Still holding yourself to BMI standards?

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rachaelz12
rachaelz12 Posts: 10 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'm 40 pounds down, and as of the day this picture was taken, I am still overweight according to BMI. A woman's brain and breasts should never count against her! I've said goodbye to BMI and hello to feeling comfortable in my own clothes!

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Replies

  • nineteentwenty
    nineteentwenty Posts: 469 Member
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    I have the opposite problem, mine says I'm underweight! BMIs are bunk on an individual scale imo.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    My BMI also puts me overweight. My BF% is < 30% though, which my doctor tells me is good, and I am healthy by medical tests.

    I'm not really shooting for a BMI goal, but I do think I have too much fat and would be likely happier with the way I look if I were in the healthy BMI range.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    BMI is like scale weight...alone it means nothing...together with other factors like BF% tape measures etc...give you an overall pic of how you are doing.

    I never thought I could be a "healthy" BMI either but here I am...23.5
  • playmadcats
    playmadcats Posts: 199 Member
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    As someone who started with a BMI of 33.3, it was a good kick up the behind, hadn't considered myself obese before. I'm now at 27.8 (Middle of the overweight range). Still got a few pounds to lose however seeing as I do quite a bit of exercise I'm not worrying too much about BMI now, more the losing the last pounds and getting fitter.
    Have also bought myself two pairs of size 12 jeans! Have a bit of a muffin top, but even before the weight gain I was a size 14! So BMI obviously isn't everything.
  • cat_lady77
    cat_lady77 Posts: 203 Member
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    I don't go for BMI, it doesn't work for everyone. I'm tall so it says I'm overweight. It has said that for years, even when I was 20lbs less.
  • sarahlifts
    sarahlifts Posts: 610 Member
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    I think I'll go by BF% and clothing size...BMI says 22
  • TheRoseRoss
    TheRoseRoss Posts: 112 Member
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    karla24687 wrote: »
    I don't go for BMI, it doesn't work for everyone. I'm tall so it says I'm overweight. It has said that for years, even when I was 20lbs less.

    The BMI doesn't work, period. Not the way it is most commonly used:

    "When taken as what it was intended to be -- a general set of data describing the relative fitness of an entire population -- the BMI is mostly fine. It's certainly due for a revamp, considering that it was devised by a Belgian mathematician (read: not physician) nearly 200 years ago, but it may still be helpful in certain contexts. The problem is that we do not use the BMI in that capacity. We use it like it's an individual scale, even though it allows no adjustment for individuality."
  • jenncornelsen
    jenncornelsen Posts: 969 Member
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    i am going by what weight i felt my best at, which falls on the higher end of the 'normal' bmi range. bmi to me was just a tool to know what i should be 'near'. not that it was the end all be all. but most people should probably fall within it's range or somewhere close to it. im not including body builders in that
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    I'm pretty certain people like Vin Diesel, Duane Johnson (The Rock), Arnold Schwarzaneggar, etc. are considered "Obese"

    So yeah...F the BMI.
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,862 Member
    edited May 2015
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    BMI isn't useless but just a rough estimate that applies to most people. I consider my BMI but supplement it with the mirror test. If my BMI is high and I look fat, I'm fat.

    If you still think it's not worth anything then don't use it. Just don't expect everyone to follow suit.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    BMI isnt useless, but then some people try and use it without understanding how it came about, what it does and what its weaknesses are.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I used BMI to find a good first weight goal that put me in a healthy zone. After that, it's been more of a matter of what weight/body composition is right for me.

    The majority of people are neither highly muscled nor tall enough to fall in the "bmi is not applicable to me" zone. It's not the end all be all of determining an individual's perfect weight but it's also not as far off as many people would like to believe.
  • socalkay
    socalkay Posts: 746 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Feeling comfortable in your clothes is a great NSV and one of my top goals. That being said, BMI is just another tool. Be aware, however, that the US medical establishment uses that tool as a way of categorizing patients' weight range and that can impact you if you have some medical conditions.

    I'm out of the "Obese" range, working to get out of the "Over-weight" range now and almost there. I want to get to the mid-Healthy BMI range because I know that's where I'm comfortable in my clothing. If I tried for the lower end of the "Healthy" BMI range, I think I would look sick.

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,944 Member
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    For me ... BMI is a good guideline. I've just recently dropped into the "normal" range again, and that feels right to me. :)

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