camelopardalis

I find it fascinating how people are constantly kidding themselves about BMI and body fat percentages. I was speaking with a coworker who was a basketball player in high school. He is now 31 years old. He calculated his BMI and it showed that he was 3 pounds below being considered obese. He can't accept it.

In going thru some old threads in this forum, I see the same rejection of BMI by people who justify overweight, obese, or worse classifications by statements about higher muscle mass, big "bone" structure, big frame (same thing?). Granted, there are some exceptions that make BMI unreliable (like body builders), but for the most part it is a fairly good indicator.

American visual standards over the years have gone up as the obesity rates have gone up. I have lost 30 pounds over 2 years, from 199 to 169 pounds on a 5'11" frame and enough people have told me I've gotten too skinny. Well, I'm not skinny. Maybe a good weight level but definitely not skinny.

I've only ever tried using internet calculations on estimating my body fat %. I thought I was comfortable with it using my waist size as 32 (pants size). When I pulled out my measuring tape, my actual waist size is 35!! American marketing is amazing.

Reality check, body fat percentage significantly higher than previous estimate. Take out your own tape and measure your well fitting pair of jeans and you'll see what I mean.

No justifications necessary. Gotta lose some inches around the waist. Even with a current BMI reading of 23.6.

Shimagnolo

At 6'2", the BMI calculators tell my my max weight should be ~193. I weighed 197 for most of the last 10 years, after hitting 206 in the '90's. I was on 5mg of Lipitor and had BP in the pre-hypertension range (135/85). I had people telling me I was already skinny when I mentioned I was planning to lose weight a couple years ago.

Two years ago I decided I wanted to be 180, (mainly to improve my cycling), and hit my goal several months ago. I can once again wear pants with a size 34" waist (actual measured size) just as I did when I was in my early 20's. A couple weeks ago I went to the doc and my BP measured 122/70. I had a routine blood test done at the time, and a few days later the office called me and told me to stop the Lipitor because my total cholesterol was now _too_low_.

There is a price to be paid for living in denial instead of controlling your weight, and I'm not willing to pay it.

BTW When I first learned of "vanity sizing" I went thru the closet and measured all my pants, and indeed found one pair with a waist larger than labeled.

poxpower

Welcome to the exciting world of "losing those last few pounds" my friend. It just never ends.
Here's me right now hovering at 6-7%: https://www.thepoxbox.com/challenges.php?id=5pdone ( from probably 30% at my worst )
When I sit down, I can still grab a ton of delicious flab on my gut ( maybe some is just skin by now...). I still could lose 4-5+ pounds but I'm afraid of needlessly losing muscle mass doing it. But I HATE having that fat around my gut. ANY fat.

Anyway, I've come to tell you that you're not about to be satisfied with your level of body fat, pretty much ever : D
You'll always be thinking that you can lose a few pounds of fat or put on a few pounds of muscle. So I would suggest thinking you're better than everyone else for having high standards. That should balance out the misery and frustration of never achieving said standards.

Also if you want to measure body fat, get one of these: https://www.tradenote.net/images/user...ges/710422.jpg
You'll realize that 10% is, as it turns out, a LOT, even though they say 12-14% is "normal" for a guy. 14% body fat = spare tire.

But at the end of the day, all you really need is a mirror

camelopardalis

You must use only European cut clothes. They are the only ones that are truthful.

chasm54

OP, you are right about the denial. BMI is only a guide. It started out as population measure - the more people with high BMI, the more with obesity-related diseases - so it is going to be imperfect when applied to individuals. However, for most people who are not strength athletes it is a pretty good guide, and most of those who complain that it tells them they are obese are just...obese.

Where I live in the UK there are so many fat people around that it is distorting our perception of what is normal. I too am frequently told I am getting too skinny when in fact I have a BMI a shade over 25 and should lose 15lbs (I'm 6'3") to get back to my "proper" weight. But despite that, I was still a bit shocked on a recent visit to the States by how many people are truly fat. And the most shocking thing, for me, was watching adults looking on fondly while their almost spherical child consumed a huge pizza accompanied by potato chips and washed down with ice cream and about a quart of coke. These kids, already obese, are being encouraged to establish eating habits that will severely damage and shorten their lives. Yet the parents concerned are unable to diagnose the fact that their kids are fat.

Machka 

The BMI works for me. I feel and look best when I am within the "normal" range for my height.

Just before Easter, I was about 13 lbs overweight ... over the top end of the "normal" range, and I was not happy about that. So ... I lost the weight by modifying my diet and, of course, getting exercise. I felt so much better when I lost those 13 lbs, and I know I feel even better when I'm at the lower end of the "normal" range.

But yes, I think there has been a change in perspective to believe that being overweight is normal and OK.

shawmutt

From what I learned BMI is a good starting goal for those like us 200+ lb folks, but when we get closer to our "ideal BMI" the focus should switch to body fat percentage.

velocycling

For those ppl who think BMI does not work.
1996 not 1 state has a BMI of 20% obese
2010 only 1 state with less then 20% obese (CO with 19.8% in my book that is 20)
and a lot of states with 30%+ obese.
Sorry genetics and big bone body builders did not change in 14 years

camelopardalis

[QUOTE=Shimagnolo;13179529]

Two years ago I decided I wanted to be 180, (mainly to improve my cycling), and hit my goal several months ago. I can once again wear pants with a size 34" waist (actual measured size) just as I did when I was in my early 20's. A couple weeks ago I went to the doc and my BP measured 122/70. I had a routine blood test done at the time, and a few days later the office called me and told me to stop the Lipitor because my total cholesterol was now _too_low_.

Three years ago, I also saw my doctor and he prescribed a cholesterol drug because my cholesterol level was too high at 276. I told him that I would try to control my cholesterol level thru diet and exercise. He said that almost nobody is ever successful in doing that. Like one out of every 3 or 4 hundred. Well, my cholesterol level is now hovering around 170. I guess you and I are quite the exceptions.

camelopardalis

We Americans should travel more. And when we do, we should observe more. It is sad to hear Europeans common comment that Americans are fat. We can't even refute it.

DataJunkie

It is okay I suppose. However, I am skinnier than I would like and rank in the middle of the normal bmi.
I have a friend who has quite a bit of muscle and ranks in the overweight section with a very low body fat percentage.
It is a generalization at best. It may work for many of us but it does not work for all. IMHO

Don in Austin

Lipitor is poison. Glad you stopped taking it.

Don in Austin

camelopardalis

Is this instrument better than simply buying one of those scales that measure body fat?

Doohickie

That's pretty much my experience with BMI too. I'm also 6-2. When I lost down to 168 several years ago, all my numbers looked good. Back up in the 220s, and the high BP is back. Working on getting down in the 190s.

____asdfghjkl

i hate the BMI charts. when i was younger my doctor would always tell me to lose weight because I was 10lbs overweight and heading for obese. a few months ago I took a bodpod test and it said I had more muscle than the average person my height.

Doohickie

See that's the problem: Muscle-wise, I'm average at best.

chasm54

I'm afraid I'm pretty sceptical about all these claims to have high BMI but low body fat. I'm sure it is true for some people, but many of those who make the claim look pretty flabby to me. And anyway, who says that carrying around an extra twenty pounds of muscle is a good thing? Bodybuilders have trouble running for a bus.

Shimagnolo

What? You don't believe in Lake Wobegone? We're all above average here!

achoo

Yeah. Sure. Someone who works hard enough to get his body fat under 2% is "out of shape".

Uh huh.

And they'll say cyclists are weak, with wussy arms.

BMI is a gross, generic tool. Any other use is really misuse.

BigAura

+1 for the OP.

BigAura

2% is NEITHER fit NOR healthy.

Shimagnolo

Indeed.
The lowest I see in this page is 5%: https://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com...ercentage.html

dolanp

Totally agree. It takes years of work to build up enough muscle such that the BMI would be wrong in calling you overweight. Yet people do not accept it and always say "Well you know that's wrong, a big muscular guy would be overweight by that standard!"

Yeah... well... you are not a big muscular guy buddy.

tadawdy

yes, and even moreso if you're experienced in using it.

bmi is useful for looking at a large sample. its biggest merits: easy to measure the inputs and compute.

Machka 

+1