BMI v. Weight Loss

Wisks

Since January I've gone from 296 pounds to 250 which has been great and my goal is around 210 to 200 which I fully intend to hit by the end of the year. I have a scale at home that calculates both weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) and I've been keeping track of both those amounts in a spreadsheet almost daily as I've been able to use the scale.

I am concerned because while my weight has dropped my BMI hasn't really fallen precipitously. When I began it was at 35% and now it has been hovering around 28% for about a month or so even as I have been dropping more and more weight. Is this normal? My exercise routine is primarily running for about an hour a day, 5-6 days a week, no weight training. I've also been very careful about my diet.

My question is is there something else I should be doing to help drop my BMI that I haven't been doing? Should I be happy with this BMI at this weight? I know the weight loss is easier/more efficient when your BMI is low because muscle burns more calories than fat even if it weighs more as well.

Just looking for some feedback and insight into this dance between BMI and weight.

Thanks.

Keefypoos

if your BMI is hovering I assume that the weight to hasn't moved on much either.

JasonsWeightliftingWife

I would say that the BMI isn't always right. My hubby is pretty ripped and according to his BMI he is overweight. I would look at body fat percentage.

Shizzman

BMI or Body fat percentage..? BMI is just a height vs weight calculation. Body fat percentage on the other hand is body fat as a percentage of your weight...

jlembry

First, I think you are confusing BMI with body fat percentage. BMI is a ratio of your height and weight, so unless you're getting shorter, it will go down with your weight.

If the scale is measuring body fat, be warned that the number is probably off. Calipers are much more accurate than bioimpedance. Personally, I use my scale, but I only worry about the change, not the absolute number.

That being said, you need to lift weights. I'd recommend reading The Female Body Breakthrough or the New Rules for Weight Lifting. Research shows that cardio just doesn't have the same effect on body composition as heavy lifting does.

kr3851

Are you talking about BMI or fat percentage? Cos BMI will ALWAYS change if your weight changes, where fat percentage will only change if you're losing fat and not muscle.

abbie017

BMI isn't a percentage, as far as I know. Are you sure it's not calculating body fat percentage?

A healthy BMI is 18.5 -24.9. However, it's not a good determination of fitness, because it doesn't take into account weight added from muscle. While muscle weighs the same as fat, it is denser (thus one pound of muscle appears smaller than one pound of fat, like one pound of butter would be smaller than one pound of feathers), so you may be losing inches while not necessarily seeing the number on the scale move down.

beccarockslife

I'm confused.

I thought BMI was simply a calculation of height against weight to give a number on a scale. If you are dropping weight you'll be dropping BMI but BMI points fall much slower than weight lbs.

Infact I just googled it to make sure lol

BMI (Body Mass Index) is a measurement of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both men and women between the ages of 18 and 65 years.

BMI can be used to indicate if you are overweight, obese, underweight or normal. A healthy BMI score is between 20 and 25. A score below 20 indicates that you may be underweight; a value above 25 indicates that you may be overweight.

Do you mean your body fat %?

beccarockslife

Ha X post with ^

Wisks

According to my records over the past month I've lost approximately 8 lbs but my BMI has stalled in the high 20s, sometimes reaching 30% Now I understand that day by day it can vary and go up and down but looking over the daily data points over that month it is frustrating to see that BMI stuck in neutral, that's all.

What about overall sodium intake, amount of water drank/loss during workouts, etc... I perspire a lot when I run so maybe that has something to do with it? Also how accurate are home scales although that is probably moot in this debate because regardless of it's accuracy we are discuss a trend.

erickirb

Since January I've gone from 296 pounds to 250 which has been great and my goal is around 210 to 200 which I fully intend to hit by the end of the year. I have a scale at home that calculates both weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) and I've been keeping track of both those amounts in a spreadsheet almost daily as I've been able to use the scale.

I am concerned because while my weight has dropped my BMI hasn't really fallen precipitously. When I began it was at 35% and now it has been hovering around 28% for about a month or so even as I have been dropping more and more weight. Is this normal? My exercise routine is primarily running for about an hour a day, 5-6 days a week, no weight training. I've also been very careful about my diet.

My question is is there something else I should be doing to help drop my BMI that I haven't been doing? Should I be happy with this BMI at this weight? I know the weight loss is easier/more efficient when your BMI is low because muscle burns more calories than fat even if it weighs more as well.

Just looking for some feedback and insight into this dance between BMI and weight.

Thanks.

BMI is just a function of weight and height and is not a %, it is just a number so don't say your BMI is X %, it is just X.
So if you didn't shrink than your BMI would drop the same % as your weight has. So you lost 46 lbs which is 15.5% of your stating weight and your BMI dropped by 7 which is 20%.

If you are talking about BF% (body fat %), that is different than BMI, as BMI ignores body composition. If you want to lower BF% you need to focus on weight training with heavy weights and eat a high % of protein (25-30% is sufficient), and still do cardio, but not too much, try HIIT as part of your cardio routine.

Wisks

Thanks everyone for the input. Sounds like I am confusing BMI with body fat percentage. Sorry!

AZackery

The BMI is your body mass index. It's the ratio between your height and weight.

Facts about BMI:

1. It doesn't know how much fat is on your body
2. Everyone that's the same height and weighs the same, will have the same BMI
3. A bodybuilder can be classified as being obese on a BMI chart

I will share the BMI formula. You don't have to go online to use a BMI calculator, then again, work the formula and compare it to online BMI calculators.

BMI = Weight x 703
___________
Height in inches x Height in inches.

To find your height in inches, you will have to multiply your feet x 12 (12 inches in a foot) and add the inches, if there are any.

Example: Say John Doe is 210lbs and he's 6ft2" tall.

Let's get John's height in inches out of the way.

6ft x 12 + 2 = 74
6ft x12 = 72
72 + 2 = 74

Total of both height in inches: 74 * 74 = 5476

Now, lets look at the whole equation:

John's BMI calulation:

210 x 703 147630
_________ = _______ = 26.9 or 27 BMI rounded off.
74 * 74 5476

John's BMI is 27.

Here's a BMI chart. Here's the chart's address: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5NN0ACCwZ5U/TDDNnseNONI/AAAAAAAABFo/gWpnENtEWgs/s1600/BMI+table.png

Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5 - 24.9 Healthy Weight
25- 29.99 Overweight
30 - 39.99 Obese
40 plus Morbidly Obese

I don't worry about my BMI, I let my doctor worry about my BMI. I'm concern with my body fat percentage, because that's the one that lets me know how much fat is on my body. Too much of that can cause health problems. Not BMI.

The BMI can have a person as being obese, for example a bodybuilder, but the body fat percentage chart can show that same person as being in good health. I could be wrong, but I don't think doctors talk tell bodybuilders or even thin looking people that they need to lose some weight. That they need to bring their BMI down. They automatically think that they already at a good weight, even if a bodybuilder is 210 pounds. A regular man that's 210 pounds with a high body fat percentage ( one that will make him look fat), a doctor will be concern about him and that's not fair.

Lets look at a Body Fat Chart: Site here:This is the link the chart, I've gotten the information from. http://weightlossbase.org/wp-content...Percentage.jpg

Classification: Women: Men:

Essential Fat 10-12% 2-4%
Athletes 14-20% 6-13%
Fitness 21-24% 14-17%
Acceptable 25-31% 18-25%
At Risk (Yy add:Obese) 32% plus 26% plus

Note: If you look at the original chart, you will see that At Risk for men is 25%, I've changed it to 26%, because a man can't be both acceptable and at risk with a 25% body fat percentage. You can search the internet for body fat percentage charts and you will pretty much see the same results as the original chart. Again, I think the all the body fat percentage charts should say 26% for At risk for men.

Lets say that John Doe is 210 pounds with a 25% body fat percentage. Even though, he has a BMI of 27 and is classified as being obese on the BMI chart, on the Body fat percentage chart, he is acceptable and not obese.

For anyone that has one of those body fat scale that also shows your BMI, check to see the difference between the numbers.