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

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Replies

  • misscagal
    misscagal Posts: 194 Member
    mburgess458 wrote: »
    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: 8,486 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    cmriverside 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: 34,421 Member
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    cmriverside 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?
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    cmriverside 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:

    In Challenges!
  • Clairin
    Clairin Posts: 95 Member
    edited September 2019
    Hi, Im a petite also. Im 5 feet 2.5. People here have really responded well I think with sound advice and information.I joined the petite group here on MFP and for me its great. You might be interested to join also? I looked up your measurements and its putting you as Obese class 1. https://www.calculator.net/bmi-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=23&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=3&cpound=171&cheightmeter=180&ckg=65&printit=0&x=24&y=13 . If you are already in a healthy streak with training and eating well and have already lost weight then surely the advice is to continue with that. You seem to be on the right path already. You mention you had eating disorder issues in the past and really you dont want to spark that again. Better to continue to educate yourself about health and fitness and your own body in a balanced way. As mentioned by others as a young person you may not have health issues now but they come in time with carrying excess body fat especially around the middle. So its a good idea to monitor where you are at in terms of carrying excess fat in these areas. Like others said a Doctor or nutritionist is really the best person to advise you on that. You mention your Mom is a Doctor but perhaps your own private Doctor is the better person to give you unbiased advice. To compare us as petites for example, in my profile photo I was 112 pounds maybe that helps you to see what another petite who weight trains a lot looks like in a photo. For me personally it was my body fat % which is/was more of an issue than my weight. I've lost 2 pounds weight since joining MFP a few weeks ago and for me as a petite that really shows which wouldnt on a taller person. However, what I lost in body fat, I've gained in muscle as Im measuring it with a scales that does that. You might consider getting scales that measures this? Ethnicity can affect what weight looks like on a petite. I have an asian friend same height as me. Her frame and weight not the same as mine and wouldnt look the same as my frame which is more Mediterranean. So I understand a what you might mean about how you look.The link I added about BMI is saying for our height the weight range is from 104 to 140. This to me takes into account what I just mentioned about a persons frame. Thanks.
  • samandheatherdover
    samandheatherdover Posts: 20 Member
    After I went to the hospital with my third child, I lost a lot of weight. Then I started taking hormonal birth control and gained 20 lbs back. I gave up a little with 3 small children and working. Now that I am fighting my way back to healthy and fit, I am down 60 lbs. But still at the overwieght/obese line.

    BMI can be accurate but I have always been solid. I am in a similar situation where I am big butt and thighs, but also bang out at least an hour workout of weight lifting, HIIT, and aerobics. Yes, I (and you) can afford to lose some more weight (currently 5'2 and 160, 28) but dont take BMI as your main measurement. I suggest using a body fat calculator based on your measurements. BMI has me at about 115-125 but body fat puts me closer to 140 as
    Healthy
  • samhennings
    samhennings Posts: 441 Member
    MikePTY wrote: »
    cmriverside 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:

    I... don't think that's why it was woo'd 11 times (I was not one of them)

    Its not. BMI is one of those unquestionable truths on here, cast any doubt and people get trigger happy with the woo's.

    I speak from experience lol.

    When I set about losing weight I aimed for a healthy BMI, basically to prove it wasnt healthy at all for me.

    Im short and stocky, I carry a reasonable amount of muscle/mass (certainly nothing to write home about) and have always been overweight/obese according to BMI despite it being patently untrue to anyone who looked at me.

    When I got down to a "healthy weight", literally the top end of the band, people thought I had serious illness. I was wasting, gaunt, weak... There was nothing healthy about it.

    I spent some time in the gym, ended up putting a stone on over that healthy range, and have never looked and felt so good.

  • phx92
    phx92 Posts: 87 Member
    It sounds like you have a really healthy lifestyle which is a good thing! I am 5’4 so just a bit taller than you, and I went between 158-170 for most of my early 20s. At the time I wanted to lose weight bc I wanted to look thin, but I was probably happiest with my body at about 165. Even though I was on the high end of overweight by BMI I felt good physically and my doctor had no concerns either. (Part of it may have been my weight distribution—I have always been kind of hourglass shaped.) I gained a lot of weight the last three years mostly around the middle and I can just feel that I am at an unhealthy weight. Definitely talk to your doctor, get your blood work done and make sure you don’t have any health concerns at the moment. Losing weight probably wouldn’t be a bad thing, but focusing on keeping a healthy lifestyle is probably more important in the long run
  • kq1981
    kq1981 Posts: 1,098 Member
    I think, opinion only, that BMI has serious limitations. It does not measure lean muscle or fat alone. It's was developed in the 1830's. Maybe more work will be done to make it a more accurate assessment. In My opinion, it should be used as a guide rather than a classification tool. I'm an RN and I have to use it in practice when doing health assessments. But I also consider other medical conditions. I've seen people with well defined muscles and looking fit and healthy and their bmi says overweight? I don't like the BMI tool personally.
  • kq1981
    kq1981 Posts: 1,098 Member
    paperpudding wrote: »
    I am an RN and I do like the BMI tool - used in conjunction with clinical picture, ie seeing the actual patient.

    Is usually blatantly obvious whether somebody has a very high BMI because they are have an unusual muscle mass, ie elite body builders - or they are plain old fat.

    Yes I've seen people who are fit and healthy and BMI says overweight too - usually young active men who have a BMI of 27 or so.
    They are the demographic often just above upper limits and still healthy.

    Young women with BMI over 30,( ie OP) much less likely to be healthy weight.
    Highly unlikely her BMI does not reflect true obesity, or at least significant overweight. As I said before.

    The fact that BMI was first invented in 1830's doesn't change its validity. Maths hasn't changed and human body structure hasn't changed in that time.

    I agree completely, Maybe I shouldn't write so late at night because I was pretty much saying (or trying to say) the same thing, but that I prefer waist to height ratio rather than BMI.
    As for saying it is a 120 year old formula, I didn't mean to imply that it was invalid, just that there are more considerations we can look at for each individual.
  • john_not_typical
    john_not_typical Posts: 44 Member
    I think you need to ask your doctor what they think. I was obese at one time on the BMI scale and my doctor told me not to lose more weight. He told me don’t become one of those cyclists with eating disorders to lose more weight. It really depends on the person.

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