Do BMI's seem unrealistic to anyone else?

Options
12467…29

Replies

  • ami5000psu
    ami5000psu Posts: 391 Member
    Options
    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.

    110-115 pounds seems like a perfectly acceptable weight for some teenage girls especially if they are under 5'5". I'm not saying that it's perfect for everyone or that there won't be some outliers but to completely dismiss it as a joke or even dangerous is, frankly, pretty stupid.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    Options
    According to the BMI chart, I would have to lose approximately 40 lbs to qualify as normal/healthy. However, even my own doctor indicates that I can only stand to lose about 20 pounds or so.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
    Options
    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.
    1850's??? Like I said, BMI is a joke.

    I'm sorry, how does perception change what is healthy?

    are you talking to me?

    that's the opposite of what i'm saying. I'm saying BMI has been consistent since the 1850s, and the only reason people think it's a terrible metric is that our perception of "normal" as a society has begun to skew higher in weight, so we think that being 189lbs at 6'1" is "ridiculous" and "justin-bieber-looking", when in fact it's perfectly healthy.

    get what i'm saying?
  • stephanieadorman
    stephanieadorman Posts: 31 Member
    Options
    we can't even see your body in that pic.... but diggin' the NSYNC posters!

    HAHA! RIGHT?! I was 17, 5'5ish and around 175. (Most of it muscle though.)

    Now I'm taller - in college I somehow grew to 5'8ish - and I'm 185 and although I'm in worse shape than I was in that picture, I'm in a "better" BMI category.

    In my high school they really stressed BMI which was horrible for us athletes. HORRIBLE.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Options
    The "overweight" category was expanded in recent years to include those bmi's that were previously considered "normal" There no medical reason for most people to need to be in the "normal" weight category.. Yes, you don't want to be obese.. but for most people they are just as healthy in the "overweight" range. Actually, many women receive some protective qualities from being slightly in the "overweight" category.

    Actually, none of that is true. Not too many years ago, a BMI >27 was the low end of overweight. It was lowered to > 25 as more data was collected and analyzed and it became clear that people with higher BMIs were not healthy*.

    *that doesn't mean they can't be healthy, it means that statistically most are not.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Options
    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.
    1850's??? Like I said, BMI is a joke.

    I'm sorry, how does perception change what is healthy?

    are you talking to me?

    that's the opposite of what i'm saying. I'm saying BMI has been consistent since the 1850s, and the only reason people think it's a terrible metric is that our perception of "normal" as a society has begun to skew higher in weight, so we think that being 189lbs at 6'1" is "ridiculous" and "justin-bieber-looking", when in fact it's perfectly healthy.

    get what i'm saying?

    Yes, I get you. I was talking to the guy who thinks BMI is a joke because he has muscles. I'm just not getting that correlation.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
    Options
    I got my weight down to the top end of my BMI. For like a day.

    I immediately started gaining muscle and weight because I was scrawny.
  • casy84
    casy84 Posts: 290 Member
    Options
    It think it's pretty good for people who don't do lots of sports and don't have the means to measure bf%. From what I've noticed on this forum, people who live in high obesity rate countries don't know what 'normal' means anymore because 'normal' is not average. I hope I'm not upseting anyone with this, but I think some of the people that dismiss the BMI are just kidding themselfes because they take as 'normal' the average of what the see on the street.
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
    Options
    My BMI puts me in the overweight range.


    33110506_8190.jpg
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
    Options
    It think it's pretty good for people who don't do lots of sports and don't have the means to measure bf%. From what I've noticed on this forum, people who live in high obesity rate countries don't know what 'normal' means anymore because 'normal' is not average. I hope I'm not upseting anyone with this, but I think some of the people that dismiss the BMI are just kidding themselfes because they take as 'normal' the average of what the see on the street.

    no
  • MidwestAngel
    MidwestAngel Posts: 1,897 Member
    Options
    I got my weight down to the top end of my BMI. For like a day.

    I immediately started gaining muscle and weight because I was scrawny.
    MINE
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
    Options
    It think it's pretty good for people who don't do lots of sports and don't have the means to measure bf%. From what I've noticed on this forum, people who live in high obesity rate countries don't know what 'normal' means anymore because 'normal' is not average. I hope I'm not upseting anyone with this, but I think some of the people that dismiss the BMI are just kidding themselfes because they take as 'normal' the average of what the see on the street.

    no

    yes
  • BunkyBumBum
    BunkyBumBum Posts: 157 Member
    Options
    For me being 5'3" tall, my lowest healthy BMI would be 105lbs, and my highest healthy BMI would be 140lbs.

    At my lowest weight I was 125lbs and I looked almost skeletal. My husband used to tease me about spaghetti arms, I had some weight in my hips and butt, but just enough to look normal (any less and I'd have been shaped like a tube).

    Knowing my body and how it carries weight, and how it has looked as it has changed, I think my goal weight is about 135. Last year I was down to 137 and people kept commenting on how I didn't look like I had anything left to lose and I should be careful not to get "too skinny". I'm not particularly muscular, I have strong leg muscles but my upper body is weak so I'd say it balances out to an average amount of muscle.

    So, BMI is generally around the right range, but it is by no means the holy grail of healthy weight. If I were solidly in the middle of my ideal BMI I'd be around 125, and, as I mentioned above, that didn't look so great on me. I'd rather look like a woman and have some curves and fat in the right places, as long as I'm healthy, so I'm shooting for 135.
  • ChgingMe
    ChgingMe Posts: 539 Member
    Options
    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.

    Holy crap woman, I'm 5'8, with a 36 inch waist and still wear a size 12. I hate womens sizes. Booooo

    I know and in all honesty I never really go by sizes. Just put it in here for a visual. Sizes vary so much. I can wear 10's or 12's depending on the clothes. I can even squeeze my big behind in a 9 if I don't move. LMBO... But I can get them on and possibly zipped... Its a crap shoot.
  • LittleMiss_WillLoseIt
    LittleMiss_WillLoseIt Posts: 1,373 Member
    Options
    My BMI puts me in the overweight range.


    33110506_8190.jpg

    BMI can suck it...you are smokin' hot babe!
  • MidwestAngel
    MidwestAngel Posts: 1,897 Member
    Options
    My BMI puts me in the overweight range.


    33110506_8190.jpg

    BMI can suck it...you are smokin' hot babe!
    QFT
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    Options
    BMI is usually only unrealistic for those who are extremely muscular or have a warped perception of what would be good for their body or willingness to put in the effort needed to achieve a normal BMI. The range is so wide of what is a normal BMI that there are very few people who don't fit into normal at a good weight.

    I'm 5 lbs over "obese" in this picture:

    37662855_4803.jpg
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
    Options
    My BMI puts me in the overweight range.


    33110506_8190.jpg

    BMI can suck it...you are smokin' hot babe!

    this is the perception thing I'm talking about.

    she can be smokin' hot and in the "overweight" category of BMI - the two don't have to be mutually exclusive.
  • stephanieadorman
    stephanieadorman Posts: 31 Member
    Options
    this is the perception thing I'm talking about.

    she can be smokin' hot and in the "overweight" category of BMI - the two don't have to be mutually exclusive.

    Right? My ex broke up with me because I lost too much weight. LOL

    Chubby chaser.
  • DontStopB_Leakin
    DontStopB_Leakin Posts: 3,863 Member
    Options
    BMI is far more accurate for men than it is for women. It's also far more accurate for shorter people than it is for taller people (5'8" and above).


    Also, it's grossly inaccurate for individuals with a high LBM/low BF%.


    For me, even though I'm taller, it's accurate. For others, not so much.

Categories