BMI do you know yours? Are you shocked?

[MichelleCarmen]

My BMI is normal and I have thin legs and carry all my weight in my waist, so if I wear the right coat, I actually look kinda too thin...but in reality, everything needs a major tone up and I don't exercise enough, so I'm not what I would consider healthy. I use to lift weights and do aerobics and all was tight and toned. Now, I'm just a thin blob. Last summer, I hiked all over in the mountains, so I'm going to start lifting weights again and begin walking so I can do another bunch of hikes over the summer w/my kids. I'll see how my BMI adjusts...it may end up being the same since muscle will build up, but I will be a lot more healthy.

 

[qtiekiki]

BMI isn't accurate. Find out what your body fat percentage is. I'm 5'1 and weigh 107, but my body fat is 30%. That's right, I'm nearly a third fat and it's really unhealthy, but I have a very hard time building muscles so I'm basically bones and fat. My doctors couldn't believe it but I was measured multiple times/days and on several different machines. It's terrible, health-wise, and I'm trying hard to change that.

eta: my bones are tiny and my blood panel is good, so the only issue is the muscles. If I do a lot of weights the % drops down to 28%, but if I don't work out for 3 weeks it's back up. I eat healthy, my body just doesn't retain muscle.

How are measuring your body fat %? Just curious.

I don't rely on the BMI or the scale. I rely on the mirror. I think at my fittest, I was like 20%. Now I am more like 25% with the same weight.

Here's a visual guide for women, just a guide.
http://cdn.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/body-fat-percentage-women.jpg

 

[chrono]

I thought body fat percentage is measured by this special device that they put on you?

 

[qtiekiki]

I thought body fat percentage is measured by this special device that they put on you?

There's are different methods: Caliper (the pincher), Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (the handheld or the scale), Dexa Scan, Hydrostatic Weighing (you have to go in a water tank), Body Pod, etc.

 

[ForteKitty]

They used the handheld thing. I don't doubt their accuracy tho, if you look at my arms, midsection, thighs, I look slim. But if you grab me, I'm soft like mochi.

 

[JaneSmith]

They used the handheld thing. I don't doubt their accuracy tho, if you look at my arms, midsection, thighs, I look slim. But if you grab me, I'm soft like mochi.

I had to look up mochi. Now I'm hungry. Up goes the BMI!

 

[vc10um]

After spending most of my teens and twenties in the "obese" range (getting up as high as about 42 for my BMI) I am finally down into the "overweight" range...I'm between 5'7" and 5'8" and at my current weight that puts me at a BMI of 28.1-29.0. That's teetering on the edge of obese according to BMI (30 is obese), but I'm not sure anyone who saw me IRL wouldn't label me as such. Overweight? SURE. I'm still working on the last 10-20 lbs (for a total of 100-110 lbs total lost), which would put me at the middle to low end of the "overweight" BMI range...but I know my body, and I know the "healthy" range just isn't right for my frame (I'm one of those lucky "big boned and we really mean it" girls) or my current muscle mass.

 

[packrat]

anyone ever gone to the website where you can pick a height/weight and see pictures or real women that fit what you chose? At the fitness forum I occasionally lurk on, I read a thread about it and they encouraged each other to add pictures of themselves, so real women could see what real women look like. And the fitness pages I follow on FB sometimes show pictures of women, like before and after type deals, that weigh the same in their after pic as they did in their before pic, so they'll have the same BMI but they've replaced fat w/muscle, and they look like completely different people.

My brother is a bodybuilder. He uses the scale and that as a tool, not as the be all end all. He goes by how his clothes fit and how he looks. I hired an online personal trainer who also competes (as does his wife) professionally, and he uses the scale as a tool-I have to weigh in every week. I also take measurements every 2 weeks, and even when the scale doesn't change, or gawd forbid goes up, I can see changes in my body.

Women need to get over beating themselves up over a number on a stupid scale. Or a number that has no bearing on a person's health. 110# mostly fat and BMI normal or 110# mostly muscle and BMI normal? I'll pick mostly muscle. 110# mostly fat and BMI normal or 125# mostly muscle and BMI considered overweight? I'll pick mostly muscle.

 

[qtiekiki]

They used the handheld thing. I don't doubt their accuracy tho, if you look at my arms, midsection, thighs, I look slim. But if you grab me, I'm soft like mochi.

30% is still in the average range for female.

 

[gem_anemone]

The low end of "normal" BMI for a lady my height and age is too thin, however the high end is too heavy (FOR ME). The range is 50 pounds. I would feel overweight about 20 pounds before I would even reach "overweight". The range is very large. It is that way so more people can fit in it. Of course 100% of folks never will fit in any category. For that reason I think BMI can only be used as an indication of weight targeting, but not gospel if your comfortable weight falls on one of the extremes or you are a special case (body builder). I don't think because there are imperfections in the system or special cases that it is a meaningless scale. I think people should be able to maintain within a 50 pound range of weight.

 

[luckyerialc]

It all really seems to depend on your build and frame. It seems that the BMI calculator is using the average individual's body. I'm literally smack in the middle of the "average" range for my height (5ft, 8.5in). This calculator is telling me that I would still be considered "healthy" at 124. Seeing how I'm a little under 150 now and considered by most to be relatively thin, that range is ABSURD. 124 with my average build and height would make me look emaciated.

I'd be interested in taking a body fat % test - are most general doctors able to administer them? Maybe the results would get my butt into a gym finally!

 

[Snowy]

I can never really count on BMI. I don't believe I'm very underweight by any means as the chart says and I've got the flabby areas to prove it... not to mention thighs the size of oak tree trunks! If you go see a doctor/ nutritionist and they take the time to go through all the areas with the calipers then it's a different story but the regular charts and calculations just taking height/ weight/ age is not at all helpful in my opinion.