BMI = bull

DB_1106

It must be true, because PETA says that vegetarians are healthier because they have lower BMIs than meat eaters.

:huh:

ZoeyRobinson

According to my BMI and a doctor who was nuts, I should weigh 98 pounds. I once dropped down to 115 and could barely walk across the room without feeling dizzy. I am a muscular girl and I felt great at 140. Which is considered "obese" even friends and family told me I look better heavier. So I no longer listen to doctors and the BMI bologna.

Do what feels best for you.

drgmac

What??? I am living proof that numbers do lie. I am 5'7" inches tall and 115 pounds. I have a very small frame. My ring finger is a size four, to give you some idea, bur I have a full bust and a butt. I run daily, do Pilates, and lift. And while that may seem like a very low weight, it makes sense given my natural propensity toward leanness and my workouts. I do not have an eating disorder and eat very well. Yes, I watch what I eat but no one has ever commented that I look too thin. I have curves and definition. And my bmi is around 17, I think. Just be careful and do what you think is right and healthy.

RedWeb

Try this:

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

dhakiyya

What??? I am living proof that numbers do lie. I am 5'7" inches tall and 115 pounds. I have a very small frame. My ring finger is a size four, to give you some idea, bur I have a full bust and a butt. I run daily, do Pilates, and lift. And while that may seem like a very low weight, it makes sense given my natural propensity toward leanness and my workouts. I do not have an eating disorder and eat very well. Yes, I watch what I eat but no one has ever commented that I look too thin. I have curves and definition. And my bmi is around 17, I think. Just be careful and do what you think is right and healthy.

I'm the opposite of you lol... I'm 5'1" and large build (as in the size of my skeleton, rib cage, etc). My body fat percentage is currently 24% and my BMI is 25. Apparently a healthy weight range for my height is 101-132 lb, and I'm right at the heavy end of that. I know from my own calculations based on my lean body mass and body fat percentage, that at 20% body fat I'd weigh around 124lb. It's generally not recommended to go below 18% body fat. Given that there's *NO WAY* I would be healthy at 101 lb!! I really don't think I should go below 120lb, and my goal weight is not that low even, because I'd like to gain lean body mass. I'm aiming at 20% body fat, and estimate that I'd weigh around 124lb, but preferably I'd like to weigh more than that if I manage to gain some LBM. At the moment I'm working on body re-composition rather than just fat loss, and I don't want too much weight loss.

BMI can be so misleading as it does not take build into account at all, and there is a lot of variation between small and large build. my youngest daughter has inherited my build, and my friend's daughter who's the same age (2) has a very noticably smaller ribcage (you can tell when you pick them up one after the other), mine is about an inch taller, has a much larger ribcage, and is a kilo heavier than my friend's daughter. (they have the same amount of baby-chub) And that's just at age 2.

BMI is supposed to take build into account that's why there's a large range, but I've come across so many women, and even health professionals, who think it's better to be in the low end than the high end, when I was a teenager and very athletic and couldn't have had more than 20% body fat (based on the fact that I have significantly more now than back then and I'm currently at 24%) and was always being cautioned that I was "almost overweight" and should "watch what I eat" - advice that made me very paranoid about food and body image for a long time, and totally unnecessary as my body fat percentage was probably lower than a lot of the other girls my age who did no sport and had medium or small build skeletons.

There are some people who should only be in the high range of BMI and would have to have too low body fat levels, or lose a lot of lean body mass, to get in the low range, and that is not healthy by any definition - and there are others who should only be in the low range and would have a too high body fat percentage if they were in the high range.

IMO body fat percentage and waist measurements are a lot more reliable, and BMI needs to be consigned to the bin because it can be dangerously misleading!!!

rachylouise87

i hate bmi!! its calculated my lowest weight to be 94lbs because i am 5ft... i would look skeletal. i am 161 at the moment and plan to get to 130

Jflowwers

BMI is not the ONLY measure of what dictates a healthy size, but it's reasonable I think for most people of average build or size. The people who complain about it are usually totally misinformed about their appropriate weight range (see poster who claimed a healthy BMI would put her 5'11" husband at 130, nonsense). If you're a little over or a little under, I don't think it's a big deal, but it isn't a bad measure of how you measure up against the averages. Of course, bodybuilders and men or women with more than average muscle mass will not fit the range, but that's a completely different issue.

I wish doctors would look at body fat percentage, BMI, and waist circumference to get a more comprehensive picture of body size and health though. BMI alone isn't the whole story.

We, as a society, have lost touch with what is a "healthy" weight. We're used to seeing men at >25% body fat and women at >30% body fat.
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That poster would be me, I used the bmi caculator on mfp, and put my husbands stats in. Yes , it did say a healthy weight for him would be 132. Which is far from healthy.

Jflowwers

The bmi is such BS. According to the bmi, I would be at a healthy weight at 118, and my husband at 130. I havent been 118 since maybe 12. My husband at 5'11 would be alarmingly thin.

Those charts provide a range to accommodate different builds. 130 is below a normal healthy weight even for a 5' 11 man with a very slight build. If he's of average build, like most people, the BMI charts would put him more in the range of 150-155.

I would think youd be right, but according to the bmi his healthy weight range is 132- 179. Which is why I say BS.

mandi2r

I like what my bmi says more than my doctor...
My doctor laughed at me (when I was at my starting weight) and said I needed to lose 55lbs before I got to the line of healthy/over, but needed to lose even more if I wanted to be healthy.

My bmi says my healthy weight range is 115-155... I want to reach 135 and maintain that.. Even at 145 I'll be happier.

Gwoman2012

I think that as a society we are all so big that we don't know what thin really looks like anymore.

I have been told I don't need to lose weight at 5'7 and 160....um yeah ok. My doctor never brings up my weight, probably because she is obese herself. She told me I don't need to worry about my cholesterol and it was 260!!!

Di3012

I've not been able to get private health insurance because of the BMI nonsense. *sigh* Frustrates the hell out of me.

That's a pain in the butt Shell!

In my place of work, we are subject to periodical medicals and the Doctors there go by BMI. Now there was a bloke at work that when he had his medical was termed as "obese" because he weighed around 240lbs - what the doctors did not take into consideration was they he did a hell of a lot of weight-training and his weight was due to being so muscular.

Absolutely ludicrous!

shellsrenee01

I've not been able to get private health insurance because of the BMI nonsense. *sigh* Frustrates the hell out of me.

That's a pain in the butt Shell!

In my place of work, we are subject to periodical medicals and the Doctors there go by BMI. Now there was a bloke at work that when he had his medical was termed as "obese" because he weighed around 240lbs - what the doctors did not take into consideration was they he did a hell of a lot of weight-training and his weight was due to being so muscular.

Absolutely ludicrous!

I tried reasoning with them once. I said, "Look, what if I submit my paperwork that shows I have low cholesterol, low blood pressure, and that I am at the gym 3-5 days a week?"

I was told to loose 100 lbs and try again. *sigh* I've been on the look out for a job with an insurance plan that will cover me, regardless of my weight. Or I'll loose the 100 pounds in the next two years and show those insurance companies who's boss! :bigsmile:

dreamsofsomeday

My brother is "obese" according to BMI, and he is all muscle and works out all the time. And he is at the weight I was at when I started losing; I was all blubber.