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are bmi's a accurate way of working out your goal weight?

33nessy
33nessy Posts: 104
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
hi there, was just wondering if bmi is a good way of working out your desired goal weight. i am 1.66 tall and according to it i should be anything from 54 -68.9kgs. i am prob med-large build so thinking 65 be good...what is everyones thoughts?

Replies

  • sweetheart03622
    sweetheart03622 Posts: 928 Member
    Most don't like BMI because it doesn't account for muscle. According to BMI, many professional athletes are overweight or even obese. Your best bet is to focus on a healthy body fat percentage (for women, 20% is ideal for athletes, other 25% is a great, healthy goal). I've also heard some people say that anything under a size 14 is healthy, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of that
  • Keefypoos
    Keefypoos Posts: 231 Member
    BMI is a general guide, if you have actively built muscle mass then it is not a good guide it shows a healthly range to aim for no more no less.
  • jlsAhava
    jlsAhava Posts: 411 Member
    hi there, was just wondering if bmi is a good way of working out your desired goal weight. i am 1.66 tall and according to it i should be anything from 54 -68.9kgs. i am prob med-large build so thinking 65 be good...what is everyones thoughts?

    I agree with sweetheart in that body fat percentage is probably the best way to go. However, if you do have access to a means of measuring this along your journey, I think it's fine to use BMI as a guide. Besides I imagine it's pretty difficult to predict the weight you will be with a given body fat, especially for a novice. You can always change your goal weight as you get closer and you see how your body looks and feels.
    Most don't like BMI because it doesn't account for muscle. According to BMI, many professional athletes are overweight or even obese. Your best bet is to focus on a healthy body fat percentage (for women, 20% is ideal for athletes, other 25% is a great, healthy goal). I've also heard some people say that anything under a size 14 is healthy, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of that

    I question the last part ( < size 14 = healthy). I'm just moving into a size 12 and my weight puts me on the border of "overweight" / "obese" BMI. I realize BMI is far from exact, but I think that for a non-athlete - it should be at least somewhat in range.
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