BMI - how much do you depend on your BMI #

BMI is flawed, it doesn't take into account the amount of lean muscle mass you have. A better measurement to look at would be your body fat %.

Best way is to get it measured is professionally but I think you can buy calipers at either GNC or I'm sure amazon just make sure they come with directions.

Agree there are online calculators that ask for your measurements and will give a % but they are highly inaccurate. Calipers are the most accurate, but that accuracy is dependent on the person completing the measurement. A personal trainer should be able to do this correctly for you. The option I use is a body composition scale at my gym. It has some degree of error, but is the most accurate method I have available to me.

BMI is flawed, it doesn't take into account the amount of lean muscle mass you have. A better measurement to look at would be your body fat %.

Is there a calculator to figure out body fat % ?

Yup, you just need to have one of two things measured, either the circumference for certain body parts (rough measurement for body fat) or the thickness of skinfolds on ceratin body areas (more accurate)....the gold standard for determining body fat % is to go into a clinic and measure your total oxygen use relative to you weight and height; muscle burns oxygen, fat does not, so from this you can figure out which tissue is muscle and which is fat

I use it as a guideline for my goal weight, but will redetermine when I get close to it.
BMI is very inaccurate, so wouldn't put too much weight on it (pardon the pun).

Bodyfat % is better, but not everyone has a way of measuring it, so BMI could be good as a vague guideline.

I don't beleive in BMI. I once was watching a show on eating disorders. They gave the height and weight of the girl who was aneroxic. I looked up her BMI and it put her at slightly overweight!!!

BMI is only flawed if you have a lot of lean muscle mass (athletes or body builders) or don't want to believe what it tells you. It's based on a weight to height ratio and your risk of health issues because of that. If you're BMI is overweight then you're carrying too much weight somewhere.

We got into this discussion last week. It's not how you perceive that you look, it's based on medical issues. You may think you look great at a higher BMI but you will still present with higher health risks because of your weight.

BMI: 25.2 - very slightly overweight
(pulse reader thingy)BF%: 28.3% - "average"
(online calculator)BF% - 28.1% - average

I perfer BF%, for obvious reasons.

EDIT:
I used this site for my BF%. Seems close to accurate for everyone I've tried
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/library/blbodyfatcalculator.htm

Don't use BMI, even as a rough indicator. As others have said, it is meant to categorize a population, not an individual.

At 5'4 and 180 I am at a 30.9 BMI, which still has me categorized as obese.
My measurements are: 36" B, 31"W, 46"H.
BF% Calculated with calipers: 28%
I wear a size 8-10 dress and a size 12 pant
I would definitely categorize myself as overweight, but not obese.

You also can't trust BF% calculators. Inputting my B/W/H and neck measurements, my body fat % ranges from a (-3.86%) to 86% depending on the algorithm.

Better health indicators are your blood pressure, resting heart rate and body fat percentage (measured professionally if possible)

I don't depend on it AT ALL. I do weigh myself once a month, but monitor my body fat and measure myself twice a month. I have 26% body fat and a 28 inch waist (36 chest, 36 hips) -- I am 5'3, 150 pounds making me overweight, but I am in perfect health and wear an 8-10, which is fine with me.

If you look at the BMI, all that tells you is I need to lose 13 pounds. When I was younger and not ever working out, I weighed 140 pounds -- I wore the same size pants as I do not and my waist was only half an inch smaller -- my body fat was 31%. I was only 3 pounds over the healthy BMI range -- I can tell you for certain I look 100% better now than then.

I am definitely NOT saying I gained 10 pounds of muscle or anything (I had a baby and that gave me some bigger boobs) -- but my whole body is tighter and I do see definition in my legs, chest, and shoulders when I couldn't previously. I am much better physical shape now in terms of appearance AND fitness.