Overweight Per BMI, but Healthy?

My boyfriend is overweight, and has been verging on obese if you go only by his BMI. In reality, he just lifts a lot of weights, and has a very muscular build with very little fat. That's a good example of why BMI shouldn't be taken as gospel.

BMI doesn't distinguish what is fat and what is muscle.....I'd roll with BF% and body measurements.

When I was 30 yrs old, at 5'6", I weighed 155, which is at the line between healthy and overweight BMI. I was probably around 25% body fat, but never had it professionally tested. I was into serious body building at the time and was super strong and muscular. I was not super lean, and would have probably needed to lose 15-20 pounds of fat to get in competition shape. I don't really see how I could have added much more, if any muscle mass without adding bulk (fat) along with it. At least not naturally.
I didn't look like I weighed 155 at the time, and looked more like 145. I didn't look 'fat' but looked like I could have dropped another 10 pounds. As far as healthy, my blood work was perfect and had no health issues at all. When I did gain 10-15 pounds after knee and back surgery, my cholesterol, etc, was starting to increase, and I definitely was not at a healthy BF% then.

So personally, I can't see a woman weighing 20 pounds over the healthy BMI limit, without having an unhealthy BF%. There might be a woman my height who is perfectly healthy at 175, but I have never known one. JMO.

ETA -I am currently at 188, and technically still in the Obese cat. I will be thrilled to get to 175, but I won't be happy to stay there. My first goal is 155, then I will evaluate and see if I want to go any lower.

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I'm 5'3" and 141.2lbs and I'm told I'm "overweight" however my BF% is 22.7 - win!

I have a healthy BF% and an overweight BMI, 189.5 pounds, 70" tall.

I'm considered "Obese" by BMI standards (I think I'm currently 31.8).

I still have some fat to lose to reach my goal, but I think I'm at a healthy weight. See my profile pictures for a couple fairly current shots.

You are SO obese! I think you need to start working out...

(I'm just kidding, for those who may think I'm being serious.)

The healthy BMI for someone 5'3" is between 104 and 140..... Have you sever een a healthy 104 pound woman??
When I was waitressing I was a size 0, could eat anything I wanted and never gained a pound..... and STILL weighed 115 dripping wet.

I was 150-160 pounds after having my twins.... After starting MFP, I felt great when I got down to 140-150.

I honestly feel better now, but I think the numbers are skewed.

BMI only measures height for weight. Many more factors determine whether you are truly healthy or not like body fat percentage. I think it is supposed to be between 21-33% for women. Also, you can check for metabolic syndrome which is characterized by things like high blood pressure and a waist measurement for women that is greater than 35 at level of navel. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that suggest a risk for diseases like diabetes, heart disease, etc.

Don't worry, because there should be different BMI charts for men and women and probably ethnic groups to be really accurate!

I am 5 feet 7 inches....I I weigh 195 pounds!! That is overweight for my height...:/
However no one seems to think I look like I weigh that much!! They think I look like I weigh 145 or so. They tell me I am just "tall"?

I'd like to weigh 150 because that is high for the healthy range of BMI. However since I once weighed almost 320 pounds, 195 doesn't sound so bad?

DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR BMI!!!

Your body mass index number takes into account your height and weight, but its biggest downfall is that it does not take your muscle into account. Skin graphs (when a measurement of the excess skin/flab/fat on your belly) are even a better indicator of your health. A much better way to keep track of how healthy you are is to know your percentage fat and muscle. Most gyms that I have been to have a small handheld device that you use while standing on a scale. Otherwise, you can do a free body assessment through cold fusion

An easy at home measurement is to measure your waist circumference. Women should have a waist that is less than 35 inches in circumference.

Well, my sister and I are about the same height (64 in). She has never seen a number over 103 on the scale and I'm at about 180. If you looked at my sister, you wouldn't think she was unhealthy at all, and she's not. She's lean, but not "skinny" in any way, although she does wear a size 0. She simply has a very small frame.

I, on the other hand, am categorically overweight (bordering on obese) according to my BMI, but my body fat percentage is at a fairly healthy 25% (for a woman). It would actually be unhealthy for me to weigh any less than 145 pounds. I have a large frame. My waist is 33 in and my waist to hip ratio is .7.

Factors like wrist size and waist size are important to look at because not only are some fairly healthy people told they need to lose weight because their BMIs are too high, but also some people think their weight is "healthy" even though their shape is unhealthy. If you carry more of your weight around your abdomen than, say, your hips, then you are more likely to have health problems.

It also works the other way round - people can have an underweight BMI and be perfectly healthy.

If someone is heavily muscled I understand how they can be healthy but have a high BMI. But how can someone be healthy at the underweight BMI? I'm not trying to be mean but I am genuinely curious as to how that works. For my height (5'10") I would have to be 128 to be classified underweight and I can't imagine any way that could be healthy.

haha if BMI was an accurate measure of health, this would be considered unhealthy. I'm 5'4 and 155 pounds here which is actually considered obese. But I feel and I think I look great

My bmi says i am overweight.. I am 5'8 165 lbs
I mean i'm not ripped or super fit (yet) but I don't think I am close to overweight