Is your BMI "normal" now?

ise311

BMI normal but body fat % is way too high. I have a lot to cut!

brittbrogan02

My BMI is 19.7, I am within normal BMI. I think it is more about when you are comfortable with your own body. I lost 15 lbs and am completely happy weighing in at 115 at 5'4.

LivingtheLeanDream

Bmi is a good tool for me - 23.5 is nicely in the normal range. I'm fairly big boned and muscly so 132lbs looks good on me at 5ft 2 1/4".
When I started my weight loss I was 26 which was just going into overweight category. I was unfit and fat at 154lbs. I needed to lose 20lbs to feel slim.


If you feel lean and are happy with yourself then that's the main thing.

spzjlb

Yes, my BMI is normal now - I think around 21.5. I was shocked into losing weight with MFP when I realized that my BMI landed me at overweight. I lost about 30 lbs in 2015 and feel much better. I feel like I'd like to be a little lighter-smaller still so that my lower body would be more defined, as my abs and upper body are quite muscular (for a 51 yr old woman).

neldabg

I started with a BMI of 31, and I hit the normal range with a BMI of 24.6 this past October. Now, my BMI is 21, and I'm aiming for a BMI of 20, which is just a few pounds away.

kristen6350

Yep. 5'11, 150, BMI 21. At an overweight BMI I feel like a whale. That's 180, so considerably more than what I weight now.

pinkteapot3

This time around, I started at 24.2 and I'm now 21.1 and maintaining (six years ago I did a much bigger loss, from overweight).

At 24.2, I wasn't happy - too many wobbly bits. I have a large frame (broad shoulders, hips, elbows, etc!) and am hourglass-shaped. I'm very happy at my 21.1 shape. Under BMI I could lose another 17lbs and still be 'healthy', but at my current weight my collarbones are clearly visible and my husband made a comment about how he could feel my ribs. I'd look far bonier than I'd like at the bottom end of the healthy range. Plus I still have my boobs and a bit of a butt which I like.

As others said, it very much depends on genetics and body shape. The healthy range is huge - mine is 42lbs wide! Presumably because we're all so different and carry weight differently.

Ohwhynot

My BMI is normal now, but I'm still skinny-fat. I don't need to be measured accurately to be able to see that there is too much fat around my midsection. That's what this year is for... recomping!

shrcpr

Just slipped into normal BMI last weigh-in but am still working on losing another 12-15 pounds, which would put me in the middle of normal.

SW: 153.3 (26.3)
CW: 137.6 (23.62)
GW: 125 (21.45)

I'm 5'4" and 46 yrs.

HutchA12

arditarose wrote: »

mommarnurse wrote: »

Well, is it?. There's more to being healthy than the BMI number which only takes into account two factors: height and weight. After losing 91 lbs, (5'3 Female) I'm at 144ish and I keep feeling sort of guilty for going to maint and not seeing to it that I get to a "normal" BMI (which would be 140 lbs at the high end) but I know I'm large framed with a good amt of muscle. Was it a normal BMI that told you to stop losing or something else?

Yes. I'm 54" as well and my lowest weight recorded was 127. Trust me that lasted about a day. Now I'm bulking and gaining weight, and you bet when I hit 140-145 the thought that I'm not at a "healthy bmi" will not cross my mind once-this is the most fit I have been in my life.

5'4 Female at 140 if almost pure muscle bulk is professional bodybuilder #'s Lisa Aukland is at those stats. I don't think you get there worrying about bmi.

mjglantz

My initial goal was to get to the lower end of the overweight category and I hit that. I kept eating the way I was and exercising and the weight kept coming off. Eventually I added in more cardio + strength and upped the calories (around 1600/day at 5'8") and continued to lose. Changed my goal to 162 which is just in the normal BMI. I continued to lose and now around 142 which is at the lower end of the BMI range and I feel GREAT. Have energy and blood work all great. I don't think I could have imagined getting here when I started but getting there gradually seems to have worked. I've been at our under my goal for over 2 years.

fiddletime

Mine is 22.6 and I have a little fat that I need to lose and need to keep lifting. 61/F

VeryKatie

I'm at 21.6, trying to get to 20.2... but might maintain between 20.2 and 21.0 if I can. Medium frame.

victoria_1024

I'm at the high end of a healthy BMI. I'm 5'2.5" and I'm about 135. I feel really good at this weight. I like how I look in pictures and I like how my clothes fit. I've been maintaining for the past couple of months (except for the unfortunate 3 lb gain over Christmas!) and I find it easy to maintain this weight. I do think I want to attempt to lose a few more pounds at a very slow pace and focus more on fitness, but I worry about getting too low where it will be a struggle to maintain it.

nordlead2005

My original goal was 175lb, or a BMI of 24.4 (overweight is 25 and over). My orginal goal was based on being 175lb in college and knowing that I looked good with a decent amount of muscle.

I just hit that today. My current goal is to slowly edge down until I have visible abs, so that may be 171-172 or so, since my BF is in the 12-13% range so I'm pretty close. I feel like I can see abs if the lighting and all conditions are perfect.

After that, I may gain weight until I hit 185lb, and then I'll be overweight, so while BMI is useful, I know I'll be off the high end by a tiny bit and still be perfectly fine. I'd never push myself to hit mid-range BMI (155lb) as I'd have to lose LBM to achieve that.

mburgess458

Barely in the healthy BMI range....body fat of 11% (per a BodPod analysis, should be fairly accurate and is similar to what calculators based on measurements say)...30 inch waist (I'm a guy). I have lifted weights for decades but I'm not obviously muscle bound or anything.

I have relatively short legs for my height. I think that is a big part of why I tend to be on the higher end of BMI ranges (my torso is a higher percentage of my overall height than someone with longer legs, and legs are lighter than torso). Also the weight lifting. I also have a relatively large frame (wide shoulders etc.).

myfitnesspale3

yep my BMI is "normal" appx 24 now after reaching target weight

That was part of the reason I set my target weight value - I know BMI is only meaningful for "populations" but being in the "overweight population" with BMI appx 28 was still unsettling.

trina1049

mommarnurse wrote: »

Well, is it?. There's more to being healthy than the BMI number which only takes into account two factors: height and weight. After losing 91 lbs, (5'3 Female) I'm at 144ish and I keep feeling sort of guilty for going to maint and not seeing to it that I get to a "normal" BMI (which would be 140 lbs at the high end) but I know I'm large framed with a good amt of muscle. Was it a normal BMI that told you to stop losing or something else?

I'm 5'2.5" and 66 years old, with a medium frame. My BMI is in the normal range 22.9 - 23.0 since February, '15, with a guesstimated body fat of around 25%. I'm currently 126 - 127 lbs. but I'd like to get down to around to the 122 - 125 lb. range if I can with a 22 BMI which puts me right in the middle of my normal range. I figure that the BMI ranges account for small, medium, and large frames so that's what my decision of a BMI of 22 is based upon.

Edited to add: I'm pretty happy with where I am now at 126-127 lbs. so the last few I'm just considering as vanity pounds.

ChrisM8971

I am now within the healthy BMI range

The BMI scale gets a lot of stick and you will always get those examples of how someone with a reasonable amount of muscle shows as overweight or obese etc. But it does what it was originally designed for and that is a statistical measurement of populations such as "If the average BMI in the UK is x then the UK has an overweight population" It was adopted by the medical profession for individuals because it is cheap to implement.

That being said it is a great guide and part of a toolbox we can use to judge our progress, along with weight, measurements and how we feel & look.

PokeyBug

My BMI is slightly less than 23, which falls in the normal range, but I think BMI is a lousy indicator for 'healthy'. I know people who are muscular and whose BMI falls in the overweight range, but they are by no means overweight. I knew when I was ready to start maintaining when I fit into my jeans from college again. (When you're 44, that's a big deal. )

BikeTourer

I'm in the middle of my BMI and I am fine with that. Trying to be better this year in including strength training consistently which may end up driving it up, we shall see.

ekahnicole

Yeah my BMI is on the high side of normal (23-24 depending on the day). As others have said, I pay more attention to my waist to hip ratio, which is .74 so overall I'm pretty happy with where I'm at.

It made me happy to reach a "healthy" BMI regardless of it not being the best measurement of how healthy you are simply because I started with a BMI of 49.

LindaHark

MY BMI says I'm obese and that is not acceptable! I need to lose weight and to feel better.

srcurran

For the first time in my adult life, yes. Between 22-23. Happy about it.