Why I think The BMI scale is stupid: I am overweight

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Replies

  • fairygirlpie9
    fairygirlpie9 Posts: 288 Member
    You are obviously in the minority. BMI isn't stupid, and for the general population it works. There's going to be outliers (like yourself), but overall it works.

    Ignore it, go by BF% and don't make others think it isn't reasonable when the majority of the time it is.

    I'm not very muscular, but started out with a 27 BMI, I knew at that point I was really overweight and knew I had to something about it. Now I'm 20.5 BMI and now aiming for 20. Most people will fall into the category - I know my BF, most of my friends and I do. It really depends on your body's make up.

    Good for you showing off, but I doubt the validity of this topic. Sorry.


    I fail to see how the OP is "showing off" just because she's in great shape and is giving an obvious example of a flawed system. I'm another example of said flaw and I'm not even in good shape. My LBM has been measured at 17lbs higher than the max I can weigh and be "healthy". The MAX I can be. Explain that.


    I can top that my LBM is 111 lbs which is in the middle of my 'healthy' bmi range at 5ft. BMI is far from accurate for everyone. If your of asian descent your ideal weight is probably lower and if your of african descent your ideal weight is probably higher but again theres no one size fits all because there are too many variables.
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
    I agree mine hasn't changed seemingly in 6 months at 175cm and currently 78-79kg 6 months ago i was 90ish my BMI has been around 25-26 regardless of weight, and also tells me my body fat is 23-24% stable that whole time which is clearly an overestimation, get the same issue with the tape measure way of doing it, but i've dropped several clothing sizes and still losing in that respect, maybe it;s all the excess weight i'm carrying if any is in my waist which doesn't seem to move, everything else has dropped alot.

    Ive learned to just ignore it, cause it's obviously wrong plus how can they be accuracte anyway, it's not like they are a scanner, all they do is send out a minute current that measures how long it takes for the signal to come back and then uses that time to calculate probable body structure, but it's only measuring your feet nothing else unless i'm missing something, only way to really tell would be to get a professional reading.

    If you feel great, look great and are healthy who cares what an artificial piece of equipment tells you, theya re great initially when you are really overweight and have obvious changes but once you get down to "average" structure they are just a guess at best.
  • smkean
    smkean Posts: 132
    I agree.
    You look fine!

    It just fails to take into condsideration so much! Bone structure, bigger breasts and so on!
  • beautifulwarrior18
    beautifulwarrior18 Posts: 914 Member
    The BMI scale has never worked for me either. Genetically I am dense lol. But seriously, I weigh about 30-40 lbs more than I look like I do.
  • amyfullbrook
    amyfullbrook Posts: 97 Member
    Well you can most certainly say you are NOT overweight. You look amazing...your body looks like perfection! The BMI scale is ridiculous, according to the BMI scale I'm bordering on obese and although, yes, I am 170 lbs I'm also nearly 5ft 8in tall. I know I have to lose some weight, but I would never say I'm obese.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    BMI scale is a statistical tool and makes general sense but it is only one element and coupled with bf% remains a reasonable estimator.

    If you think it's stupid, someone is using it wrong.

    BMI is often used incorrectly by doctors but it's a good communication tool to bring an external indicator to show that someone should do something or to create a reasonable goal. It does require a little thinking.

    And to the poster that is thinking that BMI somehow is measured by current, you are a bit confused. Impedance is a (poor) measure for bf%. In fact, there is no good bf% tool; all bf% measures are based on a simplified compartment model that's, again, only an estimator. Take these with a big grain of salt.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Well you can most certainly say you are NOT overweight. You look amazing...your body looks like perfection! The BMI scale is ridiculous, according to the BMI scale I'm bordering on obese and although, yes, I am 170 lbs I'm also nearly 5ft 8in tall. I know I have to lose some weight, but I would never say I'm obese.

    No. That's a BMI of 25.9 - quite far from obese. Borderline obese would be 30lbs higher.
    You are borderline healthy range. Congrats.
  • GillianMcK
    GillianMcK Posts: 401 Member
    You are obviously in the minority. BMI isn't stupid, and for the general population it works. There's going to be outliers (like yourself), but overall it works.

    Ignore it, go by BF% and don't make others think it isn't reasonable when the majority of the time it is.

    I'm not very muscular, but started out with a 27 BMI, I knew at that point I was really overweight and knew I had to something about it. Now I'm 20.5 BMI and now aiming for 20. Most people will fall into the catagory - I know my BF, most of my friends and I do. It really depends on your body's make up.

    Good for you showing off, but I doubt the validity of this topic. Sorry.

    I don't think she's in the minority, the BMI scale has every body builder/rugby player etc as obese, I get a body fat analysis done every 6 weeks or so to monitor that everything is moving in the correct direction, yes it also give me my BMI but I'm more interested in comparing my body fat decreased and my lean body mass increasing.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    You are obviously in the minority. BMI isn't stupid, and for the general population it works. There's going to be outliers (like yourself), but overall it works.

    Ignore it, go by BF% and don't make others think it isn't reasonable when the majority of the time it is.

    I'm not very muscular, but started out with a 27 BMI, I knew at that point I was really overweight and knew I had to something about it. Now I'm 20.5 BMI and now aiming for 20. Most people will fall into the catagory - I know my BF, most of my friends and I do. It really depends on your body's make up.

    Good for you showing off, but I doubt the validity of this topic. Sorry.

    I don't think she's in the minority, the BMI scale has every body builder/rugby player etc as obese, I get a body fat analysis done every 6 weeks or so to monitor that everything is moving in the correct direction, yes it also give me my BMI but I'm more interested in comparing my body fat decreased and my lean body mass increasing.

    Most of the us population is not body builders. By definition BMI is a stat tool, so yes, she's in the minority.
    And focusing on bf alone is better but still has issues.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    BMI is a sweeping generalisation almost to the point of stupidity.

    In other news, you are slammin'!

    I wish there was a like button on here! But THIS is so true!

    It is only stupid if you are stupid enough to not apply any common sense. Like the bloke who drove on to a train track because his sat nav told him he was going down a road.

    For me BMI was useful.
  • punkologist
    punkologist Posts: 1
    According to the BMI scale at 176 cms I should be between 57.3 kg and 77.4 kg.
    Ridiculous. When I was 82kg in high school people said i looked too thin. If I was 57kg i would look like a Ice addict.

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