BMI blues

[ChiCityGuy]

Hey all, I've been feeling a little down looking at some BMI charts lately. I'm 5'11 and started at 345 about 8 months ago. I have made some great progress and am at 278 as of today. My calculations had me starting at 47 BMI and am now down to 37 BMI. My problem is I am feeling down because I still need to lose another 65 pounds to just be considered overweight! I'm only half way there, and thats just to be OVERWEIGHT!! this post is half because I'm trolling for some encouragement and half to ask a question. My question is how much stake do you put in the BMI calculations, I know everyone is different, the BMI doesn't consider things like muscle. and I think I would be a twig at a normal BMI. Can these figures be that far off though? I no longer trust the standard food pyramid, should I trust the BMI tables? My goal is to look normal, where do you think that falls? Anyone else get discouraged seeing how far they still have to go?

[ravenrose]

these tables are the source of the information that some whopping percent of the population is overweight. look around you. unless you live somewhwere a lot different than I do, you sure don't see many fat people. they are just a little over that elusive "normal" BMI. I think you can fudge it some, for sure, but not too much.

[Vilya]

The other day I played around with a BMI calculator, just to see what my measurements would have to be to fall within the "normal" range.

Well, I discovered I would pretty much have to have some ribs removed to get my waist small enough. I'm a rectangle, and my waist is only a few inches smaller than my hips. I will never have the correct waist-to-hip ratio to make the BMI chart say "normal." I'm just not shaped the "right" way.

BMI charts are stupid. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

[dlk35]

It is sort of scary to think that they might use it against you with this new health care starting to kick in.

Here i am at 165 lb,5'6"and my bmi says that i am obese...scary

[Rayne_W]

What ticks me off is reading charts (I'm a medical coder) where the patient's BMI is in the upper end of 'normal', yet the MD writes "obese", or when the patient's BMI is around 33 - 38 (officially 'obese'), but they document "morbidly obese".

When I can, I generally refuse to assign codes for these diagnoses when they do not jive with the BMI...unless the patient has co-existing diabetes type 2 or other obesity-related conditions (in which case the medical community then deems those BMI numbers to be in the higher obesity category).

So BMI guidelines aside, it seems some physicians have their own version of reality. My advice? Never be afraid to ask to see your records, and ask to have them amended if the information is faulty.

[dlk35]

Originally Posted by Rayne_W

What ticks me off is reading charts (I'm a medical coder) where the patient's BMI is in the upper end of 'normal', yet the MD writes "obese", or when the patient's BMI is around 33 - 38 (officially 'obese'), but they document "morbidly obese".

When I can, I generally refuse to assign codes for these diagnoses when they do not jive with the BMI...unless the patient has co-existing diabetes type 2 or other obesity-related conditions (in which case the medical community then deems those BMI numbers to be in the higher obesity category).

So BMI guidelines aside, it seems some physicians have their own version of reality. My advice? Never be afraid to ask to see your records, and ask to have them amended if the information is faulty.

Have you watched the documentary (Fat Head) on Hulu.It's a good watch.

The look on his doctor's face is priceless,plus they talk about the BMI system and how outdated/wrong it is.

near the rnd this guy starts eating a high fat diet like Atkins....Loved this documentary

[Big Stevie]

I just recently looked at mine. I am a long way off over weight myself. I don't worry about the number other than it is a good goal for me to shoot at.

[JayLynn]

Personally for me, its just a number. Its far more important to me to work on being as healthy as possible, no matter what the numbers say. The medical world seems to have a "one size fits all" set of numbers for everything from weight, body fat, lab, etc etc. While these might be a helpful reference for generalities, they have little to do with each person's own unique body.


"obesity is a complex problem and it will not be shoehorned into simplistic hypotheses"
Stephan Guyenet

[Mistizoom]

Just saw this thread. I kind of have to laugh because I weigh myself using the Wii balance board/Wii Fit Plus game a few times a week. I like it because it keeps track of my weight for me and can show me a graph. However, upon initially weighing you it actually displays BMI (so no one else in the room can see your weight, unless you click on the "weight" button). Every single time, it moves this slider up the scale of BMI : underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. It moves my slider all the way to the top of obese (and even a bit beyond it seems) and declares "that's obese." I used to hate the word "obese" but I think the Wii Fit has desensitized it for me a bit, and it has a cute voice. It wil definitely be a day for celebration if I ever hear the word's "that's overweight." Heck it will be a day for celebration when my BMI actually plots on the graph...it starts at 40 and goes lower, though weight goes up to 330. I guess they expect people who weigh what I do to be a bit taller than I am!

[MaryMary]

I think that the BMI is a good guide for a number to shoot for as someone else said. I am trying to get to 150-155 lbs. On the BMI rating, I will be in the healthy range at 167 lbs. i don't have a lot of muscle but am working on it. I have no other health problems and walk 10,000+ steps a day for the last 6 weeks.

For my height 5'8", the range for healthy weight is 122-167. I am one pound away. That's a big range and covers all the muscles I hope to build. I am going to be 65 yrs old next month and have never felt better.

For me the BMI is just giving me a range to shoot for. When you come from the numbers I used to be, it is a miracle to be so close to what is considered healthy.

[sya_unit]

Yeah, I don't take stock in doctors or their opinions. I'm sure they have their place, but I was misdiagnosed a number of times and it just angered me. I do much better with facts and asking for specifics when I go to the dr. The BMI is a number for the masses. Jut like the food pyramid is a guideline, so is the BMI index. I take it as a suggestion.

[thealything]

I found a BMI calculator using the "old BMI chart" from like the 80s. according to that, my highest healthy weight is about 175 (at 5'7"). that's also the weight where people start telling me I don't need to lose weight.

by today's standards, I'd need to be about 159 lbs to make it past the cusp and into "healthy" territory.

[MaryMary]

I moved into the healthy BMI range this week at 167 lbs., but I am not stopping there. I will keep exercising/ walking, and decluttering my house, and find new recpes.

I am reading "Wheat Belly" this week. I wasn't eating lots of wheat products so I gave up the one wheat item and we will see how it all shakes out.

[Ntombi]

Originally Posted by thealything

I found a BMI calculator using the "old BMI chart" from like the 80s. according to that, my highest healthy weight is about 175 (at 5'7"). that's also the weight where people start telling me I don't need to lose weight.

by today's standards, I'd need to be about 159 lbs to make it past the cusp and into "healthy" territory.

I'm 5'6.5", and 175 is my goal weight. It's still "overweight," according to today's BMI chart, but I don't care. It's way thinner than I've been since I was in at least sixth grade, and it's much better than the "morbidly obese" I have been my entire adult life.

[MaryMary]

Hi Ntombi, I think I remember you from back in the early days. I hope things come together for you. Let me know if I can help at all.

[Jigsaw]

You are doing fantastic! I think we all can get down when we have a lot of wt. to lose and are called "Obese" so Just take it one day at a time. This is for your health so just keep going until you feel comfortable with you. and don't worry about some number someone pulled out of a hat to label you. You are getting healthier and healthier every day!

[trishthedish]

At this point, I am not putting any stock in BMI charts, weight charts, or anything like that. I know my body and I know that left unchecked I will eat myself to an early grave. As long as I am moving in a downward direction I know I am moving AWAY from certain death due to my unhealthy food consumption.

I'll take an arbitrary label of 'overweight' over the label 'deceased' any day.

[biancasteeplechase]

Have you seen the "illustrated BMI" project? It's eye-opening - a lot of healthy-looking people are obese or overweight according to the BMI. (Some of the taller women, who I'd describe as "slim", are technically obese.)

BMI isn't a very good predictor of health - there are also some scientific reasons to be suspicious of this oversimplified little calculation. (Did you know that people in the overweight category live longer than people in the normal category? Makes you wonder what weight they're over, doesn't it?)

So let me offer you some of the encouragement you're trolling for. You've been eating healthier, and your body has responded by getting healthier. You're doing something right!

And the BMI standard is doing something wrong. BMI is more convenient than the old height/weight charts, but in time - I hope - it'll be replaced with something that's a better indicator of health.

[GME]

Originally Posted by thealything

I found a BMI calculator using the "old BMI chart" from like the 80s. according to that, my highest healthy weight is about 175 (at 5'7"). that's also the weight where people start telling me I don't need to lose weight.

by today's standards, I'd need to be about 159 lbs to make it past the cusp and into "healthy" territory.

I know I've told this story around here before, but I'll tell it again.

I worked for a big insurance company in the the late 80s/early 90s and I remember the day we got the new weight charts. No fuss, no fanfare, no ice cream, and millions of people became obese overnight.

I worked paying medical claims and at first I thought they were crazy. We used those charts to decide of obesity treatments (like surgery or supervised liquid diets) were medically necessary. With the new charts many more services were going to be covered and paid for.

Then I realized those same charts are used to set rates for life insurance.

Cha ching.

[Ntombi]

Originally Posted by Ntombi

I'm 5'6.5", and 175 is my goal weight. It's still "overweight," according to today's BMI chart, but I don't care. It's way thinner than I've been since I was in at least sixth grade, and it's much better than the "morbidly obese" I have been my entire adult life.

Well, here's an interesting development: I went for a hydrostatic body fat test last week, and the results were slightly better than I expected, which helped me reset my goal weight, with the ultimate goal of keeping my current lean body mass, and getting to 20% body fat. By that measure, I'll still be at the top of the "overweight" part of the BMI chart, but with 20% body fat, I'll be in the "lean" or "athletic" range where it really counts. So for now, my goal weigh is 185, assuming I'm able to keep my current LBM.

BMI is bunk anyway. Body fat is what matters for health, and clothing size is what matters for my vanity. Being able to fit into clothes from any store would be amazing for me.

[Roberta12]

I think what I hate most about BMI is at least one employer I'm aware of - will not hire anyone with a BMI over 30. This is so wrong - most of us weight issues struggle with so many things and now we are subjected to this " legal" discrimination.