Am I unhealthy? BMI says I'm obese..

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Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    I have a large frame, with the corresponding large head, broad shoulders, large wrists, and big feet, and I'd be happy at 171, but I am 3.5 inches taller than you, so I'm having a hard time seeing that weight being ideal for you height, unless you also have a large frame, and are super muscular as well.
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
    Well done on the weight loss so far. That is a super achievement, and all the activity is going to help you no matter what your weight.

    Others have done BMI to death on this thread but since you are obviously concerned about your weight I think you should consider delving a bit deeper. Try to find out your body fat percentage, for example. I am a tad overweight by the BMI scale (used to be obese) but my body fat percentage is still in the obese category and I am now working on that by losing more weight but concentrating on keeping as much muscle as I can (gaining some if possible).

    Also make sure your blood pressure is fine.

    Check out your resting heart rate (as a possible guideline to fitness).

    Check out your VO2Max if possible. You can't do that accurately without access to some scary equipment but many gym treadmills and other cardio machines have a function where they measure heart rate commensurate to exercise and give you a fairly decent estimate. You can then work on improvement if necessary.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    Well done on the weight loss so far. That is a super achievement, and all the activity is going to help you no matter what your weight.

    Others have done BMI to death on this thread but since you are obviously concerned about your weight I think you should consider delving a bit deeper. Try to find out your body fat percentage, for example. I am a tad overweight by the BMI scale (used to be obese) but my body fat percentage is still in the obese category and I am now working on that by losing more weight but concentrating on keeping as much muscle as I can (gaining some if possible).

    Also make sure your blood pressure is fine.

    Check out your resting heart rate (as a possible guideline to fitness).

    Check out your VO2Max if possible. You can't do that accurately without access to some scary equipment but many gym treadmills and other cardio machines have a function where they measure heart rate commensurate to exercise and give you a fairly decent estimate. You can then work on improvement if necessary.

    Oh, speaking of body fat, when I get to my goal weight, which would also have me still in Obese, I was planning to get a DEXA scan for a reality check.
  • misscagal
    misscagal Posts: 195 Member
    edited August 2019
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    Well done on the weight loss so far. That is a super achievement, and all the activity is going to help you no matter what your weight.

    Others have done BMI to death on this thread but since you are obviously concerned about your weight I think you should consider delving a bit deeper. Try to find out your body fat percentage, for example. I am a tad overweight by the BMI scale (used to be obese) but my body fat percentage is still in the obese category and I am now working on that by losing more weight but concentrating on keeping as much muscle as I can (gaining some if possible).

    Also make sure your blood pressure is fine.

    Check out your resting heart rate (as a possible guideline to fitness).

    Check out your VO2Max if possible. You can't do that accurately without access to some scary equipment but many gym treadmills and other cardio machines have a function where they measure heart rate commensurate to exercise and give you a fairly decent estimate. You can then work on improvement if necessary.

    I think the best suggestion is check with your doctor. My BMI works out to obese/overweight (right on border) yet my vo2 max is 40. This is top 10% for my age group. I’m certainly overweight but I am quite active so a real conundrum if you use those two measurements in isolation. My BP is also normal although a bit higher than historically. I’m at about 128/79 and resting HR is around 59 bpm. The v02 max and hr are from met Garmin which I wear consistently and for quite some time now so I’ll assume they are fairly accurate.
    Edit - I’m only saying there are a lot more factors than one measurement and we are all different. “Average” stats are a good guide but don’t tell the whole picture. That being said I take the BMI very seriously and am actively working on getting it down.
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
    Hard to believe people wooed @Azdak, who has been in the fitness industry for several decades and has been a valuable contributor to these forums for over ten years and 8000 posts.

    I hope those woos were from new people who think it's WooHoo.

    Azdak, you said "for eight more weeks..." You retiring? If so, early Congratulations. :flowerforyou:

    Thank you for clearing that up. My first instinct on seeing a "woo" option was to assume it meant "woo". But then I wondered if it actually meant "WooHoo" so I have never dared press it at all.

  • misscagal
    misscagal Posts: 195 Member
    misscagal wrote: »
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    Well done on the weight loss so far. That is a super achievement, and all the activity is going to help you no matter what your weight.

    Others have done BMI to death on this thread but since you are obviously concerned about your weight I think you should consider delving a bit deeper. Try to find out your body fat percentage, for example. I am a tad overweight by the BMI scale (used to be obese) but my body fat percentage is still in the obese category and I am now working on that by losing more weight but concentrating on keeping as much muscle as I can (gaining some if possible).

    Also make sure your blood pressure is fine.

    Check out your resting heart rate (as a possible guideline to fitness).

    Check out your VO2Max if possible. You can't do that accurately without access to some scary equipment but many gym treadmills and other cardio machines have a function where they measure heart rate commensurate to exercise and give you a fairly decent estimate. You can then work on improvement if necessary.

    I think the best suggestion is check with your doctor. My BMI works out to obese/overweight (right on border) yet my vo2 max is 40. This is top 10% for my age group. I’m certainly overweight but I am quite active so a real conundrum if you use those two measurements in isolation. My BP is also normal although a bit higher than historically. I’m at about 128/79 and resting HR is around 59 bpm. The v02 max and hr are from met Garmin which I wear consistently and for quite some time now so I’ll assume they are fairly accurate.
    Edit - I’m only saying there are a lot more factors than one measurement and we are all different. “Average” stats are a good guide but don’t tell the whole picture. That being said I take the BMI very seriously and am actively working on getting it down.

    Garmin hr is likely accurate but the VO2 probably isn’t. My Garmin says my VO2 is 50 which I’d love to believe but I think it’s too generous.
    Likely so but it would have to be significantly inaccurate for me to be out of “good” range.I actually do a lot of cardio. However we are good at deluding ourselves :# . I think it just goes back to my point about looking at the whole picture with someone qualified to make the assessment. I’m not a doctor and the Garmin is just a watch in the end. I’ll go on my physical results which were all good with the goal of improving health by losing the excess weight. I certainly can stand to lose 20 lbs which would actually bring me to normal BMI for my sex and age.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,481 Member
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    Hard to believe people wooed @Azdak, who has been in the fitness industry for several decades and has been a valuable contributor to these forums for over ten years and 8000 posts.

    I hope those woos were from new people who think it's WooHoo.

    Azdak, you said "for eight more weeks..." You retiring? If so, early Congratulations. :flowerforyou:

    Thank you for clearing that up. My first instinct on seeing a "woo" option was to assume it meant "woo". But then I wondered if it actually meant "WooHoo" so I have never dared press it at all.

    OOOHHHHHH!

    Not to derail this thread, but look! Myfitnesspal has decided to change the Woo to "Disagree". Posted yesterday:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10759847/woo-be-gone#latest
    Very good news.

    :lol: from that thread:
    Woo will be going away in the next week so go ahead and get it out of your system while you still can. Woo because you love something, woo because its pseudo-science, woo to your heart's content

    Sorry for the derail. If you haven’t already, please start a thread @cmriverside. (Just opened MFP so not caught up yet)

    1) for informing folks, the responsible option.

    2) so we can all go woo crazy without upsetting folk. A last irresponsible hoorah.

    Cheers, h.

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,905 Member
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    Hard to believe people wooed @Azdak, who has been in the fitness industry for several decades and has been a valuable contributor to these forums for over ten years and 8000 posts.

    I hope those woos were from new people who think it's WooHoo.

    Azdak, you said "for eight more weeks..." You retiring? If so, early Congratulations. :flowerforyou:

    Thank you for clearing that up. My first instinct on seeing a "woo" option was to assume it meant "woo". But then I wondered if it actually meant "WooHoo" so I have never dared press it at all.

    OOOHHHHHH!

    Not to derail this thread, but look! Myfitnesspal has decided to change the Woo to "Disagree". Posted yesterday:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10759847/woo-be-gone#latest
    Very good news.

    :lol: from that thread:
    Woo will be going away in the next week so go ahead and get it out of your system while you still can. Woo because you love something, woo because its pseudo-science, woo to your heart's content

    Sorry for the derail. If you haven’t already, please start a thread @cmriverside. (Just opened MFP so not caught up yet)

    1) for informing folks, the responsible option.

    2) so we can all go woo crazy without upsetting folk. A last irresponsible hoorah.

    Cheers, h.

    There is a thread? That's why I put it in my post. If you want a thread about it, be my guest. :flowerforyou:
  • TallGent66
    TallGent66 Posts: 84 Member
    Congratulations. Great job!

    1. BMI - good for a general idea, rough on the extremes. I'm 6'6" - 20 years ago I was a fairly lean 230; had hiked through Europe for 10 weeks with a 40# pack, legs were shredded, eating maybe 2 meals / day. I went to a University medical doctor who first said I should weigh 196#. I told him he was smoking crack. (I have broad shoulders, big boned.)

    2. Hamwi formula / UW - is another measurement used by the Navy. If you are 'large boned' (based on wrist circumference), I believe there is another 5 - 10% allotment. Google it.

    3. American standards vs Canadian / European standards. At the same time about 20 years ago, I was on a dating site that was 50% Canadian. Amazed at the number of beautiful, toned, athletic women who self identified as having "a few extra pounds". I was chatting with a European somewhere in my travels, and she said "that American over there". I asked her how she knew the person's nationality? Tennis shoes, large camera? "Americans are fat." Ouch.

    4. Some of these topics can be depressing. I was playing with these BMI / other calculators... what if I lose another x amount of weight. Several said 50% of the weight loss would be muscle, which was very demotivating. I stopped looking at them.

    (Some people claiming you either lose weight or gain muscle; gaining muscle in a caloric deficit 'impossible'. When I hike 1 hour up a ridge, I feel my legs getting stronger; coming down, I feel my core. Ironically, though in a caloric deficit, when I hike the weight reduction seems to stop.)

    Maybe a body fat measurement would add insight? My next step. Good luck!

    SW: 315
    CW: 276
    GW: 245?