BMI

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kmbrooks15
kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
BMI--I've about given up on it. Every calculator I use, I put the same info in, and I get a different answer every time. If they're going to use BMI for insurance purposes, etc., then they need to make it consistent across the board. It's ridiculous.

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  • Pam_1965
    Pam_1965 Posts: 137 Member
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    All the calculators I have used have always given me the same numbers. I am currently 25.02. So close to normal! :smile:
  • cbelc2
    cbelc2 Posts: 762 Member
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    It's standard. Use a calculator. Put in your weight in pounds. Divide it by your height in inches. Take that new number and divide it by your height in inches. That that number and multiply by the magic number 703. This works really well for folks who are outside of a printed chart.
  • kmbrooks15
    kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
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    Thanks for the info cbelc2. I downloaded a couple of apps and they must just be really bad ones. At least they were free. :)
  • chad23jl
    chad23jl Posts: 54 Member
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    BMI is a joke anyway.....at 6'3" and 207lbs is still has me at just in the overweight category. Im positive I am not overweight here. zd9qi9c9k4xv.jpg
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
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    It's not a joke. What percentage of the people listed as overweight according to BMI are overweight because of muscle mass? Not very many
  • kmbrooks15
    kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
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    After a little more playing around with it, the issue is that they're all giving me the same NUMBER, but whether they classify it as overweight or obese seems to vary widely. On one site, it says that at 182 and 5'4" I'm obese, while another says overweight. My goal weight is 145, and one site says that's still in the overweight category, while another says that 151 will put me in the normal category. Whose chart to trust...?
  • pcpop7
    pcpop7 Posts: 161 Member
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    chad23jl wrote: »
    BMI is a joke anyway.....at 6'3" and 207lbs is still has me at just in the overweight category. Im positive I am not overweight here. zd9qi9c9k4xv.jpg
    Yeah you do not have high body fat but using the formula you are overweight and it is likely lbm.

    What us gonna do. BMI is a good population guide and for joe blogs is good. If you've built a substantial amount of muscle weight though it ain't going to fly.

    However any doctor would just need to look at you to understand you are an outlier and that is the point of BMI really. To establish if further investigation (I.e show me your belly sir) is required.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    chad23jl wrote: »
    BMI is a joke anyway.....at 6'3" and 207lbs is still has me at just in the overweight category. Im positive I am not overweight here. zd9qi9c9k4xv.jpg

    I'll be still in Overweight when I reach my goal weight. I have a large frame http://www.myfooddiary.com/Resources/frame_size_calculator.asp

    The only time I was in Normal was after 6 weeks of under-eating and over-excising during boot camp.

    While I think BMI is useful for generalizations about populations, there will be individuals for whom it does not work.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    kmbrooks15 wrote: »
    After a little more playing around with it, the issue is that they're all giving me the same NUMBER, but whether they classify it as overweight or obese seems to vary widely. On one site, it says that at 182 and 5'4" I'm obese, while another says overweight. My goal weight is 145, and one site says that's still in the overweight category, while another says that 151 will put me in the normal category. Whose chart to trust...?

    Use http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm
  • kmbrooks15
    kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    kmbrooks15 wrote: »
    After a little more playing around with it, the issue is that they're all giving me the same NUMBER, but whether they classify it as overweight or obese seems to vary widely. On one site, it says that at 182 and 5'4" I'm obese, while another says overweight. My goal weight is 145, and one site says that's still in the overweight category, while another says that 151 will put me in the normal category. Whose chart to trust...?

    Use http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

    Awww...dang it. That's the one that says 145 is still overweight... :wink:
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited May 2016
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    kmbrooks15 wrote: »
    After a little more playing around with it, the issue is that they're all giving me the same NUMBER, but whether they classify it as overweight or obese seems to vary widely. On one site, it says that at 182 and 5'4" I'm obese, while another says overweight. My goal weight is 145, and one site says that's still in the overweight category, while another says that 151 will put me in the normal category. Whose chart to trust...?

    The one the NIH (National Institutes of Health) uses would be the one to go by.
    For 5'4:
    174.6 lbs or higher = BMI 30 + /Obese
    145.5 - 174.5 lbs = BMI 25 to 29.9 / Overweight Range
    107.5 - 145.4 lbs = BMI 18.5 to 24.9 / Normal Weight Range

    I'm guessing the one you stumbled across that said 145 is overweight is probably the adjusted one for Asians. That BMI chart has the normal range stopping at a BMI of 23.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    kmbrooks15 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    kmbrooks15 wrote: »
    After a little more playing around with it, the issue is that they're all giving me the same NUMBER, but whether they classify it as overweight or obese seems to vary widely. On one site, it says that at 182 and 5'4" I'm obese, while another says overweight. My goal weight is 145, and one site says that's still in the overweight category, while another says that 151 will put me in the normal category. Whose chart to trust...?

    Use http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

    Awww...dang it. That's the one that says 145 is still overweight... :wink:

    No it doesn't. 145 puts a 5'4 person at 24.9 which is the top end of the healthy range.
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
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    My doctor wasn't joking when she told me my BMI was almost in the obese range. I scoffed at this for 2 years, then decided she was right. Now it's 24.5 so I'm sure she'd be happier with that number. I know I am. I thought maybe I was an outlier as well, but I was just lying to myself.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
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    I always use the calculator on the Canadian Diabetes website. It was the first result when I Google it and since it's the CD site, I trust it.

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