How much do you go by BMI?

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  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,082 Member
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    Up until recently my BMI exceeded 40, making me morbidly obese and in the same category as bed-ridden people who have less than 2 years to live. While I was larger than I wanted (and still am) , I was able to lead a normal life and perform the same day to day tasks as people of a normal BMI and was nowhere near death or being home-bound.

    am not getting your point.

    I have measured many people and many have a BMI of 40 and are not bed ridden or unable to manage everyday life.

    However surely nobody is claiming that having a BMI of 40 (unless you were an extreme body builder and that would have been obvious from clinical picture - ie looking at your body) is not significantly over weight and does not carry health risks
  • benefiting
    benefiting Posts: 795 Member
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    I think it's a good general rule of thumb for determining your weight loss or maintenance goal but it's also important to judge by how you look and feel too and elements like body fat percentage, measurements, etc.

    For an example, I am overweight at around 27 and I know I'll be "healthy" at 65 KG / 143.3 lb which would be 23. If I wanted to let's say get to 50 kg / 110.2 lb I know I'll be unhealthy/underweight because my BMI will be 18.

    Of course, this won't work for people who have lots of muscle but as for everyone else, it's a good estimate for where you should be but not the only factor to consider as mentioned above.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    BMI is a pretty good guide. A lot of people take it as gospel and ridicule it but it is a guide... that's all... not a one size fits all medical document. If you are within the healthy BMI range, great. If you arent, then maybe you have too much weight, maybe it is because of having a lot of muscle.... you will know this.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    vismal wrote: »
    With my current physique I am considered overweight according to BMI (27.1). The last 2 years at my employee health screening I lost points due to being "overweight". I get so pissed. Last year as the lady was giving me the mandatory talk about weight loss counseling, I started laughing at her. I was indeed in much better shape then she was but her bmi was probably "normal". Anyone who is muscular, or even has a larger frame runs the risk of being overweight according to BMI even if they have normal (or in my case low) body fat percentage. BMI is decent for the general population but worthless for athletes. BMI should not be the end all be all indicator of healthy lifestyle but one of many numbers used to assess it. I would put things like body fat %, height to waist ratio, blood lipid panel, blood pressure, etc all above BMI when assessing one's "health".

    I feel you. The only reason I consider it is for cheaper insurance etc. don't know why so much is placed on a number that doesn't factor in body type just because the calculation is easier. I focus on BF too.

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