FORGET BMI!!

HaleyAlli
HaleyAlli Posts: 911 Member
edited September 27 in Health and Weight Loss
After checking out this link--

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77367764@N00/sets/72157602199008819/with/1651752679/

I'm tossing the BMI calculator!! If they want me to change my physiology to be "normal," I'd rather be "overweight"! I don't want to lose all my curves! Who's with me?

(no offense intended if you're naturally "normal" or "underweight," everyone has an ideal weight and I embrace that :smile: But I wouldn't look right at that size and neither would a lot of people!)
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Replies

  • MistyNoble1987
    MistyNoble1987 Posts: 42
    I don't pay attention to those charts. According to my weight chart my healthy weight is 150.... I'd be a skeleton at that. Those charts don't take into consideration that everybody has different bone structures and different body types. Just go by what you feel is right, or ask your doctor.
  • HaleyAlli
    HaleyAlli Posts: 911 Member
    Exactly, the BMI wants me to be 135... I have NEVER been that low, not even when I was sick... I was at 140 when I was sick and that's because I hadn't exercised in months... This thing is just bogus!!
  • adougherty10
    adougherty10 Posts: 50
    Interesting link! Thanks for sharing!
  • gemco
    gemco Posts: 129
    i dont understand. most of the overweight ones are jsut barely overweight and look fine but the obese ones clearly are. the healthy range ones look just that. BMI isnt about how attractive people look. i'm not aiming for sub 25 either, i'll be happy with a stone overweight, but i would certainly be healthier. i think we've all got a but squiffy eyed about what humans are supposed to look like.
  • HaleyAlli
    HaleyAlli Posts: 911 Member
    i dont understand. most of the overweight ones are jsut barely overweight and look fine but the obese ones clearly are. the healthy range ones look just that. BMI isnt about how attractive people look. i'm not aiming for sub 25 either, i'll be happy with a stone overweight, but i would certainly be healthier. i think we've all got a but squiffy eyed about what humans are supposed to look like.

    Exactly; I think it's good for TRULY obese/underweight people, but not everyone else most of the time...
  • Kat5343
    Kat5343 Posts: 451 Member
    It is crazy!!! Heck, in college I weighed 150 pounds and I looked awesome! No one would ever haved guessed my weight but I had boobs and a booty and that is the way I like it...
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    The other issue I have is all the different BMI calculators and how different they are. There's no standard. Know why? Because people aren't standard. Definitely take it with a grain of salt.
  • aiyakiu
    aiyakiu Posts: 2
    As a nurse, I can vouch that BMI does not work for everyone. It does not take into consideration muscle mass or body build/bone structure. My goal is a healthy BMI of 135-138 lbs for my height of 5'5", but realistically I know I may never get there. I have a very broad hip/shoulder ratio, and I have always been bigger-boned than my peers (even as an emaciated sickly child -- I was vastly underweight but I can still remember comparing wrist size to my friends and always had among the biggest wrists).

    You have to look at fat percentages, and your overall fitness. Someone who is 130 lbs for a "good" BMI but is built for 140 lbs of actual weight is going to be sickly.
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
    My trainer told me to ignore BMI totally, as it doesn't apply to most people. He said pay attention to body fat composition and how your clothes fit to determine how well you're doing.
  • ColoradoRobin
    ColoradoRobin Posts: 510 Member
    BMI also doesn't account for the difference between muscle and fat. My previous karate sensei registered as borderline "obese" on the BMI charts, but he's a tall guy with lots of muscle and a healthy body fat percentage. It's more a guideline than actual rules. :D
  • ColoradoRobin
    ColoradoRobin Posts: 510 Member
    1478991521_29722c5baf.jpg

    This woman is 5 lbs shy of "Obese"? Nonsense. If she can do that pose she has some nice muscles. She looks great!
  • ItsLessOfMe
    ItsLessOfMe Posts: 374 Member
    Im shooting for overweight myself!
  • FitnessChefJime
    FitnessChefJime Posts: 174 Member
    The BMI scale is garbage IMO...
  • elliecolorado
    elliecolorado Posts: 1,040
    BMI is crap! I played sports all the time growing up and was really muscular and athletic and I was told I was 'overweight' I also have a large frame. BMI only takes 'normal' into account and I don't think many people fit into the 'normal' criteria. My goal weight is in the 'overweight' category. I like being muscular and having curves and would rather have that then be super-skinny.
  • 123456654321
    123456654321 Posts: 1,311 Member
    It clearly doesn't take a lot of things into account (muscle mass, frame) so it is certainly not fail proof, but I don't think it's a bad baseline for your average jo. People have to keep in mind nothing like this is fail proof, not even this site.

    I am slightly confused about the link you posted though, I didn't browse through ALL the pictures but with the ones I clicked on (with exception of a few in the grey area) the ones who were overweight did look overweight and the ones who were "normal" Looked nice and healthy to me. Am I missing something?
  • juliecat1
    juliecat1 Posts: 3,450 Member
    I agree.... BMI is bogus. Im 5 11 and have a big frame. Ill never be 135 pounds. Id be all bones! Im shooting for 180 which is still in the over weight category but barely. It was interesting to see it illustrated like that. I preferred the overweight bodies to normal for sure
  • fuzzymel
    fuzzymel Posts: 400 Member
    I agree that bmi is not right for everyone but almost all the photos I guessed correctly. Most overweight looked overweight and most obese looked obese.

    I am 5'8 and when I was 200lbs that was obese. I was in denial but to be honest it was the right diagnosis.
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
    The problem I've always had with the BMI calculator is that, for my height, there's more than a 40lb gap between underweight and overweight. That's not helpful. Sure, my ideal weight is in there someplace, but the healthy weight range the calculator spits out does nothing to help me predict it. But that's the problem with trying to get specific info out of a process based on generalities.
  • Coco_Puff
    Coco_Puff Posts: 823 Member
    I agree with you, none of these charts make sense cause we are not made from a cookie cutter. What feels right for me is where I'll aim for and I'll know when I get there. My Husband nicknamed me Coco after rapper Ice-t's wife. She is 5'2, 135 pounds, she has muscle and curves. I am aiming for that look. I added Puff to my nickname cause I'm still a little rounder than her, but curves are what I have and I can't change that unless I become very unhealthy and under weight!
  • mericksmom
    mericksmom Posts: 222 Member
    How awesome if is that. Thank you for posting.
  • dj_stevie_c
    dj_stevie_c Posts: 270
    Heheh just looked at mine, at the top of the healthy range is 174,4 and at the bottom 128.5

    Honestly, If I was 140lbs I would look like I'd never eaten in my life. I once got down to 220lbs and I had about another 20 until I was happy. That's my BMI not something 'guessed' at on a computer :D
  • torregro
    torregro Posts: 307
    I don't disagree with the comments about BMI, but it's a tool....and only that. As a retired P.A. in internal medicine, I can tell you that I would have been THRILLED to death if all of my patients could have managed to get down into the "overweight" range for BMI. But sadly, in my adult patient population, there were too many people (women) who considered themselves "curvy" when in fact, they *were* obese. Hollywood images of emaciated young men and women are not realistic role models, the BMI isn't perfect, but denial is a powerful thing, and if seeing in print that you are morbidly obese or obese helps to create an action plan for better nutrition and exercising, I'm all for it.

    Your BMI is: 23.9
    Target weight range: 101.2 - 136.7 lbs
    I find it to be accurate for me. I can maintain 130 or so without doing much of anything, 140 (my highest ever) made me feel all doughy and unfit, and 105 (when I was ill) looked sickly and unhealthy.
  • jmassardo
    jmassardo Posts: 84
    The company I work for has been kicking around the idea of charging more for insurance for people with a high BMI...
  • TAWoody
    TAWoody Posts: 261 Member
    None of this stuff is about how you LOOK. It's about how healthy your body is. Normal weight is when your body functions like NORMAL. Overweight, obese, or anything higher is when your body's weight is starting to degrade your mental or physical health. Same with underweight and whatever is under that.
  • HaleyAlli
    HaleyAlli Posts: 911 Member
    I understand those who are saying that the BMI is more about health than looks, but my looks are important to me too. If I can be 150 (BMI 27.4) and look amazing, I'd rather be there than a BMI of 20 and looking like I'm on death's door. Plus I've heard that BMI is not as accurate for shorter people, and I'm 5' 2", which is pretty darn short. I agree that I'm unhealthy right now; the lumpiness of my body proves it. But I don't think it's necessary for me to lose 40-50 lbs. to be "healthy."
  • fuzzymel
    fuzzymel Posts: 400 Member
    the BMI isn't perfect, but denial is a powerful thing, and if seeing in print that you are morbidly obese or obese helps to create an action plan for better nutrition and exercising, I'm all for it.

    I agree with this.

    People don't always see overweight when they look in the mirror (I never did).
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    I found that link really interesting. It backs up what I have always said - that people in the modern western world have completely lost track of what humans are supposed to look like. You don't see wild animals with rolls of fat, and we aren't meant to have them either. I anticipated almost every one of the results in that link from looking at the pictures before I read the classification.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    I also think people like to trash the concept of BMI because it makes them feel bad. I understand that, but it doesn't remove the fact that you have a very wide range within your BMI that is considered ok, and it's not that unreasonable for most people. For MOST people BMI is a very good indication of healthy weight (not health full stop, but healthy weight). It only becomes inaccurate if you are body building or have a very very low body fat %, which can lead to it's own problems. Many athletes and male film stars have overweight BMIs because they have an abnormally high amount of muscle on their frames, but most of us aren't in that category.
  • fuzzymel
    fuzzymel Posts: 400 Member
    Yep.

    Getting body fat measured is a good way to determine healthy weight. People cannot make excuses on that one.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    It clearly doesn't take a lot of things into account (muscle mass, frame) so it is certainly not fail proof, but I don't think it's a bad baseline for your average jo. People have to keep in mind nothing like this is fail proof, not even this site.

    I am slightly confused about the link you posted though, I didn't browse through ALL the pictures but with the ones I clicked on (with exception of a few in the grey area) the ones who were overweight did look overweight and the ones who were "normal" Looked nice and healthy to me. Am I missing something?

    I agree!! I thought most of the 'overweight' or 'obese' ones could stand to lose a few pounds!
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