I am 6 feet 1 with a medium build. I weigh 186. I exercise 4 days per week. My doc tells me I should only weigh about 174. I think this is a little extreme. What do you think?
2006-07-12 02:09:41 · 5 answers · asked by Westport 2 in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
The BMI is a good method to diagnose underweight or obesity, but is not great. There are some points that make it not as good as everyone seems to think it is
* The BMI formule doesn't take age or gender into account
* Muscles are heavier then fat is, so sportsman often are diagnosed as overweight, while they look normal and have a healthy weight and a low fat%.
When you have a low fat% and a lot of muscle mass, don't worry to much about your BMI
Besides, a BMI over 25 (BMI of 25 is the upper limit of a healthy BMI) is not the end of the world. When it reaches 30, then you could think of losing some weight or at least make sure you won't gain more weight, but a slight overweight is not unhealthy, in some cases even better then having a BMI of 20 or below (20 is the lower limit of a healthy BMI, under 20 is underweight)
Did you know that Venus of Milo, the beauty standard, has a BMI somewhere between 25 and 30 and would be considdered overweighted?
2006-07-12 02:21:59 · answer #1 · answered by WiseDragonGirl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
BMI is a general guide...it wont distinguish between fat and muscle
Muscle is heavier...some athletes are classed as overweight by the BMI system even tho they have low body fat......
Also the BMI range ie 20-25 is for Caucasians.......asians have a lower range...pacific islanders with high muscle bulk can safely be in the higher reaches.....eg bmi of 30...........
2006-07-12 09:17:46 · answer #2 · answered by bahnst 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The BMI is outdated.
Ten pounds isn't that much of a difference, and most doctors these days except weights within that range as still healthy b/c they look at the person's overall lifestyle. I'd say yours is good.
Hope that helps.
http://kristicasey.ahealthcafe.com
2006-07-12 09:43:29 · answer #3 · answered by Kristi C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the BMI is outdated, inaccurate and potentially dangerous. There are plenty of HEALTHY people, especially athletic types, who don't fit into the random "scientific" box someone created. Keep doing what you're doing. If your doctor doesn't like it, find another doctor who isn't as interested in promoting the multi-billion dollar diet industry.
2006-07-12 09:14:32 · answer #4 · answered by darthbouncy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have more muscle mass, you are OK. If you are brushing your teeth and your belly jiggles, you need to diet!
2006-07-12 09:14:47 · answer #5 · answered by dude 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋