BMI

LKLDALLAS
LKLDALLAS Posts: 19
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello, I don't think the BMI calculators really work that well to accurately represent MY BMI or fat ratio...but let me know if I'm diluting myself :)

I'm 31, 4 ft 11, weigh 155 and am VERY chesty (which I think, in addition to my short stature, throws a few things off). So, at this height/weight, most BMI calculators put me into the obese range at a BMI of 31. I wear a size 10 loosly, and while I do have several extra lbs to loose and I would consider myself to currently be "overweight," I would not consider myself to be obese.

It just kind of angers me that there are one size fits all labels out there that really aren't one size fits all. On a typical BMI calculation, I'd have to go below 89 lbs to be considered underweight. If a healthy weight is the goal, then saying it's OK for me to weigh 90 lbs is contradictory I think.

Replies

  • moriaht
    moriaht Posts: 251 Member
    Yup, a lot of people's BMIs arent right! My last boyfriend was "obese" but he was actually in great shape and had maybe 20 pounds to lose at most. He just had A LOT of muscle, especially his hockey player legs. It's not right for everyone, that's for sure.
  • Visser1971
    Visser1971 Posts: 131
    I agree with you fully.

    Check out the last post here with the calculations, it is a great post - can not say it better:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/314411-bmi-v-weight-loss?hl=bmi#posts-4210020

    Cheers, Christy
  • Loko_Ino
    Loko_Ino Posts: 544 Member
    BMI ratings suck, don't listen to them. They are outdated and don't take into account a person athletic build or genetic endowments. My BMI rates me as obese being 6'2" and 265-270 but it does not account for the fact that I have 21" arms and a quads the size of most guys waists...
    Best judge is calipers..better is water displacement for body fat.
  • dannylives
    dannylives Posts: 611
    Consider it "Clinically obese", I am too. By the way, my BMI calculator puts you at a normal weight of 123 pounds. You're right, 90 pounds is underweight.
  • Elle_Jamaicangirl81
    Elle_Jamaicangirl81 Posts: 418 Member
    Agreed, i hate it... i dunno if I even want to go down to 145pounds or how much ever they say is normal for me. That's too slim for me. what is considered fat VS obese VS skinny VS slim is all relative...

    i try not to listen to them ...
  • Robscofle
    Robscofle Posts: 40
    I was involved in research on BMI in the 1990s. Developed by Prof John Garrow in England. BMI was developed to obtain information about a person's weight in relation to their height. It was developed based on info from a large group of sedentary white people, therefore individual BMI scores are not to be taken as scripture. Don't get caught up on BMI...You are the expert on your body and you will know what's a comfortable weight/size for you.

    Good luck with your weight loss/fitness efforts

    Regards
    Rob
  • defygravity531
    defygravity531 Posts: 289 Member
    BMI is a good GUIDELINE to go by.

    Most BMI calculators will tell you that particularly muscular people will get an inaccurate result. If you're not super muscular though, BMI is an accurate measure of whether you're underweight, healthy weight, overweight, obese, or morbidly obese.

    Notice I said HEALTHY weight, not NORMAL weight. Our society has come to believe that fat is normal. People think a 5'1" woman who's 150lbs is normal. She may be normal but she's also overweight. it's not the BMI that's wrong, it's our perceptions of what weight is ok.

    Just because you don't "feel" obese doesn't mean you're not. Most people think they're "a little heavy" and are shocked to find out they're actually obese or morbidly obese. Just because everyone around you is fat - or fatter than you - doesn't mean you're healthy.

    19-24.9 is a healthy guideline. If you're 25+, think about your health and lose the weight. My BMI was 41 when I started.
  • Elle_Jamaicangirl81
    Elle_Jamaicangirl81 Posts: 418 Member
    It was developed based on info from a large group of sedentary white people, therefore individual BMI scores are not to be taken as scripture. Don't get caught up on BMI...You are the expert on your body and you will know what's a comfortable weight/size for you.

    Good luck with your weight loss/fitness efforts

    Regards
    Rob

    thank you for that...
  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member
    I am unconvinced that being very "chesty" should make your BMI totally inaccurate. Boobs are largely fat - that's why a lot of ladies lose their "ladies" when they lose a lot of weight.

    You don't see a lot of chesty elite athletes and most body builders and fitness models have implants (the ones with big racks, any way).

    I think BMI is a handy **rough** guideline for the masses. Clearly it does not apply to people with extremely high muscle mass. But for the rest of us it's probably not that far off.
  • stevwil41
    stevwil41 Posts: 608 Member
    I also find the BMI ranges pretty far off. I'm 6'2, kind of broad shouldered and apparently I would be at a healthy weight if I weighed 141 lbs. Note that I said "healthy" not "normal". That's nonsense. I weighed 169 lbs when I graduated high school and I was scary skinny then.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
    I am unconvinced that being very "chesty" should make your BMI totally inaccurate. Boobs are largely fat - that's why a lot of ladies lose their "ladies" when they lose a lot of weight.

    You don't see a lot of chesty elite athletes and most body builders and fitness models have implants (the ones with big racks, any way).

    I think BMI is a handy **rough** guideline for the masses. Clearly it does not apply to people with extremely high muscle mass. But for the rest of us it's probably not that far off.

    Agreed. It's got a bad rep because the numbers are way off for body builders and those with a large amount of MUSCLE. But for most people, it's a perfectly good ballpark.

    If you like, subtract (or halve) the estimated weight of your boobs from your total body weight, and see where that puts you on the chart....
  • Fattack
    Fattack Posts: 666 Member
    I am unconvinced that being very "chesty" should make your BMI totally inaccurate. Boobs are largely fat - that's why a lot of ladies lose their "ladies" when they lose a lot of weight.

    You don't see a lot of chesty elite athletes and most body builders and fitness models have implants (the ones with big racks, any way).

    I think BMI is a handy **rough** guideline for the masses. Clearly it does not apply to people with extremely high muscle mass. But for the rest of us it's probably not that far off.

    Agree. I would only make an exception of 1/2 points max on the BMI if you were chesty, it's not going to be a different of 5-6+, like the bodybuilders. I'm studying personal training, and in our group we have a professional international bodybuilder (female) and I'm fairly sure she said today that her weight has changed by upto 35kg when competing. That's a hell of a lot of BMI points :D
  • Loko_Ino
    Loko_Ino Posts: 544 Member
    My BMI says I should be 190 lbs..that is INSANE..can you say 9th grade.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
    My BMI says I should be 190 lbs..that is INSANE..can you say 9th grade.

    that's funny, your boobs don't even look that big :laugh:
  • tragicpixie
    tragicpixie Posts: 71
    I don't know about "chesty" but I know I have a very hour-glassy body type and the BMI chart seems to be slightly off. My comfortable weight is somewhere in the 130-140s which is in the "overweight" BMI for my height. The problem is, if I start hitting the 120s or lower "normal" BMI range like 110s I look pretty unhealthy. Like ribs and cow-like hip bones unhealthy. So don't beat yourself up about the BMI chart - your body type may not fit into it perfectly. Maybe not because you're chesty but because of other things that go with it. I don't know that I would say I'm chesty but even at my thinnest, I've always been at least a B-cup and my hips are proportional to my chest - unless I am very unhealthily thin.
  • Robscofle
    Robscofle Posts: 40
    The first BMI was developed based on info from sedentary WHITE people. The World health Organsisation later produced research to show that black, indian or south east asian people required different BMIs. The research that I was involved in showed that people from african origins carried more muscle and had thicker bones than whites, giving them a (wrong) higher BMI. Please be careful with interpreting BMI scores.

    Rob
  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member
    The first BMI was developed based on info from sedentary WHITE people. The World health Organsisation later produced research to show that black, indian or south east asian people required different BMIs. The research that I was involved in showed that people from african origins carried more muscle and had thicker bones than whites, giving them a (wrong) higher BMI. Please be careful with interpreting BMI scores.

    Rob

    I think she's just tan.
  • Robscofle
    Robscofle Posts: 40
    Sorry for any offence. I'm talking to all on this thread. :)
  • Heather75
    Heather75 Posts: 3,386 Member
    I don't think you are diluting yourself. How much water are you drinking?
  • SiltyPigeon
    SiltyPigeon Posts: 920 Member
    Are they real? Cuz that could effect your BMI.
  • FindingFit50s
    FindingFit50s Posts: 162
    I don't think you are diluting yourself. How much water are you drinking?

    I hate getting beat to the right answer. Especially when I had my hand raised and Heather just blurted it out without being called on. }:^(
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