Bmi!

[Kca29]

Not really an aibu so apologies. I'm a 5 foot 7 female who needs to lose some weight. I've put my weight and height into nhs bmi and I'm obese, I can try work on that.

But aibu to be really surprised at my 'ideal weight'.

My ideal according to nhs would be between 8 Stone 6 (I mean wtaf) and 11 Stone 5.

I'm never gonna be bloody 8 stone, likely not 11 Stone either. Dp is 11.5 Stone, 30 inch waist and small S clothes, he's very slim and not much taller than me. I'm never gonna weigh the same as him 😅

I was between 11.5-12 stone at age 19 pre kids and I was pretty slim, size 10. I never used to eat much to maintain that weight, used to obsess over calories and was obsessed with exercise. I don't want to be back to that obsessive stage again.

As mentioned above my dp fluctuates between 11.5-12 stone which is in the upper healthy range for a man of 5 foot 9/10. If he was a few pounds heavier he would be deemed overweight. Despite being in a men's size small, 30 inch waist and literally nothing on him 😅

So aibu to think sometimes ideal weight is a load of tosh and we all when different shapes and sizes.

I'm quite broad as well. Quite a 'solid' build rather than excess fat.

It's just disheartening that my ideal weight is probably never gonna be achievable!!

I need to lose about 3 stone. Hormone imbalance and lockdown grazing. Both should be under control now and I want to get it sorted. My ideal weight is 11st 11lb to 8st 10. I want to be 11st 3lb again. I'd love to break into I don't recall being 8st 10 since the very start of puberty. I have wide hips and big boobs and bum. I'd love to be slim and willowy but I'm not built for that. Always curvy.

@Plantsandpuddlesuits

My BMI is around 37 I think. I really need to get it down but a healthy BMI seems so far away ☹️

I know the feeling 💕 it's disheartening! sometimes when I've lost weight in the past I try and set little achievable targets rather than thinking I've got to lose so much in one go. I'm guilty of being an all or nothing person though, so I find it hard!

@WorraLiberty

I've never seen a single person (unless ill) looking 'gaunt' at a healthy weight.

I've heard it said many a time by people struggling to lose weight though, so I wonder if those around them who might have their own reasons for not wanting them to slim down, are filling their heads with the idea that they'll 'look gaunt'?

When I was at the bottom end of the healthy range I had literally every member of my family, plus friends plus colleagues all telling me I looked gaunt and ill. I thought about getting ‘but I’m in the healthy bmi range’ tattooed on my forehead. Personally I didn’t think I looked gaunt but pretty much everyone else did.

Where you overweight before that @Lovesacake, or have you always been in the healthy range?

My entire family (both sides) are overweight and always have been.

The last few years are the first since pre-puberty I've not been overweight/obese.

I'm 5'5" was over 16 stone at my heaviest and now 10.5 stone.

So the very very top end of heathy and need to get my shit back into gear or else I'll be overweight again very soon.

Every. Single. Overweight family member has told me through my weight loss that I'll get too skinny, look gaunt etc etc.

Which now quite frankly I see is selfish, jealous bullshit.

I also used to look at the BMI suggestions and think it's ludicrous that I could be "healthy" in the 8 or 9 stones.

But now I'm at a size 10/12 (more often a 12 unless it's a generous shop/item) I can see I'm still carrying fat around my middle that I'd be healthier to lose.

BMI is only "rubbish" to the maybe 1% of exceptional people - athletes who genuinely have a lot of muscle mass.

I think for everyone else saying to ignore it they're kidding themselves. And I say that as someone who said it was rubbish for 30 years.

There are well-known criticisms of the BMI system.

I personally go by muscle/fat percentage.

My GP said that BMI is considered of less relevance than waist measurement for health, as its not how much fat you have but where you carry it. For a woman if your waist is no more than half your height and less than 31.5 inches you're ok apparently, even if your BMI is quite high.

@lap90

There are well-known criticisms of the BMI system.

I personally go by muscle/fat percentage.

but bmi is easy to measure. as is the 'string test' and both combined give a good idea of a healthy stature.

if anything thr bmi range is too big and for some ethnic groups the max geslthy bmi should be 2 points lower.

@BlwyddynNewydd2022

I'm rather sporty at my height my healthy BMI range is 7.5 stone - 9.5stone.

If I get to 10 stone I'm a size 0. I am exceptionally lean at this weight, with a 4pack visible and definition in my muscles. I genuinely could never imagine myself at 7.5stone.

I currently sit at 11.5 and am a size 10-12 which I'm not bothered about. I have a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

Are you 6 ft 2?

@WorraLiberty

Where you overweight before that *@Lovesacake*, or have you always been in the healthy range?

I had lost a couple of stone but had gone from being top end of healthy to bottom end of healthy. I even went to the doctor cos I was so sick of people telling me I looked ill, so they did blood tests, urine tests etc and confirmed I was perfectly healthy. Even then I still got badgered by everyone to put weight on (which I did end up doing…put on 6 stone by accident but at least it stopped all the comments about how gaunt I looked 😂)

@Kca29

Not really an aibu so apologies. I'm a 5 foot 7 female who needs to lose some weight. I've put my weight and height into nhs bmi and I'm obese, I can try work on that.

But aibu to be really surprised at my 'ideal weight'.

My ideal according to nhs would be between 8 Stone 6 (I mean wtaf) and 11 Stone 5.

I'm never gonna be bloody 8 stone, likely not 11 Stone either. Dp is 11.5 Stone, 30 inch waist and small S clothes, he's very slim and not much taller than me. I'm never gonna weigh the same as him 😅

I was between 11.5-12 stone at age 19 pre kids and I was pretty slim, size 10. I never used to eat much to maintain that weight, used to obsess over calories and was obsessed with exercise. I don't want to be back to that obsessive stage again.

As mentioned above my dp fluctuates between 11.5-12 stone which is in the upper healthy range for a man of 5 foot 9/10. If he was a few pounds heavier he would be deemed overweight. Despite being in a men's size small, 30 inch waist and literally nothing on him 😅

So aibu to think sometimes ideal weight is a load of tosh and we all when different shapes and sizes.

I'm quite broad as well. Quite a 'solid' build rather than excess fat.

It's just disheartening that my ideal weight is probably never gonna be achievable!!

But the men'd size small is not based on weight. He is a relatively short man from your description, with an average sized waist for that sort of height.

BMI is scewed at the extreme ends of the height spectrum however, it's just one indicator. Neither you nor your DP are either very tall or very small so it's probably a good ballpark figure, although obviously bone structure will play a part in where on the spectrum is healthiest for you.

I don't think that 8 stone 6 stone for someone of your height is an extreme lower bound for healthy. I am now at a weight that's healthy, am taller than you and only a little heavier than that.

But yes you need to use judgement for how to apply the range to your body type.

The thing is @Lovesacake, you could well have looked completely normal/healthy to anyone who never saw you when you were overweight.

Sometimes it's the stark difference that people can't get their heads around.

That’s the thing @WorraLiberty, at that point I’d never been over weight. I’d been two stone heavier but had still been in the healthy range. Even my partner who met me when I was at the low weight and had never known any different commented on my weight and said it can’t be healthy to be that thin. I mean, when I look back at photos I can see that my arms and legs were very skinny but facially I don’t think I looked gaunt…but there was no mistaking the fact that everyone else did!

@Dixiechickonhols I'm in your position circa Jan 2019. Can you share how you did it?

Ps he probably regretted encouraging me to put weight on when I piled on 6 stone 😂

It asks you your age but then that doesn't factor in to the calculation.
At 51 I'm not terribly unhappy to have a BMI of 25.6 but if I were 31, I'd feel a bit different.

@NearlyAHoarder

It asks you your age but then that doesn't factor in to the calculation. At 51 I'm not terribly unhappy to have a BMI of 25.6 but if I were 31, I'd feel a bit different.

The NHS calculator does, and your sex. But BMI is a simple maths equation.

Divide weight in kgs by your height in meters squared.

So if you are 5ft 7 (170cm) and 11stone (70kgs) is 1.7x1.7 = 2.89 then 70÷2.89= 24.2

Eeve SlimmingWorld. It gets slated on mumsnet but works for me. I love my group. It’s healthy eating - lots of oats, eggs, fruit & veg, lean protein. I eat some carbs but not loads. It’s not massive bowls of pasta and you don’t have to eat processed stuff like muller lights.
Today I’ve had a 2 egg veg omelette, homemade mushroom soup & wholemeal sandwich for lunch, natural skyr yoghurt and blueberries as a snack. Dinner was fishcakes and lots of green veg plus a lunchbox malt loaf.
It’s not a quick fix but I find I’m not hungry and feel well eating this way. My exercise is walking min 10,000 steps (wear Fitbit)

OP I’m a very similar build, height etc to you. My BMI is currently 39 and I’ve gained a huge amount of weight since being at my healthiest adult weight which was 11.5 stone and BMI in upper end of healthy range.

When I was slim I was eating a normal amount of food, not overeating and swimming every morning before work.

Back then I was told I was “too thin” and that ridiculous “gaunt” comment by family and friends because previous to that I’d always been more like 12.5-13 stone. I think it is just so rude for anyone to comment on your weight at all, it’s none of their freaking business.

At 11.5 stone I looked slim and was just right for my broad shouldered, size 8 feet, big hips frame. Clothes size was 10 on the top in Topshop and 14 in jeans etc but I agree with others this is a misleading metric to focus on as sizes vary so much.

Anyway back to reality haha, I have reconnected with my slim self and have lost half a stone since Christmas. It’s a big birthday for me this year so I’d love to get in shape and give myself the gift of health for the next decade ahead.

@TheLeadbetterLife

That's exactly the point of the ABSI system - it assesses risk based on body shape and where the fat is, not just weight.

The problem with BMI isn't just being outside the range, it's thinking that because you're in the range you're healthy. The range is there because people have different body shapes, not because it's necessarily fine to be anywhere between 18 and 25.

My BMI is 24, but I'm built like a Viking's outhouse, so my ABSI is low risk. I'm still going to see if I can get down to a BMI of 23, and lose a bit more off my waist though, because I'd like to have more of a safety margin.

Thanks for that. My BMI is healthy, at 5'11" and 11st 9, but my waist is massive at 35 inches. The ASBI calculator just told me my premature mortality risk is high. Fuck's sake. I suppose I'd better get off this couch and do something.

My BMI is healthy, at 5'11" and 11st 9, but my waist is massive at 35 inches.

Isn't that ok for your height though going by the "waist should be half your height rule"?

Isn't that ok for your height though going by the "waist should be half your height rule"?

No. This is what the nhs says on the bmi calculation page…

Regardless of your height or BMI, you should try to lose weight if your waist is:

94cm (37ins) or more for men
80cm (31.5ins) or more for women

But that takes in no account for height, I don't think it makes sense for someone who is 5ft 11 to aim for the same size waist as someone's who 5ft 4.

@jeepersdeepers

But that takes in no account for height, I don't think it makes sense for someone who is 5ft 11 to aim for the same size waist as someone's who 5ft 4.

You think the nhs is wrong?

The risk of carrying weight around your waist is higher than other places. It puts you at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, having a heart attack and stroke. Those risks are dependent on how large your waist measurement is. It is dangerous to carry too much weight there. That’s why @BordelDeMerde’s risk profile has come out as high. It’s absolutely right to take action.