How much do you go by BMI?

I think it can be a useful tool as long as you're not too muscular. I looked at BMI charts when picking out my goal weight for this cut. I'm still going primarily by how I look, but having a numerical goal is nice too.

Congratulations on your weight loss! I am glad you are feeling healthy and strong. For the record, I think bodyfat % is much more useful than BMI for individuals. Unfortunately it is also much harder to measure accurately.

As others have pointed out athletes in certain sports naturally have a higher BMI so some people have an "overweight" BMI yet are very healthy.

In this list of female gold medal winners there are 2 overweight and 2 obese women according to BMI scales:
http://www.runnersworld.com/womens-running/bmis-of-champions-womens-edition

There are even more champion male athletes in the overweight and obese categories:
http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/bmis-champions

Of course average BMI depends on your sport of choice. In some sports (shot put, weight lifting), lots of muscle is important, in others (endurance sports, etc) it is helpful to remain lean.

Most of us are not built like Lebron James (NBA) or Valerie Adams (shot put) but it is important to note that perfectly healthy people with a BMI over 24.9 exist.

I have basically been bouncing around the same 3-4lbs for a few months now. I upped my calories a bit a few times, and am now at 1550 plus about half of my exercise calories
... I am 5' 3" and BMI tells me 140lbs is the MOST I can weigh to be considered in a healthy weight range, so I thought it was a good goal. Thing is, I can't seem to get below 149 (once), and am essentially hovering around 151-153lbs.

If you're eating over 1500 cal per day, it's no wonder you're hovering at 150 lb.
If you want to weigh 140, eat no more than 1400 cal per day, & ignore "net" or exercise calories completely. That's what my doctor told me to do. (10 x healthy goal weight in order to lose weight to get there, as well as ignoring exercise calories)

I just wish I could shake the feeling that I "must" be 140 to be healthy when I already AM healthy

Yes, it sounds like you are healthy. You're also overweight.
The 2 are not mutually exclusive.

How much faith do you put in BMI?
how important is that number, and your BMI, to you?

Unless someone is freakishly muscular (competitive bodybuilder) or has unusually dense bones, it's a pretty good rule of thumb.
It's based on health measures of large populations.
I used BMI to determine a healthy goal weight (I'm aiming for at least 5 lb under the top end of the green range) as well as goal calories for the day (10 x healthy goal weight).

I think it's something that's very tricky to calculate and even when you do, it's often completely off

No, it's really easy to calculate.
Go to the menu bar & click on "apps", then click on "BMI".

your waist measurement is much more important when it comes to health.
Having excess fat in that area is an indicator of health risks. For women it's anything over 35" and for men 40".

For most average people it's a good rule of thumb, but it's treating a 4'6" woman the same as a 6'2" woman.
At 6'2", having a 36" waist might be too small, and at 4'6" having a 35" waist is probably way too much intrabdominal fat.
It's the same as saying a competitive bodybuilder has to be in the green range for his height - the outliers show that it's not right for everyone.

I use BMI as a general guideline because my doctor generally puts it in my chart, but also consider body fat %, which is harder to measure. The only time I do this is at the gym with that handheld device, but then they try to get me to sign up for trainer sessions...

What other numbers motivate you?

I've looked back at my Facebook images over the past few years and it has been really motivating to me at the progress I have made, particularly my face images.

I came across some research that fairly accurately ties face images to BMI / body fat %. I'm curious what you would do if you had a tool that tracked your BMI / body fat % from analyzing at you face photos on Facebook / Instagram / etc? Would it motivate you to exercise more / eat better / focus more on weight loss?

I use BMI as a general guideline because my doctor generally puts it in my chart, but also consider body fat %, which is harder to measure. The only time I do this is at the gym with that handheld device, but then they try to get me to sign up for trainer sessions...

What other numbers motivate you?

I've looked back at my Facebook images over the past few years and it has been really motivating to me at the progress I have made, particularly my face images.

I came across some research that fairly accurately ties face images to BMI / body fat %. I'm curious what you would do if you had a tool that tracked your BMI / body fat % from analyzing at you face photos on Facebook / Instagram / etc? Would it motivate you to exercise more / eat better / focus more on weight loss?

Unfortunately doctors care about BMI, did you know a plastic surgeon is ethically bound from performing surgery to anyone above BMI 29?
Another easy way that is actually linked to health risk is waist to hip ratio, I don't remember the number but I think for women risk of heart disease increases if the ration is 0.8 or above

BMI is not an accurate measurement of health or healthy body composition at all in my opinion. I only pay attention to BMI when it comes time to renew health insurance plans. :P

I just wanted to add that you can lose weight by adding strength training! I was stuck at 154-156 for almost 2 solid months.. I got serious about lifting and running around the middle of August. First I went up a couple to 158. Now I am down to 153 for 3 consistent days! I know that is not a lot but I was already below my goal.. Now I have decided to lose a few more.. Plus my body composition is changing so much for the better! My stomach is getting tons smaller and my legs and arms are beginning to look good..

If you're eating over 1500 cal per day, it's no wonder you're hovering at 150 lb.
If you want to weigh 140, eat no more than 1400 cal per day, & ignore "net" or exercise calories completely. That's what my doctor told me to do. (10 x healthy goal weight in order to lose weight to get there, as well as ignoring exercise calories)

I'm sorry, doctor or no doctor, that is a terrible and ill-advised piece of advice.

Just doing the math for the above example, you are recommending the OP eat about 37/ 38% less than their TDEE *without* exercise. Adding in exercise (and not allowing any additional calories for that exercise, as per your above advice), increases that deficit even further!

Given TDEE -20% is usually recommended as a safe (yet still aggressive) upper limit for weight loss, advice to approximately double that is highly wreckless.

With my current physique I am considered overweight according to BMI (27.1). The last 2 years at my employee health screening I lost points due to being "overweight". I get so pissed. Last year as the lady was giving me the mandatory talk about weight loss counseling, I started laughing at her. I was indeed in much better shape then she was but her bmi was probably "normal". Anyone who is muscular, or even has a larger frame runs the risk of being overweight according to BMI even if they have normal (or in my case low) body fat percentage. BMI is decent for the general population but worthless for athletes. BMI should not be the end all be all indicator of healthy lifestyle but one of many numbers used to assess it. I would put things like body fat %, height to waist ratio, blood lipid panel, blood pressure, etc all above BMI when assessing one's "health".

I agree that it shouldn't be the be all and end all when it comes to making important decisions. If you have to take it into consideration for your health insurance (I don't know) or other things in the US there should be other tests you they consider too. It's still a good guide for the average person though, and people who are muscly tend to know they aren't overweight. Like I said it shouldn't be used to prove anything without any other tests though.

My healthy weight range is 42lbs.
Vague nonsense.