How much stock do you ladies put in BMI?

harleygirl01 · March 2012

I was weighed at the doctors the other day, so out of curosity I plugged my numbers into an online BMI calculator. I must say I didn't like my number very much, and I don't think I buy it. I have worked out steadily for 2 years now, wasn't over weight to begin with, and am quite pleased with my body. I am just curious what you ladies think about BMI.

leslie14 · March 2012

I don't put ny stock in it. I am 5'3 150 pounds a size 6 or 8 and my BMI says I am overweight. I am very happy with my body. I have weighed a lot all my life. The trainer at the gym told me that she was shocked and not not to go by it.

dmarie979 · March 2012

I don't take much stock in it because it only takes your height and weight into consideration. You can have a high BMI and low body fat percentage (think of pro athletes). To me, it makes more sense to pay attention to body fat percentage.

dairygirl19 · March 2012

leslie14:
I don't put ny stock in it. I am 5'3 150 pounds a size 6 or 8 and my BMI says I am overweight. I am very happy with my body. I have weighed a lot all my life. The trainer at the gym told me that she was shocked and not not to go by it.

This is me word for word. Granted, there's about 10 pounds of baby weight I'm working on still, but I've always been in the 140ish range.

If you saw me, I don't look chubby/overweight. I'm strong as can be though..and I'm proud of that.

I think a BMI says I should weigh like 120ish. I'd be a) starving b) look sick if that was the case.

LesPaul · March 2012

I think it's a worthless number. Mine is borderline morbidly obese, yet I'm pretty fit. Sure, there's a few pounds I'd like to lose, but I exercise 6 days a week and can ride my bike 100 miles. It doesn't adjust for body type or fitness level.

*Krista* · March 2012

very little. Someone at 150 pounds with 32% body fat could have the same BMI measurement as a 150 pound person at 15% body fat. The first person is likely overweight, the second is all muscle, yet their BMI is the same.

JW28 · March 2012

It can be a useful wakeup call for people who don't realize they're obese, but otherwise it's a load of BS. I weigh around 160 lbs at 5'7", which puts me at a BMI of 25.1 - which is just into the "overweight" category. However, I'm fit and very muscular, and if I weighed 20 lbs less (which would put me in the middle of "normal" BMI) I'd look quite skinny (or at least super low bodyfat). I am kind of trying to lose 5 lbs or so, but my body isn't cooperating very well because I suspect it's perfectly happy at this weight. BMI just doesn't work well for muscular people. A better calculation could be the "Waist to Height Ratio" which is calculated by dividing your waist size by your height. Last time I checked, my waist was around 29", so 29/67 is about 43%, and under 50% is generally considered healthy. But it's hard to calculate health from just a handful of numbers, so I wouldn't consider any of these methods to be that accurate.

BQBride · March 2012

leslie14:
I don't put ny stock in it. I am 5'3 150 pounds a size 6 or 8 and my BMI says I am overweight. I am very happy with my body. I have weighed a lot all my life. The trainer at the gym told me that she was shocked and not not to go by it.

This is me. Where I'm from, they call it being built like a brick shiit-house. Isn't that nice? I'm a bit heavier than that right now, but 145-150ish is a good, strong, healthy weight for me, even though that puts me in "overweight" territory according to BMI. I'm muscular as all hell and busty, and just don't look good at 140 or below, which would be the high end of the "normal" range for my height.

HB's Girl · March 2012

JW28:
It can be a useful wakeup call for people who don't realize they're obese, but otherwise it's a load of BS. I weigh around 160 lbs at 5'7", which puts me at a BMI of 25.1 - which is just into the "overweight" category. However, I'm fit and very muscular, and if I weighed 20 lbs less (which would put me in the middle of "normal" BMI) I'd look quite skinny (or at least super low bodyfat). I am kind of trying to lose 5 lbs or so, but my body isn't cooperating very well because I suspect it's perfectly happy at this weight. BMI just doesn't work well for muscular people. A better calculation could be the "Waist to Height Ratio" which is calculated by dividing your waist size by your height. Last time I checked, my waist was around 29", so 29/67 is about 43%, and under 50% is generally considered healthy. But it's hard to calculate health from just a handful of numbers, so I wouldn't consider any of these methods to be that accurate.

I am 5'7" too and am about 155. Wii Fit told me I was ten pounds overweight and I don't know where it would come from! I also had an X-ray, the doc said I had very dense bones, so I figure that adds to weight too. I am healthy, eat well, exercise regularly, at my happy weight. I can't imagine trying to lose weight and maintaining without being a hungry BSC biitch.

PunkinButter · March 2012

New research shows that women who have had kids are healthiest in the "overweight" range. http://www.salon.com/2011/12/19/why_women_need_fat/

BMI is a guideline based on the general population. Its not a rule for individuals.

puokgirl · March 2012

My doctor was shocked by my BMI. I'm officially overweight by BMI, but she said to ignore that because I'm super healthy.

It can be useful, but for athletic people it's a crock of bull.

emyinpink · March 2012

It's a great measure for society overall. If you're of average build, it can be useful. Otherwise, it's completely not worth it. I was at 22% bf for my wedding and still overweight by BMI. My doctor told me I was not allowed to look at it .

shorty20 · March 2012

I put very little stock in it, personally.

Mominator · March 2012

Honestly? Not a whole lot. I checked by BMI the other day and it says that I am obese. I fully admit that I am carrying around some extra weight, but I'm an 8/10 in pants and just have a really hard time believing it. I have also been told by my MD that I have a large frame and that a healthy weight for me will be more than the BMI standard for my height.

ebeth_msn · March 2012

it's not like the BMI categories were just developed for funsies. there are increased risks of a variety of deleterious health outcomes associated with increaed BMI even when you control for other risk factors.

also, BMI is highly correlated with BF % in most adults. yeah, there are some people who it doesn't work very well on, but the number of people who think they are in the tails of the distribution far exceeds the number of people who are actually in the tails of the distribution.

that said, I don't think BMI should be used as the sole measure of health/fitness/risk for CVD. there are lots of factors to consider, including BMI IMO.

kat.in.the.hat · March 2012

ebeth_msn:
it's not like the BMI categories were just developed for funsies. there are increased risks of a variety of deleterious health outcomes associated with increaed BMI even when you control for other risk factors.

also, BMI is highly correlated with BF % in most adults. yeah, there are some people who it doesn't work very well on, but the number of people who think they are in the tails of the distribution far exceeds the number of people who are actually in the tails of the distribution.

that said, I don't think BMI should be used as the sole measure of health/fitness/risk for CVD. there are lots of factors to consider, including BMI IMO.

This is a really good answer.

cookiemonster03 · March 2012

ebeth_msn:
it's not like the BMI categories were just developed for funsies. there are increased risks of a variety of deleterious health outcomes associated with increaed BMI even when you control for other risk factors.

also, BMI is highly correlated with BF % in most adults. yeah, there are some people who it doesn't work very well on, but the number of people who think they are in the tails of the distribution far exceeds the number of people who are actually in the tails of the distribution.

that said, I don't think BMI should be used as the sole measure of health/fitness/risk for CVD. there are lots of factors to consider, including BMI IMO.

I agree.

BMI says I am overweight. I am semi-fit, but overweight. The top of the "normal" range for BMI for my height is a good weight for me, if I was eating right and fitter. I run a 2:0x half marathon, which I think is OK for someone 9 lbs from Obese on BMI, but I also know my bodyfat is around 30%, which isn't good.

starlily313 · March 2012

It fails to account for large boobs not made of silicone.

For most of my adult life I was considered 'overweight' by BMI standards - by 6lbs. I was DDD cup at the time. My boobs easily weighed more than 6lbs. I was 5'4 and 150lbs.

I wish I didn't put so much stock in BMI, because I ended up obsessing over how 'fat' I was. Now that I am truly fat, getting back to that so-called overweight range is my goal.

How much stock do you ladies put in BMI?

Re: How much stock do you ladies put in BMI?

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