BMI - All Its Cracked Up To Be?

[shann]

Artist's Impression

[ColinOldnCranky]

Damn - I wandered back here to see if the price of a camera has come down enough. Apparently not.

[chriscole]

If BMI is too contentious for you, there's a simpler test...

Do you have a muffin-top in bike shorts??

[dynamictiger]

no

[shann]

If BMI is too contentious for you, there's a simpler test...

Do you have a muffin-top in bike shorts??

No, but then, my bike shorts come up almost to my boobs! At the other end, they're meant to be just below the knee, and they go almost to my ankles. Made for tall people, obvs.

[Rex]

BMI helped me define the calorie target I needed to go from 112kg to 75kg and now maintain at 80kg, while getting fitter and improving my cycling. I'm 6'4"

It's not rocket science, but I did find over-analysing things by jumping on the scales every 2nd day and not sticking to the routine did myself no favours.

[barefoot]

Found something jsut reported in teh literature (and therefore will be subject to further research and confirmation or otherwise. Look at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2143709/How-eating-English-breakfast-hit-waistline-just-hours.html and the paragraph

The finding comes in the wake of a warning that fat which settles around the middle is particularly harmful and could take years off your life. The European Congress on Obesity heard last week that the secret of a long and healthy life is as simple as keeping your waist circumference measurement to under half that of your height.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1unqnFwki

Interesting.

I'm finding this WHR and WHtR talk interesting.

I'm 178 cm (5'10"), and somewhere around 86kg (37 yr male). That's a BMI of 27, which is solidly into the "overweight" division - for whatever value a n=1 population is worth. The look-in-the-mirror test confirms I could do with losing a few more kilos. I'm cool with that.

Apparently the healthy (by BMI) weight range for my height is 60-79kg. I'd be stoked if I could ever dip in to the very top end of that range, but doubt I'd ever get near the middle.

But my waist is 86cm. That gives me a WHtR of 0.48 - well into the "healthy" category.

I don't have a tape handy to measure my hips, but that's where I keep my fat reserves. I have no doubt they're substantially bigger than my waist. A quick measure with my belt (estimating the gap!) says I'm an extra 20cm around the bum compared to my waist, so 106cm, for a WHR of 0.8. That would be a healthy WHR for a woman. I have quite an hourglass figure... for a bloke [1] .

So... I'm overweight, but at relatively low risk of heart disease and diabetes?

If not for my @rse and my cycling thighs, I'd easily have a "normal" BMI. And would probably have a much easier time buying pants [2].

I'd be interested to get a body fat % measurement done now, just for interest's sake.

tim

[1] I'm pretty sure I am a bloke. No reason to doubt that I'm the father of my 2 kids...
[2] I had a pair of jeans once which, in retrospect, must have been womens' fit. Don't know how I ended up buying them but I did. Best fitting jeans I ever had, but it was annoying how the button and zip did up on the wrong side... I just didn't put 2 and 2 together at the time. Maybe I should wear more womens' clothing (and hang around in bars).

[ColinOldnCranky]

If you are a bit bored, trythis little widget that asks you to rate yourself in terms of weight and then takes some input from you and tells you if yo are right.

Most here, like me, will be spot on as it is simply based on BMI. Still, it's harmless fun.

More interesting may be to see where you are relative to the national avearge and the averages of other countries.

Try it at http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/interactive/2013/feb/21/do-you-know-what-size-you-are

[durianrider]

Im 65kg at 6ft.

Id say sub 21 BMI is going to help your running and cycling performances fo sure.

Id also say its 80% diet and only 20% training. I know guys that train WAY harder than me but still carry enough muffin top to feed a Pro Tour Team.

[wurtulla wabbit]

Here's a calculator.
http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmi-m.htm

I am 167 /63kg and my BMI is 22

Still have an unwanted little belly but really lean and solid elsewhere.

Eat too much showtime and age 40.

Genetics has a role to play in most people's physique.
They do say, look at the mother to see what you're likely to end up with in 20yrs...

[barefoot]

Genetics has a role to play in most people's physique.
They do say, look at the mother to see what you're likely to end up with in 20yrs...

You mean I'm going to get 8 inches shorter AND put on 10 kg in the next 20 years?!

To say nothing of the sex change thing, my mum's not exactly in good shape...

tim

[wurtulla wabbit]

Haha, your wife's/girlfriends mother...or if gay, yer partners dad !

[ColinOldnCranky]

Im 65kg at 6ft.

Id say sub 21 BMI is going to help your running and cycling performances fo sure.

Id also say its 80% diet and only 20% training. I know guys that train WAY harder than me but still carry enough muffin top to feed a Pro Tour Team.

jeez - New we have another thread for more of the same. "Me me me, faster than the world - I have the evidence. I have the records. I keep on saying so, so it must be true."

FIGJAM.

Except no-one is asking Durian.

[a]

Is a FIGJAM diet good for weight loss?

[wurtulla wabbit]

Is a FIGJAM diet good for weight loss?

Yeah, if you don't eat it/yourself !

If I were chocolate, I'd eat myself !

[ColinOldnCranky]

Is a FIGJAM diet good for weight loss?

Hard to know from your post, but if you don't know the acronym you should look it up. It fits DurianRider rather well.

Perhaps I should refer to Durian in future as FIGJAM. Or FIGJAM aka durian or FIGJAM Pinocchio, or...

[Mulger bill]

Grissini? It sounds nice and Euro...

[casual_cyclist]

Is a FIGJAM diet good for weight loss?

Hard to know from your post, but if you don't know the acronym you should look it up. It fits DurianRider rather well.

Perhaps I should refer to Durian in future as FIGJAM. Or FIGJAM aka durian or FIGJAM Pinocchio, or...

Except that you don't have to ask!

[casual_cyclist]

Is BMI an Accurate Measure of Obesity?

It's important to note that although BMI is accurate most of the time, it may overestimate or underestimate body fat. For example, BMI doesn't distinguish between body fat and muscle mass, which weighs more than fat. Many NFL players have been labeled "obese" because of their high BMI, when they actually have a low percentage of body fat.

The BMI is not always accurate in elderly adults, who have often lost muscle and bone mass. Although their BMI might be within a normal range, they could still be overweight. BMI may also relate differently to various ethnic groups. For example, Asians may be at risk for health problems at a lower BMI than Caucasians.

Because of the possibility for error, BMI should be just one of many gauges used to assess a person's weight status and health. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends that doctors assess whether their patients are overweight based on three factors:

BMI
Waist circumference - a measurement of abdominal fat
Risk factors for diseases associated with obesity, such as high blood pressure, high LDL ("bad") cholesterol, low HDL ("good") cholesterol, high blood sugar, and smoking

Many health experts say that body fat percentage is a better indicator of weight status than BMI. But body fat isn't always as easy, or as inexpensive, to measure.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/weight-loss/bmi3.htm

[casual_cyclist]

Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus

1. The person who dreamed up the BMI said explicitly that it could not and should not be used to indicate the level of fatness in an individual.

The BMI was introduced in the early 19th century by a Belgian named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. He was a mathematician, not a physician. He produced the formula to give a quick and easy way to measure the degree of obesity of the general population to assist the government in allocating resources. In other words, it is a 200-year-old hack.

more here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439

So BMI is convenient for populations. For individuals, it doesn't tell you anything about body composition.

[toolonglegs]

[dynamictiger]

Genetics has a role to play in most people's physique.
They do say, look at the mother to see what you're likely to end up with in 20yrs...

Interesting idea...Lets see I am older than my mother when she died. I am older than my father when he died. I am half the age of my mothers father when he died and my fathers father was 43 years younger than my mothers father and nearly twice as old as my father when he died. They all died of natural causes. Most of them didn't smoke or drink to excess. The oldest of them never ate food that wasn't fried.

So if genetics plays a role in peoples phyique wouldn't it also follow genetics would suggest susceptiability to various conditions suffered e.g. cancer, heart conditions etc. So maybe I am dead and no ones told me yet?

[wurtulla wabbit]

yeah, i reckon that aroma you can smell is you, decomposing !


joking aside, job, lifestyle, stress, finances, mental illness and a gazillion other things affect the final number.

you pays ya money, ya takes ya chance (in life !) .

Life it the way you see fit !