135...conversely, my buddy's wife would look big at that weight.
it's not the charts fault that people don't understand what they're looking at...and really, it takes about 10 seconds of research to figure out how to use a BMI chart appropriately.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »coreyreichle wrote: »An individual can be in the "healthy" range and have obesity-related complications, while someone could be morbidly obese and be completely healthy.
You're half-right here. Someone can be in the healthy BMI range, and still be obese (Obese is excess fat). However, you cannot be in the morbidly obese and be completely healthy. That's just impossible.
Not really. Technically healthy means free of disease and ailment. You can be obese and fit that description. You will always carry a higher risk factor for many diseases if you are obese, but risk is not a guarantee of disease. It just means the odds are greater for you than for someone at a healthy weight.
I am an older woman with a family history of disease. I carry those risk factors, yet I am healthy.
Obesity IS a disease according to the American Medical Association. By that definition, it is NOT possible to be obese and perfectly healthy.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2013/2013-06-18-new-ama-policies-annual-meeting.page0 -
Everyone thinks they are an outlier, but few actually are.
The people who are generally the outliers (overweight because of muscle with a healthy bf%) tend to know what they are doing and don't need to rely on BMI to determine if they are healthy.
I'm using a goal weight in my healthy BMI range. I've never been that light before and have no idea what I will look like when I get there (should I be on the high end, low end, middle... I really don't know). It's a starting point. My real goal is a goal body (bf%) and I don't really care what I weigh when I get there.0 -
For most people, BMI normal range is what they should aim for. I have seen few people who are in fact very muscular, which really does not happen by accident, takes some serious training to get there. I have also seen a lot of people who believe that they are outliers, while in fact they are just overweight.
From your profile, you have a lot of weight to lose, so take it one step at a time. Overweight per BMI is still much much better than morbidly obese.
As a side note, I hope you are either brand new on this site and experimenting with the food diary, or under medical care, because 1000 calories per day makes no sense as a goal.0 -
I started at 210...my original goal was 180...thought I'd never get there...now my goal is my BMI of 160...we'll see0
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It's not nonsense. Being obese by BMI has been connected to certain health risks, that's the issue. And other than ninerbuff and other people who make an effort to gain a LOT of muscle mass, most people can fit somewhere in the normal BMI category.
Why do you think the goals for your height are unrealistic?
Ahh see but it is crap in certain cases. I'm 5'7" female. 160 pounds, and only 19-20% body fat and wear size 4 jeans. According to BMI chart, I'm overweight, even though no one would ever think that if they looked at me. If you have a lot of muscle, the BMI chart is wildly inaccurate.0 -
It's not nonsense. Being obese by BMI has been connected to certain health risks, that's the issue. And other than ninerbuff and other people who make an effort to gain a LOT of muscle mass, most people can fit somewhere in the normal BMI category.
Why do you think the goals for your height are unrealistic?
Ahh see but it is crap in certain cases. I'm 5'7" female. 160 pounds, and only 19-20% body fat and wear size 4 jeans. According to BMI chart, I'm overweight, even though no one would ever think that if they looked at me. If you have a lot of muscle, the BMI chart is wildly inaccurate.
You're the exception in that case, not the rule. That doesn't mean that the guidelines are inaccurate, it means that you don't fit the pattern. To draw an analogy, I might argue that speeding in your car is dangerous because it increases your risk of crashing. If a world champion race car driver pipes up and says "but I drive fast all the time and I'm fine" does that make my position wrong? Of course not.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »coreyreichle wrote: »An individual can be in the "healthy" range and have obesity-related complications, while someone could be morbidly obese and be completely healthy.
You're half-right here. Someone can be in the healthy BMI range, and still be obese (Obese is excess fat). However, you cannot be in the morbidly obese and be completely healthy. That's just impossible.
Not really. Technically healthy means free of disease and ailment. You can be obese and fit that description. You will always carry a higher risk factor for many diseases if you are obese, but risk is not a guarantee of disease. It just means the odds are greater for you than for someone at a healthy weight.
I am an older woman with a family history of disease. I carry those risk factors, yet I am healthy.
Obesity IS a disease according to the American Medical Association. By that definition, it is NOT possible to be obese and perfectly healthy.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2013/2013-06-18-new-ama-policies-annual-meeting.page
Interesting, is that based on BMI? The article linked did not say.0 -
It's not nonsense. Being obese by BMI has been connected to certain health risks, that's the issue. And other than ninerbuff and other people who make an effort to gain a LOT of muscle mass, most people can fit somewhere in the normal BMI category.
Why do you think the goals for your height are unrealistic?
Ahh see but it is crap in certain cases. I'm 5'7" female. 160 pounds, and only 19-20% body fat and wear size 4 jeans. According to BMI chart, I'm overweight, even though no one would ever think that if they looked at me. If you have a lot of muscle, the BMI chart is wildly inaccurate.
You're the exception in that case, not the rule. That doesn't mean that the guidelines are inaccurate, it means that you don't fit the pattern. To draw an analogy, I might argue that speeding in your car is dangerous because it increases your risk of crashing. If a world champion race car driver pipes up and says "but I drive fast all the time and I'm fine" does that make my position wrong? Of course not.
Oh of course, for anyone who doesn't lift, there's a good chance that the BMI chart pertains to them. I was just pointing out that in the weightlifting world, the BMI chart doesn't hold any water so a lot of us don't take it seriously.0 -
It's not nonsense. Being obese by BMI has been connected to certain health risks, that's the issue. And other than ninerbuff and other people who make an effort to gain a LOT of muscle mass, most people can fit somewhere in the normal BMI category.
Why do you think the goals for your height are unrealistic?
Ahh see but it is crap in certain cases. I'm 5'7" female. 160 pounds, and only 19-20% body fat and wear size 4 jeans. According to BMI chart, I'm overweight, even though no one would ever think that if they looked at me. If you have a lot of muscle, the BMI chart is wildly inaccurate.
You are overweight by 0.1. Not sure that qualifies as "wildly" inaccurate. We're talking a difference of less than 1 lb here.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »It's not nonsense. Being obese by BMI has been connected to certain health risks, that's the issue. And other than ninerbuff and other people who make an effort to gain a LOT of muscle mass, most people can fit somewhere in the normal BMI category.
Why do you think the goals for your height are unrealistic?
Ahh see but it is crap in certain cases. I'm 5'7" female. 160 pounds, and only 19-20% body fat and wear size 4 jeans. According to BMI chart, I'm overweight, even though no one would ever think that if they looked at me. If you have a lot of muscle, the BMI chart is wildly inaccurate.
You are overweight by 0.1. Not sure that qualifies as "wildly" inaccurate. We're talking a difference of less than 1 lb here.
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If you consider that I'm over the top of the "healthy range" and like I said, I'm 5'7 and size 4, I would call that pretty inaccurate.Need2Exerc1se wrote: »It's not nonsense. Being obese by BMI has been connected to certain health risks, that's the issue. And other than ninerbuff and other people who make an effort to gain a LOT of muscle mass, most people can fit somewhere in the normal BMI category.
Why do you think the goals for your height are unrealistic?
Ahh see but it is crap in certain cases. I'm 5'7" female. 160 pounds, and only 19-20% body fat and wear size 4 jeans. According to BMI chart, I'm overweight, even though no one would ever think that if they looked at me. If you have a lot of muscle, the BMI chart is wildly inaccurate.
You are overweight by 0.1. Not sure that qualifies as "wildly" inaccurate. We're talking a difference of less than 1 lb here.
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jojorocksforeva wrote: »Why do so many go off of that or that they should get their goal weight off of that when its a scam i hate bmi charts so much because they set you for unrealistic goals what do you think.
Some people don't know what they'd look like at a weight they haven't been at in adulthood, so it gives context of what to aim for. It's not a "scam," although it doesn't fit everyone, of course. I don't see how it sets you for unrealistic goals.
If you don't think it fits you, go for body fat percentage or a look or how you feel. That's what I'm doing, although my preferred BF%, look, etc. are all within the healthy BMI range.0 -
If you consider that I'm over the top of the "healthy range" and like I said, I'm 5'7 and size 4, I would call that pretty inaccurate.Need2Exerc1se wrote: »It's not nonsense. Being obese by BMI has been connected to certain health risks, that's the issue. And other than ninerbuff and other people who make an effort to gain a LOT of muscle mass, most people can fit somewhere in the normal BMI category.
Why do you think the goals for your height are unrealistic?
Ahh see but it is crap in certain cases. I'm 5'7" female. 160 pounds, and only 19-20% body fat and wear size 4 jeans. According to BMI chart, I'm overweight, even though no one would ever think that if they looked at me. If you have a lot of muscle, the BMI chart is wildly inaccurate.
You are overweight by 0.1. Not sure that qualifies as "wildly" inaccurate. We're talking a difference of less than 1 lb here.
I wouldn't even call it pretty inaccurate, and certainly not wildly inaccurate, as you first described it.
If you lost one single pound it's unlikely that your appearance or BF% would change, but you'd be in the healthy BMI range. At best it's a smidgeon inaccurate. Which isn't too bad for a population based tool used on an individual level.0 -
arditarose wrote: »OP, 115-120 is not really ridiculous sounding for 5'2" at all.
It's a good range for me at 5'3.
Edit: but bigger point is BMI goes up quite a bit higher as others have pointed out.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
If you consider that I'm over the top of the "healthy range" and like I said, I'm 5'7 and size 4, I would call that pretty inaccurate.Need2Exerc1se wrote: »It's not nonsense. Being obese by BMI has been connected to certain health risks, that's the issue. And other than ninerbuff and other people who make an effort to gain a LOT of muscle mass, most people can fit somewhere in the normal BMI category.
Why do you think the goals for your height are unrealistic?
Ahh see but it is crap in certain cases. I'm 5'7" female. 160 pounds, and only 19-20% body fat and wear size 4 jeans. According to BMI chart, I'm overweight, even though no one would ever think that if they looked at me. If you have a lot of muscle, the BMI chart is wildly inaccurate.
You are overweight by 0.1. Not sure that qualifies as "wildly" inaccurate. We're talking a difference of less than 1 lb here.
I wouldn't even call it pretty inaccurate, and certainly not wildly inaccurate, as you first described it.
If you lost one single pound it's unlikely that your appearance or BF% would change, but you'd be in the healthy BMI range. At best it's a smidgeon inaccurate. Which isn't too bad for a population based tool used on an individual level.
Let's work on our reading comprehension. I said "if you have a lot of muscle, it can be wildly inaccurate" I'm not sure why you have a hard on for proving me wrong. Go ask any serious weight lifter about BMI and they won't take you seriously. All I was doing is pointing out that it isn't the be all, end all for figuring out your target weight.-1
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