BMI and body type?

Rworthy

Is there any help for people with a more muscular body type to calculate BMI? I am concerned that to be healthy, I would be nothing but skin and bones. At my healthiest weight I was 160 pounds, 5 ft. 7 in. That was when I was 16 years old, and it is still considered overweight according to this BMI chart. I am finding it very depressing knowing that if I lose 35 pounds, I will be at the highest maximum weight BMI in the Overweight category. I do not feel like I am obese at all! I am healthy, able to work out for long periods of time without a problem, have a 34 inch waist and a thick build. Are there any other nutrition guidelines out there that are more reasonable than the 110-pound-weight-means-you're-finally-healthy standard? (I'm never going to be 110 pounds!)

TheMaidOfAstolat

I despise the BMI calculations. It's a measurement that never takes into account the persons shape, muscle mass, or frame. When I have my BMI measured I come in as under weight...but I'm very petite and have a thin frame and am compleatly healthy by my doctors standards. Ignore the BMI, use a measuring tape, the scale, and if possible a body mass test.

aymetcalf

Yeah, I wouldn't put much thought into BMI... according to BMI, professional body-builders are obese. hahaha. :flowerforyou:

Louise12

hey ! yes the bmi isnt good...i am 5'7 150 pounds and literally only just in the healthy BMI...
It is depressing to know that if im a few pound over i am agin over weight! but i dont think about ...if you feell happy and heelthy thats what counts and from the sounds of it you have a similar size and frame to me so im sure u r looking just

keep at it and ignore BMI!

valeriebpdx

I agree that BMI is not the final word, for the opposite reason. I technically have a healthy BMI (just barely, 24.7) but at 5'7" and 157, I have at least 20 lbs of fat to lose. It's all about knowing what's right for your body. BMI can be a useful guideline to someone who is very far from a healthy weight, but that final goal number is all about knowing what looks right on you and what your body is capable of.

Louise12

EXACTLY ! i know now that if i lost another 20 pounds firstly it would be a miracle if i did..but i think i would look awful! and i like curves! ..so i wouldnt go by it at all!

LotusF1ower

I don't like BMI either, I do record it weekly, however, it annoys me because as somebody said earlier, it doesn't take body shape into account at all. If a female has a large chest, it can show up that she is overweight, it is annoying!

Voncreepy2

If I was within my BMI i would look anorexic!!!! I carry my weight pretty well because of my muscle makeup but it is discouraging to see my BMI range. i know where I look and feel good though.

rybo

BMI is completely useless for me. 5'10" 173# and probably 10% body fat at most. (I'm a guy) and yet I BARELY eek into the top of the "healthy" range. Back in my heyday of weight lifting I was 185# with the same body fat % so I showed up way out of range.

rcatr

BMI is tricky and like the others have said not the be all and end all measurement of weight loss and health, in my opinion.

For instance, my BF is 6'6" and weighs 220. He looks normal, even thin to me, but according to a BMI chart, he is overweight.

WHAT? If he lost 20 pounds he would look too skinny and sick.

Lisa0711

I have the same problem. I have an athletic build. I'm 5'6 and my "healthy" weight is anything under 155. But once when I weighed 175 I didn't have much fat on me and I was an inch or two shorter than I am now! I do believe that when going by BMI calculations I wouldn't look very good at that recommended weight.

So like everyone else said, ignore BMI! It's just a general calculation that doesn't even match many people. Choose to pay attention to your size and where YOU feel is a healthy weight.

Rworthy

<reply to ALL> So what I'm seeing here is a general consensus that BMI is bull crap. Then why does it even exist? I know the medical community, TV shows like Biggest Loser, etc. -- all LIVE by the BMI scale. If it isn't right for women with boobs, or men with muscles, then why isn't there something else out there to tell us what should be an appropriate goal for our lifestyles? There should just be more questions than height, weight and age...How about bra size, waist in inches, thickness of forearm, etc. Does anyone know if this exists?

david1956

BMIs are based on population averages. So they can re reasonably accurate for "average" people. They are useless for anyone outside the norm, especially muscluar builds. Someone up there mentioned athletes usually being "obese" according to BMIs - I recently saw a table of famous Olympians who were theoretically obsese at the time they won gold. And the topic of obesity surfaced recently here in NZ, and it was revealed that probably almost the entire All Blacks rugby team (amongst the most conditioned athletes on earth) was probably obese.

I tend to a muscular build, but unfortunately I've personally found measurements of fat percentage almost as confusing. Various caliper measurements put me almost certainly way too low, those electronic scale gizmos put me at a wildly different measurement that I think is a bit high. Although I might revisit the numbers game one day, at the moment I've basically decided that if my weight isn't increasing, I'm increasing strength, and my appearance and clothes fit is better then something good's happening. I'm not going to stress over numbers that may not even be accurate.