BMI Question

[GMonkey]

For those who say that they are overweight, when you say that you are X pounds overweight, do you say that you are that many lbs over your goal weight, or your max BMI for your height?

I don't put too much stock in BMI, because I think that a lot of athletes are over their BMI and can have low body fat % (especially men) as well as low cholesterol, BP, etc. I look to it as a basic guideline, but it's not universal.

My doctor agrees with me, to a point. He's an orthopedic surgeon/sports physician and says that people can indeed still be extremely healthy and be over their BMI, but that joints and bones can only hold so much weight during athletic activity. The more muscle, the better, because it supports the bones, and can take some of the work from the joints, but still weight is weight and joints can only handle so much of that.

The max healthy BMI for my height is 145, and I'm about 15 lbs over that. I know that I still felt a little chunky back when I was 145, but that's my initial goal.

 

[catr]

I am 5'3" and 136 pounds, which is the top end of my max BMI. I am also 32% body fat, all of which is on my abdomen and waist because I am apple-shaped. That is a bad body-fat distribution associated with increased risk for heart disease and type II diabetes so it is probably not a healthy weight for me.

My goal weight is 123. I would end up at 25% body fat and assumes I won't be gaining muscle. I consider myself 13 pounds overweight based on the above considerations.

 

[Fit_mommy]

I am at the higher end of the healthy BMI range for my height/weight but to look at me you would see that I am not heavy. I am in good shape and I have lots of muscle. My BF, according to my omron, hovers around 20-21%. I would like to lean out a bit, therefore I'd like to lose a couple pounds of fat. Even at that, I'd still be on the higher end of the healthy BMI range so I definitely take it with a grain of salt and don't base anything I do on it.