Am I overweight or unhealthy?

Question

I am 31 years old, 5'11, and I weigh 205 pounds. Also, I exercise not like a nut but regularly. I can do 30 minutes on the treadmill and exercise bike keeping my heart rate at 150 with no problem. I don't eat much red meat or a lot of carbs. I actually like salad and generally don't eat all kinds of junk food. With everything out there I can't tell how normal I am with regards to health and weight.

Answer 1

If you want to assess your health, go get yourself a bodyfat test and a psychial at the doctor's. The Doctor will tell you if you have any serious health issues like high blood pressure or chelstrol etc. The bodyfat test is the true assessment of one's fitness level. I am 5'10' and weigh 193 lbs. This is considered overweight per BMI, but my last skinfold test was 8.2% bodyfat, which is considered pretty low.

At your age, a bodyfat fat range up to 18% is going to be considered normal. If you want to shread a few pounds of fat, try cutting down to about 12% bodyfat for a leaner look. Around 12-10% is where men start to show ab definition without flexing more so for those with ectomorph bodytypes. 6-8% is that men's health look that some men are looking for and don't go less than 5% unless your planning on competiting in a bodybuilding competition. Bodybuilders will call this the "shreaded" look often showing 8 ab muscles instead of 6. This is a very lean state and shouldn't be held long-term. The most consistent bodyfat test you can get for cheap is a skinfold test. The test will use skin calipers for this. You can do a bio-electrical test, but they tend to be unreliable. Hydrostatic is the best test you can get, but tend to be limited to universities and really expensive healthy clubs.

Be aware that bodyfat % can be misleading as well. You can be 5'11'' 6% bodyfat but only 140 lbs as a man and look like a stick. At your weight though, if your low in bodyfat, you will took very healthy and pretty intimidating.

Answer 2

You don't say whether you are a man or a woman. 205 is a little weighty for 5'11, but not excessively so. You should be doing 30-40 minutes of aerobic exercise at least 3x per week. At 31, you should be able to run a 5K race without much difficulty in under 30 minutes...

It sounds like you have your head in the game, so don't fixate on your weight but focus more on overall health. Sounds like you are asking yourself all of the right questions!

Answer 3

weight it a hard way to tell how healthy you are! As long as you are eating ok and working out even some of the time you should be alright! Maybe you could have a physical fit test to determine how far you body can go. What I DONT suggest is a BMI test. It is innacurate becuase if you have lost any weight in the past your body will still retain a fat called Leptin that never goes away...so technically if you were ever considered at ANY point in life "obese" or "overweight" the BMI test will never really be accurate!
You sound like a happy person i wish you the best!!!

Answer 4

Your BMI is 28.59, which is technically overweight according to the BMI chart.

Personally I think body fat percentage is a much better indicator though, because the BMI chart assumes an average lean body weight. Your lean body weight may be higher than that average - meaning you have a lot of muscle weight.

I think that the fact you eat right and exercise regularly is a much better indicator of your health than your BMI. Based on that, I say you are very healthy. It also makes me more likely to believe you have a higher than average lean body weight.

You should find out what your body fat percentage is and ensure that THAT is in the healthy range.

Answer 5

According to the BMI (body mass index) calculator on the CDC website, your BMI (28.6) falls in the overweight category. A BMI of 18.5-24.9 is considered normal weight.

As for whether or not you're healthy, it sounds like you're doing some great things! You don't mention what is "regular" exercise for you...is it once a month? Or three times a week? How about visits to your doctor and dentist? Do you go for checkups?

One of the best ways to make sure you're healthy is to have labwork done at your next doctor's visit for your annual physical. Then you can learn about your cholesterol level, blood sugars, things like that.

Answer 6

Those BMI charts suck! They say I am over weight too,
while friends and family say I am too thin.

but you could stand to loose about 5 lbs, just boost your treadmill time to 45 minutes, that would probably work.
I am 45 and on the tread mill I try to keep my heart rate at 170-180 for 7 miles , but then my resting heart rate is 45

Answer 7

according to the underwriting guidelines of life & health insurance company's, @ 5'11 a female is preferred class if 149 - 195 and standard (which means 10-20% rate up) if 196 - 224 and uninsurable over 224. You should lose
15/20 lbs & reduce chances of diabetes, blood press etc...

Answer 8

you'd have to ask a doctor to be absolutely sure, but you probably are healthy. you can do cardio with no ill effects and eat healthy. according to most charts, you are a bit overweight, but they don't take into consideration how much of your weight is from muscle, which weighs more. don't worry about it. if you can do the things you like to do and don't eat junky food, you'll be fine.

Answer 9

You sound a little overweight but it sounds like you eat healthy.
I know a man who was 6'2" and 210. He was healthy and ate "right", but he looked overweight.
Maybe you need to tone-up the muscles???
I would see a nutrionist anyhow because you are heading for Adult-onset Diabetes (Type II) and possible high blood presure.

Answer 10

A male with a medium frame, of your height, should be 172 - 176 but if you are more muscular, you'll weigh more and still be a good "size".

Go here http://www.freedieting.com/tools/ideal_body_weight.htm to see the weight calculator I used, and a number of others you may find interesting.