WHY I WEPT AND WEPT AND WEPT TODAY...BMI Classifications
i am fortunate to have found my way back to 3fc...last time, i was not prepared, not informed, and lacked support. this time i am learning as much as i can...i saw on some peoples signatures they had obese listed...or overweight listed...using a BMI...i didn't kwow what that was so looked it up online...and i found this BMI Classifications online...where you enter your weight in, and your height, and it calculates your BMI...mine came up 60.
i knew i was big...i knew i was fat...the mirror doesn't lie...i knew i was heavier than all of my family and all of my friends....i just never realized just HOW fat..there isn't even a category for me to fit into...
which is why today i have wept and wept and wept....
I AM MORE THAN DANGEROUSLY SUPER OBESE!!
AND...i will have to become MORBiDLY OBESE, before i can even look forward to becoming SEVERELY OBESE...
My BMI was over 60 as well at one time. When I was finally able to use a scale to measure my weight (as my scale at the time only went up to 450 pounds) my BMI was 57.3.
You can do this! Its not about where you start the journey but where you end up.
Susan, Susan, Susan! Your new BFF here! You know what I think of those BMI charts? #*^<@! They're just a bunch of numbers some doctors thought up. Punching in your height and weight doesn't tell them how much of that is muscle and bone. It's like "One Size Fits All", who the H*** is "All"?
Just stick to what your doing, eating healthy and moving more, keep coming here everyday (because I love reading your posts), and we'll support you and motivate you all the way. Who loves ya Baby!!!
Just think of it this way now. Tell yourself starting TODAY you will never have a BMI that high again. When I started out my BMI was over 40- now it's 36, still not great BUT it's better than before and will continue to go down!
We are all here for you and you can do it girl! Don't give up
I wasn't going to post because I don't really belong in this forum, but you seemed so upset I found I couldn't just say nothing.
Most of those categories are made up. The websites want to have more to write about to make it sound as if they are providing more of a service. Most of those categories simply do not exist. The only clinical categories are underweight, normal, overweight and obese. The term Morbidly Obese is picking up more and more momentum among medical professionals but there is no set agreement about what exactly makes morbid obesity, there's no official line, official number where it kicks in, so it's poorly and inconsistently used. These things are not real things. The important thing is that this is where you go forward from.
The number on the scales is the side-effect, not the main goal. You can get lighter without getting healthier and you can get healthier without getting any lighter, though usually as you get healthy the weight starts to come off. Focus on what you are going to do, each day at a time, each meal at a time, the choices you make. You can't make yourself go from where you are to slim in any more of a hurry, but you can change from unhealthy habits to healthy ones real fast. Every day that you make healthier choices is a victory, and as a side-effect of getting healthy you will probably lose weight, but that's not where to focus. If you made good choices and lost 10lb or made good choices and gained 1lb back you still made those good choices, and that's what it's about.
Wishing you luck on your journey. You have one up on many others your size: you are here.
I understand how this can feel. I knew I was overweight. Like you said, the mirror doesn't lie. Neither do photos, or my old clothes.
But I didn't feel THAT fat. And then I saw the reality....that I was morbidly obese. To know that I was putting my health so seriously at risk- that was a real wake up call.
I guess the best I can offer is- try and see this as an opportunity to get healthier because you found out while you could do something about it.
Rose is right. My BMI is currently 31.something (can't remember exactly). According to all the BMI charts I've seen, I am obese, not "severely overweight" as the classificatons you posted indicate. (Though I do have to admit I like "severely overweight" a little better than "obese!")
As Rose said, there are some movements to classify those with a BMI over 40 as "morbidly" obese or divide 30-40 and 40+ into "class I" and "class II" obesity...but I don't think there's much agreement on that yet. "Super duper" obese and all of those things are totally made up!
As others have said, don't worry about other people's "boxes". Just do what you're doing and set goals that are meaningful to YOU!
Well who came up with that crappola anyway......Hmmmm let me guess....
DOCTORS and INSURANCE COMPANIES.
And just whats in it for them?.....Hmmmmm charging you for a sheet telling you what foods to eat, selling you diet pills and charging you MORE for insurance.
I can do research online as far as what to eat goes, I gave up the pills, I can take my blood pressure at Krogers and I am no longer a slave to the acale (best indicator as to how you're doing is your clothes fitting better or loser or falling off) as far as insurance I know people a LOT thinner than I who, due to their stupid risky behavior are a far worse risk than I am. And according to that there chart, heck I'm already walking around with more than one foot in the grave so either I die right this minute or things have to start getting better. Ok, I did not die right this minute, so it's better already.
Get yer crying done because it is now time to start putting this behind you.
Wash your face, put on some lipstick and a blue blouse (cause you look wonderful in blue) and make a plan. Don't be afraid to ask anyone here who has been where you are and has made body changing progress how they started bringing it all together. It may not work exactly for you, you may have to tweak stuff, you may have to try a few different things, but set out on a mission to find what works for you. Something you can stick to for the long haul and maybe for the rest of your life.
If you fall, ask for help getting up. People who have had success usually love to help others, thats one of the reasons they are here. I know I love to help people when I can
The best you can do, is the best you can do. Every day. Do the BEST you can do. This day. Today. I will do my BEST TODAY. I may go off the deep end tomorrow but TODAY I am going to do my BEST.
My BMI was 44.3 when I started.
The gym wouldn't let me start, my blood pressure was so high.
I started checking every so often at the local pharmacy. It was coming down, so I stopped going every day.
I went in for something else after about 6 weeks. They tried to cover up their slip but basically, they thought they hadn't seen me because I'd died of overweight and high blood pressure.
You bet I cried. I was terrified I was going to expire instantly. I didn't.
Yea, it really is important to know what your bmi is, to discover the horrid truth. However imprecise it is as a measurement, discovering that our weight puts us in the OMG category can be the best thing to happen, if it makes us start the journey towards as much health as we can give ourselves. Like Matt says, it's where we end up that's important.
Have a and make sure that you take this gift of a wake-up call, and keep adding the snowglobes.
Now. How are you going to do this thing? Plan, plan and plan.
I know exactly how you feel When I was 6 months pregnant I went to a Dr. who informed me that I was morbidly obese and unless I was hit by a car or some such thing he'd bet my house on me being dead by the time my child was 10. I cried and cried. It was horrible. However years later I went to a much more compassionate Dr. who explained the BMI to me so much better and the risks and complications associated with each 'stage.' He worked out my BMI with my height, weight, age and body type. Though even he admitted it is not an exact science! Though my healthy range is a whopping 22 pounds (plenty opportunity for muscle development) he said that if I was going to start really bulking up like mad then he'd recommend me keeping an eye of my body fat percentage instead.
I'm not saying the BMI scale is the best thing since sliced bread, the ONLY reason is works for me is the fact I've never been the correct weight or size in clothing so I really have no other guide post to aim for. At the beginning I was happy for aiming at 200lbs, my best friend is this weight and looks amazing and athletic, can shop in normal stores and is never told she is 'fat.' However she says that she has a lot of weight-related health problems so that idea went out the door.
This said, no one should push their ideas down your throat, some people follow the BMI and some don't. They have no right to tell you what you should believe / aim for. No one should tell you that your health goals are rubbish, wrong, stupid ect. Only YOU know what works for you. Personally I don’t want the 'rocking body' ect. I want everything to be normal with no weight related health issues now or in the foreseeable future. If that is less or more than my healthy BMI range then so be it!
Darling, you are no heavier or less healthy than you were prior to learning you BMI You are still the same and much like clothing sizes and scale numbers it is simply a tool for you to utilize or ignore. I hope you're feeling better soon, I know it's hard.
Last edited by Focused Lani; 12-10-2010 at 06:53 PM.
i want to thank everyone so much for your encouraging words...i think i was so distraught because i felt like...ok, i have started this "journey of a race"... symbolically, as i know its not a real race per say.....of weight loss...like a marathon perhaps...and was thinking ok its a long way, but i can do this..look at all these friends....and i was thinking in terms of 50 miles...and i was like, wow, thats a long way but i can do it...and then when i found out about the BMI it seemed like it suddenly became 5000 miles...and i was like, are you kidding me...how and I going to do that??? does that make sense. all of a sudden it went from difficult to semmingly impossible. i just wish i never knew about BMI!!! maybe in this case, ignorance would have been bliss?
i am trying hard to research and learn about healthy weight loss...there seems to be so many opinions...and i am wondering...how do you even START A PLAN? i mean, i realized i needed to begin somewhere, and i didn't want to wait for the traditional new years resolution, so i started in december instead ...monitoring what i am eating and writing it all down...but how do you MAKE A PLAN beyond that?? so many have asked me what is my plan?? i am not sure how to make a plan.
Hey Rainbow, I was sad to see you so bummed today! I can totally relate, because my BMI when I started was 60 as well. Agh! But the good news is, I started this in late May, and my BMI is down to 47.7 according to some random calculator. Still well into any definition of morbidly obese, but it sounds a lot better to me than 60. It's been a matter of a few months for me, and it sure as heck can be for you, too! A few more months and who knows HOW low I'll be! That's how you have to think of it, I think. Like Matt said, it doesn't matter where we started, but where we're headed.
As for your plan, only you can determine what will work for you. I personally am a calorie counter. I also try to be very mindful of empty carbs, and any carbs I eat are always paired with a protein. This has helped me quite a bit with the hunger, and I get out of control if I get too hungry! My calories range anywhere from 1400-2000 a day. I have found that at my high weight, this has allowed me to lose quite nicely. I am very aware that the belt will have to be tightened at some point, but I'm really trying to get myself used to eating healthful foods and watching portions so that when I have to get more strict, I'll already have a good idea about these things. Read up in the diet section and see what you think will work for you long term, then start trying stuff out. I would give any plan a try for a few weeks before you give up on it, because it takes awhile to get yourself settled and get rid of the cravings. And keep posting questions!
Before you give the BMI any more tears, you can look up the whole other side of the issue. Google "why BMI is wrong" and you can read health professionals writing why there are factors not considered in what is a 200 year old mathematical calculation that does not take into account fat to muscle ratio. As Lani pointed out, there are other variables that the simple mathematical equation does not factor. Body type being another one of them.
BMI has "the Rock" (that guy in the movies who some think is pretty darn hunky) at "obese".
It also has tons of athletes in the "overweight" and "obese" categories.
By volume, muscle weighs more than fat. It takes up less room. Think of a 8 foot long snake. If it were made of styrofoam, you could pick it up easily. But because snakes are all muscle, an 8 foot long one can be pretty heavy.
This is also why I am no longer a slave to the scale. When I plateau I am more concerned whether my clothes are getting a bit looser than the numbers. As long as I am building muscle, the scale may not move but I am getting slimmer.
Those football players are big and if they weigh 300 pounds you can bet its not all fat, but the BMI would say they are way up there in morbidly obese land.
WHY I WEPT AND WEPT AND WEPT TODAY...BMI Classifications
. I'm glad you've found your way back to 3FC too. I look forward to seeing more 5# snowglobes in your signature!
