Feel good in my body but obese BMI

[TonkaBean22]

Hi all.

I’m feeling a little deflated about my weight/health habits.

I weigh 83kg at 166cm. I’m 31.

I go to power yoga classes 4 times a week, yin yoga once, weightlifting once, and walk the dog every day, as well as cycling to work (about 4km each way). I feel strong and fit.

I try to eat less than 1,600 calories a day. And have done since December. In that time, I’ve managed to lose about 1,5kg at the most. I’m pretty broad framed, but being short, of course you can see every extra kg.

I feel healthy. But my weight is clearly too high as my BMI is obese.

For food, I normally eat something like this every day:
Breakfast: eggs or Greek yoghurt with some walnut or seeds on top. Fruit on the side.
Snack: homemade smoothie with flaxseed, fruit, and oat milk/1 square or 85% dark chocolate or sunflower/pumpkin seeds
Lunch; prawns/chicken with a little rice and veg or in a wrap. Or sometimes a slice of rye bread with pork and red cabbage.
Dinner: normally fish/meat with 2 vegetable sides and beans/sweet potato/rice.

I don’t smoke and rarely drink. And I feel if I cut back anymore on food I’ll be struggling to hit my nutritional goals for the day and not have enough energy to exercise.

Is anyone else here quite active and eats fairly healthily but is still coming up as obese? How are you handling it? I’ve had some blood tests at the doctor and nothing came back unusual. At my very fittest I was working out for about 2 hours every day and barely eating, and I still never managed to hit a ‘healthy’ BMI for my height. 68kg is the lowest I’ve managed to get in my adult life.

I’m half tempted to just carry on as I am and try to stop worrying about my weight, but I want to get pregnant this year so I’m concerned the healthcare staff will get on my case about losing weight.

I am much older but I've been a bit like that all my life. I am quite pear shaped/hour glass though so my waist/height ratio and waist measurement used to be good even if my bmi was overweight.

I had twins when overweight and it was fine and I never had any hassle. It's not optimal of course but I seem to recall it's not until bmi is over 35 that it becomes a significant issue?????

Have you read 'why we eat too much'? There is a lot of discussion about set point weights that I found resonated. You eat well so maybe a read of that may help with tweaks without dropping too many calories (he's not a lover of the seeds!). There is a lovely thread on here which helps.

Sleep, relax and feel good about yourself. Weight will come when it's ready.

I think you look great, really strong and fit. If you waist height measurement is OK I would ignore the bmi.

You look good in your photo! Definitely measure your waist and compare to your height. BMI doesn't factor in muscles or different frames.

I'm shorter than you and 1600 calories would be too much for me, 1500 is maintenance and 1200 to lose weight. Perhaps cut a small amount out and see if that helps, but you don't look like your weight is a problem. If you are happy with your body and feel fit, go with that - life is very short !

I would just keep focusing on health and wellbeing, maybe reduce calories by a very small amount and increase heart rate activity. Depending on what type of yoga you're doing its probably not the best for weight loss (especially yin for example) but it is great for your in many other ways.

OP, I think you look amazing, strong, healthy and shapely! Your diet looks in good shape too - please don't feel you have to 'drop down to a few walnuts a week' I'm also at the very top of my BMI probably a bit over and technically overweight. I exercise a lot and eat a lot. Nowhere near as healthy as your diet. At my slimmest I was still in the upper half of my BMI range yet people were messaging to check if I was OK as apparently I 'looked gaunt'. So now I just decide to go on how I feel - which is pretty good and healthy, my diet could be better but I'd only adjust it to improve my gut health and blood sugar levels.

Agree with @nodogz - don't be afraid to accept yourself and take up space!

Try dropping maybe 100 calories per day 2 -3 days per week. See if that tips if to a slight loss. Be really honest with calorie counting/ logging- are you actually weighing things.

And from a weight training perspective- why only 1x a week? It needs to be more to really give you any benefit.

And cycling 4km 2x a day is probably not getting your heart rate very high for very long. How long does it take you?

I think you might be rather overestimating how much you're actually burning

You look great OP. PLEASE don't worry about the nurses during pregnancy. I am much bigger than you and unfit. Size 20 when I was pregnant. My BMI came up as 35+ so I had to see a nurse (for about ten seconds) to check a few things such as being able to put my chin on my chest and still breathe and whether I could lean forward so they could get to my spine if necessary. Both were absolutely fine and even with my BMI significantly greater now due to medication I can still easily do those things. No one looking at you would consider you a risk at all I'm sure.

You look amazing op, strong and shapely. My stats are very similar to yours but I’m 41. I think BMI and weight is not always a good indicator of health, although like you I would like to lose weight. What clothes size are you?
I also have strong shoulders and legs. At my lightest I was just under 10 stones but at that weight I was a size 8. Currently I’m a 12-14. I often get surprised on threads when people are in the same dress size but weigh much less. I’m wondering if it is the same for you? Re:pregnancy I am sure you will be fine, just maintain eating healthily as you can to balance weight gain.

Oh and if I want to lose weight I have to eat 1000 Cals , but I think that is my age

It will just be portion size. Eat slightly less each time or simply drop the snacks.

I’m the same. BMI is 28 - though waist is half height. I run roughly 25 miles a week and hike another 5 - 10 ish. I weight lift. I’m a size 12.

I’ve given up and just decided I am what I am. Resting heart rate in 50s, cholesterol perfect, blood sugar perfect, liver perfect. I see no point in starving myself. I’d rather be strong and fast.

Weight/shape is quite personal, so you could seek out a more personal perspective, that is based on health not number on the scales. A few years ago, I had my body fat measured by Dexa scan (bodyscanuk) because I was a bit heavy post kids, but I didn't know what to aim for because I felt I had a solid build. Like you, I was and always have been an exerciser and I wasn't body hating, I was interested in health.

The scan was pricey (over £100) but really really worth it for me. What I found out is I am indeed highly muscular/stocky, likely for genetic reasons (99% percentile for bone density 90% for muscule mass at that scan), but I still had quite a bit of fat, and a tendency to 'android' fat levels, which means too much round the middle, which means that actually my fat levels need to be lower than the average woman for good health. I could have had the same weight and overall fat levels at the scan, but if the fat had been on my bum and thighs, I think the advice would have been that it would be fine to stay at that size.

The scan place suggested a very specific weight - corresponding to a BMI 23 and I got down to that and have stayed that weight ever since, it actually fits me well and because I am sporty/muscular it is not hard to maintain at all. I would say I now look quite slim for a not especially light BMI but importantly, at this weight I am not carrying stomach fat.

The advantage of a scan is also that you should get a very accurate picture, based on your muscle mass, of your TDEE. Personally I lose weight at anything less than 1800 (I am mid 40s and 5'4) so 1600 does sound low not to shift and might be worth looking then at thyroid etc?

Anyway, just another perspective. You look absolutely fine for me, it's just what is healthy and sustainable.

BMI doesn't take into account where you store your fat either. A woman with huge breasts and thick thighs, but a slimmer waist may have an overweight BMI despite clearly not being overweight.

Waist measurements and finding out your body fat % / muscle ratio is a better way to look at how healthy you are.

I wouldn't have thought BMI was a good indicator for you.

I have a family member who is ultra healthy, very little body fat, very muscular who has an overweight BMI. She is actually a size 8/10. She is a body builder so not quite the same but your clearly very fit and muscular.

If you could afford it the Dexa scan would be a great idea for you. Also the waist/height ratio would probably give you a better indication than bmi.

I wouldn't have thought 1600 was excess for you given the amount of exercise your doing.

I've tried 5 different BMR calculators. They are all saying that if a 31yo 83 kg woman lay in bed all day, she would need to consume ~1600 kcal/day to not lose weight.

OP isn't in all day, reports at least 10 hours of physical activity / week.

The same calculators (TDEE versions) say that OP would need about 2250 kcal/day to maintain her weight, if she is deemed 'moderately active'.

So, something is off. Probably way more calories than OP realises (about 30% more).

I second getting a dexa scan. I'm 173cm, 80kg and a size 12-14. Largish build and strong.
Doctors always tut at my weight and have given me a bit of a complex.
I had a dexa scan that showed I had much denser bones than average and an extra 4kg of muscle. Body fat of 28% which is totally normal.
It made me feel much better about my build and gave be good targets for weight loss and cals.