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!!

Keeping your weight relatively stable is a good thing. So it might be better to aim for 12-13stone and a bmi of 25-27 and to stay in that range long term rather than to bounce up and down between 10 and 15 stone trying and failing to get to a bmi under 25. But you still need to lose weight to get to that 12-13stone range. Start there. Slightly overweight by bmi is a much less risky place to be than slightly obese.

BMI is not the best guide.
I'm 5ft8 and I like to lift weights. BMI calculators say I should be below 74.8kg, lightest I have ever been as an adult was 78kg and I looked pretty good at that apart from the excess skin left after our twins. Am a fat fooker atm

Pick a weight you are happy with.
I am 5'2". I also have spectacular books. Whatever I weigh they are a minimum of gg.
I am aiming for 10st. If I can make it to that and STAY THERE. I will be happy.

BMI is a blunt tool for sure and the healthy weight range is huge. I tend to lie in the middle of the range for my height but was near the bottom in my twenties. I do think I would look a bit skeletal at that weight now, but that’s probably because my muscle mass is lower due to age.

If you are happy and healthy at your current weight op I would just ignore your BMI. It works for the majority but not all.

I think people can have very light bones and some have heavily bones. No clue if that's a thing but ifs what I think. I'm 5 foot 9 and weigh 58kg which I think is around 9 and a bit stone. It's the lightest I've been as an adult (aged 44) as was always around 10 stone but I am definitely not skinny or gaunt, despite people sometimes telling me that. I am healthy and slim ish but I have a thin face and lose weight from it quickly which is where the gaunt comments come from. Sadly my stomach doesn't seem to have that issue and still has a slightly pudgy c section overhang and some excess fat. So while I am much lighter than some, I am also not skinny. Someone else the same size as me might have much heavier bones and still be a healthy bmi which is why the range is so great.

I know someone whose doctor asked if they could remember when they were last their "ideal weight". The answer was "yes; the teachers at school were worried that I was anorexic". I think there is a bit of natural variation. Set yourself an achievable goal, and then review.

Agree with the majority, BMI is a useful tool for most of the population, and it's a good signaller of where one 'should' be. I'm in the healthy range (23), but am currently at least half a stone heavier than I'd like to be. TBH, I'd prefer to be a stone lighter, but I'm not sure I have the stamina to lose that much - I'm not great at restricting calories. When I was younger, I naturally hovered at the lower end of normal, and it's just how my body structure is - I have a small frame.

However, although I still feel pretty slim in the UK, I feel huge when visiting Europe (and let's not comment on Asia!). I think Europeans have a healthier diet and lifestyle on average, and it definitely shows in their size.

I think just eat healthily and exercise regularly and you will look and feel your best. Maybe monitor everything you eat for a week or two because it's easy to think you're eating healthily then realise the four biscuits you grabbed on your trips to the kitchen or whatever have the same number of calories as a full meal.

I also agree with everyone saying people carry weight differently. I am 5'7 and 9 stone, and I'm not gaunt at all! I have a soft tummy and a double chin.

I would never rely on BMI as an indicator of health, it's too broads tool to be useful at an individual level.

Being fit and healthy isn't something BMI can measure and I wish it would be dropped by the NHS and health professionals.

I do lots of strength/weight training so according to BMI I'm overweight. But I can be in spin classes where a person with a healthy BMI level can't complete classes. It doesn't, and can't, reflect an individuals fitness and activity levels.

I do lots of strength/weight training so according to BMI I'm overweight. But I can be in spin classes where a person with a healthy BMI level can't complete classes. It doesn't, and can't, reflect an individuals fitness and activity levels.

That's a rather sweeping judgement.
I am a very good runner. If your saw me when I first started swimming you might have thought I was the most unfit person in the world. 1 length of crawl and I was done in. I am very fit, I just couldn't swim very well.

BMI isn't meant to indicate fitness and activity level, it's a broad tool to assess health.

I am 5'2". I also have spectacular books

Sorry, but this tickled me greatly Me too. You should see the size of my shelves. Lifting those coffee table books up is also great for the triceps.

Oh, it definitely is a sweeping statement, but it emphasises why BMI shouldn't be used to indicate health. You can't just say 'you should weigh this amount' to be healthy, people are different.

@Stellaris22

Oh, it definitely is a sweeping statement, but it emphasises why BMI shouldn't be used to indicate health. You can't just say 'you should weigh this amount' to be healthy, people are different.

But it doesn’t say “you should weigh this to be healthy”, it says “given your height, a healthy weight for you would be between these parameters”

Obviously there are other factors of lifestyle st play for health, but for weight, bmi is pretty good

For what it’s worth my DP is 6ft, 11 stone 10 and doesn’t look like there’s nothing on him. He wears a M and a 30 inch waist. Although he does go to the gym 5 x a week and all the weight he has is muscle. Are you sure you don’t just think this because it’s what you’re accustomed to?

I agree with PP that people who were telling you that you were gaunt at 10.5 stone did not have your best interests at heart.

@Stellaris22

Oh, it definitely is a sweeping statement, but it emphasises why BMI shouldn't be used to indicate health. You can't just say 'you should weigh this amount' to be healthy, people are different.

BMI is just ONE indicator of your overall health, I don't think anyone thinks otherwise.

People always say that bmi is a load of rubbish, usually when they can't accept the amount of weight they need to lose.

Dh lost a lot of weight, he went from being obese to being a little bit overweight. Some people were quite horrible telling him he looked ill, gaunt, his clothes were hanging off him. None of which were true, they were just used to seeing him bigger.

Honestly op I think bmi is for most people a good indicator of their healthy weight range.

@WrigglyDonCat

I think a big problem is that over the last 50-100 years is that we have all gradually become accustomed to people being larger because of the greater availability of food, and especially the unhealthier things. As a result we have lost our sense of what looks normal, so very often people see very healthy weight individuals as gaunt when in practice they aren't

We also transfer this problem to how we view our pets. I've been heavily involved in cat welfare for the better part of 20 years, and have lost track of how many 'starving strays' I've been out to see who are just perfectly normal weight cats with a home just down the road.

Definitely this.

It's also a problem in the horse world:

-riders in denial about how heavy they are for their horse

-owners of fit, healthy horses being told they're "cruel" by owners of cobs with rolls of fat on their necks and rumps (you should be able to see the ribs of a peak fitness Thoroughbred).

There are no chunky kids in my class photos from the 80s.

I'm 5ft8 and I like to lift weights. BMI calculators say I should be below 74.8kg, lightest I have ever been as an adult was 78k

I do lots of strength/weight training so according to BMI I'm overweight.

I don’t think that strength/weight training automatically equates to a high BMI.

I like to lift weights too. Heavy ones. I don’t have any trouble keeping to the bottom end of the recommended weight range for my height.

Another one for the range is a reasonable range.
Am 5’6 and weigh around 9st. Slim but not gaunt. Eat pretty much what I like and am pretty active.
Would look big at 11st- only time I’ve weighed that much was when pregnant. Can see that with a bigger build you could weigh up to 11ish at a 5’7- but you aren’t going to be gaunt.
My hunch is that there is a lot more to this than BMI & you might need to unpack what ‘normal’ means- both in terms of eating/ activity levels and weight.

Using BMI alone isn't much good. Ideally you want to have your body fat percentage measured, know your BMI and your waist to hip ratio, and then you can make an informed choice. It's also really important that you're able to live a reasonable life while maintaining your weight, rather than spending half the year obsessively dieting and the other half putting it all back on.

Just aim for the 11.5 stone weight, don't worry about the bottom of the range, if you have a bigger build.

I've only known a couple of people who it didn't work for and they were very into sports so had a low body fat/high muscle mass issue with it

DD is 5'7", got her BMI down to 14.5 & only looked gaunt in a bikini. She also looked very underweight in a loose t-shirt with her hair up. Scary gaunt, I suppose, but she knew how to dress to hide it most of the time. Meanwhile, MNers look "obviously gaunt" all the time with BMIs = 28. Sure. Whatevs.

Meanwhile, MNers look "obviously gaunt" all the time with BMIs = 28. Sure. Whatevs.

I just hear Madame Maxime shrieking, "Me, 'alf-giant? I 'ave, I 'ave big bones!"

@Andtheyalllookjustthesame

I've only known a couple of people who it didn't work for and they were very into sports so had a low body fat/high muscle mass issue with it

I'd agree with this. At 5'4" I'm currently 8st 2lbs (BMI 19.4) and definitely not gaunt looking, just slim. My healthy weight range based on the NHS website is 7st 10lbs to 10st 6lbs and I can guarantee I'd look too heavy at the higher end of that range. I'm usually a size 8-10 and I'm always baffled by people who are the same height as me but apparently the same size despite being 2-3 stone heavier; how is that even possible?!