BMI?

Do you not think that you can find your personal healthy weight within that wide range?
If not - why not?

Have you previously been somewhere in that range in your adult life? How did it feel to you?

The "healthy" range of the BMI scale is a wide range, as you point out.
For the vast majority of the population, it's a good guide.

The people who argue that it's "useless" typically point out the cases of athletes and body builders with high muscle mass, who fall outside of the range. It's not universally accurate for everyone, but MOST people are not in that outlier category.

What's your concern with the range for your height?

The range is most likely correct, unless you're also a competitive athlete with an exceptional amount of muscle, an amputee or have some implant/organ removals going on. Where your healthy weight falls within that range depends on a wide range of factors like frame size, breast and hip size, amount of muscle. Some small deviations on the edges of that range might also happen due to the aforementioned things but also due to things like simply preferring a few extra pounds to increase performance on some sport or the slight increase in calorie allowance giving you more general enjoyment and energy for your fitness pursuits.

Example: I'm not an athlete, have all the "regular" body parts still attached and don't have any implants. I'm currently obese and there's no question in my mind that I'm obese. However, I have a quite large frame and huge breasts (not just fat, plenty of breast tissue too), and more muscle than average. Multiple health tests and body composition tests agree that my "ideal" weight would be slightly in the overweight category, since they count the ideal weight based on lean mass and adding a healthy fat percentage on top of that. I have a very petite friend who has a tiny frame, a fairly flat chest and doesn't really do any exercise that increases muscle mass, her "ideal weight" is in the lower end of her BMI spectrum.

The problem isn't BMI...the problem is that people incorrectly use or interpret BMI. BMI isn't and never was intended to be a measure of an individuals overall health...it is a population statistic used to determine the potential risk of certain medical conditions that have a high rate of correlation to being overweight/obese. It is in no way a measure of individual health.

The BMI range is rather broad, and is that way in order to account for different skeletal build, muscle mass, etc. The vast majority of people who aren't either within a healthy range, or very close to it...maybe a few pounds over, are for the most part in denial unless they are true outliers...and those people know who they are. There are very few people who are obese as per the BMI scale who aren't in fact very fat...if one is obese because of muscle mass, they will very much know that because they will be hugely muscular and ripped.

It is not unusual for more sporty/athletic individuals, particularly men to maintain a healthy weight/BF% that is at the high end or just over the high end of BMI...but again the numbers are usually pretty close. My usual maintenance weight is around 180 Lbs which is about 5 Lbs over the high end of BMI for my height. At that weight, I'm fairly lean with a flat stomach and no love handles, but not underwear model lean with a popping six pack or anything. I lift and I'm pretty active and athletic/sporty and while not hugely muscular by any means, I do carry some decent muscle mass, particularly in my legs and my rear...mostly from years of lifting and cycling.

BMI is a perfectly acceptable guide for the vast majority of people, but should also be used in conjunction with other measurables like BF%, etc.

Probably you (OP) know this, but in case some reading don't: The goal weight you put in your MFP profile has no, nada, zero impact on the calorie goal it gives you. Put in a weight 10 pounds/kg below your current weight, or 75 pounds/kg below your current weight, and it will generate the same calorie goal. What it's looking at is the weight loss rate you request, and whether you can lose that fast (at your current size/age/activity level) while still getting the number of calories MFP considers minimally necessary (1200 for women, 1500 for men).

Therefore, you can put in a provisional goal now, and update it later. It's pretty much always easier to evaluate a goal weight when you get closer to it.

MFP uses the goal weight for some progress-type or motivating messaging. It doesn't affect calorie goal.

FWIW, the exercise entries in one's profile don't affect calorie goal, either: Just used for exercise tracking (plan vs. actual, on the exercise diary page on the web, for example) and supposedly motivating messaging.

No need to worry about final goal weight at the start, unless it's deeply important to you. If it is, maybe talk with your doctor about what would be healthy? (S/he may just say "in the normal BMI range"!)

Doc told me that it doesn't matter whether it's fat or muscle pertaining to BMI. He said it puts more work on your heart with either one. He tells me I'm morbidly obese in the winter and just right the rest of the year,lol.

davew0000 wrote: »

I suspect that people’s issue with BMI is that there are better metrics? Like BF%, waist size or waist to hip ratio.

It’s a nicely statistically correlated risk factor for weight related health issues. But there is plenty that it doesn’t capture, as others have said, such as frame size or muscle.

I suspect that some people's issue with it is it doesn't tell them what they want to hear.