BMI - How important is it?

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mamajess82
mamajess82 Posts: 51
in Health and Weight Loss
My BMI is 23.1 but what good is that?

I know a BMI between 20 and 25 is an "ideal weight range" but is a BMI of 20 better than a BMI of 23?

Then you have the Robinson, Miller, Devine, Dukan etc formulas which say I should weigh a lot less than I do. :noway:

What should I weigh????

:explode:

Replies

  • Cilenia
    Cilenia Posts: 208 Member
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    weigh whatever you feel happy as. If thats with a BMI of 23 then thats fine.
  • notoriousgtt
    notoriousgtt Posts: 75 Member
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    Its pretty irrelevant as it would say a 5 foot 4 body builder was obese which is obviously not true. I tend to ignore it.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    If you aren't a super muscly person then I think it is a useful guide... but everyone's body is so different that I don't treat it as gospel. I suspect that anything under 25 will make me look unhealthy, but I'll have to wait a little while to see!

    Once you are in that healthy range then lower isn't necessarily better - I would be guided by how you like what you see in the mirror, your body fat, your blood work results - or just if you feel good in your body.

    From the reading I've done, it sounds as though a lot of people in the healthy weight range could benefit from strength training to get more muscly and less flabby, rather than necessarily weighing less.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    I find BMI is pretty much useless. I always go by body fat percentage when I am looking at numbers to see how I am doing.

    Currently, I am very unhappy with where I am right now. Ignore my profile picture because I have gained some since then. That was taken when I was 128 pounds, but I am back up to 143 right now. Anyway, my BMI scores in a "normal/healthy" range. Because for my height and waist measurement, I guess I am in some sort of normal bell curve for healthiness? I don't know. But my body fat is a whopping 32% right now which is highly unacceptable for me. I am striving now to shed the fat down to 12%. According to Tom Venuto's calculators, when I reach that goal I will weigh around 115 pounds. I will also be lean and muscular, not skinny and gaunt, mind you. But BMI calculators for me at that weight call me "underweight" even though I will look awesome. Look at my friend here on MFP Stephanielynn...she's my height and currently at my goal weight and goal body fat. Definitely NOT underweight at all!!! You can see a 6 pack and other shapely muscles. That's my goal. BMI is not a good indicator for goals such as mine.
  • dannidoc
    dannidoc Posts: 19
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    its rubbish imo...government have made it up n when do we listen to them lol
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    From the reading I've done, it sounds as though a lot of people in the healthy weight range could benefit from strength training to get more muscly and less flabby, rather than necessarily weighing less.

    Weight training to get less flabby = weight loss. :flowerforyou:

    This is precisely what I am doing now.
  • mroger801
    mroger801 Posts: 91
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    BMI means nothing to me because I am actually big boned. I found that BMI assumes that you are built on a small frame and some of us just aren't. According to BMI, I should be about 60-80 lbs lighter than my doctor said I can be. So I would be happy if I could make it into my "ideal" range. But as long as you are happy with how you look, that is the most important thing.
  • luelue1971
    luelue1971 Posts: 23 Member
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    According to my BMI when I get to my goal weight I'm still going to be overweight. I really don't want or need to weigh less that 150 but the BMI recommends that I weigh between 115 and 145. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

    I don't want to be that thin. I would look like the walking dead. You need to find the weight that makes you happy.

    Having a BMI in the unhealthy ranges doesn't mean you're unhealthy. I think the numbers are irrational.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    I find BMI is pretty much useless. I always go by body fat percentage when I am looking at numbers to see how I am doing.

    Currently, I am very unhappy with where I am right now. Ignore my profile picture because I have gained some since then. That was taken when I was 128 pounds, but I am back up to 143 right now. Anyway, my BMI scores in a "normal/healthy" range. Because for my height and waist measurement, I guess I am in some sort of normal bell curve for healthiness? I don't know. But my body fat is a whopping 32% right now which is highly unacceptable for me. I am striving now to shed the fat down to 12%. According to Tom Venuto's calculators, when I reach that goal I will weigh around 115 pounds. I will also be lean and muscular, not skinny and gaunt, mind you. But BMI calculators for me at that weight call me "underweight" even though I will look awesome. Look at my friend here on MFP Stephanielynn...she's my height and currently at my goal weight and goal body fat. Definitely NOT underweight at all!!! You can see a 6 pack and other shapely muscles. That's my goal. BMI is not a good indicator for goals such as mine.

    Couldn't agree more with this! My BMI is 27.8 but my body fat percentage is only 27%. For someone my size, that is fairly low. My ideal weight is about 150 then (lean mass plus some reserve fats).

    Strength training is awesome for this.
  • VeganGal84
    VeganGal84 Posts: 938 Member
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    I've used it as a guide to help myself lose weight. Then again, I'm small-framed and not muscular (yet!).

    Right now I'm at the very tip-top of a healthy/normal BMI, but I want to get more comfortably in the middle (13 more pounds!).

    But I agree 100% that it's not for everyone! It works for me, though. :-)
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    In my opinion, BMI is completely useless.

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