Personal experience of BMI

hanajbanana
hanajbanana Posts: 30 Member
edited November 9 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello lovely MFP people - long time lurker, first time poster... :-)

Just interested to get everyone's personal take on their own BMI - just being nosy! Obviously BMI is a very general indicator of health and individuals vary greatly depending on body shape, muscle mass, etc - a useful tool but not the be all, end all perhaps.

I've gone from the top end of overweight to now at the top end of healthy (hurrah!) through diet and exercise but I feel I've still got some work to go until I'm happy - gotta get a bit more of my wobbly belly gone! FYI my profile pic is a couple of months old and here I'm still officially overweight according to my BMI, but only by around 4 pounds or so...

I feel that BMI has been useful to me to have something to judge against but suspect that the middle of the normal range would be more than enough for me to reach and the lower end would not look right for my frame. That said, I still think I look too fat now at the high end of 'normal', but that might in part be due to the fact I'm still not used to seeing the difference in myself.

Replies

  • hgwill78
    hgwill78 Posts: 64 Member
    I think BMI works for some people. It's a really big range though. I'm right in the middle right now at 21.5 and I can tell you that is still too heavy for me. I have a small frame so for me, I need to be closer to the lower end of my weight range. I've used it to track progress but I care more about measurements and body fat % at this point.
  • takumar
    takumar Posts: 42
    BMI is the simplest and fastest way for anyone to gauge their body. It isn't necessarily the most accurate but the most accessible. That simple number shows you how far off the curve you might be and what are you going to do about it. It finally sunk in with one of my oldest friends- BMI 39 !! To me, that's its real value.
  • spamarie
    spamarie Posts: 2,825 Member
    BMI is a funny one. People always act surprised when I tell them I'm obese (BMI of 31). Well not any more as now I'm just overweight (hurrah!). I'm short and not small-framed, but part of me thinks they were just being polite, or we have all become so used to bigger being the norm we don't notice it so much anymore.

    I'm aiming for the high end of a healthy BMI and I will see how I feel when I get there. My nurse thinks this is a sensible goal too. I find BMI useful for giving me a number to aim for, but I try not to stress too much about it. I'm more interested in being able to swim further without feeling so beaten up, or fit into my clothes better, or other measurable things such as blood pressure or cholesterol being in the healthy range (thankfully those were always fine for me).
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    I am at the bottom of my BMI and at a weight that I think is right for me. I have been at the top of my BMI and looked and felt really fat. My health is good at both ends of the scale, but I am much fitter at the lower end.
    Cheers, h.
  • acmanna
    acmanna Posts: 200 Member
    For me it was a good way to judge where I was..top of the "normal" category now..boo yeah! For my husband, whom has visible abs and very muscular, it always told him that he was over weight..which he was clearly not.
    I think body fat % is much better
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    You just have to remember the variability around the "norms". At 25 BMI I have fat to lose for sure.
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  • GlenG1969
    GlenG1969 Posts: 34 Member
    Personally I think BMI is a little irrelevant, a tape measure a mirror and an honest opinion of yourself is much more effective.
    BMI is supposed to be a means to measure body fat, but does not take in to account lean muscle mass. As a result many power athletes such as elite rugby players and sprinters would be well over the ideal BMI.
    Checking my BMI on My Fitness Pal I am currently 26, which is classed as overweight for my height of 5 ft 11”. My ideal weight range (according to BMI) would be 9 st 7 lbs - 12 st 11 lbs. I know I need to lose some clem and 12 st 11lbs is more suited to my frame than my current post Christmas 13st 6 lb. However there is no way on earth that I would be classed as healthy if I could manage to get down to 9st 7lbs. I Think as a guide any active individual who is within the upper end of (their ideal BMI) has nothing to worry about and use it as a guide not gospel.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    In my profile I'm about 7 or 8 lbs above my maximum BMI

    I'm now 4lbs above my maximum BMI and wearing a US size 6/8

    On numerical calculations, across a number of calculators my BF% is around 25

    I think I could drop a percentage point or two and still be OK with what I see in the mirror

    but BMI? I'm really, really unsure it is that relevant to me and my desired body shape / look
  • ducati45
    ducati45 Posts: 54 Member
    BMI has been pretty accurate for me, I find. When I was underweight on it, I was sick with an eating disorder. When overweight, had spent time being ill and overeating and felt way too fat (that's why I'm on here !). Now I'm in the normal range but I'm not too fussed about what the number is or what exact weight I am, but I want to lose a bit more fat off my body, I know that won't put me below 18.5 at all. To quote Captain Jack Sparrow- "they are actually more sort of guidelines"
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    edited January 2015
    Yeah, it (BMI) can be ok as a yardstick when it's considered with other things. For me, that's my frame, and also simply an honest appraisal of myself when I look in the mirror. When I hit the high side of normal, I still had a decent enough (even if vastly reduced) belly, and now that I hover between the middle and high points of normal BMI, I'm getting down towards the last of the belly fat, leaving me to conclude that somewhere around the middle is where I would feel healthiest and happiest.

    Re: my own specifics, I have what I would regard as a frame somewhere north of average but south of large. Musculature-wise, I would peg myself as somewhere more than the untrained, but less than what would be considered anywhere near 'buff'.

    The other thing, as weight goes down, numerical and statistical weight-related measurements seem to matter less and less to me. Right now for example, I'm somewhere in the region of about 10 lbs off my ultimate target weight, and while it's still nice to see the number on the scales drop, I'm far more interested in my appearance before the mirror, and whether I feel I still have any superfluous/ excess fat deposits left on my body.

    In fact, amusingly enough, my other 'measure' with the mirror, is simply to jump up and down in front of the mirror a little and see what wobbles excessively, something I am finding to be my acid test now in terms of how much fat is left to lose and where. I suppose a fat calipers would do the same job, but I find this far easier, and more focussed on the most important thing - how happy I am with the body before me :smile:
  • hanajbanana
    hanajbanana Posts: 30 Member
    iloseityes wrote: »
    In fact, amusingly enough, my other 'measure' with the mirror, is simply to jump up and down in front of the mirror a little and see what wobbles excessively, something I am finding to be my acid test now in terms of how much fat is left to lose and where. I suppose a fat calipers would do the same job, but I find this far easier, and more focussed on the most important thing - how happy I am with the body before me :smile:

    I thought the 'wobble test' was just me :-) I've definitely still got some jiggle to get rid of!
  • GlenG1969
    GlenG1969 Posts: 34 Member
    edited January 2015
    iloseityes, i like the "old jump up and down in front of a mirror" Now thats the real acid test ha, ha
  • GemmaM_x
    GemmaM_x Posts: 324 Member
    Even when training 6 days a week and competing in martial arts, with a BF of 19%, I still had a BMI of 28.7. I'm naturally extremely muscular (albeit with a fat covering now!) so without losing LBM I doubt I'll ever be within my normal range.

    It works for some and doesn't work for others. Our bodies are all different.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    edited January 2015
    Haha, yes, there's no lying to yourself with that one, although if I said I was brave enough to try it before being so close to my goal, I would be lying, lol. The other non-numerical goal I have is related to the 'wobble test', and is that of smooth lines, ie to have no areas of my body with any folds from excess fat deposits :smile:
    hanajbanana wrote: »

    I thought the 'wobble test' was just me :-) I've definitely still got some jiggle to get rid of!
    GlenG1969 wrote: »
    iloseityes, i like the "old jump up and down in front of a mirror" Now thats the real acid test ha, ha

  • firebloom
    firebloom Posts: 109 Member
    Haha I also do the "wobble test" ;)

    I've not been a healthy weight since I was about 8 years old so I'm really not sure what my ideal weight is going to be. In saying that, it would seem that BMI is going to be pretty accurate for me. My BMI is currently 25.3 so right on the border between healthy and overweight. The top half of my body is getting slim (hello prominent collar bones!! :D ) but I still have a lot to lose on my legs. At this stage, my goal weight will put me at a BMI of 23 but I'll reassess when I get there.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    firebloom wrote: »

    I've not been a healthy weight since I was about 8 years old so I'm really not sure what my ideal weight is going to be.

    I'm in that boat too, it's all fun, new ground :smile:
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    I don't particularly care about BMI - had to look it up and I'm @ 22. Just about mid range ... but I've got other goals. Exposing the 6-pack. I'm sitting here with 4 visible abs, the bottom 2 lying under a bit less than 1 inch of belly fat. I'm guessing I'll be @ 20 to 20.5 when the full washboard is visible... but it's just a number, who cares, right? Set you own goal and achieve it, regardless of what the BMI chart says.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I've never really focused on BMI (except it was nice to mark when I went from obese to overweight and overweight to not). I had an idea in my head based on what I used to weigh of what would be appropriate for me, and it was roughly in the middle of the range as it happened (21-22). Now I'm more focused on BF%, but my goals there (at least until I manage to put on some LBM) line up with the BMI goal, in that I'm about 23, but have more body fat than I want, and I calculate that at goal I will have a BF% around what I'm looking for, if I focus on losing mostly fat.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    I am loving the jumping up and down wobble test

    or am I?

    maybe I just don't wanna know - I do the lying in the bath test and that kinda works :grinning:
  • jpaulie
    jpaulie Posts: 917 Member
    I find it useless, I am 14% body fat and it says I am overweight. I would have to lose another 20 lbs to be in the middle of the normal weight category, so in other words cut off an arm
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    edited January 2015
    I disagree, I do not think it is a good marker for individuals.

    Personally, I am at the lower end of normal on the BMI chart, but my bf% is still a LOT higher than I'd like. There are many, many people on here who'd show as overweight or obese on the scale, who are actually WAY more healthy than me.

    edit: didn't read your post properly, I thought you'd said YOU thought it was a good marker, reading back you just said it was a general thing - so I don't actually disagree with you =D I think BMIs crap though
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    I do the lying in the bath test and that kinda works :grinning:

    Well, there's always the lying in bed test too, where you can flex your abdominal muscles and see how much stomach fat you can grab onto, lol
  • nilbogger
    nilbogger Posts: 870 Member
    I think it's a decent measuring tool. Most people aren't muscular enough to throw it off significantly.

    Right now my BMI is about 27 and, yes, I'm pudgy. My lowest as an adult was around 20, and that's probably about as low as I could ever go (I don't think I could achieve it now without starving myself).
  • katya_be
    katya_be Posts: 227 Member
    I am at the higher end and can't wait to see what I look like at the lower end.. My whole life I have been at the top of my BMI, after pregnancy I was overweight :/ I would love to be able to go down to the lower end!
  • SteveK279
    SteveK279 Posts: 134 Member
    Antiquated system when the average height was lower - was ok years ago and for estimating across large population samples, but other proposed formulae would be better these days such as 1.3 * weight in kg / height in metres ^ 2.5.
    -
    - It works out the same as BMI if someone is 1m 69, but is more generous to those taller and more harsh to those shorter. Still doesn't take into account a person's frame or fat or muscle content either, so probably still isn't a good indicator on a 1 - 1 level
  • YalithKBK
    YalithKBK Posts: 317 Member
    edited January 2015
    I think it's a good (VERY rough) estimator, but definitely not something you should rely on. Hydrostatic Body Fat tests are MUCH more accurate (for those of you who don't know, that's where they dunk you in a tank of water and see how much water you displace and calculate your fat/muscle ratio from that). Unfortunately you can't do those at home and have some cost attached, but it's worth it if you want to get an accurate number.
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