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?

"At size 12 it would class me as over weight." I swear that modern size 12s get bigger every time I shop! I'm 4 months pregnant and last time I was this weight with this size bump I was having to buy 14s, I am definitely NOT a 12 in my old clothes, and by old I only mean maybe 4 yr old clothes, but if I go shopping now I have room to move in 12s!

I have a pair of "lucky jeans" that I can't bear to part with from when I was a teenager, they're a 10, I've been a 10 in recent years, those jeans still wouldn't fit on one leg!

So yeah my instinct is to say 12 is a good dress size for the OP's (and my) height, but actually no! a totday 12 is actually huge and getting bigger every time I hit the shops!

today 12 would have been a 14 in recent years, and a today 12 would probably have been a 16 when I was a teenager!

just because you exercise doesn't mean you are healthy despite an unhealthy BMI

Absolute bollocks!
Problems with excess fat: sclerosis; heart disease; type 2 diabetes.
Exercise: reduces veinous fat; strengthens heart; reduces type 2 diabetes risk.

A body is not a static instrument, it's built for activity. The bodies of fit people are healthier in every respect due to highly mobile metabolic processes. Exercise actually reverses the majority of health risks, as contrasted with 'reducing risk'.

I also have the Top Shop outfit my mum wore for my christening. Its a 10, it would be a 6/8 today at most - probably a 6

dress size has become as useless a tool as compairing ourselves to our peers/community, nowadays dress size is just a tool that shops use to make us feel positive about the item

garlicbutter, a fat person who exercises is healthier then a fat person who doesn't, but if you are overweight and not loosing weight, then the fact that you are exercising does not mean all's dandy

I've been an exercising size 18, I was eating unhealthily, I was still eating more calories then the many many calories I was using in exercising! And to actually eat that many calories that its still more then you are exercising off if you exercise as much as I did, that probably means that you are also eating the WRONG foods as its fairly hard to over eat good foods to the point of consuming more calories then your very active lifestyle is undoing

and belly fat is a very good health indicator, if you are running and swimming and working out and your belly fat stays the same or increases.. you DO need to look at what you are eating! it is WRONG to say that people don't just because they can run X k

The thing is, when someone says "I exercise regularly", that could simply mean riding a bike to the shops every day...or taking the dog for a walk.

Neither of those things are going to have any particular effect on someone with an unhealthy BMI.

I was recently invited to an eighties party, and tried on a size 12 skirt from my teens. Well, I say "tried on", more "attempted vainly to fit over my arse and couldn't even begin to think about doing up the zip" . My modern wardrobe consists mostly of size 10s with the occasional insane size 8 (Next's mad sizing to blame there).

Cherie, you can't be fit and have a wobbly belly.

As to your other remarks - no. Fitness reverses problems, even if you're carrying fat. An inactive slim person is more likely to suffer arteriosclerosis, develop age-related diabetes, to heal more slowly and to be less disease resistant than a fit but fat one.

Clothes sizes are messed up. In most high street shops I have no idea how v slim people get clothes to fit. Interestingly, designer stuff is smaller - they don't seem to vanity size up.

We should remember that we are getting bigger (i.e. taller, longer limbed) on average too though.

BTW you can be fit and have a belly. I know chubby people who've run marathons in fairly good times for example.

Of course you can be fit and have a wobbly belly. Fit doesn;t have to mean totally toned all over, and a few babies in a few years can give you a wobbly belly even if you are fit.

ivana - I am skinny. It is impossible to get clothes to fit. I have a size 4 blazer that is too big across the shoulders - how the hell is that possible? I'm 7 and a half stone, I'm by no means unhealthily thin.

Clothes sizes are ridiculous.

garlicbutter I was very capable exercise wise and had an enormous belly, I'ld walk 5k round trip to the gym with a pram (hills) then to body combat followed by body balance without being in a heap on the floor. I also did pole fit, swimming etc. I had no car and rarely used the bus, even to go to the next town the long scenic way. And my weight was INCREASING!

I wasn't eating nearly enough protein and was eating far too much sugar. It wasn't healthy. Was living on cereal bars and costa rubbish. Lots of processed rubbish.

you need to be active AND eat healthily to optimise your health outcomes garlic butter, one of the above alone is better then neither, but no it is not there yet! you DO need to do BOTH to be properly healthy!

Of course you can be fit and have a wobbly belly ... a few babies in a few years can give you a wobbly belly even if you are fit.

Yes, I should have thought about post-partum stretch.

Cherie, healthy diet has fuck all to do with calories. Of course living on sugar and additives will damage your health.

garlic butter, if you are eating sensible amts of sensible foods AND exercising then you will not remain a high BMI, If you are or if your BMI is increasing then you are kidding yourself about either the amt of exercise you're actually doing or the amt and type of food you are eating or both!

Tyler you certainly look like you may be one of the rare exceptions...do you have any idea what your body fat% is? Would be interesting to know. I'd have thought you naturally have quite a lot of muscle compared to most people, rather than heavy bones. Are you also fit?

I posted this on the other thread. I'm just under 5'11 and classed as obese. Eat 1900 cals a day (using my basal metabolic rate and my fitness pal). I don't eat pasta, potatoes,crisps etc etc. exercise between 4-6hrs a week, doing circuits, extreme spin, bootcamp and I horse ride. When I say exercise, I mean until I am pouring with sweat and close to vomiting. Nobody vet thinks I am the weight I am, even the doctor looked surprised and made me get on another set of scales
i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll66/brighthair84/c5b60102.jpg

I've already said I had a high BMI when I was being super-fit, Cherie. I was a designer size 10 at 5'8": thin for my height. My BMI was 25-27. I have a high BMI again now, due to forced inactivity. I've never eaten an unhealthy diet in my life, except when I was starving myself on veg only ... at which time, I suspect, you would have been one of the people congratulating me.

brighthair, I saw your pic on the other thread and didn't say anything then, but I'm sorry I do think you look quite large and look like you have a lot of belly weight in that photo. I would say "fat" rather then just broad and tall

is your weight changing on your current plan?

do you know your waist circumference?

I have a high BMI again now, due to forced inactivity. - obviously a completely different kettle of fish, and a very different body shape.

Cheriefroufrou - don't worry, I know I am overweight I just struggle to see the obese bit. Not sure on my waist measurement, I've lost 10cm off my waist through exercise, but no weight change whatsoever
I guess I'm saying BMI fine, but you can be overweight and fairly healthy

garlic butter you are just reading what you want to see in my posts
I wouldn't congratulate anyone for a stupidly unhealthy diet
A close friend is at her WW goal but done the "bad way", she is living on sweetners and WW ready meals and vomiting if she eats a proper wholesome nutritious meal - I'm the only one not gushing about how 'AMAZING' she looks now, and have instead sat her down and said while she DOES look good at the moment, if she continues to deprive her body of proper nutrients she will look like shite before long (as vanity is what I know motivates her more then health)

brighthair, bless you, nobody should exercise until they feel sick :(

From your photo, you could do with more definition rather than pounding away at the CV. Try cutting the spin and adding controlled weights. Get a trainer to teach you how to do them slowly, with correct breathing and focus. Works!

" but you can be overweight and fairly health"

you can be healthier then someone else the same weight with different habits yes, you can be healthier then someone a bigger weight, you can even have some healthier habits then someone a smaller weight..

all that IS great, its a start, but it isn't a reason to ignore the weight as well

Cherie, tell your friend how bulimia rots your teeth. (I could post a photo of mine to prove it, but shan't!)

garlicbutter - I do weights with a trainer, we use free weights and basically do circuits so things like kettle bell swings, shoulder press, jump squats, press ups, burpees...
This is the clearest stomach photo I could find. Not toned but not rolls of fat i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll66/brighthair84/bbbee91e.jpg

I did, and I told her it'll give her wrinkles and crap skin and hair too

health just does not motivate her, compliments do. I'm worried about her health but know that she'ld just smirk through a lecture about health and think to herself how its worth it to look good