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Am I unhealthy? BMI says I'm obese..
Replies
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SnifterPug wrote: »
Thank you for clearing that up. My first instinct on seeing a "woo" option was to assume it meant "woo". But then I wondered if it actually meant "WooHoo" so I have never dared press it at all.
OOOHHHHHH!
Not to derail this thread, but look! Myfitnesspal has decided to change the Woo to "Disagree". Posted yesterday:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10759847/woo-be-gone#latest
Very good news.
from that thread:Woo will be going away in the next week so go ahead and get it out of your system while you still can. Woo because you love something, woo because its pseudo-science, woo to your heart's content
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cmriverside wrote: »Hard to believe people wooed @Azdak, who has been in the fitness industry for several decades and has been a valuable contributor to these forums for over ten years and 8000 posts.
I hope those woos were from new people who think it's WooHoo.
Azdak, you said "for eight more weeks..." You retiring? If so, early Congratulations. :flowerforyou:
I... don't think that's why it was woo'd 11 times (I was not one of them)7 -
Likely so but it would have to be significantly inaccurate for me to be out of “good” range.I actually do a lot of cardio. However we are good at deluding ourselvesmburgess458 wrote: »
Garmin hr is likely accurate but the VO2 probably isn’t. My Garmin says my VO2 is 50 which I’d love to believe but I think it’s too generous.
. I think it just goes back to my point about looking at the whole picture with someone qualified to make the assessment. I’m not a doctor and the Garmin is just a watch in the end. I’ll go on my physical results which were all good with the goal of improving health by losing the excess weight. I certainly can stand to lose 20 lbs which would actually bring me to normal BMI for my sex and age.
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cmriverside wrote: »
OOOHHHHHH!
Not to derail this thread, but look! Myfitnesspal has decided to change the Woo to "Disagree". Posted yesterday:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10759847/woo-be-gone#latest
Very good news. from that thread:
Sorry for the derail. If you haven’t already, please start a thread @cmriverside. (Just opened MFP so not caught up yet)
1) for informing folks, the responsible option.
2) so we can all go woo crazy without upsetting folk. A last irresponsible hoorah.
Cheers, h.
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middlehaitch wrote: »
Sorry for the derail. If you haven’t already, please start a thread @cmriverside. (Just opened MFP so not caught up yet)
1) for informing folks, the responsible option.
2) so we can all go woo crazy without upsetting folk. A last irresponsible hoorah.
Cheers, h.
There is a thread? That's why I put it in my post. If you want a thread about it, be my guest. :flowerforyou:1 -
IMHO opinion as a 5'9 male at 165lbs the chances of a 5'3 female adding so much muscle that 171lbs is a good weight, let alone their best weight, are extraordinarily low. Aim for your best rather than better than you were.
Agreed. For a 5'3" female to be 170 and carrying enough muscle to legit consider that a "good weight" would mean you're carrying either enough muscle mass to be a world-class powerlifter or bodybuilder (and even they would arguably not be considered "healthy" - anyone who thinks competitive bodybuilding is a 100% healthy endeavor has their head in the sand). You could also get a DEXA done and get a reasonably accurate idea of how much bodyfat you're carrying and work from that angle.
You've done awesome work so far but IMO there is always room for improvement (that's not just for you, but for everyone, myself included!).21 -
5'3"171. 23. Congrats on losing 30+ pounds OP. That is fantastic and I bet you feel and look SO much better. As a petite I often notice threads where folks seem much happier as a heavier weight. Then a few months or years later they drop a little more and will post about how even BETTER they feel. If you are comfortable where you are at I like the suggestion someone had about setting your goals to 1/2 pound per week and calling it maintenance to see what happens. I would be willing to bet WOOs that you will feel even better at another 20 pounds lighter (or even more shhhh) Do this for you and not your Mom or any of your friends. Hey. Just lift up a huge jug of cat little and think how much your knees would love you for relieving them of that extra stress?8
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cmriverside wrote: »Hard to believe people wooed @Azdak, who has been in the fitness industry for several decades and has been a valuable contributor to these forums for over ten years and 8000 posts.
I hope those woos were from new people who think it's WooHoo.
Azdak, you said "for eight more weeks..." You retiring? If so, early Congratulations. :flowerforyou:
I profoundly hesitate to disagree with Azdak, and I didn't woo him this time. I perceive his reply as pretty cautious (he didn't assert that OP is healthy, for example).
But this time, I don't really fully agree with him, either. Personally, I think that it's pretty important for OP to follow up with a health professional (who is not her mom!), rather than relax, because if she is still overfat, that would be easier to fix (with good long term prognosis) at 23 than it will be down the road if health issues arise.
Many people's "do I look obese" meter is discalibrated these days. Frankly, I might well have clung to an answer like Azdak's here as justifying being fat even longer, which would not have been a good thing. So, I think he's correct (as always
), but in a way that I fear won't lead OP in the most productive direction, which would be to get individualized, independent expert advice about whether she's fatter than ideal for best odds of continuing long-term good health, thus whether she should lose more weight (and how much might be reasonable).
By her own report, she's been working out for a year (good) after being quite inactive beforehand, has lost a bunch of weight already (good) but is still at a relatively high weight for her height, "tries to eat clean" but is "definitely not great at the eating part" and was formerly worse on that front.
Overall, that's not a green light/no worries situation. It's not a flashing red light situation, either. Yellow light, exercise caution, IMO. But I'm not an experienced, knowledgeable, intelligent health/fitness practitioner like Azdak is, just an formerly-fat active person close to OP's size.middlehaitch wrote: »
Sorry for the derail. If you haven’t already, please start a thread @cmriverside. (Just opened MFP so not caught up yet)
1) for informing folks, the responsible option.
2) so we can all go woo crazy without upsetting folk. A last irresponsible hoorah.
Cheers, h.
If they handle this like some other reaction changes, the woo count may just turn into a disagree count.
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@HakunaMatata137
You've made many successes and are living a lifestyle wanting to help others by becoming an instructor.
This word doesn't define you. This word is just a stepping stone to the next level.
Continue to improve yourself. Best wishes8 -
Congratulations. Great job!
1. BMI - good for a general idea, rough on the extremes. I'm 6'6" - 20 years ago I was a fairly lean 230; had hiked through Europe for 10 weeks with a 40# pack, legs were shredded, eating maybe 2 meals / day. I went to a University medical doctor who first said I should weigh 196#. I told him he was smoking crack. (I have broad shoulders, big boned.)
2. Hamwi formula / UW - is another measurement used by the Navy. If you are 'large boned' (based on wrist circumference), I believe there is another 5 - 10% allotment. Google it.
3. American standards vs Canadian / European standards. At the same time about 20 years ago, I was on a dating site that was 50% Canadian. Amazed at the number of beautiful, toned, athletic women who self identified as having "a few extra pounds". I was chatting with a European somewhere in my travels, and she said "that American over there". I asked her how she knew the person's nationality? Tennis shoes, large camera? "Americans are fat." Ouch.
4. Some of these topics can be depressing. I was playing with these BMI / other calculators... what if I lose another x amount of weight. Several said 50% of the weight loss would be muscle, which was very demotivating. I stopped looking at them.
(Some people claiming you either lose weight or gain muscle; gaining muscle in a caloric deficit 'impossible'. When I hike 1 hour up a ridge, I feel my legs getting stronger; coming down, I feel my core. Ironically, though in a caloric deficit, when I hike the weight reduction seems to stop.)
Maybe a body fat measurement would add insight? My next step. Good luck!
SW: 315
CW: 276
GW: 245?2 -
HakunaMatata137 wrote: »I'll start out by saying that I'm a 23 year old female, 5'3", and 171lbs. According to my BMI, I'm "obese", which is honestly kind of crazy to me. About a year ago, I weighed 205 lbs, rarely worked out, and ate whatever I wanted. But then I started working out a ton, watching what I ate (for the most part), and that's how I lost the weight. I'm even studying for my group fitness instructor certification!
I've gained a lot of muscle too (at least I think, I feel stronger and have more noticeable definition) since I've been doing a lot of strength training - Metcon, Olympic weight training, things like that.
I have no known health issues either. I'm definitely not "thin" and do have some excess fat around my thighs/hips, but I don't think I look obese like my BMI says I am. I know BMI is very controversial, and you need to take muscle into account. But even so, it seems like 171 is still high for someone my height. And it's not like I'm a bodybuilder or anything lol.
However, even my mom, who's a physician, and who has commented on my weight my whole life (part of the reason I've had eating disorders, but that's another story lol) has told me that it doesn't look like I need to lose any weight despite my weight. And this is coming from someone who's always told me that I need to lose weight!
I guess my question is, could I still be healthy even though I'm technically "obese"? Should I still be aiming to lose weight for health reasons? I work out 5-6 days/week, and try to eat clean. I'm definitely not great at the eating part, but I've gotten SO much better than I used to be. But I'm still just confused since, for my height, I should be weighing in at around 120-140. If anyone could give me some insight, that would be great! Thank you!
BMI isn't an indicator of health...it's an indicator of risk. Obese individuals are at higher risk for certain health problems down the line.17 -
cmriverside wrote: »
There is a thread? That's why I put it in my post. If you want a thread about it, be my guest. :flowerforyou:
In Challenges!1 -
Actually your BMI is 24.9, the very top of the healthy range. At your height, you'd have to weigh at least 198 to edge into obese. Big difference to the OPs situation.
I was just about to say I’m close to 5’5” and 160 and categorised as overweight so there’s no way you can be three inches taller and be categorised as obese but weight almost the same7 -
Hi, Im a petite also. Im 5 feet 2.5. People here have really responded well I think with sound advice and information.I joined the petite group here on MFP and for me its great. You might be interested to join also? I looked up your measurements and its putting you as Obese class 1. https://www.calculator.net/bmi-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=23&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=3&cpound=171&cheightmeter=180&ckg=65&printit=0&x=24&y=13 . If you are already in a healthy streak with training and eating well and have already lost weight then surely the advice is to continue with that. You seem to be on the right path already. You mention you had eating disorder issues in the past and really you dont want to spark that again. Better to continue to educate yourself about health and fitness and your own body in a balanced way. As mentioned by others as a young person you may not have health issues now but they come in time with carrying excess body fat especially around the middle. So its a good idea to monitor where you are at in terms of carrying excess fat in these areas. Like others said a Doctor or nutritionist is really the best person to advise you on that. You mention your Mom is a Doctor but perhaps your own private Doctor is the better person to give you unbiased advice. To compare us as petites for example, in my profile photo I was 112 pounds maybe that helps you to see what another petite who weight trains a lot looks like in a photo. For me personally it was my body fat % which is/was more of an issue than my weight. I've lost 2 pounds weight since joining MFP a few weeks ago and for me as a petite that really shows which wouldnt on a taller person. However, what I lost in body fat, I've gained in muscle as Im measuring it with a scales that does that. You might consider getting scales that measures this? Ethnicity can affect what weight looks like on a petite. I have an asian friend same height as me. Her frame and weight not the same as mine and wouldnt look the same as my frame which is more Mediterranean. So I understand a what you might mean about how you look.The link I added about BMI is saying for our height the weight range is from 104 to 140. This to me takes into account what I just mentioned about a persons frame. Thanks.0
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After I went to the hospital with my third child, I lost a lot of weight. Then I started taking hormonal birth control and gained 20 lbs back. I gave up a little with 3 small children and working. Now that I am fighting my way back to healthy and fit, I am down 60 lbs. But still at the overwieght/obese line.
BMI can be accurate but I have always been solid. I am in a similar situation where I am big butt and thighs, but also bang out at least an hour workout of weight lifting, HIIT, and aerobics. Yes, I (and you) can afford to lose some more weight (currently 5'2 and 160, 28) but dont take BMI as your main measurement. I suggest using a body fat calculator based on your measurements. BMI has me at about 115-125 but body fat puts me closer to 140 as
Healthy1 -
I... don't think that's why it was woo'd 11 times (I was not one of them)
Its not. BMI is one of those unquestionable truths on here, cast any doubt and people get trigger happy with the woo's.
I speak from experience lol.
When I set about losing weight I aimed for a healthy BMI, basically to prove it wasnt healthy at all for me.
Im short and stocky, I carry a reasonable amount of muscle/mass (certainly nothing to write home about) and have always been overweight/obese according to BMI despite it being patently untrue to anyone who looked at me.
When I got down to a "healthy weight", literally the top end of the band, people thought I had serious illness. I was wasting, gaunt, weak... There was nothing healthy about it.
I spent some time in the gym, ended up putting a stone on over that healthy range, and have never looked and felt so good.
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OP I’m in the same boat as you. Male, 36, starting weight of 237 at 6’ talk. I new I was overweight but didnt believe bmi saying i was obese. Now that i’ve lost 25lbs i realize that i was obese (just barely into overweight category now). We look at ourselves through rose coloured glasses until we finally do something about our weight.19
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I don't know how much stock I'd put in how other people see you. First, they probably aren't seeing you naked. Clothes can hide the shape of the body to some degree of they fit right. Second, we've become accustomed to seeing average as normal. As a society, I think at least Americans are getting heavier than they were 20, 30 years ago.13
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I was also convinced BMI was wrong for me, and it is definitely a bit screwed but not wrong. I am at a healthy weight for myself anywhere between 140 and 160 which is between 23.5 and 26.5 roughly. I find waist to height to be a better indicator for me personally. The goal for women being under .48 I believe, but anything under .5 is generally considered low risk.
All that said once I got down to 140 I was around 22% BF and definitely could lose more weight if I had wanted and still have been in a healthy range. Much below 135 and I would not have looked or felt healthy, which is a BMI of 22.5 or generally considered ideal. My lean body mass was measured around 110 lbs, at 125 I would be underweight, with a BMI of 20.8 which is considered healthy. I am muscular with a bit higher than average bone density. 5'5" for reference.
In short, rarely is being in the obese category healthy. There are many folks in the overweight category who are probably at a healthy weight. It is rare that the high end of BMI is unhealthy, but healthy range may not be accurate for all people. Find multiple ways to measure and go form there, but if your Dr is not concerned and you are happy where you are so be it.7 -
It sounds like you have a really healthy lifestyle which is a good thing! I am 5’4 so just a bit taller than you, and I went between 158-170 for most of my early 20s. At the time I wanted to lose weight bc I wanted to look thin, but I was probably happiest with my body at about 165. Even though I was on the high end of overweight by BMI I felt good physically and my doctor had no concerns either. (Part of it may have been my weight distribution—I have always been kind of hourglass shaped.) I gained a lot of weight the last three years mostly around the middle and I can just feel that I am at an unhealthy weight. Definitely talk to your doctor, get your blood work done and make sure you don’t have any health concerns at the moment. Losing weight probably wouldn’t be a bad thing, but focusing on keeping a healthy lifestyle is probably more important in the long run0
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HakunaMatata137 wrote: »I'll start out by saying that I'm a 23 year old female, 5'3", and 171lbs. According to my BMI, I'm "obese", which is honestly kind of crazy to me. About a year ago, I weighed 205 lbs, rarely worked out, and ate whatever I wanted. But then I started working out a ton, watching what I ate (for the most part), and that's how I lost the weight. I'm even studying for my group fitness instructor certification!
I've gained a lot of muscle too (at least I think, I feel stronger and have more noticeable definition) since I've been doing a lot of strength training - Metcon, Olympic weight training, things like that.
I have no known health issues either. I'm definitely not "thin" and do have some excess fat around my thighs/hips, but I don't think I look obese like my BMI says I am. I know BMI is very controversial, and you need to take muscle into account. But even so, it seems like 171 is still high for someone my height. And it's not like I'm a bodybuilder or anything lol.
However, even my mom, who's a physician, and who has commented on my weight my whole life (part of the reason I've had eating disorders, but that's another story lol) has told me that it doesn't look like I need to lose any weight despite my weight. And this is coming from someone who's always told me that I need to lose weight!
I guess my question is, could I still be healthy even though I'm technically "obese"? Should I still be aiming to lose weight for health reasons? I work out 5-6 days/week, and try to eat clean. I'm definitely not great at the eating part, but I've gotten SO much better than I used to be. But I'm still just confused since, for my height, I should be weighing in at around 120-140. If anyone could give me some insight, that would be great! Thank you!
Being classified as obese, does not make you just not thin. I know it is not what you want to hear.
I cannot find now the links, probably you can do your own research, but a BMI in the obese range puts you at serious health risks, even if you are an athlete, I recall a while ago several studies on this, including professional athletes that are defnitely far more muscular than any "normal" person.
BMI is controversial only in groups of people who are classified as obese, or are struggling with their weight. The normal BMI range is a range, exactly to cover differences in physique, muscle, bone structure.
It sounds like you have made awesome progress, which also of course decreases health risks. However for your height, you would be at the upper healthy BMI at a weight of about 140.
The best would be to discuss this with your dr. And ask for honesty.
How you "look" is not a health risk indicator, there are gorgeous women (and men) who are overweight and plain or ugly people who are at a perfect weight.7 -
You may not be unhealthy, but you're statistically more at risk for health issues. Statistical risk does not mean guaranteed problems, but it means you need to be more vigilant and watchful. In general, overweight up to class I obese are only at a slight statistical disadvantage (that's still a disadvantage, and it goes south fast from there.)
I'm overweight by BMI, nearly obese. I chose this as my maintenance weight because that's what suits me and my waist to hip ratio gives me a slight advantage to be able to pull it off, too. My tests are all fine so far, much better than they used to be, but I'm always on the watch for changes. If there is even the slightest indication that my markers are going in the wrong direction for several checkups in a row (even if they're still in the normal range), I will have to lose more weight until they stabilize. For now, I'm content maintaining a nearly obese weight.9 -
I think, opinion only, that BMI has serious limitations. It does not measure lean muscle or fat alone. It's was developed in the 1830's. Maybe more work will be done to make it a more accurate assessment. In My opinion, it should be used as a guide rather than a classification tool. I'm an RN and I have to use it in practice when doing health assessments. But I also consider other medical conditions. I've seen people with well defined muscles and looking fit and healthy and their bmi says overweight? I don't like the BMI tool personally.3
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I am an RN and I do like the BMI tool - used in conjunction with clinical picture, ie seeing the actual patient.
Is usually blatantly obvious whether somebody has a very high BMI because they are have an unusual muscle mass, ie elite body builders - or they are plain old fat.
Yes I've seen people who are fit and healthy and BMI says overweight too - usually young active men who have a BMI of 27 or so.
They are the demographic often just above upper limits and still healthy.
Young women with BMI over 30,( ie OP) much less likely to be healthy weight.
Highly unlikely her BMI does not reflect true obesity, or at least significant overweight. As I said before.
The fact that BMI was first invented in 1830's doesn't change its validity. Maths hasn't changed and human body structure hasn't changed in that time.
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paperpudding wrote: »I am an RN and I do like the BMI tool - used in conjunction with clinical picture, ie seeing the actual patient.
Is usually blatantly obvious whether somebody has a very high BMI because they are have an unusual muscle mass, ie elite body builders - or they are plain old fat.
Yes I've seen people who are fit and healthy and BMI says overweight too - usually young active men who have a BMI of 27 or so.
They are the demographic often just above upper limits and still healthy.
Young women with BMI over 30,( ie OP) much less likely to be healthy weight.
Highly unlikely her BMI does not reflect true obesity, or at least significant overweight. As I said before.
The fact that BMI was first invented in 1830's doesn't change its validity. Maths hasn't changed and human body structure hasn't changed in that time.
I agree completely, Maybe I shouldn't write so late at night because I was pretty much saying (or trying to say) the same thing, but that I prefer waist to height ratio rather than BMI.
As for saying it is a 120 year old formula, I didn't mean to imply that it was invalid, just that there are more considerations we can look at for each individual.2 -
Ok.
Yes, in conjunction with other tools - and waist measurement is an easy one for people to do at home, like working out your BMI.
Even elite body builders tend to have within normal range waist measurements which overweight people with abdominal fat do not.
But again, if person were in front of you, I think it would be blatantly obvious, even before measuring their waist, whether it will fall into normal range or not, and whether their high BMI is unusually high muscle mass or not.
But handy guide for people at home to see if their waist measurement correlates with their BMI - ie if both are significantly outside range highly unlikely you are not overweight.
If you have been doing body building and your BMI is high but your waist measurement is not - yes you could be a healthy outlier.8 -
paperpudding wrote: »I am an RN and I do like the BMI tool - used in conjunction with clinical picture, ie seeing the actual patient.
Is usually blatantly obvious whether somebody has a very high BMI because they are have an unusual muscle mass, ie elite body builders - or they are plain old fat.
Yes I've seen people who are fit and healthy and BMI says overweight too - usually young active men who have a BMI of 27 or so.
They are the demographic often just above upper limits and still healthy.
Young women with BMI over 30,( ie OP) much less likely to be healthy weight.
Highly unlikely her BMI does not reflect true obesity, or at least significant overweight. As I said before.
The fact that BMI was first invented in 1830's doesn't change its validity. Maths hasn't changed and human body structure hasn't changed in that time.
I think it is really hard for a person to accept that they are obese and they cling onto anything they can to try and justify being an unhealthy weight. I am included in this they. I tried to kid myself for years that I simply had a large frame which meant I could still be healthy carrying around that extra weight. Once I got down to a healthy BMI I finally came to the realisation that my frame is anything but large. I was simply overweight.21 -
Lillymoo01 wrote: »
I think it is really hard for a person to accept that they are obese and they cling onto anything they can to try and justify being an unhealthy weight. I am included in this they. I tried to kid myself for years that I simply had a large frame which meant I could still be healthy carrying around that extra weight. Once I got down to a healthy BMI I finally came to the realisation that my frame is anything but large. I was simply overweight.
It probably has to do with obesity being portrayed as a character flaw, not just a health risk. From a different perspective, as someone who has no self-esteem issues related to weight, I knew I was fat all along I just didn't care. Now, I know I'm still fat, and I prefer it. I don't feel the need to justify wanting to be an overweight BMI by saying I'm big boned (I actually am, but I'm also fat) because I don't feel it's something I need to be ashamed of.13 -
I wonder what exactly people are disagreeing with, that feeling bad about something can skew our perception or my belief that being fat is not shameful?9
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I think you need to ask your doctor what they think. I was obese at one time on the BMI scale and my doctor told me not to lose more weight. He told me don’t become one of those cyclists with eating disorders to lose more weight. It really depends on the person.0
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