BMI....Explain

[Pie4me]

Info please...


I am a female that is 5'9 and weighs 140 pounds. My weight for my
height is more than fine. Does that mean my BMI is fine also since
I am not over weight?

Can I weigh 140 and still have too much "fat" on my body?
If so, how do I get rid of it and not loose anymore weight?

Looking for some answers here.....

Pie4me

[Kent]

Re: BMI....Explain

The BMI is one of the worst indicators of fitness that was ever developed. It simply is a glorified height-weight chart that takes no account for frame or muscle mass. A much better indicator of fitness although more difficult to be accurate is Body Fat %. Only that way you are going to know if you are 140 with 30% BF or 20% BF with muscles weighing you down. I am under average for BF, but still listed in the obese category by BMI.

Go to Mybodycomp.com and get a reasonable idea of your BF %, and that way you will have a better idea than BMI will ever give you. A better indicator would be a combination of BF % and exercise performance to get a more complete picture.

[Lyssie]

Re: BMI....Explain

You can get a full body scan which would actually show where your bones are, muscles are, and fat areas are in a picture kinda thingie which I believe is considered the most accurate to evaluate BF and BMI, if you use a calculator online to figure out your bmi, it uses a general average, it doesn't take into account your frame size or muscle mass. I'm not sure if they would have it near you.

You can weigh 140 and have too much fat on your body. I know a girl who's your height and about 135-140, who actually looks like she weighs more than that just because she doesn't have very good muscle tone/definition. If you feel like you look fat, my advice would be to go to the gym and do some weight training, it might make you gain a couple pounds, but it'll make you look leaner and that's what matters.