Body Fat % or BMI?
slp51
Posts: 201 Member
Which is the number to go by?
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Replies
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Bodyfat for sure! I find the bmi chart to be stupid and totally inaccurate. Try mesureming your waist size and bodyfat bi-weekly to track your progress. Are you strength training by the way?
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My physician told me that body fat percentage was more accurate and important than BMI. That the percentage breaks it down into blood, bone, muscle, organs and fat...while BMI is just based off your weight/height and a formula. They also advised that where your weight is carried is super important too, for example, carrying it on your abdomen puts you at a high risk for heart disease.0
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BMI has its uses, but as you get closer, then bf% becomes more important.0
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Although finding an accurate BF reading is not cheap0
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Body fat. BMI is an arbitrary measurement that does not take very important variables into consideration. My bf % is around 19% right now and I’m listed as obese on the chart. I would have to lose 28 lbs to get down to “normal” per the BMI chart or get down to 9% bf (assuming I lost fat to get there). Anything that discourages lean muscle mass is a terrible model.
Yes, getting your bf checked professionally can be expensive. As a cheap alternative, you can measure your body (neck, chest, stomach, waist, hips, upper arms and upper legs). For women the ratio of hip to waist and for men the ratio of stomach to waist are key short cuts to understanding how you’re going on a bf cut.
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Thanks. I did find a body fat percent calculator online (several, actually). I weigh 120.5 and am 5'4", age 64. In one I was obese, in another I as acceptable. Yeesh! I LIKED MY BMI number better.0
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My BMI wouldn't be "healthy" unless I was near 0% bodyfat. It's donkers.
Body fat is great. Waist to height ratio is pretty good too.0 -
Thanks. I did find a body fat percent calculator online (several, actually). I weigh 120.5 and am 5'4", age 64. In one I was obese, in another I as acceptable. Yeesh! I LIKED MY BMI number better.
You can’t calculate body fat online. That is just an estimate and like took data similar to a BMI ratio. If you really want to know, you can go one of three routes: 1) get a professional to use calipers to estimate bf (good), 2) Go to a bodpod that uses air displacement (better) or 3) get a dexa scan (best). Also, the dexascan will give you data on your bone density, which is very important to know and manage as we age.
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I get a dexascan every year because I have osteoporosis. I think I'm due again in September. I don't want to use last year's results because I'm a lot leaner now than I was last September.
GREAT to know about the dexascan! Thanks much!0 -
with a BMI of 32 and a bodyfat percentage of 27, neither one of mine is considered acceptable.0
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According to BMI, I'm obese. According to the mirror, I'm most certainly not.
Your gym may offer an annual caliper test as part of your gym membership dues, mine does. Which reminds me, it's been a couple years since I last had it done...0 -
According to bmi, I'm midway into overweight. Haven't had body fat measured professionally (and since I'm not considering dropping a weight class probably won't), but most people are in agreement that my body fat isn't anywhere near overweight levels.0
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all of the above.0
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Body fat % > BMI0
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The BMI really dumb in my opinion, because it doesnt work for athletic people at all. If you have lots of muscles it tells you, you are overweight...even if you have hardly any body fat. And that isnt good at all...or healthy0
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BF%, scale weight, tape measure, BMI, mirrors, clothing size...and last but not least how you feel/look
There isn't one measurement that tells the whole story.0 -
Body fat!! The BMI cannot tell you the difference in composition of muscle to fat ratio.0
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You can look on the chart if you want your BMI. But to get body fat, you have to get measured or scanned. It isn’t 100% (tomatoey was poking fun). When you go in September for that dexascan, you should be able to get your body fat measurement from that.
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AllanMisner wrote: »
You can look on the chart if you want your BMI. But to get body fat, you have to get measured or scanned. It isn’t 100% (tomatoey was poking fun). When you go in September for that dexascan, you should be able to get your body fat measurement from that.
Thanks, @AllanMisner0
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