BMI-Is anyone maintaining "Overweight"?

I am still a few pounds into the obese range, so I'm not in your exact situation, but I do wonder what my goal weight should really be. I am 5'6'', started at around 260, joined MFP at 235, am currently 196, and the lowest weight I've maintained as an adult is about 180. I was exercising a lot and eating healthy and I never got below 180, though I didn't have MFP at the time, so maybe I was eating more calories than I thought.

I am trying to take the advice I give others: if you are eating healthy and exercising and staying at the same weight, than that weight is healthy for you. A lot of online "ideal weight" calculators tell me I should be aiming for 160, which is a few pounds overweight for my height. I am going to try to get close to that, but I'm not going to try any crazy tactics to get lower. That is, if the things I'm doing now allow me to get to a lower number, that's fine, but if they don't, that's fine too. I am more focused on having healthy habits than on getting to a specific number. I am paying some attention to body fat percentage -- I would like to be more fit, regardless of weight.

About 10 years ago I lost weight to within 20 pounds of the upper limit of a "normal" BMI for my height (5'5"). I was ecstatic at the time, wearing 12s and 14s, and feeling fit and wonderful. That's the goal I've set for myself. If I go much lower, I'll look gaunt and wrinkled. Health is my first priority, but I can't deny that appearance is also important!

Congrats and thats amazing! I am also working down my weight from over 300 pounds. Given that I am pretty petite, 5'2, my "normal" weight for my bmi would be 125-140 pound, a near 200 pound loss for me. I met a few times with a nutritionist when I first started out and I spoke with her about that - a "healthy bmi" vs. a healthy weight. She told me that for me to get to that weight I would need to watch EVERY bite that went into my mouth and constantly workout and exercise. Not that I think that this is impossible but it seems that it would be unbearable to live my life like that. She said that it was more realistic for me to reach an average weight, without struggling, at 160-175 pounds, and that so long as I'm active and over all healthy, there is nothing wrong with that weight (especially seeing how that would be a 100+ weight loss). At this time I'm in the low-mid 200's and I'm wearing a size 18 and I'm and XL in tops, so I figure another 50 pounds or so and I will also be in the size 14 L/M range and I think I will be pretty happy there (given how I started out a year ago at a size 26 and a 3x/2x)!

You should feel proud and feel good about your weight and your accomplishment!

Congrats on your victory. i was just thinking about this topic today and was surpised to see that i am still in the obese BMI range. im 5'2 and 184. at my heaviest in jan of 2012 i was 238. i am in a size 12 pants and L shirts. i have dropped a shoe size and the only pants that fit are leggings. i look really thin and i work out twice a week. i have losta lot of inches but still have a BMI of over 33. the ideal weight says 140 and hey thast only 40 more pounds. But isnt that what we've all said like it was no big deal..until it came time to get rid of it. honestly i set my peronal goal for 125. but as i drop weight i see that 125 on me will be a disaster. i plan on dropping weight as i can but i will not drive myself insane to meet someone elses calculation of healthy and their ideal weight for me. if you are comfortable with what you see and you feel great, and know you are exercising and eating right than you should be happy. good luck everyone and keep up the great work

I'm about six pounds away from normal now - and I'm adjusting my caloric intake to focus on strength training and muscle gain rather than weight loss. I've never been much below 150, and I'm 5'5.

I HATE BMI! I'm 5'1" weight 169 lbs and still obese. 11 pounds to go just to be considered overweight! I try to ignore it, but damnit sometimes it's depressing as hell. Oh well i'll just keep trucking on and be happy with the progress i've made and will continue to make....which does make it a lot easier to tell my BMI to kiss my slightly smaller *kitten*!

For those of you...including the OP...who were really overweight...like 50 pounds or more for a long time, you might be happy to know that BMI is inaccurate.

My doctor told me my goal weight should be no less than 175. I'm 5'9" and medium framed. This is still overweight by BMI standards, but because for many years long ago, I was over 300 pounds, my bones are far more dense in order to support that weight. This can account for as much as 10-12 extra pounds.

So ask your doctors before you assume you are still overweight. You may not be at all!

I agree with many others on here. I'm only 5'4" and my GW is 180. That is what I weighed when I was 18 and thought at the time I was huge. Now 100 years later 180 seems fantastic. I also feel that having been overweight for so long and having lost so many times I'm thinking I'm not going to have great tone. I will continue to shoot for 180 and when I get there we will see what happens. Besides BMI to me doesn't matter as much anymore because you could put 2 people side by side at same weight and one could be all tone and muscular and look great and the other not and which would you prefer? I am trying to think more about health and body fat.

Keep up your great work and let things work themselves out!!!

At 5 feet 5 inches tall I lost over 100 pounds and got all the way down to 164 pounds. According to BMI standards that was overweight for my height! I increased my calories and got slack with logging and gained back 20 pounds, currently around 185 pounds. According to BMI standards that is obese for my height. I was not eating nutritious food or fueling my body to health and working out with barely any energy. Once I started back eating real food instead of junk and exercising excessively I put the pounds back on. Now I want to eat in a way that I can maintain over my lifetime, but watching my calories so I can get back down to those size 10 clothes in my closet. One day at a time.

I've been maintaining at about 10 pounds overweight for the last year. During this time my body fat has gone down. On the BMI scale I'm overweight, but on the body fat scale I'm in the Athlete category.

Overweight? hell, I'm "obese" in my profile picture...

Every NFL Runningback.

Just keep in mind that eating healthy is not necessarily the same thing as not eating too much.... You can still eat way too much of healthy things. Also, if you're "eating healthy and exercising and staying at the same weight" yet still overweight, I would consider that a plateau to get over, not the weight that is healthy for you.

BMI is only one side of the story but it's also important to keep in mind your body fat %. If you're fine with the amount of fat on your body, no problem, but it's definitely good to be at least aware. If the % is a relatively high number, there definitely is weight (=fat) to lose to be healthy, I don't think you should just accept it and randomly give up at some point just because it's the comfortable thing to do.

this!!!

Yes, I'm 5'5 and have been 135-140 in a size 7 or 8. I actually prefer to be a 10 or 12. I don't want to go that low again, even though it's in the healthy BMI range. I have fitness goals in terms of completing exercise programs and running, vital signs, etc. but I don't care if I'm a 25 BMI or under.

When I get to the weight I want to maintain I can almost guarantee it'll be "overweight". I'm very much okay with that.