BMI says I'm overweight?!

[goodmorningsunny]

According to my BMI, I'm overweight. Do you put any stock in BMI? Are there better tools? I'm a size 8 ffs!

I do remember many years ago a "friend" used to say she was a size 16 (when size 16's were smaller than they are now), she was about 15/16 stone at my height of 5'7". I was about 11.7 and had a size 16 skirt that I was wearing that night, which very clearly wouldn't have fitted her. Maybe she was a size 16 in something that was loose/jersey like a maxi dress she liked wearing, but I wouldn't have said she was a genuine size 16.

I am struggling to see how someone with a BMI of 24/29 could be a size 8!

am struggling to see how someone with a BMI of 24 could be a size 8

I'm not, I'd be a size 10 max at BMI 24 and OP is 4" taller than me. I'm BMI 27 and with a few more pounds to go would be no bigger than a 12. And in actual measurements not just in a weirdly sized stretchy top from H&M. I'm quite "dense" 😀muscular, large bones and solid of limb but with relatively narrow shoulders and hips. Classic mesomorph build. My knee bones on their own are bigger than most people's knees with the flesh on them!

I think you missed that she’s given birth and is breastfeeding.

Except of course that BMI should not be used for breastfeeding women...

I'm at the upper limit of healthy, at 24 on the BMI calculator.
I'm 5 ft 3, 9 stone 10, a size 8 or 10 in every shop in the UK, have a flat stomach and can barely pinch an inch!
I assume I have dense bones and some muscle mass in my legs from my active lifestyle?
I'm trying to lose 3 pounds between now and Christmas anyway, just to lower my BMI a little.

Your boobs alone probably weigh a good few kg which would take you easily into a healthy bmi, as you seem to be borderline anyway.

Don't worry about it right now, op, focus on healthy eating and getting all the calories you need.

As an aside I also am amazed (in a good way, honestly!) you fit size 8 at that height and weight. I am similar, a few kg heavier, and a size 16-18. Ouch! My weight must be all hips and stomach I think

Shape and sizing are very individual, aren’t they? I’m a similar size - 5’3, always between 9 and 9.5 stone, not flabby - yet I often need a 14 for a comfortable shoulder width. (DD is much taller but a similar shape, and gets away with men’s jackets, often belonging to her enraged brother.)

I understood waist measurement is more accurate than bmi. www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/measuring-your-waist

BMI notoriously dodgy and not really fit for purpose for women especially IMO. It’s completely nuts how much serious health advice is doled out on the back of it. If you feel good in yourself don’t pay it any attention would be my advice!

BMI is absolute bullshit, please ignore if you feel fit and healthy and you are happy with how you look. Even if you are not all of these please find another way to measure any improvements you might want to make. First if all it was invented as a general population level measure, as acknowledged by the person who invented it. Secondly it ignores variations such as race and proportion of muscle to fat.
For anyone who has audible, I strongly recommend the "maintenance phase" podcast which debunks health and wellness trends and doctrine by looking at the research and methodology behind it. Its also very funny.
Congratulations on your baby, it sounds like your body is happy and functioning well

Says who?

Are you absolutely sure your scales are accurate?

I'm 181cm (5"11) and 68kg, I would definitely look and feel overweight at 81kg

This isn’t any size 8… it’s an M&S size 8!

Says who?

Anyone with a modicum of common sense.

The OP isn't overweight, just temporarily overboobed.

Meh OP don't worry about it.

I am overweight, size 16 bottoms, 18 tops (massive boobs). Am not sure of my exact BMI except I know its somewhere in the obese category. I think I am about 13 and a half stone? So according to my weight and bmi calculator I am 1 bag of crisps and a bottle of wine away from weight induced health issues.

The reality is I am very, very fit and muscley. I have horses, ride 4/5 times week, muck out 7 days a week, am on the go physically for at least 3 hours every day. Aerobically and lifting heavy shit (literally).

I would quite like to be a size 12 but don't look obese, bit of a chonky lass but not obese. People are shocked if I tell them how much I weigh but I am very toned. Except my belly and boobs, thanks apple shaped perimenopause.

BMI is a crude tool for the general populace and tends to underscore small people and overscore taller people - an Oxford maths professor suggests a slightly different formula to account for the fact that taller people have more body mass: Does My BMI Look Big In This?

Yeah, sizing is utterly meaningless because there's not standard.

It amazes me when people say on here "I'm a size..." and expect that to mean something! And how do they choose which shop to believe?

Noone is a size 8 or 10 in every shop in the UK, because the size variation between shops is a LOT bigger than that.

BMI is inaccurate. If you have good muscles you'll weigh heavier but you will also, generally, be fitter. Weight has so many factors: put two women side by side, same height and weight, and one can look slimmer than the other, depending on body type, fat distribution and muscle mass.
Don't get hung up on this. If you are fit and feel comfortable with how you look then it hardly matters.

@TomTraubertsBlues haha you got me, I've not been shopping in every shop in the UK (according to the Fashion and Textile Association there were 16,965 fashion and textile retailers in the UK in 2020).
In every shop that I've ever shopped in, I'm a size 8 or 10.
I do hope that's all factually accurate enough for you! 😆

It is 😂

The problem is that the target demographic of a shop often determines their sizing. Shops targeted at my age (40s) tend to have very generous sizing. Shops targeted at teens, less so. Everyone tends to shop in a subset of their preferred shops, and therefore has a different view of what an 8 or a 10 is.

I've stayed the same size (in inches) since my 20s, and have noticed that my dress size in shops has dropped over the years, bizarrely.

I'm facinated how different heights, weights and builds equate to sizes.
People with such different shapes fit the same clothes.

If you're 5'11 and 81kg and a size 8 where the fuck do petite women get clothes from? This is my issue. Not been able to buy anything on the high street for about five years now.

I'm the same weight but a couple of inches shorter. Also breastfeeding. Massive boobs, don't look overweight. I run a lot and do weights and I'm fairly muscular with large bones. Usually a size 10. I really wouldn't worry about it, some people are just bigger...took a pic of me with my 5ft very finely built friend the other day and we both look slim but I look like I've been photoshopped in from a larger scale picture, head, hands etc all just bigger but we recently got analysed for a market research thing (being deliberately vague here!) and I actually have a slightly lower body fat percentage. BMI can be a bit of a blunt tool I think.