BMI/Ideal weight online calculators

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hazedot
hazedot Posts: 111 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hey there!
I'm Hazel and I'm 21. I currently weigh 225lbs and my goal at the moment is 170lbs. I'm 5"6' and according to most BMI calculators I should be around 140lbs. I'd love to be there but I have a large frame, i.e. broad shoulders, big hands and huge feet and think I'd look silly (not to mention stupidly skinny) at that weight. I've already lost weight considering I was 244lbs at my heaviest in March this year.

Anybody got any thoughts on the BMI/ ideal body weight issue? It would be good to hear from people.

Replies

  • nananie2
    nananie2 Posts: 272 Member
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    I'm 5'6'' and big boned too (for real) and I used to weigh 140... Let me tell you that you could see my big bones sticking out....
    I aim more for 150 and being toned and trimmed.
  • DiabeticAlien
    DiabeticAlien Posts: 240 Member
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    I think that the BMI calculator on MFP is an "average" of what people a certain height should be. I think your best bet would be talk to your doctor, a nutritionist, or someone like that and see what THEY say your BMI should be. My doctor told me that the weight MFP says I need to be to get into the healthy range of my BMI is exactly where I need to be.
  • Gennawest
    Gennawest Posts: 171
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    Im 5'8, and big boned. LOL, and I am not using that as an excuse for being overweight (like I use to). I started at 258 (really big boned) and now I am at 163. My goal weight is 158. Although, I would love to be 140, i dont know how realistic it is for me.
  • maddythorn
    maddythorn Posts: 8 Member
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    Hello, your body build sounds like mines...you may have more muscle mass. That will make you weight more on the scale than you actually look. So if 170 is small for you disregard the BMI scale. 177 is my goal and 140 is to small for me because of muscle mass. That scale is designed for small muscles.
  • Hirundo
    Hirundo Posts: 148 Member
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    My opinion, BMI is stupid and ignore too many variable to be credible!
    My 2cents...
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    I'm content to be a bigger gal. The best I can shoot for is the upper end of the healthy range. That's my goal. My BMI range is quite large. I could never hit the lower end. Not without some serious effort and possibly unhealthy behavior. The cut off for overweight for my height (5'8") is 164.4. My goal weight has always been 160.

    But I think if you're comfortable in your skin at a certain weight, then that's the weight you should aim for. BMIs are not always accurate, especially for very muscular people. I have seen calculators that differentiate based on body frame (I also have a large frame). One even told me a healthy weight was around 180 for a large frame.
  • johicks
    johicks Posts: 1,991 Member
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    I wish I had saved an article I found years ago that showed like 7 women of various heights & builds all weighing 140lbs. What a HUGE difference among them all. Amazing!! Now BMI!? Not 100% sure. But here is an article on-line I thought interesting.

    I'd rather be the lean size 12 than a "fat" size 8.

    http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/burn-the-fat.html
  • leilani♥
    leilani♥ Posts: 579
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    http://www.superskinnyme.com/ideal_weight_calculator.html

    There's a good calculator for different body types.
  • ljbhill
    ljbhill Posts: 276 Member
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    I don't want to offend anyone on here but all my life I was fed the excuse of being big boned. The truth was I was fat. That's why everything was big. I used to believe the big bone theory too. 4 years ago I lost 70Ib and more recently another 20 or so... guess what... I'm no longer considered big boned. Did my bones shrink? I think not. I ate smarter, exercised, kept it up and lost the fat. Now all of a sudden I'm considered petite which just seems like crazy talk for a girl who was told she was born 'big boned'.

    Just my two cents!
  • airycha
    airycha Posts: 135 Member
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    I think I saw something that said bones can cause a 10-15 lb difference at most depending on density. Not everybody has the same number of bones but they usually only vary in number of ribs or small bones in the hands and feet so that shouldn't really make a difference. Anything more than 10-15 lbs is either going to be fat or muscle. So obviously if you are small and weigh more than somebody about your size you probably just have more muscle.
  • leilani♥
    leilani♥ Posts: 579
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    I don't believe in the "big boned" theory but I do believe that there are different body types. Ectomorphs, mesomorph & endomorphs...
  • nananie2
    nananie2 Posts: 272 Member
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    Being big boned is not a theory... it's just a fact that some of us need to live with.

    But that doesn't explain why I was 50 pounds overweight. I was eating like a pig, there's your reason! lol

    BUT, it does make a difference in the end for determining what's your ideal weight (more or less 10-15 pounds is still something...)
  • nananie2
    nananie2 Posts: 272 Member
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    http://www.superskinnyme.com/ideal_weight_calculator.html

    There's a good calculator for different body types.

    Thanks for that :-)

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