Healthy weight: My definition or theirs
kamarismom
Posts: 50 Member
Hello everyone,
At my highest weight I was 374 pounds. I am current 298. My personal weight loss goal has always been 220 or 180 (I can't decide which) however according to the outdated BMI system I should be 141. My question is the weight loss goal that you have chosen is it based on your personal preferences or your BMI?
At my highest weight I was 374 pounds. I am current 298. My personal weight loss goal has always been 220 or 180 (I can't decide which) however according to the outdated BMI system I should be 141. My question is the weight loss goal that you have chosen is it based on your personal preferences or your BMI?
1
Replies
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The BMI calculators usually give you a range. Mine is 135-170. I don't ever plan to be 135 lbs at 5 feet 10 inches. Thats just going too far down for me. I'm 247 right now and my last goal is about 180 ish1
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It's BMI for now, but as I get closer to goal, I'm going to discuss it with my doctor. I can't remember a time when I was at an ideal weight. Granted, in high school, we were talking about 30 extra pounds instead of the 124 I'm trying to shed now, but bottom line: I don't know where in the 'healthy BMI range' my ideal weight falls or if it should fall there. Right now, I've still got about 61 and a half pounds to go until I hit 130 (140 is the top of the healthy BMI for a 5'3" woman) and until I get to about 145, there's nothing to discuss; I'm going to keep going. But at 145, I'll talk to my doctor/ask if he'd recommend a specialist if he's unsure and go with what's recommended.4
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sophie7591 wrote: »The BMI calculators usually give you a range. Mine is 135-170. I don't ever plan to be 135 lbs at 5 feet 10 inches. Thats just going too far down for me. I'm 247 right now and my last goal is about 180 ish
I know I dont plan to get down to 141. I think I will judge based on how I look and feel since everyone carries weight differently. Good luck getting to your goal.2 -
Mine. The BMI charts suggestions for me are ridiculous and just not going to happen. It would be a full time endeavor with 100% of my time spent on focusing on my weight to even get there let alone maintain such a low body weight. I'd rather enjoy my life and still be at a healthy weight but not so low that it has to be all I can do in life.4
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kamarismom wrote: »Hello everyone,
At my highest weight I was 374 pounds. I am current 298. My personal weight loss goal has always been 220 or 180 (I can't decide which) however according to the outdated BMI system I should be 141. My question is the weight loss goal that you have chosen is it based on your personal preferences or your BMI?
BMI is a range, not a specific number. It's also not really outdated, most people are going to fall somewhere in that range unless they have above average muscle mass if they're at a healthy BF%...it's always good to look at it in conjunction with BF%.
ETA: Even with a decent amount of muscle mass, most people will still be pretty close to the top end unless they are a body builder or something. My typical maintenance has been around 180 as a 5'10" male which is about 6 Lbs over my top end BMI but I'm around 15% BF at that weight which isn't super lean, but it's a healthy BF%...but very slightly over weight by BMI.
Someone who is obese by BMI standards but at a healthy BF% would be fairly rare.34 -
How tall are you OP?2
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Really no reason to decide that now. Use 220. When you get there you can decide what you want to do.14
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i'm 5'5" and 155 (just a couple of hairs into the overweight category), and honestly when i see that i'm 139.9, i'll be happy, haha.
i've worked with a personal trainer once who wanted me down to 118. i don't think i could have sustained that, even in high school!4 -
My initial goal was to get to the top of the healthy BMI range for my height. After that, I go by how I look in the mirror.
That being said, BMI was created based on populations. If your BMI is above or below the healthy range, you have a higher risk for certain diseases/medical conditions. A little bit of variance either way isn't likely a big deal, especially if you are a bit over due to something like being more muscular than average. However, if the top of your healthy range is 141, you're probably around 5'3". A goal of 180 would still have you in the obese range, which is unhealthy no matter how you try to frame it.27 -
So- mine has been a moving target. Initially my goal was to get down to about 155 (the "top" of my normal range for height) but when I got there I was not satisfied. I bumped my goal down progressively, but then realized my problem was not weight but lost muscle mass. So, I started strength training with a goal of getting my % body fat down to 25%. I am there now, and working on strength training but basically happy with where I am. I think you should set a reasonable goal, and then when you get there make another decision.8
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I wouldn't worry about goal weight right now if I were you.
I started out needing to lose 61 pounds to get to the top of the BMI range for a woman of my height. The idea of losing 61 pounds was overwhelming. I cannot imagine how overwhelming it must be for people who have more to lose.
I took it a pound at a time and I'm still taking it a pound at a time 40 pounds later. I'm 21 pounds away from my original goal weight - the top of the BMI range, but now I would like to get about mid-range. Some days, I think I would like to get lower, but I'm taking it a pound at a time a day at a time. I'll know I've lost enough weight when I've lost enough weight.7 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »Mine. The BMI charts suggestions for me are ridiculous and just not going to happen. It would be a full time endeavor with 100% of my time spent on focusing on my weight to even get there let alone maintain such a low body weight. I'd rather enjoy my life and still be at a healthy weight but not so low that it has to be all I can do in life.
I agree with you completely1 -
BMI calculators actually give you a lot of leeway for extra weight. The only time someone would possibly be higher than the recommendation BMI and still be in a healthy range would be if they were an extreme muscle builder. That describes a tiny fraction of people.12
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cwolfman13 wrote: »kamarismom wrote: »Hello everyone,
At my highest weight I was 374 pounds. I am current 298. My personal weight loss goal has always been 220 or 180 (I can't decide which) however according to the outdated BMI system I should be 141. My question is the weight loss goal that you have chosen is it based on your personal preferences or your BMI?
BMI is a range, not a specific number. It's also not really outdated, most people are going to fall somewhere in that range unless they have above average muscle mass if they're at a healthy BF%...it's always good to look at it in conjunction with BF%.
ETA: Even with a decent amount of muscle mass, most people will still be pretty close to the top end unless they are a body builder or something. My typical maintenance has been around 180 as a 5'10" male which is about 6 Lbs over my top end BMI but I'm around 15% BF at that weight which isn't super lean, but it's a healthy BF%...but very slightly over weight by BMI.
Someone who is obese by BMI standards but at a healthy BF% would be fairly rare.
My range is 114-141 as I am 5'5. I was using an app that gave me the specific 141 number as my target.0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »How tall are you OP?
I'm 5'50 -
court_alacarte wrote: »i'm 5'5" and 155 (just a couple of hairs into the overweight category), and honestly when i see that i'm 139.9, i'll be happy, haha.
i've worked with a personal trainer once who wanted me down to 118. i don't think i could have sustained that, even in high school!
You're the same height & weight as me with the same aim. I'll be so thrilled when I get below 140.2 -
I agree... I don't think BMI takes unto consideration for chest size. According to BMI I should be between 150 and 170 but when I didn't eat but maybe 400 calories a day and you could see my ribs and hip bones quite clearly I weighed 180... So how could I get down to anything lower without looking like a walking corpse?1
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Maybe it just seems like being in a healthy BMI range is undoable at the moment. It might be good to stick with your current goal for now, and when you reach that, you can re-evaluate if you want to keep going.
I changed my goal weight numerous times. I am now maintaining my weight right smack in the middle of the healthy BMI range for my height. I still enjoy life, and maintaining my weight does not consume my life.5 -
OP, I suspect that you've simply been obese for so long that you can't picture yourself at a "healthy" weight. So yes, of course that 140 is going to look small to you -- it's quite literally half your size. But don't discount it as not being a reasonable end goal when you're currently at the other end of the spectrum.
I'm only an inch shorter than you, and your "goal" is more than 20 pounds than I was at my heaviest. Just because you don't like the idea of the work involved getting to 140 (or even 149 -- the highest "normal" weight for 5'5") doesn't mean that it's not reasonable. For me, being "super obese" wouldn't be reasonable.
BMI has its issues, but are you seriously that muscular that you could justify being another 30 pounds overweight? Have you had body fat percentages done to know that you're that highly muscular?
Which "unreasonable" would you rather have?33 -
You are at least 78 lbs from goal. Why not work on that and worry about final number after.
My current weight is 189 my goal 174 for top of bmi but ideal should be 140 ish but I intend to worry about that once I hit 174.1
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