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!!

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal

Huh. So I've just tried a couple of those height to waist measurement calculators and they said I'm underweight by that standard? Very odd as my BMI is 21, so perfectly healthy?

I've no idea what my frame type is either. I have stupidly tiny wrists (when I wrap my finger and thumb round them they overlap down to the first knuckle of my finger), which suggests I'm small framed, but I have quite broad shoulders , they're the widest bit of me by some way.

I'm not terribly worried though, everyone says weight gain is inevitable once you get past 45, and I'm nearly there, so I'll just appreciate it while it lasts!

Are you sure? I don't think there's any such thing as underweight when it comes to the height-waist ratio. You just need your waist to be less than half your height. It doesn't matter if it's a lot less.

The ABSI calculators combine waist measurement with BMI to give a more accurate picture of your likely health risks based on overall body shape, because as pp said, you can be in the "healthy" range for BMI and be carrying way too much fat in the midriff. I've never seen one that describes lower scores as underweight, they tend to be framed in terms of risk of health complications.

"everyone says weight gain is inevitable once you get past 45"

Does everyone say that? There are thin older people so I'm not so sure...
I'm 44 and a half and don't want to give up yet!

This is what I got on the first one I tried, and I thought it seemed odd, so tried another one and got a result that said "Take Care"? Most odd, shall probably disregard it.

@Gwenhwyfar

"everyone says weight gain is inevitable once you get past 45"

Does everyone say that? There are thin older people so I'm not so sure...
I'm 44 and a half and don't want to give up yet!

By "everyone" I mean I've read it on here a lot! 😆

My mum is 5ft1 at at the lower end of her BMI and has been for years, now she has early osteoporosis (I can't remember the medical name) and her doctor told her that being short and thin has not helped her. I'm a similar height and always wanted to be as slim as my mum, strangely I've gone off the idea now!

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.

Everyone says weight gain is inevitable once you get past 45

For me it was after I had kids - first one at 28, and especially the second one at 33.

This summer at 46 I got down to the lightest weight I'd been since before I conceived DD2 aged 32, and touched normal BMI for the first time in 13 years.

I've put a bit back on at 75kg but it looks a lot better than a few years ago when I was 92kg and obese. Hope the overall trajectory will continue down.

Thanks for the explanation @Gwenhwyfar

So when people say they are choosing between 'arse and face', they mean they're actively choosing to be overweight as they think it makes them look younger?

I don't understand that really as jowls are very ageing and as we age, even 'padded out' skin drops anyway.

If I get to 10 stone I'm a size 0

What? Size zero from where? And what does "exceptionally lean" mean?

@WorraLiberty

Probably a silly question but I often see people on MN saying they got to an age where they needed to 'choose between arse and face'?

What does that actually mean?

It means do you want to look older or thinner?

Sorry younger or thinner🙄😀

@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.

How tall are you PP? I’m 8st 8lb and 5ft 6 ....I’m a size 8 .....Sometimes a size 10.....you must be super tall if you are a size zero at 10st😱

When I lose weight I look younger. That isnt true for me. Any weight gain goes to my face and stomach first.

@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.

There must be a typo here as this doesn’t make sense at all

@MysteriousMonkey

My mum is 5ft1 at at the lower end of her BMI and has been for years, now she has early osteoporosis (I can't remember the medical name) and her doctor told her that being short and thin has not helped her. I'm a similar height and always wanted to be as slim as my mum, strangely I've gone off the idea now!

But surely you just get your calcium and VitD3 levels checked regularly to avoid this....carrying more weight won’t stop you from getting osteoporosis

even at severely underweight I could never be a size zero.
I'm 5.9 - my skeleton alone is a size 10.

If you think of Mary Berry who is thin and 86, or Miriam Margolys who is 80 and bmi of 40+ based on the programme she did about weight, I'd say that MM's skin has less wrinkles so it looks like a bigger than 6 year age gap to me. Obviously that's comparing quite a big bmi difference and most women wouldn't fluctuate between those bmis

I can't remember mm's exact bmi but it was over 40

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal

This is what I got on the first one I tried, and I thought it seemed odd, so tried another one and got a result that said "Take Care"? Most odd, shall probably disregard it.

Combined with a BMI of 21 I'd say that puts you in the "lucky" category. Sounds like you have a fabulous figure.

@TansySorrel

If you think of Mary Berry who is thin and 86, or Miriam Margolys who is 80 and bmi of 40+ based on the programme she did about weight, I'd say that MM's skin has less wrinkles so it looks like a bigger than 6 year age gap to me. Obviously that's comparing quite a big bmi difference and most women wouldn't fluctuate between those bmis

...Is it really worth carrying around, literally, all the health impacts of a morbidly obese BMI so that you can look 75 and not 80? Assuming that the weight difference between those two women is genuinely the source of any difference in how old they "look" and not genes/sun exposure/other.

I think I'd rather take my chances with wrinkles but "younger", less burdened joints and heart. I don't know about you, but the people I know who remained fit and active at 80+ tended to be without exception a healthy weight.

@purplesequins

even at severely underweight I could never be a size zero. I'm 5.9 - my skeleton alone is a size 10.

I feel like that.not to be flippant but if i died on hunger strike they could got get my corpse on to size 8

I’m the same height as you and I feel your pain. I’m an hourglass so always have boobs, hips, a bum and thighs.

The lowest weight I’ve been in recent years was around 10 stone 5 but this took a lot of hard work to maintain, I was running at least 5km 4 times a week as well as working out 4 times at the gym and doing yoga on the other 3 days. I also ate healthily 24/7, never let myself have an off day. If I eat ‘normally’ and don’t exercise like a mad man, my natural weight is between 11.5 and 12 stone. I look healthy at this weight and feel it too. 10.5 stone I looked like a lollipop, I had absolutely no hips, bum or breasts.

BMI isn’t a perfect science.

I don't think that poster was suggesting that it's worth being morbidly obese to look younger, just thinking of some prominent people who illustrate the effect.

But some women presumably would choose a BMI of 28 and an unlined face over a BMI of 21, looking great in jeans but with wrinkles - at those points it probably is purely a question of aesthetic choice because there's very little evidence that a BMI in the 25-30 range is harmful for a woman over 40. (I'm talking from a white perspective)

How tall are you PP?
I’m 8st 8lb and 5ft 6 ....I’m a size 8 .....Sometimes a size 10.....you must be super tall if you are a size zero at 10st

If that poster's ideal BMI is between 7.5 and 9.5 then she must be about 5'3", though it's not clear whether 7.5 means 7st 5lb or 7 1/2 stone. Also BMI range is nearer to 3 stone, not 2 so that's not quite right.

Maybe this poster is in the US where a 0 is a UK 4.
Still, being 5'3" and 10 stone and a size 4 seems unlikely.

It makes more sense for that to be a typo for a size 10.