Healthy BMI
mo1700
Posts: 78 Member
I’ve reached MY personal goal and now want to try to stay there or thereabouts, just checked & my BMI is sitting at 26.5 so I’m still about 9lbs over, now I know this is what is classed as healthy for my height but I feel good at the moment & just don’t want to put weight back on, I’ve had lots of celebrations since reaching my goal & have probably logged on less days than I haven’t but I know I need to keep an eye on myself & am going to log daily again. Although I’m happy in myself I still feel as if I’ve not quite achieved what I should do feel a bit confused now??? Help!
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Replies
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BMI is not the be-all-end-all as it's limited by the fact it doesn't take body composition into account. For me, I've never strayed outside the confines of "Normal" weight by BMI standards but in the past when near the top end I did NOT like the way I looked and certainly had fat to lose. Granted, those times were before I started lifting weights consistently; I now tend to hang out around 15 lbs over my lowest adult weight, equating to a BMI 2+ points higher but still within "Heathy" but arguably not "healthier" using BMI alone. Take into account I now carry ~15 lbs more muscle my body composition is different; I'm far stronger, and like my appearance significantly more.
Additionally, some users set their goal weight as the top end of healthy BMI and find themselves disappointed when the mirror doesn't match their expectations when they get there. So it really is up to the individual when it comes to goal setting and answering the question "Am I done yet?"
However, it's my understanding the medical and life insurance fields still typically rely on BMI and correlate to certain risk factors based on category so there could be some benefits for you there in getting down to the "Healthy/Normal" range.7 -
How does your doctor feel about your current weight? Do they believe that it’s healthy for you?
Remember also that maintenance doesn’t need to be a one time decision. You can maintain at this weight for a while and then decide whether or not you want to lose more.12 -
There's nothing wrong with maintaining for a while and seeing how it feels. You may change your mind, you may not. Statistically speaking, medical risks associated with those extra 9 pounds are virtually nonexistent.11
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I agree with steveko that there are outliers; generally those are athletes or those with a lot of muscle due to lifting weights, however:
When I first started losing weight I was 220 (5'7"/5'8", female.) The top of my healthy BMI range was 163. When I got there I was pretty happy with myself, but my goal was 160. I made it to 155, which was 23.6. I was really good with that and stayed there for a couple years I think. Then I just wanted to get rid of the teensy muffin top and see if I could get back to my twenties healthy weight, before I started gaining.
I'm now at 140-145 as a range for maintenance. That puts me at 20-22 BMI. I am much happier here.
I think it's hard to "see" the right weight when I was used to being so much bigger. 26 (for you) is still technically outside the healthy weight. You may change your mind at some point in the future and decide to lose a few pounds more. Or not. It's your choice! Unless you are worried about insurance rates or employer requirements it's probably not worth a lot of over thinking. You'll know when you're happy.10 -
There is no one right answer for you on this as it depends on your body composition. Measures like body fat percentage, waist to hip ratio, etc will give you a better personal idea for yourself. Some people are more muscular/lean at higher weights than others. So it is possible to have a BMI of 26.5 and still be a healthy weight. But the truth is for most people, at a BMI of 26.5 they will be what the BMI suggests: "slightly overweight".
I am at a BMI of 27.2 right now, which is pretty close to yours. It is 16 pounds above normal. I know that if I am being honest with myself, even though I am very happy with the progress I have made, and some days feel complacent about how far I've come (40 pounds down so far), that I am at least the 16 pounds overweight that BMI suggests. Realistically, my "ideal" weight is probably somewhere between 25-30 pounds below where I am now, which would but me in the BMI 23-24 range.
Even if you are 9 pounds overweight from a health aspect, I don't think that is the be all and end all of health. These things are meant as a scale not as a sharp cut off of "good/bad". A person is not measurably healthier at a 24.9 BMI than a 25. So ultimately, if you are at a weight where you feel good about yourself and comfortable in your own skin, that is the most important part. You can always enter maintenance for a few months and see afterwards if you decide that you want to go any lower.4 -
People don't like being judged and the problem w/BMI for many people is being on the "wrong" side of this very judgmental "standard" of measurement.
Detractors will come up w/all kinds of reasons why the standard is questionable or otherwise not applicable to them, especially if they don't like the assessment. And, some of the criticisms are quite valid.
However, you need to be honest w/yourself in assessing your health risks and denying a BMI result simply because you don't believe or want to hear it is a potentially dangerous form of denial.
Part of the confusion about BMI is the labels it uses - "under weight, normal, over weight and obese." No one wants to hear that they are obese or still overweight, especially if they've spent months or years trying to get to "normal."
The primary purpose of BMI, however, is NOT to assess your degree of obesity (or lack of it). BMI was developed for use,(especially in 3rd World countries where medical facilities are limited) as a quick and easy way to measure a person's risk for certain health problems associated w/obesity, such as heart disease and diabetes.
So, when the BMI calculation says that you are "overweight" (based on your height), what it's telling you is that you are or may still be (based on the standards used) at risk for such diseases.
Blood test results for cholesterol and A1C obviously are much more precise measurements of your actual risk for heart disease and diabetes but, if you've never taken such tests before, BMI provides a simple and easy way to measure those health risks, which you should take greater heed of the higher the number beyond "normal" that measurement is.
Just understand that BMI is NOT calling you FAT!
It's saying that you MAY or may not be "at risk" for certain health problems because of your weight and that certain tests may be needed to accurately assess that risk.
That's it.10 -
I was very happy when I hit my personal goal which was 7lbs over the BMI healthy range as I'd carried my excess weight for 20 years. Back to my all time favourite adult weight.
But after maintaining a while I did realise that although I was a genuinely a BMI outlier when I was much younger and carried more muscle that really didn't still apply in my 50's.
Simply asked myself if I should optimally be lighter, the same, or heavier and adjusted in a series of small steps. I did have to reluctantly accept that no I'm not a BMI outlier anymore. Sadly there's a lot of chubby people using the fact that some people (mostly male, mostly young, mostly doing an unusual amount of exercise....) are outliers as an excuse to stay chubby.
Six years later on I've adjusted my weight range many times (down and up) as my body changed or my fitness goals changed or simply to make maintenance easier and more enjoyable.
Why not just get used to maintaining for a few months, get used to the new you, be happy you have achieved something many people fail to do and then reassess?
Perhaps it might turn out to be....
Better --> Best. Happy --> Happier.
But perhaps you might decide this is the right weight range for you at this point in your life.6 -
How does your doctor feel about your current weight? Do they believe that it’s healthy for you?
Remember also that maintenance doesn’t need to be a one time decision. You can maintain at this weight for a while and then decide whether or not you want to lose more.
This exactly. I've been in maintenance for years now and during this time my goals have changed frequently and will continue to do so. OP, at your next check-in with your doctor it would be good to have a conversation with them about where you're at, but it sounds like you're approaching this with common sense and are setting yourself up to be successful long term
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Whilst it is obviously true that being overweight carries health risks this is an incremental thing.
Somebody with BMI of 40 ( unless extreme body builder outlier) will have some significant risk increase.
BMI of 26.5, ie only slightly overweight for most people, is really unlikely to have risk increase.
I guess unless you are somebody for whom a lower BMI range than the usual would apply and therefore 26.5 was more than very slightly overweight ( ie petite asian ladies)4 -
BMI is pretty useless for me I've found. I'm 5'4", 53 years old, and had a Dexascan when I reached 140 lbs (which was just barely in the upper edge of the normal BMI range), and my body fat was 22%, which is a lot lower than I would have expected it would be. Mind you, I was thrilled, but I really expected based on BMI it would be 30%-ish. Guess I've been blessed with a decent amount of muscle on my frame, cuz goodness knows I've not worked for it! LOL!2
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I’ve reached MY personal goal and now want to try to stay there or thereabouts, just checked & my BMI is sitting at 26.5 so I’m still about 9lbs over, now I know this is what is classed as healthy for my height but I feel good at the moment & just don’t want to put weight back on, I’ve had lots of celebrations since reaching my goal & have probably logged on less days than I haven’t but I know I need to keep an eye on myself & am going to log daily again. Although I’m happy in myself I still feel as if I’ve not quite achieved what I should do feel a bit confused now??? Help!
BMI isn't a measure of health...it's a risk measurement tool. There are plenty of people who are in a healthy BMI range who aren't healthy in the least. Being 9 Lbs over the high end weight isn't really going to impact risk.
BMI should also be used in conjunction with estimated BF%. I'm about 7 Lbs over the high end for BMI for my height...I'm not super lean, nor am I overly fat and am at a healthy BF%...so those 7 Lbs would have more to do with vanity than any kind of health risk.6 -
BMI has been covered. As for maintaining, do whatever you have been doing with a handful more calories until you’re weight is stable. Good podcast on subject: Half Size Me4
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BMI stuff below repurposed from another one of my posts as it's relevant to both posts. I know that BMI gets a lot of criticism, but I think it's still helpful especially as it gives you a healthy weight RANGE and not just one figure that applies to all.
For me, I've decided to stop 4kg short of my original goal. When I first started in January, I was 86.6kg. The heart foundation BMI calculator (https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/your-heart/know-your-risks/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator) told me that based on my height (5 feet), my healthy weight range was 41.6 - 56kg. As I had zero clue about anything, I just picked 50kg for my initial goal weight because I had to start somewhere.
As I approached goal though, I realised that 50kg was far too low for me. I don't consider it being a quitter or giving up ... or making excuses for myself. I just decided that 54kg was a healthier weight for me rather than dropping below that, which I think would have put me on the overly thin side of things given my body weight and shape. It's still within healthy range though albeit in the upper end of healthy.
There is nothing wrong with revising your goals where appropriate. For me, I used clothing size and how felt and looked as my guide for whether I had lost "enough". My current weight has put me into a size 8/10 for tops and 10/12 for trousers -which I'm more than happy with. I never had any aspirations of dropping to a size 6 etc but didn't realise how I'd look/feel until I got into the upper 50kg range. If I dropped smaller, given my height, I'd probably have to buy petite for the rest of my life or in the kid's range of clothing.
Good luck with whatever you decide! 5 -
I was very happy when I hit my personal goal which was 7lbs over the BMI healthy range as I'd carried my excess weight for 20 years. Back to my all time favourite adult weight.
But after maintaining a while I did realise that although I was a genuinely a BMI outlier when I was much younger and carried more muscle that really didn't still apply in my 50's.
Simply asked myself if I should optimally be lighter, the same, or heavier and adjusted in a series of small steps. I did have to reluctantly accept that no I'm not a BMI outlier anymore. Sadly there's a lot of chubby people using the fact that some people (mostly male, mostly young, mostly doing an unusual amount of exercise....) are outliers as an excuse to stay chubby.
Six years later on I've adjusted my weight range many times (down and up) as my body changed or my fitness goals changed or simply to make maintenance easier and more enjoyable.
Why not just get used to maintaining for a few months, get used to the new you, be happy you have achieved something many people fail to do and then reassess?
Perhaps it might turn out to be....
Better --> Best. Happy --> Happier.
But perhaps you might decide this is the right weight range for you at this point in your life.
I was an outlier when I was younger. I had high muscle mass and low body fat.
Now, much older, I don't worry if I am at the top of my bmi range, even though I surely wouldn't be called an outlier anymore.
The overweight bmi has been shown to be ok for people over 65, I think it is 65, because they survive health crisis better than people at a lower bmi. Still it is, of course, up to the individual. I do think bmi has validity as a health marker.
I agree wholeheartely with the advice of 'getting used to maintaining for a few months'.
I feel happier with the amount of food I can eat and the energy I have for excersize and work when I am in the higher bmi range of 'healthy'. People who carry more muscle mass will obviously need more food to supply their body with enough energy.
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I was very happy when I hit my personal goal which was 7lbs over the BMI healthy range as I'd carried my excess weight for 20 years. Back to my all time favourite adult weight.
But after maintaining a while I did realise that although I was a genuinely a BMI outlier when I was much younger and carried more muscle that really didn't still apply in my 50's.
Simply asked myself if I should optimally be lighter, the same, or heavier and adjusted in a series of small steps. I did have to reluctantly accept that no I'm not a BMI outlier anymore. Sadly there's a lot of chubby people using the fact that some people (mostly male, mostly young, mostly doing an unusual amount of exercise....) are outliers as an excuse to stay chubby.
Six years later on I've adjusted my weight range many times (down and up) as my body changed or my fitness goals changed or simply to make maintenance easier and more enjoyable.
Why not just get used to maintaining for a few months, get used to the new you, be happy you have achieved something many people fail to do and then reassess?
Perhaps it might turn out to be....
Better --> Best. Happy --> Happier.
But perhaps you might decide this is the right weight range for you at this point in your life.
I was an outlier when I was younger. I had high muscle mass and low body fat.
Now, much older, I don't worry if I am at the top of my bmi range, even though I surely wouldn't be called an outlier anymore.
The overweight bmi has been shown to be ok for people over 65, I think it is 65, because they survive health crisis better than people at a lower bmi. Still it is, of course, up to the individual. I do think bmi has validity as a health marker.
I agree wholeheartely with the advice of 'getting used to maintaining for a few months'.
I feel happier with the amount of food I can eat and the energy I have for excersize and work when I am in the higher bmi range of 'healthy'. People who carry more muscle mass will obviously need more food to supply their body with enough energy.
The australian guidlines now suggest that people over 7o may be better off at a slightly higher BMI than the standard upper range.
However again, slightly over means 26 or 27ish - not 40 or so.
slightly overweight, not obese.
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@paperpudding
The guidlines make sense.0 -
yes, I'm not disagreeing with them.0
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I knew that, was just confirming my own agreement
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I am going to tell my joke again: BMI is just your weight in kg divided by your height in meters squared. It may be somewhat useful, but don't give it too much weight!
It has been used in a large number of statistical studies, so there is some backing to the advice. However, most studies show little increased risk of this or that near the top of the range and there are many other factors to health, including exercise, smoking, alcohol, diet (composition), and (horribly) genetics.0
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