BMI Chart

kirianna55
kirianna55 Posts: 459 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Do any of you think the BMI charts are a little messed up. According to my chart, I have to be 160 pounds to be considered on the heavy side of healthy. I don't think I could get that small with the way I am build. It wants me to be between 121 - 160 pounds. Another page says that the average weight for someone with my height is 175 pounds.

Replies

  • Iceprincessk25
    Iceprincessk25 Posts: 1,888 Member
    Don't even get me started on the BMI chart. It was made a MILLION years ago and doesn't take in to account lean body mass. You could put a bodybuilder on that chart and he's considered overweight/obese depending on his weight. I don't put too much faith into that as I don't think others should.

    It's not exact science.
  • chunkyymonkey
    chunkyymonkey Posts: 2
    I agree, not neccessarily the BMI chart. But for my height 5 foot I am suppose to weigh between 105 and 115. I tell u went I get to 130 I will be happy and that is going to be hard enough.
  • elliecolorado
    elliecolorado Posts: 1,040
    Yes, BMI is crap IMO. When I was in the best shape of my life played sports, ran every day... I weighed 160-165 and a healthy BMI for me at the highest is 152. BMI doesn't take into account your frame or muscle, I have a big frame and was muscular and considered 8-13lbs overweight. That's how I want to be again and don't really care if it's considered overweight, that is the weight I feel comfortable & happy with.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    I have been monitoring my BMI as another way of watching my numbers go down, but I'm not planning to base my end weight solely on it's recommendations.
    I am a medium build and not very muscly so I think it is probablly more applicable for me than for more muscular or large/small framed people.
    Having said that I'm not sure how I will look at 67 kg (high end of "normal" for me), I plan to just watch how I go as I get closer to 70kg and decide what looks healthy and feels right.
    I also suspect that my body might just stop losing weight once I get down there, in which case I have no intention of dropping to 1200cals a day to force more weight off.
  • tatiana_13
    tatiana_13 Posts: 325
    I'm going to be the lone wolf. The BMI charts are pretty good rules of thumb. They give a pretty good range for the (white) population on whom the numbers were based (people of African descent can stand to be a little heavier, people of Asian descent should be a little lighter...all documented in the medical literature). I haven't met very many people for whom the charts don't give a reasonable range. I'm 4'11. My range goes from 92 to 124...a reasonable 32 pound spread. The flyweight olympic gold medal female weightlifter, who happens to share my height (and is my personal hero), was 110 lbs at her competition weight...I believe she lifted over 450 pounds. Yeah...I'd say she's strong. And in the range.

    Many people say "BMI charts are crap, they tell body builders they are fat!" True for some. And they tell some naturally petite people they are sickly (yes...BMI can err on the other end too...some people are being told to be 'fatter' than they should be based on the BMI. But nobody likes to consider that particular possibility...). But, how many BMI oppressed body builders *are* there in the population? How many people are *so* muscular (where the muscle isn't also covered by a great deal of fat) that the upper edge of the BMI range can't contain them? Not so many.

    BMI is a perfectly good guide for most people, if your goal is to get into the healthiest weight range.

    That being said, YOU get to set your own goals. Even losing 10% of your body weight improves your health. My first weight goal was to lose 20 lbs. I wasn't interested in "getting skinny." That was my right. It was doable, and it improved my life immensely. You have a right to choose what makes sense for you.
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