Obese and Overweight

candistyx

So studies show that if you are overweight but not obese then you have a lower morbitity and mortality than someone with a normal BMI...

Now does that effect where you think you want to be weightwise?

If someone want's to be thin looking they are gonna be aiming for normal (and maybe low end of normal) but from a health point of view we should really be aiming to be overweight but not "obese"...

fteale

It depends where in the overweight scale you are. Most doctors say a healthy BMI is from 18.5-30 (even though more than 25 is overweight). A BMI of 26 is optimum for life expectancy.

It doesn't change my view of weight. I'd rather be in optimum health for as long as possible, rather than getting out of breath walking up a hill as I do with a BMI of 26.

candistyx

It depends where in the overweight scale you are. Most doctors say a healthy BMI is from 18.5-30 (even though more than 25 is overweight). A BMI of 26 is optimum for life expectancy.

It doesn't change my view of weight. I'd rather be in optimum health for as long as possible, rather than getting out of breath walking up a hill as I do with a BMI of 26.

Getting out of breath at a BMI of 26 is much more likely to be down to general fitness than weight surely?

fteale

It depends where in the overweight scale you are. Most doctors say a healthy BMI is from 18.5-30 (even though more than 25 is overweight). A BMI of 26 is optimum for life expectancy.

It doesn't change my view of weight. I'd rather be in optimum health for as long as possible, rather than getting out of breath walking up a hill as I do with a BMI of 26.

Getting out of breath at a BMI of 26 is much more likely to be down to general fitness than weight surely?

Probably, but for me, once I get fit, I drop to a BMI of 22-23.

McKayMachina

Yeah but does that figure take into account commonalities like drug addicts or terminally ill people who have normal or underweight BMIs?

That said, my older Italian family members all have plenty of extra pounds on them (pasta and cheese!) and they live well into their 90s. Function isn't compromised in the least.

There are so many nuances with data like this that it's tough to extrapolate much meaning. Personally, I'd rather be thin and happy and die at 82 than be overweight and miserable but die at 92.

Good post, OP. I'm interested to see the replies.

candistyx

Yeah but does that figure take into account commonalities like drug addicts or terminally ill people who have normal or underweight BMIs?

There's fat drug addicts too. And very ill people tend to be underweight not normal (and that was a seperate category).

Also they separated the ages out so that the very elderly had a different set of numbers (where again overweight was good but underweight was especially bad... probably because it indicates you're on death's door).

Personally, I'd rather be thin and happy and die at 82 than be overweight and miserable but die at 92.

What worries me is a lot of people who are not really obese and aren't suffering from metabolic or cardiovascular issues that would be treatable with weight modification use "health" as the excuse for their desire really just to be thin for aesthetic reasons. I wish people would be honest... I want to be thin, to be honest... even at the sacrifice of a little health (but not *too much*)... but I think it's important we bear in mind that lighter != healthier on this journey, and ceirtainly for the majority of women probably our "ideal weight" in our head is probably a lot thinner than the ideal weight for us from a health point of view.

fitwatch

Candi, et. al. --

Since muscle weight make the BMI measurement readings vary a lot, how about considering a BMI target of 24-26 and then checking how tight or flat the stomach is? Although weight/height might be easy to measure on a frequent basis, should one measure the ideal waist size? For me, I am targeting a waist size of 32 inches.

I am not sure what is right, but I have heard that for average height men, it is best to have a waist size of 30-32 inches; for average height/build women, 24-27 inch. Add inches for taller, bigger people, subtract for the petite, shorter people. You can build muscles, expand your chest, arms, legs, neck but it appears that the waist stays about the same except when there is an excess amount of fat.

At this point, I don't worry about the exact number since I am several inches away from these targets so that level of refinement is not needed until I get within 2 inches of goal. Does anyone else use waist size as the barometer for ideal size?

a060988

I used to use waist measurements in my weight loss goals to determine my health, but even at my smallest waist size I was not feeling healthy and strong. I think focusing on how your body physically feels over the person you see and like or not in the mirror is better. I think the scale is evil too because our weights vary daily with food/ water intake and hormonal changes your body goes through. So focusing on an exact weight, BMI, or waist size just focus on what physically makes you feel great.