BMI or Body Fat Percentage?

0target0
0target0 Posts: 13
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all,

This may be a silly question, since I don't know a ton about this stuff, but what do you use to figure out an ideal weight? I know a lot if people who use BMI as a means of determining an acceptable weight, but others who say to calculate Lean Body Mass, and then choose an acceptable Body Fat percentage, and go from there. I'm just not sure which is more accurate/healthy.

For example, according to BMI, a normal weight for me would be anywhere from 98lbs to 128lbs. However, when I calculated my lean body mass, it said it was 110lbs. I read that women should try to keep 15-25% body fat (especially if you are not an athlete...which is me!) so even if I choose the lowest of that at 15%, I get an ideal weight of 126lbs. But, that low end of the Body Fat calcuations is really close to the high end of the BMI calculations, so I'm not really sure which to go by.

Anyway, sorry if that was confusing. My brain isn't working 100% today. Any help would be appreciated.

:)

Replies

  • ShaniWulffe
    ShaniWulffe Posts: 458 Member
    BMI is not a very reliable method to go by... It can be helpful as a starting point, but BF% is a better way to figure it out. Otherwise athletes whose BMI is higher would not be as healthy as they are (if that makes sense)
  • 0target0
    0target0 Posts: 13
    Thanks! That makes sense, and is congruent with my thoughts. But I've heard/read so many different things, that I got confused.

    :)
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    BMI is a basically useless indicator because it tells you absolutely nothing about body composition. If your BMI is in a "healthy" range, you could be droopy/saggy/skinny fat, lean/muscular, or somewhere in between. If you're at 15% bodyfat (for a female), there's no way you're going to be anything but lean and well-defined.

    Personally, I think body fat percentage and the mirror are more useful tools than either BMI or scale weight. If you look good in the mirror and have a healthy body fat percentage, who cares what those numbers are? You don't walk around with your weight or your BMI number floating over your head - what people see is your body. It wouldn't be much consolation to me to splutter "But my BMI is 21 and I weigh xxx pounds!" if people laughed hysterically every time I wore shorts or took my shirt off at the beach.
  • RekindledRose
    RekindledRose Posts: 523 Member
    BMI was invented in the early 1800's as an arbitrary number based only on weight and height. We all know that the same height and weight can describe completely different body types and health conditions!

    A better indicator is the body fat percentage or to use the waist/height ratio to determine your 'health'. Again, people are built differently.

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