What BMI are you heading for?

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  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Always funny to see the BMI debate. For women, you're more at risk of being a false negative (showing "normal" BMI but with unhealthy levels of body fat) than a false positive. But the complaints are always about the false positive.
  • liekewheeless
    liekewheeless Posts: 416 Member
    Right now I'm almost in the "healthy" range so that's my immediate goal. Eventually I want to be at 21.

    As far as using BMI as a measuring tool. For me it works. I'm not exceptionally athletic or muscular.
    The only people it doesn't work for are people with a lot of muscle. If you are convinced you fall into this category, measure your waist. For women it's anything below 35",.. for men I'm not sure, you can look it up.
    That should give you a more accurate measure of healthy.
  • mmd575
    mmd575 Posts: 88 Member
    BMI is a decent indicator for most people especially those who haven't done a lot of muscle building. It's worthless for me personally though. I am overweight according to BMI. Pisses me off every year when I go to my employee health screening and I lose a point due to being "overweight". Last year I went so far as to lift my shirt up and politely ask where they thought I should lose the extra weight from. You can put some stock in to BMI but it's not the end all be all indicator of heath.

    Ha! I wish I could lift up my shirt and show off my toned abs and say that to my doctor! lol But my first goal would be to have my BMI at 29 so I can get out of the obese category. Once I'm in the overweight BMI range, then I guess I will have a better idea of where I need to be.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I don't pay any attention to BMI any more.... I don't feel it is a true indicator of my overall health and well being... Best of Luck
  • Chanchka
    Chanchka Posts: 359 Member
    My ultimate goal is a BMI of 20.8 (based on my goal weight). But honestly, right now, I'm just deperate to get out of the "obese" category and into the "overweight"!
  • mmd575
    mmd575 Posts: 88 Member
    BMI is wonderful for people in denial. If someone doesn't realize how fat or skinny they are, the BMI is there to tell them.

    I don't really care about the BMI when I'm done. I loved moving out of OBESE and into OVERWEIGHT. Nobody was ever so happy to become overweight, let me tell you! Did a dance of joy.

    Looking forward to entering Normal. It's not far off.

    But the actual number, when I'm done? I don't care.

    I can't wait to get out of the obese and into overweight! I have 47 lbs to go until I get there. But I will do a dance a joy too! Congratulations on hitting that milestone and that is great you are almost in the normal range!
  • Chevy_Quest
    Chevy_Quest Posts: 2,012 Member
    It's nonsense on stilts, and it's not scientific in any way, shape or form. It's like trying to determine IQ by measuring skull circumference.

    @jim_B

    You sir are the Metaphor King LOL!! :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
    You'll get quite a few people here taking issue with BMI - they'll be very muscular, or point out it's only good measure for populations rather than individuals. But a sample of people here maybe aren't the same the general population. Relying on one thing to measure health alone isn't good. But let's face it, a great deal of people in the general population (not drawn from a health and fitness website) with a high BMI are fat, not built like the Rock. I am retaining pies and gin, not glistening guns.

    I will be happy when it's around 20 I think. It's a bit arbitatry really, it is general and but something to head towards. I'm smack bang between healthy and overweight at the moment.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member

    I can't wait to get out of the obese and into overweight! I have 47 lbs to go until I get there. But I will do a dance a joy too! Congratulations on hitting that milestone and that is great you are almost in the normal range!
    It's so weird to think of myself as overweight instead of obese because one look at my thighs and it's still FAT. Sometimes I think it: I am not obese. I just can't believe it.

    Buying XLs in the regular (not Fat Lady) section of the store was a HUGE day for me. The biggest. I am not sure anything will ever top that day.

    I cannot wait to buy and wear my first clothes without an X in the size. I may walk around and tell strangers, "Hey! This shirt is a large!" It's coming very soon.

    But THIN is the end game.

    I'll get there. So will you. :)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I don't particularly care--I'm going for body fat percentage and overall look/size. My goal weight is based on a weight I looked good at recently enough to still be applicable, and it would be a BMI of 21.3. I know I look better below 25, but I also know I could have had a better body fat percentage and more lean mass last time I was at my goal weight (I did lots of cardio, especially running, but not enough strength training), so that could mean that my goal ends up a bit higher, although it also may mean that I work harder to get the body fat down and end up at the same weight, who knows. For me there's no way it means I'll be outside the normal BMI range, though, so I guess BMI works fine for me.
  • Aikigoth
    Aikigoth Posts: 40 Member
    BMI is a population tool. When you are using it, you are using other people of the same color, height, and gender as you to guess at how healthy you are. My Zumba coach is the same height as me; we have opposite body types. Just because she looks banging at 150 does not mean I should be 150.

    So I am a 5'10" female with a large frame who packs on skeletal muscle like a champ. My lean body mass is 133 while I am slightly overweight or 'cosmetically overweight' as the doc puts it. According to the BMI, right now I am smack dab in the middle of overweight. However, I would have to lose all of my fat and some muscle in order to get into the 'under healthy weight' category.

    Meanwhile my BF who is rather fit but has a runner's build is straddling being underweight.

    It's a tool- use it for what it is made for.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    I think BMI sucks just like the scale. It doesn't give an accurate picture of a person's health. The mere fact some people who are more fit, trim, and have a muscles are penalized because of an outdated tool makes BMI suck out loud in my opinion.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    First, let me make clear I am not saying we DON'T have obesity issues in this country. But I have seen some suggestions that the actual numbers were inflated when we introduced BMI. Vismal is a great example, he is clearly neither obese nor overweight but technically people like him are part of the "obesity epidemic" because they're only looking at the numbers. I am pretty sure doctors used to have the capability to look at someone like him and classify them as normal. Now they just tick off the BMI range. Weight Watchers had some convoluted equation to figure out a "point." I can't understand why no one has come out with a more individualized method than the BMI.

    That being said, I do use it as a measuring tool, because I am not one with massive quantities of muscles and my goal right now is simply to reach "normal" BMI - 136 pounds for me. Once I am there, then I will re-assess. :)
  • stopdropandstay
    stopdropandstay Posts: 16 Member
    I go for a goal weight, check my BMI, and decide if I'm happy with it or not.

    I don't think I can say what my goal BMI will be, only because I will be ripped apart for it.
    I just wanted to point out that some people naturally have a very low BMI. I have friends who are in the 80's weight range, not because of an eating disorder, but because they are just naturally that thin.

    Lots of people think you should go by body fat %, but calculating your TRUE BF% is like.. ****ing impossible. You can get very CLOSE, but it will NEVER be accurate. Idgaf what you think, or what you've heard, that's the truth.

    I completely forgot why I'm replying to this post because there was something significant I wanted to say. Ah, yes.
    For anyone who's gone onto this fckn calculator right here:
    http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    that gets trumped around MFP every god damn post, you should know that the "perfect" BMI is complete bull****. You shouldn't allow it to make you feel too badly about yourself. Personally, when I saw that my "perfect weight" had to be 124 - that I had to have a BMI of 22, I was fcking pissed. I have been at 118lbs before, and I can say that I was very out of shape. I get that I could be more muscular, resulting in a higher weight and all that, but just..... STILL. Being at 118 was NOT healthy for me. I was binging every day. Every god damn day for months straight. I was not being healthy. Being at a BMI of 22 for me is ridiculous. It is way too large for me. My own personal self. Maybe it looks right for someone else who is 5'3", but for me, it isn't.

    You shouldn't let what everyone believes you should be dictate what your goal weight will be. Ultimately, you should do what feels right for yourself. This goes in a situation where the reverse happened. Where the "perfect BMI" was too low for you.

    Each person is different, and some bodies just don't work that way. I believe we all have a healthy, natural weight. Even if the BMI for your organic weight is below 18, that's fine. Like I said, I know a girl who is in the 80's weight range. Her BMI would be less than 18 but she is HEALTHY. She eats like hell. She isn't THAT short. Her frame is just that petite. Her metabolism really is just that quick.

    But I digress...

    My goal BMI would definitely be under 18, but that's for lots of personal reasons. There really isn't any nutritional advice anyone could give me that I don't already know.
  • janine2355
    janine2355 Posts: 628 Member
    This is funny becaue I literally had my BMI checked at the DR's today and it was in the normal healthy range of 22. I'm good with that. I just care how I look and feel, and I want to loose 3 more pounds because that is what I care about
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    I remain around a BMI of 18.7-19.

    It is where I am comfortable.
    I also have a low bodyfat %, which in truth, is more important to me than my BMI anyway.
  • Cher1e1n2
    Cher1e1n2 Posts: 22 Member
    i want BMI 21!!.. i'm at 25.4 right now and 34.11% body fat (estimates only from 8 measured locations) at 5'9 i'll have to weight around 145 lbs.. tho when i get to 150 i may have mine checked professionally because i'm very muscular (underneath) and think my body fat % might be too low at that weight so its just a goal.
  • nam985
    nam985 Posts: 140 Member
    I am going more for a goal weight, which at 90 lbs would give me a BMI of ~18. Before anyone panics about that number being too low, please bear in mind that I am only 4'11 and have a small skeletal frame.
  • FaylinaMeir
    FaylinaMeir Posts: 661 Member
    well just purely BMI I would say around 19 For me at 5'7 that about 125lbs which on my frame would be awesome. However I'm more concerned with healthy than my bmi :)

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