High BMI but healthy, is it possible??????

LadyG33
LadyG33 Posts: 46
edited October 2 in Chit-Chat
Is it possible to be healthy but have an "OVERWEIGHT" bmi, according to all the calculators and polls out there??????? I understand that we must take into consideration, stature (height), genetics, etc. But since all doctors would call me "overweight" due to my BMI calculation, but can a person actually be healthy?????????

Replies

  • lizsmith1976
    lizsmith1976 Posts: 497 Member
    Body builders all have an unhealthy BMI. It only measures height and weight so it ignores several other things. BMI is only one way to measure and you need to look at the whole picture. For women, body fat % and waist to hip ratio are probably equally if not more important measures.
  • pobski
    pobski Posts: 42 Member
    Body fat % is a way better indicator of health than BMI.
  • voluptuous_veggie
    voluptuous_veggie Posts: 476 Member
    I'm a clinical nutritionist, and we don't even factor bmi, as it really doesn't tell you much of anything.
  • StevLL
    StevLL Posts: 921 Member
    Body builders all have an unhealthy BMI. It only measures height and weight so it ignores several other things. BMI is only one way to measure and you need to look at the whole picture. For women, body fat % and waist to hip ratio are probably equally if not more important measures.

    Yep what liz said!
  • kellybug123
    kellybug123 Posts: 240
    My BMI is in the 50%...yes, I know it's super high and I'm working on it....but I don't have any health issues. I don't have diabetes, I have regular blood pressure and nothing wrong. I thank God for this every day.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    BMI is a crap metric. Don't pay any attention to it whatsoever.
  • Loko_Ino
    Loko_Ino Posts: 544 Member
    My BMI is obese =)

    I love it.
  • MariSama44
    MariSama44 Posts: 340 Member
    Yes, actually. There was a recent study done that showed people in the overweight catagory are generally healthier than those in the target range. However BMI is better suited to describe a large group of people, not individuals. So dont sweat it too much or take it that seriously, its a loose guideline. I will still be "overweight" at my ideal weight/body fat percentage.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    I'm OVERWEIGHT according to BMI.
  • shrekk218
    shrekk218 Posts: 39
    I had a nice conversation with a doctor about my BMI by the classification I am obese due to my height and size but after a long discussion with the doctor he stated their would be no way for me to obtain a normal BMI because of actual muscle mass. So the BMI system is flawed stick with body fat %
  • daniface
    daniface Posts: 338 Member
    I think so, i weigh in at 190 pounds im 5"8 and a size 12. I have a lot of muscle. I work out 5 days a week and take care of myself. According to any BMI chart i am classiflied as overweight. i do not feel i am unhealthy or "fat" but according to any doctor basing my health on BMI, they would say i need to lose 30 pounds. i think its a bunch of crap.
  • kit_kat122000
    kit_kat122000 Posts: 2 Member
    Absolutely!
    According to BMI calculations I am obese. My doctor refuses to catagorize me as such though. I am only 5'4" and at the time of my last appointment I tipped the scales at 204 lbs BUT!!! my measurements are only 38 - 36 - 40 making me a very small woman to be called obese. One thing charts can't factor in is muscle mass. I was a weight lifter in high school and have a much higher muscle mass than most women, and, since muscle weights more than fat it increases my BMI calculations. A chart would put my optimal weight at 111 to 135 lbs (or somewhere thereabouts) but my doctor recommended optimal weight is 165. At the height of a college eating disorder I bottomed out at 135 and looked like I weighed somewhere around 100 lbs. I think BMI calculations should be a tool only and not an indicator of health. Use those numbers in combination with measurements, cholesterol, blood pressure and lung efficiency to get an accurate view of your overall health.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    You can be obese and healthy. Your health doesn't go bad overnight. It's the long-term effects that you have to worry about.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    When I was running distance and wearing a size zero (practically a different life) I was considered overweight by BMI. My bodyfat percentage was very low and there would not have been a healthy way for me to lose any weight. BMI can help as a guideline to a certain point, but it does not determine your health.
  • crb1988
    crb1988 Posts: 134 Member
    I think BMI is a horrible calculation to base your "health" on. I am in the obese category, but my blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels are all within normal ranges. I can walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded; walking 2 miles doesn't wear me out, it leaves me wanting more. So I think you need to take several things into consideration, not just BMI.
  • Buddhaboy
    Buddhaboy Posts: 60 Member
    I can't figure out BMI either
    For my age it says I'm unhealthy
    But I've always had a more musclar build...big in the shoulders, arms and legs
    I wonder how much that factors in?
  • cocolo89
    cocolo89 Posts: 1,169 Member
    yes it's possible. it doesn't consider bone structure or muscle mass. it assumes that everyone has the exact same frame and no one has muscles. lol. my bmi is 21.3 and considered healthy, but i have a bunch of stomach fat, and that is not healthy at all.
  • Marig0ld
    Marig0ld Posts: 671 Member
    I'm 5'6" and 18 pounds above my "normal" BMI. I call BS on that since my BF% is 20 and getting lower! My doctor thinks BMI is BS for the most part. That's why I like her...she knows me and my body and doesn't give a crap what some stupid chart says.
  • LadyG33
    LadyG33 Posts: 46
    My BMI is obese =)

    I love it.

    (Smiling) :smile: My doc tells me I need to lose because mine is "overweight"
  • LadyG33
    LadyG33 Posts: 46
    I'm 5'6" and 18 pounds above my "normal" BMI. I call BS on that since my BF% is 20 and getting lower! My doctor thinks BMI is BS for the most part. That's why I like her...she knows me and my body and doesn't give a crap what some stupid chart says.

    I think I need a new doc then. Send me yours please.....
  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
    BMNI is nothing but propaganda............another label for government to put on us

    most respectable doctors laugh when its brought up in conversation.........as well as a trainer at the gym is 231 and looks like Arnold Schwanneggers son......solid muscle, little body . Its just more lables that the govt can use on us to group us all together.......forget it, Im considered overweight and Ive never felt and looked better.........
  • michedarnd
    michedarnd Posts: 207 Member
    It's entirely possible. The only problem is that your life insurance rates are likely to change to a 'B' category rather than an 'A' category. :-P I will ALWAYS need to have a higher BMI than my healthy range. For my height, I have a BMI-calculated healthy weight range starting at 92 pounds. YEAH, RIGHT. The last time I weighed that little, I was anorexic. Since I lose by exercise and increasing strength training, I have NO desire to reach that. It's not healthy for ME.
  • _David_
    _David_ Posts: 476 Member
    My bmi is 1 point from being obese! I have a couple pounds I need to drop but no way I am freaking OBESE!
  • Scott613
    Scott613 Posts: 2,317 Member
    <--- 31.7 bmi makes me obese at 13% bf..... scratches head wtf???


    Yeah bmi is missleading!!!
  • brianward81
    brianward81 Posts: 217 Member
    What's the best way to measure your body fat? I was thinking of just getting the gym to do an appraisal because I bought a set of callipers a few years ago but they were crud.
  • jayliospecky
    jayliospecky Posts: 25,022 Member
    I think I posted this before, but I've also read that a few years back the US government arbitrarily changed the BMI "overweight" classification to down to a BMI of 25, when it had previously been 27. So anyone who had a BMI of 26 instantly went from "healthy" to "overweight"' overnight. If this is true, it just shows what someone's opinion of healthy is, and I don't think it sounds like something we should put too much faith in. What bugs me is how much it is used...particularly on the Wii! I love my Wii, but I could do without the BMI lectures!
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