Is your BMI "normal" now?

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  • ise311
    ise311 Posts: 107 Member
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    BMI normal but body fat % is way too high. I have a lot to cut! :'(
  • brittbrogan02
    brittbrogan02 Posts: 4 Member
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    My BMI is 19.7, I am within normal BMI. I think it is more about when you are comfortable with your own body. I lost 15 lbs and am completely happy weighing in at 115 at 5'4.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    Bmi is a good tool for me - 23.5 is nicely in the normal range. I'm fairly big boned and muscly so 132lbs looks good on me at 5ft 2 1/4".
    When I started my weight loss I was 26 which was just going into overweight category. I was unfit and fat at 154lbs. I needed to lose 20lbs to feel slim.


    If you feel lean and are happy with yourself then that's the main thing.
  • spzjlb
    spzjlb Posts: 599 Member
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    Yes, my BMI is normal now - I think around 21.5. I was shocked into losing weight with MFP when I realized that my BMI landed me at overweight. I lost about 30 lbs in 2015 and feel much better. I feel like I'd like to be a little lighter-smaller still so that my lower body would be more defined, as my abs and upper body are quite muscular (for a 51 yr old woman).
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
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    I started with a BMI of 31, and I hit the normal range with a BMI of 24.6 this past October. Now, my BMI is 21, and I'm aiming for a BMI of 20, which is just a few pounds away. :)
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    Yep. 5'11, 150, BMI 21. At an overweight BMI I feel like a whale. That's 180, so considerably more than what I weight now.
  • pinkteapot3
    pinkteapot3 Posts: 157 Member
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    This time around, I started at 24.2 and I'm now 21.1 and maintaining (six years ago I did a much bigger loss, from overweight).

    At 24.2, I wasn't happy - too many wobbly bits. I have a large frame (broad shoulders, hips, elbows, etc!) and am hourglass-shaped. I'm very happy at my 21.1 shape. Under BMI I could lose another 17lbs and still be 'healthy', but at my current weight my collarbones are clearly visible and my husband made a comment about how he could feel my ribs. I'd look far bonier than I'd like at the bottom end of the healthy range. Plus I still have my boobs and a bit of a butt which I like. :wink:

    As others said, it very much depends on genetics and body shape. The healthy range is huge - mine is 42lbs wide! Presumably because we're all so different and carry weight differently.
  • Ohwhynot
    Ohwhynot Posts: 356 Member
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    My BMI is normal now, but I'm still skinny-fat. I don't need to be measured accurately to be able to see that there is too much fat around my midsection. That's what this year is for... recomping!
  • shrcpr
    shrcpr Posts: 885 Member
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    Just slipped into normal BMI last weigh-in but am still working on losing another 12-15 pounds, which would put me in the middle of normal.

    SW: 153.3 (26.3)
    CW: 137.6 (23.62)
    GW: 125 (21.45)

    I'm 5'4" and 46 yrs.
  • HutchA12
    HutchA12 Posts: 279 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    mommarnurse wrote: »
    Well, is it?. There's more to being healthy than the BMI number which only takes into account two factors: height and weight. After losing 91 lbs, (5'3 Female) I'm at 144ish and I keep feeling sort of guilty for going to maint and not seeing to it that I get to a "normal" BMI (which would be 140 lbs at the high end) but I know I'm large framed with a good amt of muscle. Was it a normal BMI that told you to stop losing or something else?

    Yes. I'm 54" as well and my lowest weight recorded was 127. Trust me that lasted about a day. Now I'm bulking and gaining weight, and you bet when I hit 140-145 the thought that I'm not at a "healthy bmi" will not cross my mind once-this is the most fit I have been in my life.

    5'4 Female at 140 if almost pure muscle bulk is professional bodybuilder #'s Lisa Aukland is at those stats. I don't think you get there worrying about bmi.
  • mjglantz
    mjglantz Posts: 498 Member
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    My initial goal was to get to the lower end of the overweight category and I hit that. I kept eating the way I was and exercising and the weight kept coming off. Eventually I added in more cardio + strength and upped the calories (around 1600/day at 5'8") and continued to lose. Changed my goal to 162 which is just in the normal BMI. I continued to lose and now around 142 which is at the lower end of the BMI range and I feel GREAT. Have energy and blood work all great. I don't think I could have imagined getting here when I started but getting there gradually seems to have worked. I've been at our under my goal for over 2 years.
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
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    Mine is 22.6 and I have a little fat that I need to lose and need to keep lifting. 61/F
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,952 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I'm at 21.6, trying to get to 20.2... but might maintain between 20.2 and 21.0 if I can. Medium frame.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
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    I'm at the high end of a healthy BMI. I'm 5'2.5" and I'm about 135. I feel really good at this weight. I like how I look in pictures and I like how my clothes fit. I've been maintaining for the past couple of months (except for the unfortunate 3 lb gain over Christmas!) and I find it easy to maintain this weight. I do think I want to attempt to lose a few more pounds at a very slow pace and focus more on fitness, but I worry about getting too low where it will be a struggle to maintain it.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    My original goal was 175lb, or a BMI of 24.4 (overweight is 25 and over). My orginal goal was based on being 175lb in college and knowing that I looked good with a decent amount of muscle.

    I just hit that today. My current goal is to slowly edge down until I have visible abs, so that may be 171-172 or so, since my BF is in the 12-13% range so I'm pretty close. I feel like I can see abs if the lighting and all conditions are perfect.

    After that, I may gain weight until I hit 185lb, and then I'll be overweight, so while BMI is useful, I know I'll be off the high end by a tiny bit and still be perfectly fine. I'd never push myself to hit mid-range BMI (155lb) as I'd have to lose LBM to achieve that.
  • mburgess458
    mburgess458 Posts: 480 Member
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    Barely in the healthy BMI range....body fat of 11% (per a BodPod analysis, should be fairly accurate and is similar to what calculators based on measurements say)...30 inch waist (I'm a guy). I have lifted weights for decades but I'm not obviously muscle bound or anything.

    I have relatively short legs for my height. I think that is a big part of why I tend to be on the higher end of BMI ranges (my torso is a higher percentage of my overall height than someone with longer legs, and legs are lighter than torso). Also the weight lifting. I also have a relatively large frame (wide shoulders etc.).
  • myfitnesspale3
    myfitnesspale3 Posts: 276 Member
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    yep my BMI is "normal" appx 24 now after reaching target weight

    That was part of the reason I set my target weight value - I know BMI is only meaningful for "populations" but being in the "overweight population" with BMI appx 28 was still unsettling.
  • trina1049
    trina1049 Posts: 593 Member
    edited January 2016
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    mommarnurse wrote: »
    Well, is it?. There's more to being healthy than the BMI number which only takes into account two factors: height and weight. After losing 91 lbs, (5'3 Female) I'm at 144ish and I keep feeling sort of guilty for going to maint and not seeing to it that I get to a "normal" BMI (which would be 140 lbs at the high end) but I know I'm large framed with a good amt of muscle. Was it a normal BMI that told you to stop losing or something else?

    I'm 5'2.5" and 66 years old, with a medium frame. My BMI is in the normal range 22.9 - 23.0 since February, '15, with a guesstimated body fat of around 25%. I'm currently 126 - 127 lbs. but I'd like to get down to around to the 122 - 125 lb. range if I can with a 22 BMI which puts me right in the middle of my normal range. I figure that the BMI ranges account for small, medium, and large frames so that's what my decision of a BMI of 22 is based upon.

    Edited to add: I'm pretty happy with where I am now at 126-127 lbs. so the last few I'm just considering as vanity pounds.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I am now within the healthy BMI range

    The BMI scale gets a lot of stick and you will always get those examples of how someone with a reasonable amount of muscle shows as overweight or obese etc. But it does what it was originally designed for and that is a statistical measurement of populations such as "If the average BMI in the UK is x then the UK has an overweight population" It was adopted by the medical profession for individuals because it is cheap to implement.

    That being said it is a great guide and part of a toolbox we can use to judge our progress, along with weight, measurements and how we feel & look.
  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
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    My BMI is slightly less than 23, which falls in the normal range, but I think BMI is a lousy indicator for 'healthy'. I know people who are muscular and whose BMI falls in the overweight range, but they are by no means overweight. I knew when I was ready to start maintaining when I fit into my jeans from college again. (When you're 44, that's a big deal. :smiley: )

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