3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community - BMI chart very kind to shorties!

I think it's better if we go by SIZE instead of WEIGHT sometimes. It's amazing to me how radically different two people of the same weight can be!

I've posted about this before, but I found out that a friend of mine that is the same height as me is also the same clothing size as me. Looking at recent pictures where we're standing next to each other, it's easy to see that we're the same size.

She's under 100lbs, I'm 112-113, so I outweigh her by at least a good 15lbs. That's quite a lot at 5'3"! She doesn't exercise; I lift heavy weights. I can see that I've got more muscle tone, etc. than she does, but otherwise we could swap clothes or buy the same clothes.

So our circle of friends thinks I weigh as much as she does now, because she's their point of reference :lol: they are shocked when they find out that I'm quite a bit heavier than her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aidanqm (Post 4603366)

BMI is flawed. It doesn't take into account body composition. Muscle, fat, water weight, bone density, tissue weight, etc. All of these things make up your total weight and it matters. At 5'3'', I fluctuate between 110-115... and my BMI is probably listed as underweight (or close to it). But I'm perfectly healthy and fit!

Actually your BMI is around 19 or 20, so not underweight :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by LockItUp (Post 4603419)

BMI is definitely flawed, I think a majority of people would agree on that, but for most it's a good rule of thumb. *Most* people aren't lean and working out hard etc. There are exceptions to every rule for sure! On the opposite end of where you are, Aidaqm, there are big body builders who often times would be considered obese on the BMI scale but are like a ridiculously low body fat. I'm in the thinking that as long as you are truly healthy, with a healthy amount of body fat, the actual number on the scale means very little.

Oh yeah that's the thing! How many people are working out/building up their bodies to be outside of the BMI ranges? Most aren't! It always bugs me when people say that BMI is a crock because some random weight lifter is obese. Well that PROFESSIONAL is very different from a sedentary person at the same weight!

I think the same has been said of famous actors who are muscular. Last time I checked actors generally have trainers to get them where they want to be ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovedancelive (Post 4621232)

I agree!

I'm 5'3", ~135 pounds but I can jog a mile in almost 11 minutes (I know, still not like OMFG fast but still...). My friend's girlfriend is about my height but is in the 120's and can't jog for more than a minute or so without getting tired. She focused so much on getting her weight down as fast as possible with as little work as she could muster that she lost all the body strength and stamina she might have had. My roommate, by comparison, has us both beat - both in weight and strength/stamina. She's in the upper 140's atm but she could kick our asses without breaking a sweat. Your weight doesn't tell the whole story, performance really shows what you're made of.

I don't foresee myself ever weighing 115. I'd love to just see 12X, I don't recall the last time I would have seen a number somewhere in the 120's. I know I was 140 at 15, maybe even at 13, but I was really active up until I hit the teens. So I literally haven't seen 12X since I was too young to give a crap.

When I was obese I was able to run circles around my thin, sedentary friends :dizzy: I still can, but it was much funnier when I was bigger than them.

It's much better (I think) to get down to a healthy weight through diet and exercise, rather than just diet alone if one can manage it. Otherwise we end up like your poor friend's girlfriend—losing both muscle mass and fat.

Although I must admit weight does play a small role. I find it much easier to jog a couple of miles when I'm 112lbs than when I was 200 (even though I still don't jog regularly). There's just less of me to carry around! :)