Why I think The BMI scale is stupid: I am overweight
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a question - do you ALWAYS dress like that to go to the gym???0
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Yes, but 140 pounds and 5'3" tall I am considered overweight. I'm also a size 2 or four or six depending on vanity sizing or a small to medium generally small. This is me:
My trainer and I were having this same discussion with another member at the gym a few months ago. My trainer is a T1 diabetic. He got a phone call from someone at his endocrinologist's office informing him that his BMI is high, and he is at risk of several diseases/disorders . He laughed and explained to this woman that he is a personal trainer, and has 9% body fat, so BMI does not apply to him.0 -
You look great OP!
I agree with you. When I am at my goal weight of 155, I am still in the overweight category. I think I look pretty darn good at that weight (I am 5'5"). Because of my body structure, I wear a size 12 when I weigh 155. The smallest size I have ever worn is a 10, and that was at 122 lbs.0 -
Again, while BMI is a tool, it's not the best available and should be used with hesitation.
Great point. BMI is a population measure of weight, e.g. it's what researchers use to determine whether a group of people are gaining or losing weight over time. It was never intended to be a personal measure of weight, but insurance companies and health websites use it because it's such a cheap and easy thing to measure. If you are in the 10% of the population at either end of the extreme (e.g., thin with very high muscle content = relatively heavy; or fat with absolutely no muscle = relatively light) then it isn't a good measure, and you seem to fit into this group.
That said, the vast majority of the population are well respresented by a BMI score, in the same way that the majority of the population are well represented by the average range for other health measures, e.g. iron or blood cell counts. But because BMI is used so widely, and nobody likes to think they're fat, it's complained about a lot more.
BMI plus an accurate measure of body fat percentage, measured through skin folds or a full-body DEXA scan, will give you an accurate measure of your body shape. And in the OP's case there is quite obviously not a weight problem, so just send a reading of your body fat percentage to your insurance as evidence that you are not overweight!
And don't discredit the BMI scale, just discredit how it is used by people/organisations that don't know any better..
Maybe I'm a bit jaded, on here and in my personal life (I'm not just a fitness instructor, that's only my hobby job, I'm a auditor in the corporate world) I'm surrounded by people who are not well represented by the BMI scale. I would say better than 25% of the people I know do not fall into this scale accurately.
There's no place on the template to put bf%, height, weight, bp, hr . . . they only look at basic metrics, and yet this is one of the tools . . . a known flawed tool . . . that insurance companies heavily leverage.0 -
Sorry to burst your bubble but you arent overweight. Not even with the BMI scale.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm
At 5'3" and 140 lbs your bmi is 24.8.
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Now I on the other hand am wayyyyy fatter than you. Mine is 28.7.
Good Day Maddam0 -
a question - do you ALWAYS dress like that to go to the gym???
No, but I'm thinking about breaking it out for times other than Halloween . . . I love costuming and it was super fun seeing the look on the faces my 5:30 class this morning. I have a lunch class and an afternoon class . . . probably going to rock the wonder woman costume for those.0 -
Sorry to burst your bubble but you arent overweight. Not even with the BMI scale.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm
At 5'3" and 140 lbs your bmi is 24.8.
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Now I on the other hand am wayyyyy fatter than you. Mine is 28.7.
Good Day Maddam
Ooops! I rounded down! when I put it in this morning I put it in as 141 because I've been fluctuating between 140 and 143 for about 8 weeks ("down" from 145). When I created the post I posted at 140, nice catch!
Damn, fat looks good on you . . .0 -
BMI says the most I can weigh and be in "healthy" weight is like 140lbs. :noway: I'm 5'7" tall.
That is weird, since I am 5'6" and it says I can weigh up to 156.
At 5'10 I was told 153lbs to be dead center of a healthy BMI..so I could weigh about 10-15 more than that probably and still be ok..but just seems extreme..
Just looked it up...122 to 169 lbs is considered Appropriate BMI for my height...I could cut glass with my collar bones at 122..LOL
Yes, but there are naturally lean people who would be an appropriate weight at 122 and overfat at 169. The range doesn't mean that everyone your height could be an appropriate level of fatness anywhere within the range.0 -
BMI says the most I can weigh and be in "healthy" weight is like 140lbs. :noway: I'm 5'7" tall.
That is weird, since I am 5'6" and it says I can weigh up to 156.
The info I quoted was from a chart in my doctor's office back in 2002. I remember it vividly bc at the time I was 170lbs and I thought I was in pretty decent shape and he called me obese. I was quite irrate when I left his office and have never been back to see him.0 -
BMI is garbage for the majority of people.And it has become a scam for insurance companies to get deeper into our pockets ...At 6'2" - 225lbs I am at the top end of overweight, and when I reach my goal,(235) I will,once again, be in the obese range, as I have been most of my adult life ......
<<<<< Do I look obese to you?? I think not .....
Dexa scan and accurate Caliper readings for BF%, the mirror, and actual measurements are much better than BMI for the majority of people.
NOBODY I know, measures out correctly using BMI, NOBODY ......Not 10%, not 25% even, NOBODY ......0 -
Op, you look fantastic.
Also, frame size and other factors can matter as well. A person can be at the lower end and still be extremely healthy (and look great, not too thin, and with muscle definition). When evaluating my health my doctor takes into account not just my weight, but how I look, my measurements, other measures of health, my personal history and my family history. She uses all of the tools available, her training, as well as common sense.0 -
Maybe I'm a bit jaded, on here and in my personal life (I'm not just a fitness instructor, that's only my hobby job, I'm a auditor in the corporate world) I'm surrounded by people who are not well represented by the BMI scale. I would say better than 25% of the people I know do not fall into this scale accurately.
There's no place on the template to put bf%, height, weight, bp, hr . . . they only look at basic metrics, and yet this is one of the tools . . . a known flawed tool . . . that insurance companies heavily leverage.
But then again you are obviously well-educated and fitness conscious and likely surrounded by people who fit both those categories. If you drive to a city shopping mall and take a look at the bodies walking around there then you'll find the majority
I think it's ridiculous that insurance companies use such restrictive formula, and that really sucks for you that there is no way around getting listed as 'overweight'! You look fantastic, and any insurance company should be thrilled to have someone as fit as you paying premiums to them0 -
BMI says the most I can weigh and be in "healthy" weight is like 140lbs. :noway: I'm 5'7" tall.
That is weird, since I am 5'6" and it says I can weigh up to 156.
At 5'10 I was told 153lbs to be dead center of a healthy BMI..so I could weigh about 10-15 more than that probably and still be ok..but just seems extreme..
Just looked it up...122 to 169 lbs is considered Appropriate BMI for my height...I could cut glass with my collar bones at 122..LOL
Yes, but there are naturally lean people who would be an appropriate weight at 122 and overfat at 169. The range doesn't mean that everyone your height could be an appropriate level of fatness anywhere within the range.
I agree with this!0 -
You look great. Muscle weighs more than fat. I agree with your trainer. It is your percentage of body fat that is important. I had a scan done and for my age I am in the excellent category. According to BMI I am at 25-26. I feel great at this weight and do not put much stock in the BMI because it does not consider your percentage of excess body fat. What ever you are doing keep it up you look healthy and toned.0
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Sorry to burst your bubble but you arent overweight. Not even with the BMI scale.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm
At 5'3" and 140 lbs your bmi is 24.8.
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Now I on the other hand am wayyyyy fatter than you. Mine is 28.7.
Good Day Maddam
Ooops! I rounded down! when I put it in this morning I put it in as 141 because I've been fluctuating between 140 and 143 for about 8 weeks ("down" from 145). When I created the post I posted at 140, nice catch!
Damn, fat looks good on you . . .
LOL! Thank you!
I hate the BMI too. I think the last time I posted about the BMI I posted a picture of Adrian Peterson (NFL Running Back) and hes is in the Obese Category.
BMI is dumb.
You keep lifting all the weights. You look great!0 -
<<<<< Do I look obese to you?? I think not .....
You don't look obese in terms of body fat percentage but you certainly look like you have a high BMI: two totally different things that unfortunately can often be lumped into one category!0 -
Sorry to burst your bubble but you arent overweight. Not even with the BMI scale.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm
At 5'3" and 140 lbs your bmi is 24.8.
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Now I on the other hand am wayyyyy fatter than you. Mine is 28.7.
Good Day Maddam
I call BS on your 28% BF if that's you in the pic. That looks more like 15-17% to me.0 -
BMI says the most I can weigh and be in "healthy" weight is like 140lbs. :noway: I'm 5'7" tall.
That is weird, since I am 5'6" and it says I can weigh up to 156.
At 5'10 I was told 153lbs to be dead center of a healthy BMI..so I could weigh about 10-15 more than that probably and still be ok..but just seems extreme..
Just looked it up...122 to 169 lbs is considered Appropriate BMI for my height...I could cut glass with my collar bones at 122..LOL
Yes, but there are naturally lean people who would be an appropriate weight at 122 and overfat at 169. The range doesn't mean that everyone your height could be an appropriate level of fatness anywhere within the range.
I agree with this!
I agree as well that there are people it works for, and that at my height and weighing 122 look great...BUT I agree with the OP that this should not be the tool the insurance companies use...The healthy they judge me on should be based on my bloodwork and overall health...not what some chart says I should weigh..0 -
Sorry to burst your bubble but you arent overweight. Not even with the BMI scale.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm
At 5'3" and 140 lbs your bmi is 24.8.
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Now I on the other hand am wayyyyy fatter than you. Mine is 28.7.
Good Day Maddam
I call BS on your 28% BF if that's you in the pic. That looks more like 15-17% to me.
I'm confused..I didn't think Body Fat and Body Mass Index were the same thing...he says his BMI is 28.7 not his body fat...am I wrong?0 -
Sorry to burst your bubble but you arent overweight. Not even with the BMI scale.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm
At 5'3" and 140 lbs your bmi is 24.8.
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Now I on the other hand am wayyyyy fatter than you. Mine is 28.7.
Good Day Maddam
I call BS on your 28% BF if that's you in the pic. That looks more like 15-17% to me.
Ummmmm - the 28.7 is his BMI not BF.0
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