Whats your BMI (body mass index)

Ditch Witch

Wow, do you have trouble getting clothes? It seems to me (being on the other end of the BMI scale ) that clothes manufacturers are a bit lame at realizing women come in sizes other than 10-14

Kitty

Ditch Witch wrote:

Wow, do you have trouble getting clothes? It seems to me (being on the other end of the BMI scale ) that clothes manufacturers are a bit lame at realizing women come in sizes other than 10-14

Yeah, trousers are the worst really but general most clothes are a pain.

supersonic

Mine used to be in the teens when I was 9 stone and 6ft.

Ditch Witch

My son is like that; a real beanpole, always has been.

We used to wait until we went to the states to visit my family to buy his clothes because they do children's clothes in different waist sizes (slim, normal, husky ).

To this day he struggles to find jeans that are small enough in the waist yet long enough in the leg.

Is it wrong to laugh when I give him a heavy box to carry to the car and his trousers fall down in the road?

:oops:

(I'm going to hell )

KonaMiniMula1

supersonic wrote:

Mine used to be in the teens when I was 9 stone and 6ft.

Yeh I know what you mean. I'm 14, 6'2 and almost 12 stone. Pain to get clothes that actually fit.

Ditch Witch

Yeah, but you young'uns wear your jeans down round your ass these days, don't you?


[/grumpy old woman]

Jayske

19

Kiblams

30.5 here. I realy hate BMI as a measurement.

TimesLikeThese

Hi, got a question for you guys....
We've kind of established that the traditional height/weight calculations of bmi are way off but what about these Tanita bodyfat % scales that use an electric pulse to measure bodyfat?

Ditch Witch

I have one. Body fat is a much better way of measuring BUT remember that any food you consume will immediately affect your rating.

e.g. Lots of people on diet forums say, "ooo! Drinking lots of water lowers your body fat!" based on their body fat scales because they drink 3 litres of water and their bf% drops.


Nooooooooooooo, drinking water (or eating a pizza for that matter) lowers your BF percentage, not your actual body fat (in lbs). So, you weigh 80 kilos and have 25% body fat, that's 20 kilos of fat. Drink 2 litres of water, you now weigh 82kg, but you still have 20 kilos of fat. The scales will, in theory, say your BF% is 24%. See?

However, that's quibbling over 1% fat, but the principle is the same. The other "issue" is that they measure resistance to electrical impulses. The less hydrated you are, the more inaccurate the reading as it will mistake muscle for fat (or vice versa, can never remember).


Still hell and gone better than BMI but don't get too hung up on the numbers

TimesLikeThese

Lol - nope not getting hung up on numbers at all. I know I'm a fat git whatever tells me!
But if I were to get depressed it would be due to these scales telling me I've got about 20% MORE bodyfat than the bmi calculation!
meh whatever - its going the right way and my health is improving drastically.

And your example is the type of reason why I hate 'diet' sites. So illogical and they cant interpret the science correctly. Plus biking is so much fun and burns so many cals!

elPedro666

fifty/fifty at a guess...

TimesLikeThese

elPedro666 wrote:

fifty/fifty at a guess...

Since I've already posted it in another thread - not too hard a guess!
So allegedly from 53% down to 47% in the last 5 weeks.

edit - thats IF you are replying to me and not just stating yourself....

elPedro666

No that was me - I wouldn't be so cheeky... :P

Surf-Matt

TimesLikeThese wrote:

Hi, got a question for you guys....
We've kind of established that the traditional height/weight calculations of bmi are way off but what about these Tanita bodyfat % scales that use an electric pulse to measure bodyfat?

They are a bit random TBH. I know people who did PR for them so had access to them - they'd be + or - 10% sometimes!

It's hard to know for sure but averaging many methods, I've worked out what I think it about right.

If you have a six pack, you are under 12%.

TimesLikeThese

+/-10%
Thats very interesting
I seem to get a 2% fluctuation day by day despite measuring at the same time and in the same state of hydration etc - but thats to be expected.
And the last time I had a six pack anywhere other than in the fridge was in my teens!!

Chaz.Harding

Hehe!

Just put my details in on the NHS website, im 24.8!!! 0.2 under the overweight section!! For the first time in many many years!!

I'm 21, 186cm (6'1''), and quite muscular. I've noticed a few people who have trouble finding clothes to fit too! I have 28'' thighs, and a 32'' waist. So finding jeans is a bloody nightmare...

Grrr...

But am happy the NHS thinks I'm healthy...

gaz047

just in on the nhs calculator 176cm 76kg, bmi 24.5
bloody hell i'd blow away in the wind if i dropped any weight!
what a load of sh"te!

The Northern Monkey

Surf-Matt wrote:

TimesLikeThese wrote:

Hi, got a question for you guys....
We've kind of established that the traditional height/weight calculations of bmi are way off but what about these Tanita bodyfat % scales that use an electric pulse to measure bodyfat?

They are a bit random TBH. I know people who did PR for them so had access to them - they'd be + or - 10% sometimes!

It's hard to know for sure but averaging many methods, I've worked out what I think it about right.

If you have a six pack, you are under 12%.

Bioelectrical impedance (the scientific name for using electricity to calculate BF%) isn't very accurate. Results can vary mainly due to hydration status of the individual, along with many other factors.

Calipers can be more accurate, but there is a million and 1 different "methods" and they all give varying results.

Using a bod-pod is the gold standard of measuring body fat % however it costs £30K.

I have used all the above methods to measure my own body fat % for my degree... bio-impedance and caliper measures varied drastically over 3 repeated tests. The bod-pod was significantly accurate for all 3 tests.

Surf-Matt

Ben - interesting! I've average all the methods out several times and come up with the same sort of answer but also thing you can tell (roughly) with a few pointers - just by looking.
Stuff like how much your veins stick out, how defined your stomach and arms are, etc.

militiacore

Calipers are probably the most accurate still using the 7 site system advocated by Charles Poliquin which it what any professional nutritionist or trainer will go by. There's a special course to go on specifically for this and you need to use decent calipers to get precise measurements.

Vaudevillevillain

30.1 BMI and technically obese!

To be honest dont feel it, but I would like to lose a little weight. At 6'4' and 17st 9lbs I carry it well, its mainly stomach and chest fat that needs to go. I ride a lot and recently ran a 10K so am not unfit at all.

This system does seem too general and quite a bit mis-leading.

Graydawg

yes!!! BMI is now down to 26.2 - still overweight - need another 11lbs off my total weight to be in the good catagory!!!

that would put me at 6ft 4ins and 204lbs (14st 7lbs)

tlw1

24.6

Just in healthy - without losing a leg I can't see myself getting to lower levels!

MilitantGraham

BMI = 29.5

I'm quite proud of the fact that at 46 years of age and only 4kg away from obesity I can consistently finish in the top half in mountain bike marathons.

According to my GPS I used 9300 Kcal finishing 34th out of 69 solo men in last weekend's Bristol Bike Fest.

Do you have any idea how much a 100kg vegan endurance athlete eats ?

Ditch Witch

I have to be honest, I'm curious how you can even get to 100kg as vegan But if that's you in your avi, you're hardly obese.

MilitantGraham

Yeah, cos when you look at vegan animals, like cart horses, heffalumps and rhinoceroseseses, they're all really skinny.

Off topic now, but I'm not going to miss an opportunity to correct a popular misconception about vegans.

Picture of me messing about posing.. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3559/3503048643_aa8a34c4ce.jpg
Not quite a racing snake, but not a proper salad dodger either.

Vegan bodybuilders. http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=galleries

Vegan strength table. http://www.veganfitness.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17067 I'm way down at No.70 (Big Good Wolf. Like the Big Bad Wolf, but I don't eat pigs)

Whole thread full of pictures of vegans doing all sorts of sports. http://www.veganfitness.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17622

There's nothing you can get from an omnivorous diet that you can't get from a vegan one.
Apart from chloesterol, e. coli., salmonella, etc. :P

Ditch Witch

You don't have to preach to me; "some of my best friends are vegans"


Seriously, though, I know a lot of vegans and I doubt a single one of them is over 70kg. They're not athletes, though. So, if it's muscle, then I get it.

The Northern Monkey

militiacore wrote:

Calipers are probably the most accurate still using the 7 site system advocated by Charles Poliquin which it what any professional nutritionist or trainer will go by. There's a special course to go on specifically for this and you need to use decent calipers to get precise measurements.

A sports nutritionist would use either bioelectrical impedance or the bod pod. Calipers take too long.

Also, read through some journals and you will find that its difficult to find many that use the same technique. Yes there is a preferred method, but its still no where near as accurate as the bod pod.

Also caliper measurements can be VERY easily biased by human error. How do you know you've got the caliper in the exact same position each week that BF% is tested? What if its a different nutritionist? what if what if what if... too many if's with calipers!

I know for sure that both the professional sports nutritionists I know would rather use bioelectrical impedance because its quick, rules out human error and when the same machine is used, accuracy between tests will be similar. Other than that they'll use a bodpod.

Ditch Witch

But doesn't bioelectrical impedance suffer from some of the same pitfalls as scales?

I mean, basically, you're weighing yourself (including everything you've eaten in the last 24 hours) and BI is just trying to work out, using resistance, what is fat and what isn't.

So, drink 500ml of water and your BF% goes down.

Calipers don't care what's in your stomach.