Is it sad, or is it fun? That is the mixed message I have trouble with.

I'm not really mad or anything--the 3FC Maintainers board is one of a kind, and the best. But this thread just took a big whack at my self-esteem this morning. I come here to help myself feel better and not worse. If something doesn't work for me, I'm going to say so. Otherwise, I'll just feel bad and have to stop coming. Not everyone has to agree with me, not should they necessarily, but I will make an argument, because this board is very important and I want it to work for me too. I try not to be too big a jerk about it, but sometimes it is hard on-line to convey emotion appropriately, and if I crossed that line, I apologize.

I view weight (the number on the scale) and BMI as a health issue. It is a serious issue. We don't do cholesterol threads, or fasting blood sugar, or blood pressure, not that they don't come up once in a while, but we don't feel compelled to post our numbers when someone talks about it. We don't feel sorry for people who don't run as far as we do, or lift as much. I'm just suggesting we all take 30 seconds to think about that.

Anne

Anne, I just looked out of curiosity too (and the fact I have to quantify everything). You are very athletic and have lost and maintined and have a good life and that is what matters. To me this is like one of those stupid quizzes in cosmo I did as a teen. It means nothing, just passes the time.

Anne,

I just wanted to say I admire you immensely for persevering in HEALTH and FITNESS without the massive focus on vanity (NOT that one's BMI is vanity). You have achieved something remarkable and for really great reasons. It is, in my opinion, far more admirable than the vain things I use to motivate myself and will take you a lot farther. I envy your healthy mental approach. Good for you. And thanks for being willing to just SAY IT! Seriously. I am just so blessed that another woman here is willing to sound tough, because I am always overwhelmingly embarassed about some of my harsh or wacky posts. You go!

Lindy

Oh, I also wanted to say... I am so thankful for all the posts where people talk about all kinds of numbers (calories consumed, weight, height, BMI, etc) because no one face-to-face says these things and I want to know what other people are doing and how they are doing it! I have learned a LOT just by looking at other people's stats. It has given me opportunity to analyze everything (do I eat too much or too little? is my goal too high or too low? am I normal or a freak? -- nope, that one I already knew). So even if it feels competitive or makes us feel a little down, it is also SO USEFUL for some of us who are still figuring out where we are and where we're going.

Lindy

No Anne, I said that I had been considering changing my goal so that my BMI is less than 25. That has little or nothing to do with this particular BMI calculator. It's just something I've been considering doing. Since BMI is one indicator of health, I have no problem with using a healthier BMI level as a goal to aim for.

Anne-I just got home from work to find your posts. I certainly didn't post this to make anyone feel bad about themselves. I found the numbers interesting- especially the percentiles by age. This wasn't a contest as you feel it was intended to be. It certainly wasn't directed at you or anyone else. Whatever weight someone picks as their maintainable goal weight is their own business. The key is MAINTAINABLE- that's what this forum is about. And if you look at your numbers, you are a huge winner there.

We know that BMI is not a great tool for assessing fitness. Heck, if I wanted a lower BMI, I could stop lifting such heavy weight. Poof! I'd probably lose 5 pounds in a month. But what would be the point of that?

I'm sorry you were offended or felt attacked, but I still think the statistics are interesting.

Mel

I just don't know. There's no way that thing is correct! It says I'm in the 10th percentile and if I get to goal, I'll be in the 6th percentile. I'm 21.3 BMI now and will be 20.5 when I reach goal. Those numbers seem reasonable, but the percentile thing.... Very strange if you ask me.

Anne--please don't leave!!! I think you're wonderful and insightful. I know that a lot of people misconstrue what is written in the forum because it is so hard to convey emotion in the written word--especially when we're typing these things so quickly. I remember an email I sent once really hurt a friend of mine. I had no idea what I could have said, but when she explained to me, I had to laugh. I had said something like, "Its my job" as if to say, no problem, I can handle it, it is part of my job. Nothing more. She thought that I was mad at her because she had handled it and that I was telling her to lay off because it's my job to do it, not hers. Thankfully it was just a misunderstanding and when we talked about it, we both laughed.

I think the percentile thing is very interesting and I assume it is looking at the entire world since it is using a WHO database? I think at my highest weight, I must've been the heaviest woman in the world for my age, height and weight... Now I'm in the 98th percentile. If I lose 100 more lbs, I'll be slightly less than 50%.

If it was US only, the numbers would be skewed and you'd see percentile numbers drop like crazy.

I feel badly that Anne was offended too. I appreciate her very much.
I actually deleted my post because I fell into a trap I'd vowed to avoid ... comparison ... or the appearance of it ... or our human inclination to do it

There are many many tools that we can use to assess our own progress but we do compare. I should know better and I apologise for that.

If I'd been more eloquent ... I think what I meant was ... MAN I was in sorry shape before ... aging before my time. I don't think I'm all that very very fit yet and sadly I'm in the minority among women my age. But I truly feel that if I can do this, anybody can. Trite but heart felt.
The societal slice aspect is sad. Dickin' around with calculators can be fun.

As an example of how vain I am ... I didn't post when everyone was talking about how much they lift And my body fat % is in little tiny numbers.


Oh I'm going to edit something in .... IMHO BMI is a good tool for getting from overweight to healthy ... however, once you're getting into fitness vs slimness .... not so much. I think Mel said that, right?

Well according to BMI, I am obese.

Personally I think that BMI is meaningless. Losing another thirty pounds or so for a healthy BMI is unrealistic quite simply because I don't have thirty pounds of fat on me to lose! The last time my weight was in the 150s was as a pre-teen (and I wasn't overweight then).

I don't have a large frame, strength train, or have a lot of fat. But my weight has always been near 200 when I am at a healthy size. It's just the way I'm built.

That's why many health professionals are chucking BMI and using waist-to-hip ratio instead. I'm obese BMI-wise, but I have an ideal waist-to-hip ratio (0.69).

And no matter how hard I try, I will never wear a single digit size simply because I have large hips and boobs. Unless of course the manufacturer does some extreme vanity sizing.

BMI was created in the 1800s and the U.S. goverment has since then revised downward what is considered a healthy weight. So its usefulness is dubious at best.

It's all about how you look and feel. I certainly don't look 191 pounds and I'm fit with lots of energy. The reason why I advertise my weight/size is to hopefully help someone else out there like me not feel so alone.

It can be a downer sometimes when your goal weight is someone else's starting weight or when it seems like everyone else is wearing a size 6. But everyone isn't built the same and that's why something like a weight chart or BMI is lousy at determining health.

I sincerely hope I don't upset anyone here, but someone's comment that they are a healthy weight at 200 pounds does not seem possible unless you are 6 feet tall and have been hardcore weight lifting for decades. Maybe we view what is a healthy weight based on the people that live in our area, but that does not mean the norm is healthy. Not that we all need to be celebrity thin (and I personally find curves, especially when the body is toned with muscles, more sexy than having zero fat), and we must all be realistic in our weightloss goals, but why stop there if you've got healthy weightloss down pat (calorie counting, eating healthy and working out). Apparently even 30 pounds overweight is extremely unhealthy, with that intramuscular fat that surrounds our organs (and that ommentum that Dr. Oz showed on Oprah sending signals to the liver or something like that). Anyway, I'm the first one to know how hard weightloss is and for those losing over 100 pounds seems extremely daunting so I can see why people are setting their goals perhaps at a higher weight than is considered healthy. These people on here are very impressive to me to even be trying and I suspect some will revise their goal weight as they progress. Now, what was my point? I ranted and forgot!

I just thought it was kinda neat to see my progress. I started out at the 77th percentile! I take all the BMI calculators with a grain of salt anyway, I don't think it's a great measurement of overall health. For me, it was just a "heh, kinda neat" site, not a "wow, this completely defines my weight loss success."

I've seen that website before, the part I think is really fascinating is this link:

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

It is completely fascinating (to me, at least) to see how one's current weight determines one's goal weight, it completely matched my own experience. When I weighed 200 lbs, my goal was 150 lbs (the average weight goal for a 35 year old, 200 lb woman is 157 lbs - according to the site). I couldn't imagine ever weighing less than 150 lbs, much less maintaining at less than 150 lbs.

When I reached 150 lbs, my goal was 135 lbs (the average weight goal for a 35 year old, 150 lb woman is 137 lbs - according to the site).

Now that I am maintaining at 128 and my top goal is 130, it still matches the average "ideal weight goal" - 129 lbs.

I just think that is fascinating!!!

What I find interesting is that there's a link to a separate BMI calculator page for men here http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/av.htm which is the same except the web page is in a more manly grey color and there's no mention of comparing your weight to your friends!