Do BMI's seem unrealistic to anyone else?

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  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    BMI is a joke! According to BMI guidelines I am considered Obese.

    what are your stats?
  • Tricep_A_Tops
    Tricep_A_Tops Posts: 319
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    ^^^^^ Just added them.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    It really comes down to perception. My daughter in law and I are almost exactly the same size bone structure and height. I'm 115 lbs, she's 240, we're both 5"2" to 3" tall. She keeps telling me that it's not realistic for her to be my weight because she'd be just skin and bones. I ask if I looked like skin and bones, no, she thinks I look good. So why would she be skin and bones and I look fine? Because she's been 240 for so long her head can't get around that she could lose over 100 lbs and not be sickly.

    Everyone should weigh or look they way they want but if you have weight to lose don't dismiss what a healthy weight would be based on your perception now. You don't have to accept that you've always weighed more and would therefore look awful at a lower end of the BMI.
  • rjcelmer
    rjcelmer Posts: 431 Member
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    BMI only takes into account your height, weight and age. It doesn't take into account BF%, body frame, ect.

    This.
  • SwimSoccerTaxi
    SwimSoccerTaxi Posts: 98 Member
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    My daughter is a high-performance athlete (competitive swimmer) who has a body fat % far below what is recommended for her age however she eats more then I every could (she's only 15). She can swim fly for an hour without issue!!! She was playing on a friends Wii and it "measured" the BMI based on her height and weight and it said she was at the top end of healthy bordering on overweight!!!!! She laughed....so at 15 to know the tool is completely useless should tell everyone something.....putting in two or three numbers to define "health" cannot. It does not account for your activity level, body fat, body frame, etc.

    Measurements, determining your body fat percent and how you feel are the best indicators of "healthy weights"

    Good luck!!!
  • ursus_maritimus
    ursus_maritimus Posts: 19
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    I am 5'7". About 10 years ago I weighed in at 195lbs... according to the BMI calculator that made me obese at 30.5BMI. At the time I had a waist size of between 30 and 32 inches. Honestly, I am striving to get back to that point again. My goal is 185 regardless of what some chart says.
  • Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door
    Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door Posts: 735 Member
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    according to my height I am to weigh between 111-146 pounds. I put my goal weight at 136 pounds.

    according to my bmi at 175 pounds with my atheletic build I am just now considered overweight. after 2 1/2 years being labeled obese.
  • CTCMom2009
    CTCMom2009 Posts: 263 Member
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    BMI is realistic for most people, especially women. Men who are very muscular will measure overweight but most women won't develop that amount of muscle.

    BMI along with waist-to-height and/or waist-to-hip ratio is a good indicator of health risk.

    I personally don't think it's realistic for anyone... I am an athlete (volleyball player/trying to be a gym rat) and carry a lot of muscle in my legs/shoulders and am considered overweight even though my pants are a size 8. BF% is a much better measure as are the waist-to-height and waist-to-hip ratios that you mention.
  • ami5000psu
    ami5000psu Posts: 391 Member
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    Chances are your BMI is pretty accurate for you. Like others have said, unless you are very short or extremely muscular, your BMI will be realistic. I've often found that the people who dismiss the BMI as a joke or as unrealistic are the ones whose numbers tell them something they don't want to hear. You might not feel comfortable at the mid range BMI but what about the upper end of the healthy BMI?
  • Sunny_fit4life
    Sunny_fit4life Posts: 157 Member
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    I think BMI is a starting point that doesn't tell the whole story.

    Other parts of the story:
    your physical fitness level
    your body fat percentage
    waist-to-hip ratio
    whether or not you have any lifestyle-related illnesses and/or risk factors
    energy levels/how you feel
    etc...

    My healthy range, as a 5'5" female (based on no other information), is 112 lbs - 149 lbs. I think it is realistic for me to shoot for somewhere between 130-149, but anything under that seems like too little since I have a large frame.

    I have asked the same question you have, though... and I feel like I'd be comfortable with 150-160. That's why I don't set any ultimate goal. Right now I'm just working on losing another 40 lbs to get to 160. It may not be optimal but it's better than where I am today. All you can do is start where you are and strive to be better tomorrow :)
  • Keenasgettingfitnhealthy
    Keenasgettingfitnhealthy Posts: 169
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    I am 165cm tall and my BMI would be 20.2 at 55kg or 121.25lb (which is the absolute minimum I would ever go!) and it would be 22 at 60kg or 132.28lb...
    At the moment my BMI is 33.4 (Obese) haha but I am pregnant!!!

    I hope to get to anywhere between 55kg and 60kg weight wise (if I have to pick a weight goal haha)
  • mizzie1980
    mizzie1980 Posts: 379 Member
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    Like others are saying, I think the BMI ranges are good for most, but not all, people. You will run into that problem any time you take one thing and try to fit it to all people. It just doesn't work that way. Haven't any of you ever had an issue with a "one size fits all" item?

    For me, the healthy BMI range is 111 - 150. That's a large enough range to take into account a lot of body types and fitness levels. And for me, it's totally realistic. I remember being about 135 and I would be happy as heck to be back there!!! I think 111, on me, would look deathly ill and 150 is going to look still on the pudgy side.
  • SyntonicGarden
    SyntonicGarden Posts: 944 Member
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    I don't completely agree with BMI, depending on how it's and I'll tell you why. If you take two people who are 200 lbs, at 5'8" and one is very muscular and the other is not, they'll both have the same BMI if you simply plug in the height and weight into a BMI calculator. (I've dated the 200lb flabby guy and am married to a 200 lb muscular guy. HUGE difference.) So, in this instance, BMI is not accurate.

    There's the argument that a pound of fat is equal to a pound of muscle, which is true, however the volume of muscle is smaller than the volume of fat. If we take this back to 7th grade science, density is mass divided by volume, which makes muscle more dense than fat. So it's possible for two people at 200 lbs to be two different sizes, since the muscle takes up less physical space.

    BMI shouldn't be completely discredited though, because there are more accurate ways to calculate it, including the use of calipers as well as water displacement tests. These two methods would account for the mass issue.

    Hope that helps...
  • legnarevocrednu
    legnarevocrednu Posts: 467 Member
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    I'm only 6 pounds away from being at the high range of healthy BMI. And no, it does not seem unrealistic in any way. I'm actually aiming for lower because I know where I should be to have the body fat percentage I want.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    ^^^^^ Just added them.

    so you'd have to be 189 lb to be considered in the "healthy" range.

    honestly i know that sounds ridiculous... but i bet that 50 years ago before the age of hyper-awareness of body image (ie: super muscular and built for men) a majority of men fell into that range even at your height.

    part of me wonders if our perception as a people and as a country have just shifted over time..

    I read about the people of Okinawa recently, who have one of the longest lifespans in the world - with many people living to 100 and beyond. the common denominator is that they're active and thin. Not "built", not what we in the west consider "in great shape", but trim and thin, while still athletic (martial arts)

    just something to ponder i guess...
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    BMI is a joke! According to BMI guidelines I am considered Obese. I am 6"1, 226 lbs and I would have to look like Justin Bieber to be considered to be at a healthy weight.

    Actually your BMI calculates to 29.8, which is overweight on BMI charts. But how does one outlier make something a joke?
  • msleanlegs
    msleanlegs Posts: 188 Member
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    I think BMI is realistic for 99% percent of the population. There's such a huge weight range for a normal BMI, it pretty much covers most body types. I have friends and family who believe they could never achieve a normal BMI and still look healthy, but I think that's because they've never been slender and fit before and it's hard for them to imagine being at a such a weight.
  • ChgingMe
    ChgingMe Posts: 539 Member
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    Ahh my favorite subject! Not.. I've commented on this many times. I'm 5'3 174 pounds with a bmi of 30.8

    Classified as obese. Rated as obese. Judged as obese. In order to get to an "acceptable" bmi I would need to get down to about 140ish pounds. And even that would put me at the high end of normal. Almost at the overweight level

    Here are the facts. I am currently in recovery week of Insantiy. For those not familar that is the week just before month 2. I currently wear a size 12 and even those are becoming very loose on me. Got some belly fat going on that I'm trying to get rid of thru the program. Measured the waist yesterday and it was 34 inches. Not happy with it, but definitley not the waist of an obese woman.

    Toning up in places I never knew existed. And feel great for an almost 50 year old woman.On paper I look like im obese. For insurance purposes I am obese. And of course my bmi has me at obese. Don't know a ton of obese 48 year old women who wear a size 12. I've had a complete blood work up and passed with flying colors. (doc was impressed- I'm not even pre-menapausal yet)

    BMI is outdated and should not be used as an acceptable measure of fitness. I am going with the Insanity program, not looking at weight, but striving for a size 8. Not sure what that will weigh when I get there, but I have a feeling my bmi won't consider it healthy
  • Tricep_A_Tops
    Tricep_A_Tops Posts: 319
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    Chances are your BMI is pretty accurate for you. Like others have said, unless you are very short or extremely muscular, your BMI will be realistic. I've often found that the people who dismiss the BMI as a joke or as unrealistic are the ones whose numbers tell them something they don't want to hear. You might not feel comfortable at the mid range BMI but what about the upper end of the healthy BMI?
    I was considered overweight according to BMI in this pic.. BMI is not only a joke but dangerous!! I have seen countless teenage girls on here posting about trying to get under 110-115 lbs because thats where BMI says they should be and they dont have another once of fat to lose looking at their pics.

    88548413.jpg
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    BMI is a joke! According to BMI guidelines I am considered Obese. I am 6"1, 226 lbs and I would have to look like Justin Bieber to be considered to be at a healthy weight.

    Actually your BMI calculates to 29.8, which is overweight on BMI charts. But how does one outlier make something a joke?

    i don't even think it's an outlier - it's just a shift in perception among an entire population as to what's considered "good", "normal", or what look is considered "desirable"

    the BMI scale hasn't changed since it was designed in the 1850s... we have.

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