BMI blues

[penman53 493]

I am five months out down 93 pounds from the day of surgery and about 120 pounds down from the start of my weight loss journey. I am six foot four and 248 pounds and when I calculated my BMI I am still classified as obese. I saw my doctor last week and he flat told me that I had lost enough weight. I simply told him that this may be true but according to my BMI I was still obese and he flatly told me that I didn't need to worry about that. All of his staff were amazed how much weight I had lost (he is my pulmonolgist and only sees me every six months) so of course the last time I saw him I had not even had my surgery.

My question is, does anybody think that the BMI is really a wide ruler to determine a persons weight? I know I have went from a size 50 jeans to size 36 jeans and I have not worn that size jeans since I was in my 20's. I'm 60 now. What do you think, do I look obese? Please be honest ok?

Thanks Mark

Mom_&_Dad.bmp

[mistysj 1,939]

You are only two pounds over overweight. Almost all the health benefits of losing weight come from moving from obese into overweight and the rest is just cosmetic. So you are basically there. If you like how you look and you are having to work really hard to keep losing, call goal. If you are still finding it easy to lose and you'd like to try to lose more, maybe to give yourself a "bounce range", why not? If weight is still coming off and if it was me, I'd probably go with it, as long as I was happy with how I was feeling and looking. You have already arrived, for health purposes. The rest is up to you. Congratulations!

Edited December 28, 2013 by mistysj

[gmanbat 5,889]

Most of that dunlap, ( done lapped over the belt,, ) is no doubt loose skin. I have the same thing when I tuck in my shirt, I am 65. We may not be ideal candidates for GQ shoots or the covers of Romance novels but we ain't bad for our age.

Competition body builders with single digit body fat percentages can show up overweight on the BMI charts. The supreme judge of where you should stop is...your health and your mobility. By mobility I mean ..does your fat slow you down in what you want to do? Are you free of constraints due to size?

I was told ..before my operation by a nurse...that I didn't need to lose anything. I was nearly dead but looked fairly good for a guy that was 130 pounds overweight. She must have liked fat guys. Even health professionals can make subjective comments according to their whims. You must judge what is best for you.

[susis 70]

That's funny you should ask that question at this time! I started out at 275. I have lost 54 pounds, and at 221 I am looking pretty good. ( I think! LOL). Although I still have a lot to lose. I just went to my three month check up yesterday and asked my surgeon about how much I should weigh, because, I , like you, was looking at the BMI chart, in which I should weigh 135. That, for me, is still about 95 pounds away. Compared to what I look like now, a 95 pound loss would make me look almost dead. And my dr. agreed. He said that if I were to weigh 135, I would look like a runway model. (And I don't think he meant that as a compliment! LOL) He said it was better to go with body fat percent. GamerGirl gave me some good comparison pics last week, and she also figured out how many more pounds I should lose to get there, and she was right on target with what my surgeon wanted!! So, in answer to your question, you look great, and really, listen to your dr. Your health will thank you for it!

[penman53 493]

Could you send me the link to the pics that gamer girl gave you by chance? I would be really interested in seeing it. Thank you so much.

Mark

[gamergirl 4,609]

Mark here are the pictures. I think if you can, figure out your body fat percentage. With the excess skin it's easy to get confused on what is weight vs. what is loose skin. These pictures are for comparison only. Of course we have extra skin, stretch marks, wrinkles and haven't been photo shopped Don't look at just the stomach area, look at the arms, thighs, etc. as well.

I am at 31% body fat, but look more like the 35% lady. My husband is at 22% body fat, but looks more like the 25% guy.

According to my height and weight, normal BMI will be around 145-150 for me. But according to my body fat percentage, to ge to 25% body fat, I will be 163 lbs. That's a big difference!

[able2cope 193]

As one replier said, no doubt you have some loose skin - like most of us here... I think that you need to just listen to your own heart and take it one day at a time. You do look fine to me though, for what its worth

[penman53 493]

As one replier said, no doubt you have some loose skin - like most of us here... I think that you need to just listen to your own heart and take it one day at a time. You do look fine to me though, for what its worth

It does mean alot to me. I may be old but I still want to look good. Thanks for the compliment.

Mark