Is BMI the only way to measure success
I am in my early sixties .currently losing weight and have lost 45Lbs. It is my intent to only get down to 175 lbs. According to BMI i would still be viewed as obese. I have done previous weight loss programs and have failed to achieve "healthy" BMI 145 lbs.This discouraged me and I gave up resulting in regaining weight. It is not even a reality for me.I have no health problems apart from being obese. Is BMI a fair measurement?
Best Answers
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Instead of worrying about any particular metric or goal weight as a sort of finish line, maybe consider simply focusing on improvement?
Any of those metrics can tell us if we're more than likely heading in a positive direction, as long as we don't overshoot the sweet range. Since you're thinking you're probably going to be better off if you land on the upper side of one of the common metrics, BMI, I don't think you're at huge risk of overshooting to unhealthily underweight. 😉
All the metrics that posts above have mentioned can be used that way: Am I heading in a positive direction?
Any goal needs to be personalized. When you get close to a weight that's feeling right for you, if you have a primary care physician (PCP), that's a good time to have a more explicit discussion with him/her about body weight. (I know that's scary, and depending on the PCP, it may not necessarily be effective . . . but with a good PCP, it will.)
Most of us have a range of weight where we'd be reasonably healthy. What that range is varies with
- our skeletal configuration (takes more "meat" to wrap around wider hips/shoulders, some women have larger/smaller breasts, etc.),
- health history,
- cultural context,
- eating/exercise habits,
- body composition (fat vs. lean, but also other things),
- personal preferences,
- possibly age,
- and more.
Any of the metrics are generic, not personalized. They're rough guides. A good PCP can help us personalize. (IME, friends, family members and online stuff isn't much help at all, and can be counter-productive.) Also, when close to goal, your health markers - things like blood tests - will give you useful information about your then-current weight and how it affects your health.
Another thing that matters is what's achievable and sustainable. Your history makes you believe you'd struggle to reach 175 and stay there. That may be true. (I'd encourage you to keep an open mind as you go along: Many of us re-think our goal weight as we progress.) If 175 is truly what you can achieve and sustain, then that's potentially better - healthier - than some extreme thing that causes deprivation-triggered over-eating and regain, constant weight yo-yos, taxes your mental health and overall well-being.
I'd add this: If you're thinking you need to set a goal weight now, you don't. Yes, MFP asks that. But it doesn't use that in any way that changes your calorie or nutrition goals. It just asks that so it can generate some progress or "attaboy/attagirl" messages along the way. You can put any number now, change your mind as many times as you want. Some people like to have a goal weight for their own thought process, and if that's you, that's fine. It's still changeable as you go along. It's changeable at any time, too: I changed my goal weight several times on the way to goal, then have changed it once in maintenance after a year or so.
For myself, I didn't put much emphasis on goal weight during loss. I didn't have timeline goals. Personally, I like process goals, things like "log my food every day" or "weigh myself on X schedule and record my weight in a trending app" or "stay within 50 calories +/- of calorie goal on average this week". I control my compliance to the process, so making goals I can control helps me. If I follow the right process, I will lose weight, but I don't directly control how much or how fast, so how much/fast aren't good goals for me. YMMV.
As someone in a similar demographic (69F), I'd mention, too, that body weight isn't the only thing that affects health and health risks.
At any age, we can increase exercise - in a gradual, manageable, progressive way. Short of very extreme extremes, increasing exercise will improve health, too. (Personally, I didn't start being active until my late 40s. I was still at an obese BMI then. I stayed at an obese BMI for a dozen years while remaining active. I was healthier than other women of similar age/weight who weren't active, and I'm talking healthier in terms of things like blood test values, need for medications, etc. Being more active and fit has paid off for me ever since, for that dozen years, but also in the nearly 10 years since reaching a personally sustainable healthy weight.)
Physical functioning is a huge factor in longevity, and in later-in-life quality of life. Improving at any age contributes to those health benefits. It doesn't require some intense gym-y thing. Walking more, doing some stretch, mobility or strength exercises at home: Beneficial. There are lots of free YouTube videos to try, for example, including good stuff from sources like AARP and Silver Sneakers that are aimed at our age group.
At any age, unless we're already close to perfect, most of us can improve our overall average nutrition. I'm talking about routinely getting enough protein (especially important for those of us 60+); healthy fats; lots of varied, colorful veggies and fruits for fiber and micronutrients. The average American's nutrition is sub-ideal, and I'm betting that's true in other developed-world countries, too. Most of us could improve nutrition in ways that would benefit our long-term health.
Sleep is also a factor in health, and for a variety of reasons, many of us have more difficulty with that as we age. If you could improve sleep quality or quantity, that's another way to improve health. Hydration is also a factor. I'm not suggesting drowning yourself with water intake, but simply making sure to get enough all-source fluids to keep urine in the pale yellow zone. Underhydrating is also common among older adults, in some cases because of concerns about urinary incontinence . . . but we need enough water for health.
So, sure, losing weight is going to be good for your health and health prospects. Losing some has more benefits than losing none. (The 45 pounds you've already lost has made an amazing impact already!) There isn't one single metric that's an essential finish line. Improvement is incremental, and a great thing. Weight is just one thing we can work on to improve health in meaningful ways.
I'd suggest thinking about metrics in those terms: Not as a goal, a finish line, but rather as guides as we move along an improving path. You may surprise yourself with what you can achieve, if you chip away at it, and keep an open mind.
Best wishes!
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speaking from personal experience and years of reading “I’m back!” posts, tracking food is very much a forever thing for a lot of us.
So many people reach goal, think they’re “done”, stop tracking and fall right back into bad habits.
Granted, I'm a little more OCD than most, but I’ll be tracking til my fingers can no longer manipulate the keyboard. 🤷🏻♀️
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Answers
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You can use waist to height ratio. Measure your waist. Take your waist measurement and divide by your height. If the result is .5 or less, that's "healthy" if it's more than .5, that's at risk of health issues. However, at the end of the day, losing 45 pounds is way better than losing zero pounds. A loss as small as 10 pounds can improve blood pressure and diabetes.
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for most people it is a good guide as to whether you are a healthy weight.
some people can be healthy weight bit outside the upper limits, particularly young fit men, but not many people are going to be healthy weight in officially BMI obese numbers.
elite body builders maybe - but I assume that is not you.
however you have made good progress losing 45 lb, and any weight llos is a reduction in health risks.
up to you when you want to stop losing and move into maintenance- but I would keep going until you are close to healthy BMI range.
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That attitude is a symptom of perfectionism it sounds like. I used to "give up" for a week every time I had a day of over-eating. It's a weird trick of the brain and it's really common in weight loss.
I was super happy when I lost from 220 to 155. I was one pound within the "Healthy BMI" range. I stayed there for a while and then decided to lose the rest of the weight to get me to a no-muffin-top look. It was the feeling more than the number. That ended up being 140-145 and I'm much happier there. It's really up to you. I say get to 175 and reevaluate then.
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BMI is one of the worst metrics for you to track. It's meant as a population average. It doesn't take into account individual gender, age, muscle mass, etc.
Your metrics should be the scale, how your clothes fit, periodic pictures and measurements, how you feel, etc.
Or if you want to estimate your bf % at home, try the Navy method. Or a smart scale, which is not to be trusted on a single measurement, but if you see a trend that's likely good.
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BMI is flawed for a multitude of reasons.
It is ‘good’-ish as a population metric, but not for individuals. The reason it is used widely is because it is quick and easy. Dr Mike’s video on BMI
other metrics :Waist to hip ratio
How you feel
How your clothes fit
Your mobility —> can you do the things you need and want to do?
Your blood work —> cholesterol, sugar, etc
Body measurements
Body fat percentage —> I use HealthStatus online calculator and my scale and then average the 5.
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Huge congrats on the 45-lb drop, that’s a serious win already!
Actually, BMI is a useful population-level screening tool, but it’s a pretty blunt instrument for judging one person’s “success” and in fact you are undermining yourself.
There are several other markers that do a much better job of telling you whether the weight you’re carrying is actually harming (or helping) your health. Like what @sollyn23l2 says, waist-to-height ratio is better because it also tells you where you store your fat (visceral vs. sub-cutaneous). If it's greater than 0.5, it generally follows that you have more visceral fat which wraps around your organs and puts you at risk.
Still, losing 45 pounds is no mere feat. What you should focus on is keeping up your habits and it's less about immediate results and more about consistency!
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I stopped paying attention to BMI. I got to the low borderline of “normal”, but lost a ton of muscle. Being “thin” or low normal-range BMI was not a happy place for me.
I’ve intentionally put back on 20-25 pounds, and am often spiking within a few pounds of “overweight”.
Yet, I wear the same size 4 clothes I got at the much lower weight.
The difference for me is muscle gain. As a 63 year old woman, I love carrying a fair amount of muscle. It looks nice, it fills the wrinkles out, and I know it’s healthier than being stick thin like I was.
I bounced up to 153 and a fraction yesterday, close to overweight. Yet, I have so little fat that certain yoga positions which require digging an elbow or kneecap into another joint can now be uncomfortable.
I don’t think anyone would look at me, though, and say “you could stand to lose a few”. BMI is a generalization, a tool for doctors or researchers to use on general population. There’s outliers to every generalization, and for 100 different reasons. You may have even won the happy genetics lottery that your weight distributes perfectly enough that you’re totally happy how you look.
You do you. As my husband said during a remodeling project I was in floods of tears over, ”Don’t cry, honey. It’s better than it was before.”
Mic drop. 😮 100% true.
It’s better than it was before are magic words. We get so focused on “ought to be” that we forget where we were before.Bloom where you are before you start seeding elsewhere, if that makes sense. When you're ready to grow your garden, do it in your own time. You’ll know when it’s right.
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Congratulations on the 45 pound loss! Congratulations on the good attitude about weight!
BMI is important to insurance companies.
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Congrats on 45 lbs! You reap the most health benefits from chronic diseases (DM, HTN, heart) when you lose 10-25% of your starting weight.
I would not focus on getting to a 'healthy' BMI, especially since there is some evidence that a slightly higher BMI range of 25-30 might actually be better, especially when we are older. (J Clin Med. 2024 Apr 16;13(8):2305. doi: 10.3390/jcm13082305)
Also, if you look at the CDC data compiled for their physical activity guidelines, increased cardiovascular health by increased physical activity is BETTER than weight loss for your health.
So, I'd recommend focusing more on healthy lifestyle, increased physical activity and better eating habits. If you have already lost 10-20% of your weight, then you are doing the best thing you can for yourself!
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BMI is one of the worst metrics for you to track. It's meant as a population average. It doesn't take into account individual gender, age, muscle mass, etc.
Your metrics should be the scale, how your clothes fit, periodic pictures and measurements, how you feel, etc.
I don't agree with this - I think one of the worst metrics is how we feel - that is so subjective
Yes your numbers o n the scale, your clothes feeling looser, measurements of waist etc - those are also good metrics and objective data. BMI is certainly not the only thing.
BMI is a range, not a single number - that range allows for differences in age, gender, muscle mass etc - and yes, some people are healthy weight slightly above upper limits. or slightly below lower ones.
and context matters - there are outliers and like I said young sporty men are often healthy with BMI's in high 20's - me as a not so sporty middle aged woman with a BMI of 28 - that wasnt healthy weight range.
But very few people will be healthy weight at BMI officially obese number and I think there is sometimes too much dismissal of BMI by non outliers in order to justify "I'm a healthy weight even though my BMI is 38"
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Losing a large percentage of your initial weight for as long of a time period as possible is awesome for accruing health benefits
Losing a large percentage of your initial weight and substantially maintaining that loss for multiple years is an even more awesome health improvement!
Losing a large percentage of your initial weight and never regaining it and having your maintenance weight be near or within the healthy BMI range (subject to a numerically few body type exceptions where BMI does not accurately reflect fat stores) could conceivably provide you with even more benefits... and be awesome for your health!
This is like saying that 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise is awesome. But that benefits continue to accrue with additional or more intense levels of exercise (which would be even more awesome). And that you could get even more benefits if you include strength building and maintenance into the mix (awesomest).
Giving up and refusing to aim to perform at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week because you currently cannot perform even more than that would be somewhat of a questionable decision, wouldn't it?
The self concluded justification of giving up because of BMI does not pass my third party / un-invested scrutiny and logic filter.
It is entirely similar to self conversations I had while remaining obese and unwilling to act to irrevocably change some of the root causes I identified. Suffice it to say that I started with very modest goals but then allowed myself to pursue more.
Concentrate on your process.
The process you use to accomplish progress.
Tweek the process so that it is sustainable and you can remain compliant and invested.
45lbs is awesome. Keep going but concentrate on prioritizing the sustainability of the process. The goals will then take care of themselves... almost 😎
The largest health benefit is the very first one, % loss and how long you remain weight reduced. The rest is very nice bonuses... and I love my bonuses!
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Thanks for the information. I technically have another 30 to go to reach my goal weight of 175. It is achievable and with my new knowledge maintainable. I will be reaching this by the end of November. I know that I will have to track my food for a long time after this and I will try to increase my activity for fitness. As for my BMI, I am not going to worry about any more. Learning maintenance will be the next big thing especially as I will hit my mark at Christmas time. I have been fortunate that despite my being overweight I had no problems with my blood sugars, A1C or blood pressure (all very normal). My triglycerides were elevated, but I got that under control by going low carb.
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Regarding "how you feel", I mean don't chase unrealistic standards of fitness influencers on social media with their staged lighting, pre-shoot pumps, good genetics, and very possibly various drugs creating unrealistic standards. And don't chase arbitrary numbers like X % bf (when it's hard to track where you're at anyway), or a specific weight number from younger life which doesn't take into account age or muscle mass gained since then, or a specific number from a BMI chart. If you're comfortable where you're at, and you're objectively healthy and other metrics and blood markers are good, that might be fine for you. I am absolutely not agreeing with that "body positivity" stuff I see from some morbidly obese people on social media. I just mean if you're fit and healthy and lifting at the gym and you're 155 pounds say, and a BMI chart mid-point says 150 for your height, that's probably fine! That's what I mean re how you feel.
To your last point, dismissing BMI while taking into account other metrics like individual muscle mass, waist size, progress made, etc., is very different to dismissing BMI while ignoring all other metrics too. The former is prioritizing what's more individual to you. The latter is ignoring reality.
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Ok, I'm not disagreeing with that - my point really was the " I must have lost weight, I feel so much better" even when the scale and measurements are saying otherwise.
and the " just because my BMI is 40 doesnt mean I'm not a healthy weight, BMI is nonsense" by people who are totally not the elite body builder outliers to whom that maybe would apply.
I just mean if you're fit and healthy and lifting at the gym and you're 155 pounds say, and a BMI chart mid-point says 150 for your height, that's probably fine!
I would say that is totally fine - everyone isnt healthy BMI at midpoint of the range, people can certainly be healthy at higher end or even just above the range, especially i n the context of fit people who do lifting at the gym - - which is what I said before too.
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BMI is going to be a reasonable metric for 85%+ of the population. Most people, if obese on BMI will also be obese on BF%, waist to height measurement, etc.
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