Hanger...are they getting my BMR right?

Maxxitt

bold_rabbit wrote: »

@carofdiego @brittlb07

I'm likely significantly older than both of you. When I was young, doctors used insurance tables much more than BMI. They always told me that I should weigh under 115 pounds. I thought they were nuts.

In college, I had ended up weighing something under 118 lbs (my dressed weight on the scale at student health) and everyone was concerned about my health, including medical professionals. I clearly looked too thin. Sidenote: I was one of the rare people who lose weight freshman year because I didn't like the cafeteria food.

Around 2000, I accidentally undershot when losing and dropped to 118 lbs. Again people were concerned.

I've learned that 120 lbs is definitely a hard bottom for me. Besides, that's a size 4 (in today's sizing) for me and it's a lot more effort to buy clothes under size 4 (2s just aren't carried everywhere), so I have no desire to go lower than that.

Feel free to add me as a friend. I eat pescatarian and log every day except vacations. I switched to maintenance calories on MFP and just try to get a small deficit every day while losing these last pounds.

I remember those insurance tables .... for women, they assumed that we were wearing two-inch heels when measured! A lot of folks seemed to miss this piece so naturally, the "healthy weight" goals were way too light.https://i.pinimg.com/236x/f4/64/66/f4646677125fca8cbd4bcf3c62a0e267--weight-loss-blogs-quick-weight-loss.jpg

cwolfman13

bold_rabbit wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

bold_rabbit wrote: »

As someone who is also 5'3" and about 124.5 lbs --

While 127 lbs is a perfectly healthy weight so is 120 lbs at our height. I don't think it is unreasonable for you to be aiming for 120 -123 lbs. Personally my goal for maintenance is in the 120 - 125 range (still deciding). Also, there is likely a size difference from 127 to 120, so I'm not sure that would qualify as "vanity." ( I'm not quite sure what folks mean when they say that, since I think we are all trying to get to a weight we are happy with that is in a healthy range.)

The phase "vanity weight" isn't a negative one, it's just means a loss within the healthy range (I always say a friend of mine lost vanity weight using 5:2, because I think it's often relevant to the conversion that she was never overweight).

I'm 5'3 also, ranging between 125 and 130, would prefer to be about 120 (although mainly would prefer to be leaner, whatever my weight, so I'm focusing on the gym this year -- a couple years ago I had a trainer my height who was around 135 and yet looked thinner than me because she was leaner, and looked amazing). In any case, with respect to the 120 goal, I'd certainly say my goal is to lose vanity weight (and yes it's perfectly reasonable to want to be around 120 at 5'3).

It's hard for me to understand that the term "vanity weight" isn't meant to have a negative connotation.

Webster's definition for vanity:

1: inflated pride in oneself or one's appearance : CONCEIT
2: something that is vain, empty, or valueless

I'd never heard the term before this website and just assumed, based on the accepted definition of "vanity" AND the way it is used here, that "vanity weight" is not a positive or even neutral term. I appreciate your view. I will have to re-evaluate.

It's not negative in the context which it's used. It is a term often used in the fitness community to describe weight loss that would not really change anything in regards to health or health risk, but rather weight loss for aesthetic reasons...it's not a literal phrase.

I'm at around 190 right now and my first target goal is to get back down to what has been my maintenance of around 180...my second target is 175. I'm at around 20% BF right now which isn't unhealthy, but it looks fluffy and soft and it's teetering right on the edge of an unhealthy BF%. Getting back down to 180 and then hopefully to 175 is largely an aesthetic goal...ie vanity weight so I don't feel so self conscious when I'm sitting around the pool with my shirt off this summer.

I'm at a healthy BF% (barely) but just wanting to be leaner for aesthetic reasons...ie vanity weight.