to think BMIs are ridiculous?!

[HairTodayBlondeTomorrow]

I'm 5 foot 4 and after my kids ended up at 13st 9lbs,

I'm now down to 12 stone.

When I got married I was 11 stone and was in a size 12 dress and I think I looked lovely.

I'd like to get back to 11 stone. but according to the NHS at 11 stone and still be in the 'overweight' catagory.

Infact at 10 stone 7 i would be classes as over weight?

Surely it can be healthy to pus that on people?

I mean if i was 10 stone 5lbs i would be jussssst out of the overweight category.

And to be directly in the middle of the healthy range I need to be 9 stone?!

Have I just been over weight too long to remember what healthy is or does anyone else feel BMI is unrealistic?

Agree that BMI is most useful at population level, and there will always be exceptions. However, the shortcomings of BMI as a tool pale into insignificance next to the delusional attitude of the British population to weight. People just seem to have lost all idea of what a healthy weight looks like- perhaps because we confuse "healthy" and "normal", and "normal" today is actually overweight.

Totally agree RichMan. My sister and I have had this argument over and over. She says she is normal and I say 'yes, but statistically speaking, a scary percent of people in the UK are in the overweight category' At which point she gets defensive and aggressive.

and to OP, sorry but 11 stone at 5 ft 4 is definitely overweight. Thats what I weigh and I'm 4 inches taller than you, and I'm pretty chunky (and on a diet).

I agree! At my absolute skinniest, I was 9 stone exactly. I"m 5.3. I was a Size 6-8. I couldn't have gone any slimmer without looking ill...yet 9 stone for 5.3 was still putting me in the middle of the BMI range!!! At 9 and a half stone, I am a comfortable size 10...hardly fat at all, but at the top end of the BMI. Once I get to 10 stone I'm overweight.

I think you have to know what's comfortable for you. I'm 6 months pg at the minute (and 11 stone eek!) but I will aim to get back down to 10 stone first - even though technically that would still make me overweight.

Also, I don't believe for a minute what the celebs say they weigh!!!!

Also, I have noticed MANY threads over the last few years on here saying that a size 16 is not overweight.... Er, yes, yes it is. Especially as a size 16 is even bigger than it used to be.

I honestly would never want to be over a size 12.

I think BMI is over generous, im 5'6 weight 9 stone 3 and have a bmi of 20.83 i still have ALOT of fat around my waist and hips i can grab handfulls of the stuff and when i sit i have a large tyre i can hold! i could go down to 8 stone 7 and STILL be within healthy BMI which is where my target is, on the other side of the scale i could go up to 11 stone which is where ive just come down from and im massive at that size very very unhealthy for me, BMI is a large scale too large probably .....Latterlove

You see..this is exactly why BMI is skewed!!! At 5'3 and 9 stone 3 I can grab absolutely NO FAT WHATSOEVER!!!! None. Toned, taut, tight! ..either that or Latterlove you're seeing fat where it doesn't exist ;)

Itdoesn'thurt... no offence but I am 5 inches taller than you and at 9 stone. I am quite slim, at the bottom of healthy BMI but not even as small as a size 6 in most stores. I physically could not get into a size 6. Unless you were shopping in M&S or somewhere else with SERIOUS vanity sizing going on you have to be mistaken about your size. Surely...

I remember Dr Rosemary Leonard once saying on the BBC that the vast majority of women over a size 14 are overweight and unhealthy.

I also think the calorie guidelines are too generous for most people. I rarely eat 2,000 calories a day, probably more like 1,500. I am not losing weight eating at that level, so presumably if I ate 2,000 calories a day I'd be putting weight on all the time.

Bradley Wiggins has like 4% body fat. He's just above the point where people are expected to lapse into coma due to low body fat.
Women need an absolute min. of about 10-13% body fat to be healthy. Anything under 20% is considered relatively low. So hope you can grab some fat somewhere, IDH2HManners.

CaveMum - yes whereas when I don't get my 1800-2000 I lose weight FAST!

Itdoesnthurt - I really hope you don't feel I targeted you there. I wasn't intending to have a go or anything. Just aware it may have come across as mean and criticizing when that wasn't my intention.

I think any argument using dress size as proof is useless, sizes have changed in different shops and vary wildly so comparisons are not like for like. Better to use bust/waist/hip measurements if you want to compare size rather than weight.....

I am 47 and pretty fit.
I am 5 foot 5 (165cm) and 62.5kg or 9 stone 10
I have a BMI of 23
As part of a medical study I had a full body ultrasound scan done recently.
31.9% of my body weight is fat.

ANYBODY who believes that a BMI of over 25 is OK is deluding themselves.

Remember that in 1970 size ten jeans had a waistband four whole inches smaller than a size ten today.
If I shop at Sainsburys I am a size 8.
If I try on old clothes I am a size 12.

Look at pictures of football crowds or seasides in the 1970's.
Sorry ladies but most of us are FAT.

BMI is much more generous that recommended weights on Metropolitan Life Insurance Tables.

www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

Yes Sleep I wasn't trying to use dress size as an argument for my case but as dress sizes have got huge (used to be a definite 10. 10 does no longer fit. I have gone UP in weight... ) I can't understand how someone quite shorter but with the same weight as me can have ever been a smaller size.

Woo Fushia, that says I am spot on :o

It isn't ridiculous at all. It is one tool used to assess your health. As others have suggested, try measuring your bmi, waist/hip/height ratio, and body fat %. If all 3 are telling you the same thing then they are probably right.
I would also just like to point out that fat isn't all visible, or just located in a few places. It can be found all around the body, so you may think you don't look fat but may in fact have a high body fat %.
Of course you are free to stay in denial [if you are] or you can be honest with yourself about your health and weight.

Cherie I could hug you for this ""normal" does not = "healthy"

Also Worra sounds like you and I are of a similar build. I'm currently working on cutting down the old tummy, only to be asked "But why, you're slim?"

My weight is creeping up and I've just hit a BMI of 21, sounds healthy, but my beer belly and thunder thighs aren't. Some exercise and some lower fat options are needed. Mirrors don't lie. I'm 5ft 7 and 9st 7. I'm not fat, but I'm heading there.

YABU. There's too much denial about weight, if you're happy where you are then that's fine, but you can't then turn round and blame what for most of the population is a good indicator of obesity for being wrong if it doesn't fit with how you view yourself.

MsOnatopp No offence taken! No honestly..no one EVER believes me when I say how much I weigh, and I'm normally marched to a scales to prove it!!!! Nope..not M+S clothes (they're huge on me!!), just normal River Island, Top Shop etc. Most friends presume I weigh about 8 stone, because that's what I look like. I have no rolls of fat, no big boobs, nothing obvious that could make me weigh that much. Body shape wise, I'm like a Colleen Rooney! (so I've been told!)

I've only ever met one other person who's like me. My friend at uni claimed to weigh 11 stone and you could have knocked me over with a feather - she's 5'5, toned, fit, healthy. I made her stand on the scales!!!! And yes!!! She weighs 11 stone 3. Size wise? She's a 10 - 12.

As i said I'm pg at the minute - all i have is a very neat round bump at the front. Everyone says they can't believe I'm 6 months gone. My boss was gobsmacked when I said i now weighed 11 stone. My size 8-10 tops still fit perfectly, I'm still in my size 12's on the bottom.

So you see..there can be huge variance in what 9 stone or 11 stone looks like on different height people!

I agree on the calories too cavemum, the 2000 would be for an average height and weight woman, regularly exercising. So say 30 yrs old, 5ft 6" and 10.5 st, exercising 3x per week.

If you are shorter, lighter, or exercise less than this - as probably the majority of women do , then you need less to maintain your weight. Just take out exercise and someone doing a desk job with these statistics only needs around 1700 cals, any more and you will gain weight.

Talking Peace I do actually agree with a lot of the points you make too though. People were a lot slimmer back in the day. However, people never used to work out in gyms back then either. The men were all ridiculously skinny with tiny waists too! I have good stomach muscles, which whilst don't make me fat at all, do make me wider around the waist than I was before I worked out (I do remember being a size 24 waist when I was 18!! And now I'm a 28....but no fat, no rolls, just a six pack (well not at the minute haha) )

Given my personal/familiar risk facts - high bp, high cholesterol etc I would be very foolish indeed not to take BMI seriously at an individual level.

I'm just under 5"4 and my usual weight is 8st 10.
At 9st I am pretty heavy. I don't look great in a swimsuit at my normal weight but ok in clothes. I usually take an 8 (in a generous shop) or a 10. Years ago I'd have been a size 12 but it's all vanity sizing nowadays - that's why you see size 4s and 6s in the shop whereas years ago 8 meant skinny!
BMI is a good indicator (within the range) unless you are a professional athlete.

I am 5ft 2 inches, I weigh 10 stone 5. I am a size 8. In the past I have weighed less and been fatter. I now have more muscle and that makes a huge difference.

itdosnthurt - oh its there believe me sadly if it sit and grab the front of my stomach there is a full handfull :(, i am however very jealous of you being same weight and shorter and so toned lol i am VERY unfit though been sedentary for a good 6 years and i suppose serious toning could go maybe go a long way

meant to say in clothes sizes im a 12