Do you questions your BMI?

Amanda82691
Amanda82691 Posts: 298 Member
edited January 3 in Health and Weight Loss
So there are million different websites that offer BMI calculators and I have used quite a few of them. I honestly just don't agree with any of them for my personal BMI. I am 4'9 barely so I am a very tiny lady however my BMI tells me that 88-111 pounds in my healthy weight range. I have yo-yo'd in the recent years and the lowest weight I have been was 125 and I was really happy there. I felt like another pound or two and some tone would help but thats where I was more then comforable at. I am a very cury women and that comes from my bone structure not by extra unwanted fat. I personally feel that even being 115 might be a tad too far of a weight loss for me. Does any one else question what the BMI calculators tell you?

Replies

  • Tntowers
    Tntowers Posts: 11 Member
    Unfortunately for your height, BMI isn't validated. It's only for those who are more than 5ft I'm afraid!

    It's only supposed to be a guide though, a better measure would be body fat percentage and how you feel in yourself.#

    Good luck
  • jnp96
    jnp96 Posts: 163
    I do. I am not sure what to think of the calorie calculators either. Some will tell me to eat 1700, others 1500, and this site states 1200. I just don't know what to do. I guess we all need to figure out what is right for us. If you feel good and are comfortable with your weight, I would not put too much stock into what these websites say.
  • Amanda82691
    Amanda82691 Posts: 298 Member
    Unfortunately for your height, BMI isn't validated. It's only for those who are more than 5ft I'm afraid!

    It's only supposed to be a guide though, a better measure would be body fat percentage and how you feel in yourself.#

    Good luck

    It has me enter my height. They all do. They give my height as an option in a lot of them as well when they don't allow you to type in your height but rather select it from a drop down menu.
  • Tntowers
    Tntowers Posts: 11 Member
    They may well give you the option of entering it in, but that doesn't mean it's validated as a medical/ statistical tool. If you use it as a bit of a guide, along with measurements, and BF% then you might get something. They haven't got a good tool for the short!
  • Jerodhold
    Jerodhold Posts: 87
    You should pay to much attention to BMI, I think it's a joke.
    For example take two men same height and weight, lets say 5' 9" and 200lbs, but one man has 10% body fat and is in great shape, and the other man has 20% body fat. They will both have the same BMI but the man with 10% body fat will look alot better then the man with 20% but accourding to BMI they are both overweight.
    I'd say use the mirror instead, BMI and a scale don't really matter as long as you are happy with the way you look everything else doesn't matter.
  • chunkiedunker
    chunkiedunker Posts: 144 Member
    i feel mine is a joke as well. as i am over weight and in the obese category right now, but the weight they tell me i need to be in is 170 to 200.

    i am 6'5" tall and weigh 304 right now. when i was in highschool and just out of high school i was a little shorter and 225. i felt amazing and looked great. i couldn't imagine being 25 to 55 lbs less than that.

    I think the BMI charts are completely out of touch and should only be used as a guide. Honestly put yourself where you want to be and feel good at. if you feel great about yourself who cares what a stupid chart says?
  • gingerveg
    gingerveg Posts: 748 Member
    Yup, I think you gotta take it with a grain of salt. My BMI range is about a 20lbs range and for someone smaller I really think 20lbs is huge. I wonder if all the tools that tell us about our physical structure (BMI, TDEE/BMR, calories etc.) take the smaller into consideration. I'm beginning to think they don't because the tools don't seem to "tighten up" as the numbers get smaller and they absolutely should (because the difference is exponential). But I guess it all comes down to us. I think we need to be honest about our bone structure and how/where we hold weight to determine what looks and feels the best on us.
  • zephtalah
    zephtalah Posts: 327 Member
    I still have 3 more pounds till I am no longer overweight! I feel pretty good about my weight. I still want to lose another 15, but much more than that and I think I would look sickly. The low end of BMI would have me down another 40 or so! I haven't weighed that since maybe 4th grade? I don't have a big bone frame, big hips yes but my wrists and ankles are small. So I don't know. Like most things take it with a grain of salt. At what weight do you feel healthy? At what weight and strength level are you able to function well?
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