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my husband hates the BMI. He a little bit broader...and he would like to lose 10-15 pounds but no one that would meet him would say, oh you need to lose weight. But his BMI puts him well into the obese category which is so ridiculous and frustrating!
I find the labels really shocking too. I am in the same situation where I know I need to lose weight but I'm really not THAT big. I'm 5'6" and a size 14. Bigger? yes. Huge? definitely not. Yet when I did my BMI, I was "obese" and it was really hard to see.
I just figure... that is the clinical term. We like to think of obese people as those who can't walk up a flight of stairs. I can run a 5k. Yet... I have weight to lose and I need to do it.
Aww - thats tough. I know this doesn't quite apply - but when I was pregnant I gained a TON of weight. My doctor told me I was clinically obese in a very judgemental tone...my doctor was TWICE the size I was pregnant! That ticked me off pretty good!
Unfortunatley, I'm still just around the same weight after giving birth 3 years ago...bummer. I know I need the help. But having someone else comment on it is pretty hard to swallow. I feel ya girl!
Good luck on your weight loss journey! I'm working on mine as well!
YES!! I was in the obese category until very recently (now I'm a 29.8 - HA!) but it still really bugs me. I know I'm somewhat overwight but I'm very tall and I carry a lot of muscle on my frame. According to BMI, I should weigh around 130-145 pounds in order to be "ideal" which is ridiculous. I would look emaciated!
To me, it's more important to be healthy than to weight a certain weight. I have friends that are in their "ideal" weight range but eat nothing but junk food and never exercise but they don't get flak when they go to the dr because they aren't overweight. Blah... It drives me crazy sometimes :P
It makes me nuts, too. I spent a few years in the clinically obese category (at 5'7" and size 12!). I was "obese" when we got engaged, and lost about 15 pounds before the wedding... does this look like someone 15 pounds away from obesity?
Emily.jpg (77.8 KB, 66 downloads) 2 years old 
I have the same problem. People look at me and generally guess I weigh about 50 pounds lighter than I actually am! Or maybe they're being kind about it... who knows?Either way, I'm considered obese by BMI but I have enough stamina to be on the exercise bike for an hour before needing to stop, and go for 5 hour walks before I'm tired. And my legs are practically all muscle, which weighs a lot more than fat does. The doctors I've seen put me in the "overweight" category and totally disregard the BMI (which makes me feel a little better about it).
On some level, I really really really wish I were petite at about 125 pounds; probably because I was picked on as a kid all the time about being fat and my parents also told me I was fat all the time (Chinese upbringing and I wasn't a stick) so it's always going to be nagging at me forever.
I also hate clothing sizes. Any man who's my size would be overweight and wearing a medium to large size. If he didn't care about showing his gut, he could get away with a small. Me? As a woman, I'm an X-large. That does great things for my self esteem! There's something wrong with this system!
I'm sorry that you feel so frustrated about this. the thing is, "obese" has been used in our daily vocabulary to indicate someone who is perceived to be outrageously large. However, obse also has a medical definition and that is what is being refered to when the BMI labels the category as "obese".
Obese: Well above ones normal weight. A person has traditionally been considered to be obese if they are more than 20 percent over their ideal weight. That ideal weight must take into account the person's height, age, sex, and build. Obesity has been more precisely defined by the National Institutes of Health (the NIH) as a BMI of 30 and above.
It's tough because there is definitely another widely spread definition associated with it and you can't help but take it to heart, but try not to let the word effect you too much.
I am somehow the opposite. I have a normal BMI but I really should be considered overweight.
@meowkers: That's part of the problem... the other part is that BMI doesn't take build into consideration. I read that, for this reason, the basketball player Shaquille O'Neal is obese if you judge by his BMI - he's got lots of muscle and relatively little body fat, but the height/weight formula used to calculate BMI doesn't take that into account.
That's right. BMI does not consider build at all. And basically, if you have any muscle whatsoever, it's inaccurate. But they can't make a 3 or 4 dimensional chart, so they just left it at 2 - weight and height. Well OK, they could, but they couldn't print it on paper easily.
And it's so hard not to take it to heart when everything you see and hear around you is fat children, and super skinny models and model wannabes. Everything reminds you of weight and size.
I agree with the remarks on how it's not an accurate label for people with various builds, etc.
This is connected to a larger issue of the effect of labeling on one's psyche. When you go to a psychologist and they diagnose you with major depressive disorder, or bipolar disorder, or borderline personality disorder or schizophrenia, those labels can be really hard to get over. Even hearing that someone has been diagnosed with one of those disorders can change your impressions of them in ways that may not be consistent with reality. It's so frustrating...these terms can describe meaningful constructs but the stigma attached to them really stinks.
I'm with you on this! I'm obese, as well! Just crossed into the category about a month ago. It disgusts me. I'm overweight, chubby, heavy even. But not obese. I'm 5'9", between sizes 12 and 14. I refuse to believe that is obese!
I am a 28 on the BMI, which is ridiculous because I am 5'8" and about 160 pounds, a size 10-12. I have no fat on my back (yet...yippee!) and my shoulders and arms are so incredibly bony, I'd probably die if I got down to "suggested weight." It makes me mad too! I carry my weight VERY well and people always guess I weigh about 130 or so. If I was in my suggested weight, I'd look sick! I got down to 143 before, during my first year of college, and my mother thought I was on my death bed! I looked SO emaciated. The BMI needs to be reevaluated, I think.
And @wbride -- what? you were considered OBESE 15 pounds ago? what???
I'm 1 lb away from being in the overweight category. I know I'm not big or anything... but just the thought is slightly depressing! Like firemanslady said, maybe I carry my weight well :)
I have heard this a lot about the BMI. I really think it's not a helpful way to deal with your weight. It seems to me that it misrepresents people and makes people feel bad about themselves. Worcesterbride, I think you look beautiful! And no, not anywhere near obese!
My husband is underweight eek! I am in the normal range. But I had a friend in college who was very built, tons of muscle and he played sports and worked out all the time. Thing is, he was 5'4" so he was considered Obese. I couldn't stop laughing when he told me that. Anyone looking at this guy would have been a fool to call him obese.
Just goes to show that fancy formulas and computer models can't replicate commen sense and judgement.
On a side note: This is why I don't keep a scale in my house. I think we get obsessed with the number, but there are so many factors that go into our bodily make-up, we are all unique. Not focusing on a number allows me to focus more on how I feel. I can tell when my weight starts to fluctuate and can then adjust my diet or lifestyle accordingly. I guessed my weight for this hehe
I don't think the BMI is a very accurate calculation. It doesn't take into account the size of your frame. For example, I have a very small frame (I can literally put my thumb and pointer finger around my ankle and have them touch). At 5'6" and 120 lbs, I still have some noticeable fat on my lower stomach which I am trying to lose before the wedding (I'm not even comfortable at this point to wear a bikini and stick to one piece suits because of this). By the BMI calculator, I am on the very low end of normal weight, but this isn't accurate. If I had a medium or large frame and weighed this much (even though my BMI would be exactly the same), then I would look gaunt and quite sick.
I think the BMI is ok to use for a reference, but the most accurate way to see how healthy you are is to find out what your fat percentage is and your resting metabolic weight. From here you can determine the required amount of calories you need each day and how many you can eat less of in order to lose weight safely.
I lost a lot of weight recently, I'm 5'1" and was about 128, now down to 104. Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you plug the numbers, i was technically overweight at a size 6 and now not even at the bottom of the scale at a size 2. I think the problem is when the charts were put together, the average person was a lot smaller than today. If I was clothes shopping at my current size in 1950, I would be buying a size 6 or 8, but today I'm a 0/2. Our perception has definitely changed when it comes to what is overweight.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the BMI calculation based on a man's body and not a woman's? I think I heard that somewhere and if true, it's completely ridiculous since women have completely different body shapes than men and can be healthy even if they are a little wide in the hips.
I know how you feel!! I used to be in the "morbidly obese" category and thought it was awesome when I lost weight and now I'm just "obese" LOL... I'm 5'9, large frame, broad shoulders, big hands, big girl! But I AM NOT somebody that needs a crane to lift me out of the house, or a truckload of cupcakes delivered every night. It is crappy and it's something we have to deal with. However, I know even if I drop my desired weight (50 lbs), I"ll still be considered Obese, and the BMI folks can just kiss my big fat ass, because I love my curves and I want to keep them!!!
I am considered "obese" as well. But, I have ran a full marathon, and 3 half marathons, teach 4 fitness classes a week at a local gym, and am getting my degree in nutrition in the spring.Does that sound like an obese person... I think not!
From all of the courses I've taken in nutrition and wellness I have learned that your waist to hip ratio is more important than your BMI. So, if you have a smaller waist and bigger hips, that is healthier than if you have a big waist and big hips because it is natural for women to have larger hips because it is an evolutionary advantage, whereas a large waist has a high correlation to diabetes and heart disease later in life.
This is my biggest soap box, I could go on forever, but if YOU feel healthy with your body- that is all that matters!
I think BMI should be considered as one peice of the puzzle. Looking at you body fat %, exercise levels, nutrition, blood presusre, chloresterol, heart rate, and overall happiness should also play a part in determining if you are at a healthy weight for your body.
The more kosher measurement for health aspects of weight/shape now is waist-hip ratio. It takes into account the fact that if you carry an extra 20 pounds, while that may put you into the overweight or obese categories of the BMI chart, it's not going to kill you unless it's pooling around your midsection.
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/waist-to-hip-ratio-calculator/waist-to-hip-ratio-chart.php
That is insane, I don't think the BMI is any way to determine if you are overweight. They expect that the best weight for someone that is 5'4 is to be about 110 pounds. I didn't even weigh that in high school! I was about 130 pounds, which I think is pretty averagely acceptable, and I fit into size 5 Calvins. So no, I don't agree with it.
ugh! I'm with you! i'm considered obese too, which is ridiculous. i'm definitely overweight and i need to loose a few pounds, but obese? It makes me not take those scary obese statistics seriously at all. i wear a size 10! my problem is that i'm five feet tall so i'm supposed to be 100 pounds or something, but i've got curves and a defined waist so i really don't think it's that bad. my wii fit disagrees however, the jerk.
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I have taken plenty of nutrition courses to know that the BMI is not the best indicator of a healthy body. However, I have always been very frustrated with the BMI because I know that I am overweight, but never in my life would I consider myself obese. According to the BMI calculator I have a BMI of over 30, which places me into the Obese category. I have always been one of those people that doesn't look their weight, I am not a small gal, but most people are surprised when I mention my weight to them. Even the nurse weighing me at my annual physical yesterday asked another nurse if the scale was working properly because I didn't look like I weighed as much as the scale read.
I am mostly frustated because this was the red flag during my annual physical and my doctor suggested my meeting with a nutrionist to help with the weight situation. I am not upset about getting this referral because I know I need to lose weight and that this will all be very helpful in goals that I have set for myself. I think what upset me was seeing the referral and seeing that obesity was checked off. For someone who has always been insecure about her weight this was a huge slap in the face. On the plus side, it has added another kick in the butt for motivation to keep me on my weight loss path and to implement additional changes.