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What's Your Body Mass Index (BMI)? (1 Viewer)

What's Your Body Mass Index (BMI)?

  • Below 18.5: Underweight

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • 18.5—24.9: Normal

    Votes: 54 42.2%
  • 25.0—29.9: Overweight

    Votes: 42 32.8%
  • 30.0 and Above: Obese

    Votes: 31 24.2%

  • Total voters
    128
Most chronic illness is preventable in most cases. Diabetes, heart disease, liver and kidney issues etc. Researchers are even starting to wonder if Alzheimer’s May be a form of ‘Type 3’ diabetes. https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-is-alzheimers-type-3-diabetes/

Of course genetics plays a role. And cancer (outside of lung cancer and a few others that are triggered by environment/personal choices) is largely not preventable. 

But on the whole, keeping your weight within a healthy range, limiting the consumption of sugar and excessive alcohol, and maintaining lean muscle as we age will significantly decrease your risks for most of the chronic diseases that disable/kill people. 

 
For the information you entered:

Height: 5 feet, 8 inches

Weight: 153 pounds

Your BMI is 23.3, indicating your weight is in the Normal category for adults of your height.

For your height, a normal weight range would be from 122 to 164 pounds.

Seems about right.   I could drop about 12 lbs of fat and add 6-8 lbs of muscle.  I'd look healthier and feel better.

 
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I used to #### on BMI since I was on the low range of the average American, but normal on the BMI scale.  Until I went to Japan.  Then my image of fit, trim American got thrown for a loop.    We're a fat country.  Don't compare yourselves with your neighbors to define healthy weight. For a very small minority of people, BMI is a little misleading, but if you aren't winning bodybuilding competitions, then BMI is fine.
People tell me I'm thin. My BMI is 22ish. If you look at any old movie or TV show, you'll see what "normal" looks like. The USA has an obesity epidemic  and so do many other countries. Japan may be an exception. 

 
For those who want simple, many researchers recognizing the inherent limitations of BMI are focusing now on waist-to-height ratio, in large part (pun intended) because high levels of abdominal fat has been shown to be a key, independent indicator of increased health risks.  Recommendations can differ a bit, but in the simplest terms your waist (measured at the level of the belly button) should be about 1/2 your height, or a ratio of .50.  Some have dug a little deeper and come up with recommendations that differ by age, sex, etc.

Wikipedia entry, which has links to some of the studiesPhil Maffetone has written a lot about this as well.   
Well, that does it. 

I’m going to need to get a lot taller. 

 
For those who want simple, many researchers recognizing the inherent limitations of BMI are focusing now on waist-to-height ratio, in large part (pun intended) because high levels of abdominal fat has been shown to be a key, independent indicator of increased health risks.  Recommendations can differ a bit, but in the simplest terms your waist (measured at the level of the belly button) should be about 1/2 your height, or a ratio of .50.  Some have dug a little deeper and come up with recommendations that differ by age, sex, etc.

Wikipedia entry, which has links to some of the studiesPhil Maffetone has written a lot about this as well.   
I wonder where you heard this first?  ;)

Dr. Maf is a smart man.

I have to laugh at the comps though. Just because you're around .43 does not mean you have the build of a college swimmer.

 
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DAMN.  We’re the same height but I can’t fathom being 182.  But maybe it’s just that I’m fatter than I realize. 
Nah man - we probably have very different bone structure.  I bet your hips and shoulders are far broader than mine.  

 
People tell me I'm thin. My BMI is 22ish. If you look at any old movie or TV show, you'll see what "normal" looks like. The USA has an obesity epidemic  and so do many other countries. Japan may be an exception. 
Agreed. What we now call ‘thin’ is actually a healthy body composition. 

When I lost my 45 lbs I had people tell me I looked better heavier. I was 6’ 175 and fairly muscular (think a trained golfer type body). 

It was weird. Not sure if it’s jealousy or thinking that the 30lb overweight dad bod (which I had for 12 years) is normal or what. 

My 10 year old asked me last night if it was ‘ok’ to be overweight (a few girls in her class quit soccer because it was too tiring and they’re pretty chunky). That’s a hard question to answer to a 10 year old girl. 

Of course it’s ‘ok’ to be overweight in the sense that it’s not some moral failing or a reflection of someone’s character. But - it’s not optimal. And I don’t know what our culture struggles with more - fat shaming or the ‘everyone is beautiful/ok’ counter messaging. 

 
Agreed. What we now call ‘thin’ is actually a healthy body composition. 

When I lost my 45 lbs I had people tell me I looked better heavier. I was 6’ 175 and fairly muscular (think a trained golfer type body). 

It was weird. Not sure if it’s jealousy or thinking that the 30lb overweight dad bod (which I had for 12 years) is normal or what. 

My 10 year old asked me last night if it was ‘ok’ to be overweight (a few girls in her class quit soccer because it was too tiring and they’re pretty chunky). That’s a hard question to answer to a 10 year old girl. 

Of course it’s ‘ok’ to be overweight in the sense that it’s not some moral failing or a reflection of someone’s character. But - it’s not optimal. And I don’t know what our culture struggles with more - fat shaming or the ‘everyone is beautiful/ok’ counter messaging. 
With us becoming more sedentary for jobs, dad bod is definitely becoming, or is, normal. 

You're right, this is tough for kids, I'd imagine especially for girls. We should all aspire to be the best versions of ourselves in every way, including not being overly stressed about meeting a specific body type. Physical health is important but not more than emotional or mental health.

 
Srsly???  Had no idea people would try to do this standing up. 
Completely serious. I can't remember the last time I've put socks on when I wasn't standing up. That's interesting we have opposite experiences. I wonder what's normal? I'll do a poll.

 
I wonder where you heard this first?  ;)

Dr. Maf is a smart man.

I have to laugh at the comps though. Just because you're around .43 does not mean you have the build of a college swimmer.
I'm at .45 now and I look like a meringue pie that was left in a hot car for several hours. 

 
Most chronic illness is preventable in most cases. Diabetes, heart disease, liver and kidney issues etc. Researchers are even starting to wonder if Alzheimer’s May be a form of ‘Type 3’ diabetes. https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-is-alzheimers-type-3-diabetes/

Of course genetics plays a role. And cancer (outside of lung cancer and a few others that are triggered by environment/personal choices) is largely not preventable. 

But on the whole, keeping your weight within a healthy range, limiting the consumption of sugar and excessive alcohol, and maintaining lean muscle as we age will significantly decrease your risks for most of the chronic diseases that disable/kill people. 
Actually many studies now linking increased risks of cancer to obesity. 

 
Actually many studies now linking increased risks of cancer to obesity. 
 Yes but the actual causation is very difficult to pin down. 

 The problem is “obesity”  doesn’t necessarily cause any of these issues. But the lifestyle that leads to one becoming obese is also the lifestyle that leads to many of these issues. 

 So simply having extra body fat on your body is’nt really the issue.  It’s that in order to get 40 or 50 or 100 pounds of extra body fat on your body you’ve had two do a lot of other things that are going to lead to long-term damage. Such as high sugar consumption leading to the distruction of the insulin pump in one’s body. 

 This is why “being fat“ isn’t actually unhealthy it’s the getting fat and staying fat that leads to so many problems. 

 
I have two doctors I see.  Both are former athletes the male is in his mid 40s, female late 30s. They both use the eye test, numbers test and totally dismiss the BMI chart.

 
tommyGunZ said:
Nah man - we probably have very different bone structure.  I bet your hips and shoulders are far broader than mine.  
I did the math, and even at 200lbs I’d be at 10% body fat.  182 would be damn hard for me to accomplish. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
Completely serious. I can't remember the last time I've put socks on when I wasn't standing up. That's interesting we have opposite experiences. I wonder what's normal? I'll do a poll.
socks?  never.  shoes? occasionally.

i buy into the balance is key bit.  i do weird #### at the gym, just to focus on balance.  i'll do every cardio machine with my eyes closed for at least a minute.  i do a ton of one legged exercises.  as well as stuff on the inflatable semi circle thing.

 
26.6

It was 32.2 before I went back to work in a restaurant and lost 45 pounds. Nothing like an understaffed restaurant for weight loss. 

 
share this math.  i'm curious.  i'm 5-11.  what weight is 12.5 %
Maybe it’s wrong maths, but I computed my current weight and body fat percentage:

234

24%

gets me to about 56lbs of fat

Subtract that to figure out what’s NOT fat, brings me to 178. 

(So that tells me the notion of me being 180lbs is absurd because I’d have like zero fat) 

adding in about 20lbs gets me to 200, about 10% of which would be fat

Of course this all assumes I can maintain the muscle mass I have while losing the 35lbs or so of fat 

 
bigmarc27 said:
Yeah, lots of out of shape people believe that. 
You can help yourself by eating right and exercise, and you can certainly shorten your life with bad habits, but in the end if you don't have the genes you're probably not going to live a long life.  My father-in-law probably could have lived to be a 100 because his parents did and his siblings all live into their nineties.  He drank and smoked and died at 83.  No doubt the smoking shortened his life and he had the good genes. 

 
AhrnCityPahnder said:
I was able to do well with diet and exercise for periods of time but for whatever reason, I was never able to sustain it long term.   If I knew why I probably would have never gotten to be a lardass in the first place.   But, surgery made my body get in line with what my I knew I  wanted , but could never sustain long term.  Now I can.  on the 2 or 3 occasions since surgery where I've eaten too much garbage food (carb-heavy and sugary food are the big ones), I get physically sick and it's an immediate reminder of "hey stupid, what are you thinking?".  Where before it was the fat devil on my one shoulder saying "holy hell that was delicious, do that again soon".   

I know a lot of people look at bariatric surgery as a copout or an easy solution for mentally weak people.  That's fine and I won't try to convince anyone otherwise -- Even being a success story with it, I don't disagree entirely with that.  But, the way I saw it -- as being north of 40 and with a young kid, I wanted to stop fighting myself all the time over something that was so obviously detrimental to my health.   The same way people use anything as a crutch -- food, booze, gambling, you name it....if you're getting yourself healthier -- I won't begrudge the path you take to get there.    
I won’t pretend to have any answers, I’m not a doc and not qualified to give advice.  Having said that, I do a lot of reading and it seems the current theory around why people can’t maintain is insulin sensitivity, metabolic rate and set point.  Your body fights to maintain the heavier weight both by triggering the body to store fat and then lower metabolism.  A lot of studies around lowering insulin levels through low carb and fasting.  If I had a relative who was going to have surgery I would encourage them to check that out.  But you are right that just about any path is a good path to avoid metabolic syndrome.  Glad it worked for you GB - good luck.

 
You can help yourself by eating right and exercise, and you can certainly shorten your life with bad habits, but in the end if you don't have the genes you're probably not going to live a long life.  My father-in-law probably could have lived to be a 100 because his parents did and his siblings all live into their nineties.  He drank and smoked and died at 83.  No doubt the smoking shortened his life and he had the good genes. 
And Im saying, from someone that works in healthcare research and statistics, these anecdotes are exactly what we’re trying to fight against. Everyone knows 1 person who ate trash, lived hard, and it seemingly never mattered.  For every one of those, there’s 50 people that live daily with diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, CAD, COPD, etc... that we don’t acknowledge because it doesn’t fit how we want to live. 

 
AhrnCityPahnder said:
This was a game changer for me, too.  If you drink soda or sweet tea every day,  you can drop 2-6 pounds a month simply by switching to water. 
This is one of those things that everybody seems to know or say but it’s so true and not many people stick to it.  I very rarely do, almost always alcohol.  I listened to a video recently and I thought the doctor made an interesting point that’s tangential to this.  He said one way we should know CICO is bull#### is from the ingestion of calories through beverage.  I’ll see if I can find it and link it.

 
And Im saying, from someone that works in healthcare research and statistics, these anecdotes are exactly what we’re trying to fight against. Everyone knows 1 person who ate trash, lived hard, and it seemingly never mattered.  For every one of those, there’s 50 people that live daily with diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, CAD, COPD, etc... that we don’t acknowledge because it doesn’t fit how we want to live. 
I'm not saying having bad habits don't matter, they do in a big way and will shorten your life.  I'm also saying that if you have bad genes all the exercise and good habits in the world might not extend your life, but it certainly couldn't hurt..  I am saying that genes play the biggest role in how long you live.

 
Do you have science to back this up or is this more just your gut feel?
I thought I gave a good example with my father-in-law.  His parents lived over a 100 and all his siblings lived into their late 90s.  He died at 83 (still an avg to long life), but could have lived longer had he not smoked IMO.

 
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I thought I gave a good example with my father-in-law.  His parents lived over a 100 and all his siblings lived into their late 90s.  He died at 83 (still an avg to long life), but could have lived longer had he not smoked IMO.
No offense, but your one example doesn’t qualify as science.  You stated that genetics is the number one factor in life expectancy- just curious if there’s any evidence for that. 

 
No offense, but your one example doesn’t qualify as science.  You stated that genetics is the number one factor in life expectancy- just curious if there’s any evidence for that. 
Not my field, I can only go on the lives of those I've known or heard about.

 
Not my field, I can only go on the lives of those I've known or heard about.
It is my field, you’re wrong.  Genetics can help or hurt, but in your example if that person had taken care of himself, he statistically would have lived even longer.  

Im not trying to be rude about it, but that mindset is dangerous. It’s no different than saying “well I’ve known tons of people that have driven drunk, and they’re ok.”

 
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Not my field, I can only go on the lives of those I've known or heard about.
I think you’d be better off just stating that genetics are “a” factor.  When you claim they are the “biggest” factor, you’re obviously going to get challenged.

 
I have to say some of my motivation to lose some more weight is to get in the normal range - even when I find the scale to be pretty flawed.

 
I'm not saying having bad habits don't matter, they do in a big way and will shorten your life.  I'm also saying that if you have bad genes all the exercise and good habits in the world might not extend your life, but it certainly couldn't hurt..  I am saying that genes play the biggest role in how long you live.
Prove this. 

 
Not my field, I can only go on the lives of those I've known or heard about.
Then stop making claims that you can’t back up. And this isn’t just like arguing about whether or not Cousins was worth the contract. This is perpetuating a lie that’s damaging to people’s perceptions of how much control they have over their health. 

 
I think you’d be better off just stating that genetics are “a” factor.  When you claim they are the “biggest” factor, you’re obviously going to get challenged.
You might be right. I'm not an expert in the field.  However, I've seen a lot of cases that seem to support this.   One thing we all do know is that bad diet and smoking will shorten your life in most instances.

 
This is one of those things that everybody seems to know or say but it’s so true and not many people stick to it.  I very rarely do, almost always alcohol.  I listened to a video recently and I thought the doctor made an interesting point that’s tangential to this.  He said one way we should know CICO is bull#### is from the ingestion of calories through beverage.  I’ll see if I can find it and link it.




I may not be reading/parsing this correctly.  You're saying it is true, then you're saying the same thing is BS, from the video you listened to?

Is there a typo here or do I just need more coffee?

 
This is one of those things that everybody seems to know or say but it’s so true and not many people stick to it.  I very rarely do, almost always alcohol.  I listened to a video recently and I thought the doctor made an interesting point that’s tangential to this.  He said one way we should know CICO is bull#### is from the ingestion of calories through beverage.  I’ll see if I can find it and link it.
What?  makes no sense.

Drinking calories is still CI. how does drinking calories make CICO BS? 

 
Is she hot?
In your heyday you might not think so..now you would probably pay good money to have her. :D

An OffDee 7     A little buttery, full breasts, a cute face with a great smile and attitude that makes her more attractive.

Dr Heather...last physical she is giving me an exam and I know that I am going to have to drop the pants soon so I have some blood flow going. As she is testing my breathing she is almost face to face with me smelling great and in my mind I am thinking I would love to have sex with you.

I drop them for the hernia and then I see her putting the gloves on and I say 'Heather is this really necessary today?  She laughs and says 'Don`t worry I have small hands" 

 
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I may not be reading/parsing this correctly.  You're saying it is true, then you're saying the same thing is BS, from the video you listened to?

Is there a typo here or do I just need more coffee?
I did a horrible job explaining it - CICO is bull#### (per this guy and others) - I have to leave now but will find the segment and post later.  I agree that after reading it what I said is :confused:

 
Not a fan of BMI.  It has always been way off for me and has cost me a bit in life insurance.  I am at 28.9 BMI, the high end of overweight.  I'd need to lose over 30 lbs to get into average.  Problem is, I am 6'2", 225 and in good shape right now.  I am physically active almost daily and eat healthy.

I could maybe lose 15 lbs and get into tremendous shape.  Last time I was at 200 lbs was the end of basketball season when I was 22.  Even if I pulled that off, I am still in the overweight range. 

Basically, it is a ridiculous standard where I'd have to get to under 10% body fat just to break into average.

 
Not a fan of BMI.  It has always been way off for me and has cost me a bit in life insurance.  I am at 28.9 BMI, the high end of overweight.  I'd need to lose over 30 lbs to get into average.  Problem is, I am 6'2", 225 and in good shape right now.  I am physically active almost daily and eat healthy.

I could maybe lose 15 lbs and get into tremendous shape.  Last time I was at 200 lbs was the end of basketball season when I was 22.  Even if I pulled that off, I am still in the overweight range. 

Basically, it is a ridiculous standard where I'd have to get to under 10% body fat just to break into average.
Just curious, do you think the waist : height ratio is a better gauge for you? 

I'd think an ideal gauge would be something like waist : height cross referenced with waist : neck. 

Below 1:2 (w:h) and below 2:1 (w:n) seems like a good place to start.

 
Where we gather height and waist are correlated?  Waist to hip for dudes should be ideal.  Men don't tend to take on gluteal femoral fat unless they have a hormone imbalance

 

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