BMI issues

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I am 5ft2 (and a 1/4) and am currently 11stone 13lb, which means my BMI is over 30, and so I'm obese. But I fit into a size 14 which i don't see as obese.

I used to be a size 8, long time ago, but I'd like to be a 10-12 again (although I'd probably be happy enough losing a bit more now and getting pregnant again, then slim down when I am finished having kids).

On my wedding day (nearly 3 years ago) I wore a size 12 dress, which had to be taken in, which was very fitted and figure hugging to my knees (then dramatic fishtail). Admittedly, it didn't need taken in around my bum and thighs, lol.

Anyway, on my wedding day I was 10 stone, and therefore overweight (bmi 25.4).

This makes me so cross. I was curvy, but slim and had no belly. I HATE THE BMI SCALE. Since when is a size 12 medically overweight????
 
its all down to your height im the same a size fourteen always thought i was a bit pudgy but never obese apparently the bmi scale never lies! embrace the new you thats my plan!!
 
I am 5'2" and I was 12st 10lbs, I started SW at 12st 8lbs, and 2nd time LT at 11st 13lbs, after just under 4 weeks I am 10st 13.5lbs :D

My BMI was 33 at my heaviest, I went to the Dr for help, and said, look at this scale I am clinically obese, can I see dietician for advise?

and the dr said...

we can send you to a dietician Helen, but we cant watch over you making sure you dont eat chocolate all day.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF random!

she said, as you dont look obese - there is very little we can offer, we cant offer you weight loss meds or a miracle, try weight watchers, they have more success than us.

I never even asked for meds (eeik at the thought) I just wanted plain advice away from all the conflicting advice.

grrrr - dont get me started on those charts.

I am a size 14 now, well in most things, but to be a healthy weight, I should be no heavier than about 9st 8lbs ish, so I am still 1st 7lbs over weight.

I know how you feel, but for our height, a size 12 is the maximum healthy size we should be.

also, I was talking to a friend yesterday, who said that I didn't need to lose much and almost fell off her chair when I said how much I should lose, and I said, well there are so many people that are overweight and obese now, we have forgotten what a healthy weight looks like, we have forgotton that what we think are really 'slim' people, are probably just about healthy on the scales.

its weird and very annoying, I think I am going to try and stretch myself! for ever extra 1 inch in height, the weight charts allow another 4lbs aprox in weight.

sorry for the ramble ;)
 
There was a debate over the bmi table and slot of medics who do actually disagree with it. In a survey they did showed that there were women who were dress sizes 8 to 14 showed up as obese when some of wore a size 8!!!

Shocking I know but there are plans to scrub the bmi chart
 
Chiku - that's good to know, thanks.

know how you feel, but for our height, a size 12 is the maximum healthy size we should be.

also, I was talking to a friend yesterday, who said that I didn't need to lose much and almost fell off her chair when I said how much I should lose, and I said, well there are so many people that are overweight and obese now, we have forgotten what a healthy weight looks like, we have forgotton that what we think are really 'slim' people, are probably just about healthy on the scales.

its weird and very annoying, I think I am going to try and stretch myself! for ever extra 1 inch in height, the weight charts allow another 4lbs aprox in weight.

sorry for the ramble ;)

msblonde - I see what you are saying but I disagree that people who are a small-medium size 12 are unhealthy. The BMI says I would be healthy at 7.5 stone, yet I was told by so many people that I was far too thin when about 8st 2lb.

I'm sure the bmi scale isn't helping the whole size zero craze with younger girls.

By the way - I'm also a blonde Helen.
 
[QUOTE

By the way - I'm also a blonde Helen.[/QUOTE]

LOL how about that, :)

they also say that your percentage body fat (my scales tell me - and for me its high) and your waist measurement.

my waist was 37inches and over 35 is a heart attack risk, its about 33 now, but when I was younger it was about 28 inch - and I thought I was fat then! lol

you have to work out what works for you, when you feel healthy, well and happy.

for me its about 9st, which is within the healthy range. I would love to be 8st and a size 8, but I'd never manage to maintain it - so 9st it is.

when were you last happy and comfy with your weight, and go for that.

I'd say ask your dr, but in my experiecne, they are pretty useless on the issues of weight!

we do need a new system though. defo.
 
See that's the thing. I put on weight after meeting hubby (as you do), then lost it before the wedding, ate loads on honeymoon, then got pregnant really quickly and ate loads, lost the baby, ate to comfort myself, got pregnant again, ate, had baby, he was colicky, ate. 1 year and 7 months later I am doing something about it.

But anyway, pre baby, even when I had the relationship fat, I definitely had a smaller than average waist. Can't say the same for my thighs... but waist small. And that's where it's important for health.

Now though... wobble wobble post baby belly. It's nothing a a few grand, a surgeon and a knife couldn't sort, lol. I wish.
 
Great debate bmi sucks but I do go by it
cause I feel I hve to
In my 20s I was always between 8.7 and 9.7
stones but which was at the lower ranges of
my bmi but at 9.7 was then in size 12 so I
think the sizes have gotten bigger cause two
years ago before I put on this weight I was 9.4
and got into a size 8 dress !
Hope this makes some sense !
 
I totally agree with on that one I had lent some of my old clothes about 4 or 5yrs ago to a friend who's a size 10 and it was tight on her and my old corset top wouldn't even do up without a gap
 
I guess I'm a bit the other way. At 5 foot 6.5 (the half is VERY important lol) I just about scrape into the top of the healthy band at 11 stone 2.
I'm currently a size 14 but feel very big. I guess having had 2 big babies leaving me with a mummy tummy of epic proportions doesn't help.
At my lowest (before I got pg again) I was 9 stone 3. I stopped there because I was struggling to lose more but if I could have lost more I still don't think I would have looked particularly skinny. I was a small size 10 but was nowhere near stick thin or gaunt looking.

The bmi scale doesn't account for alot of things (muscly men for instance) but generally I don't have a problem with it.
Everyone is different and the bmi can only really be a guide and not a rigid set of rules butsurely there has to be some way of a doctor telling if you are putting yourself at risk?

Oh I don't know!!
 
I think most people accept that BMIs are a flawed system for assessing the risks of being overweight, but the feeling is that they have their place - along with other measurements as Ms Blonde says, waist circumference and % body fat also being important. At the end of the day a lot is down to common sense also. Chasing figures for their own sake is never a good idea.

The thing is that BMI is relatively easy to measure and at least gives some way to standardise risk and tailor advice - but it does mean some people being lumped in both ends of the categories which just don't apply to them.

There's a fab website somewhere with photos of people in the overweight and obese categories of BMI, with bodies to die for! In particular loads of rugby players and other muscley men. Will see if I can find it. :D
 
I'm now a comfortable size 14, do lots of exercise and until I lose one more pound I'm still classed as obese!! Yet anyone that's seen me doesn't even think I'm overweight anymore and shouldn't lose anymore weight!!

I don't go by these bmi charts, I just go by what I feel like and what I look like to myself.
 
hey hun i agree its poop, my bmi is now 29 down from 35 which im pleased with, but im just in a size 14 and now and only wanted to reach a 12, so now way will i get under 25 being a 12 but i agree that is not overweight atall

im gona ignore the bmi, and decide when to stop when looking in the mirror
 
and before motherhood I was about 9st (but no less) and looked healthy but when i looked at the chart recently that weight marked me up as underweight and that was when i felt healthy and looked it.

Well one thing is for sure I will only be taking the bmi chart with a pinch of salt
 
BMI is a useless scale - no muscle mass taken into account. For example - I am in the super morbidly obese BMI category due to my height and weight. I had a full body profile done by my personal trainer and my lean mass (ie muscles) is 67% - this would alter the BMI scale dramatically. I am a rugby player and have a lot of muscle in my legs - I'm not trying to say I'm not fat and don't need to lose weight - hence why I'm doing this diet - but I'm trying to make the point that BMI misses a lot of factors. Having a lean mass of 67% is pretty good going!

Don't go on the BMI scale - go on what makes you happy, what dress size, and how you feel inside. I'm aiming for a size 14 - no matter what I weigh at that point. xx
 
spoke tp my pharmasist anout it yesterday as mine down tp 28 from 35, and i inly want to lose another stone n half around and she says ignore the scale and stop when you look what u want to look like, there is no way my bmi will reach under 25 with this last bit off
 
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