Bmi calculators, trust em!?

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Replies

  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I think BMI is a terrible way to judge how you are doing in your weight loss journey because it just doesn't tell you what is really going on. Body fat percentage is a much better indicator.

    I am currently at the highest end of healthy for BMI, but I only have 22% body fat which is in the middle of the ideal range for body fat percentage. The two charts definitely do NOT coincide with each other at all. I mean, according to BMI, I am on the verge of being overweight, but according to body fat, I am actually closer to being lean. What if I lost more body fat yet decided to bulk up with muscle? I'd be lean/athletic according to body fat, yet overweight with BMI. It's just crap.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    I think of BMI as similar to a "check engine" light in a car. A too-high or too-low BMI value serves to indicate that you need to check things out and make sure everything is otherwise ok and/or that you need to make some lifestyle changes. If the doctor says everything is OK, then you don't necessarily need to worry about it anymore. If everything is not OK, it can also be a good measure of your progress in getting things balanced again.
  • edmundcarter
    edmundcarter Posts: 2
    BS! You mean to tell me someone who is 200 pounds carries the same health risks as someone who is 500??? They are both listed as clinically obese. Seriously? Wake up call, the BMI is WRONG, TAINTED, MISLEADING, etc. etc. Invented by insurance companies for obvious reasons! Pay no attention to that crap!
  • runner_girl83
    runner_girl83 Posts: 553 Member
    Agreed.. Use it as a rough guide only. I once knew someone who was not a body builder, though athletic. He played sports once a week and trained for an hour a week on top of going for walks/ light jogs. The BMI said he was overweight because of his muscle mass. So as a rough guide, sure.. But otherwise I would look into other ways to track things.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Ok ladies, I've been harping at myself over my BMI calculator results. It's days I'm obese!!! Really? I mean don't get me wrong, I'm 5'2 and 170 no sorry 169 lbs :) I've got jelly! But obese? Does anyone else pay attention to this? And if so do you trust it as a method if monitoring weight loss success?

    Depending on which chart where, the US government version was updated not too long along to lower where obese cuts in, so more are found obese, and problem looks more serious, and more money can be allocated to those programs.

    BMI was only intended for population studies, not individuals.

    Take it with a big grain of salt. Well, not actually, increased sodium is no good either, huh, big pinch of sand.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    old thread

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