Friday weigh in thread (suns out guns out challenge 8/31/2025)

#4,201
#4,201
Is BMI the worst indicator of health that people use? I went today for a health screening for my insurance and measured at 5'-11" and 229. I run 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week at an 11:45 pace and also hit the gym 2-4 times per week and am fairly muscular. I was told I am obese and unheatlhy. I have to go to a "health training" to be trained by a woman that is 5'8" and around 220. She's going to be the one giving me pointers about health. Sorry for the rant but BMI a ridiculous indicator of true health.
 
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#4,202
#4,202
itsme said:
Is BMI the worst indicator of health that people use? I went today for a health screening for my insurance and measured at 5'-11" and 229. I run 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week at an 11:45 pace and also hit the gym 2-4 times per week and am fairly muscular. I was told I am obese and unheatlhy. I have to go to a "health training" to be trained by a woman that is 5'8" and around 220. She's going to be the one giving me pointers about health. Sorry for the rant but BMI a ridiculous indicator of true health.
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Click on this link:
Why BMI is inaccurate and misleading

Dr Margaret Ashwell, an independent consultant and former science director of the British Nutrition Foundation, explained at the 19th Congress on Obesity in Lyon, France, May 2012, that waist-to-height ratio is a superior predictor than BMI7 of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Ashwell said “Keeping your waist circumference to less than half your height can help increase life expectancy for every person in the world.”

Thus a 6ft-tall man should have a waist circumference of 36 inches or less, while a 5ft 4in woman’s waist should not exceed 32 inches.

The waist-to-height ratio should be considered as a screening tool, Ashwell added.

Ashwell explained that BMI does not take into account the distribution of fat around the body. Abdominal fat affects organs like the kidney, liver and heart more severely than fat around the bottom or hips. Waist circumference gives an indication of abdominal fat levels.

Dr. Ashwell and colleagues believe that the thought “keep your waist circumference to less half your height” is an easier one to hold on to that BMI.
 
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#4,203
#4,203
itsme said:
Is BMI the worst indicator of health that people use? I went today for a health screening for my insurance and measured at 5'-11" and 229. I run 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week at an 11:45 pace and also hit the gym 2-4 times per week and am fairly muscular. I was told I am obese and unheatlhy. I have to go to a "health training" to be trained by a woman that is 5'8" and around 220. She's going to be the one giving me pointers about health. Sorry for the rant but BMI a ridiculous indicator of true health.
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Are you military or law enforcement? Those are the only professions I’ve seen that care about BMI.

Also, yes, BMI is trash. I saw a guy get kicked out of a military course because he was “obese.” Except he was a professional bodybuilder too and had won multiple competitions.
 
#4,204
#4,204
WestTennesseeVol said:
Are you military or law enforcement? Those are the only professions I’ve seen that care about BMI.

Also, yes, BMI is trash. I saw a guy get kicked out of a military course because he was “obese.” Except he was a professional bodybuilder too and had won multiple competitions.
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No, my wife is a teacher and it's for lower insurance rates. 34" waist but I have huge muscular legs (calves are 18" circumference, thighs are around 28") with little to no fat. Fairly thick up top too. I am just a big framed guy.
 
#4,205
#4,205
itsme said:
No, my wife is a teacher and it's for lower insurance rates. 34" waist but I have huge muscular legs (calves are 18" circumference, thighs are around 28") with little to no fat. Fairly thick up top too. I am just a big framed guy.
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Based on what I read after clicking on the link, your measurements are within the healthy threshold.
I would imagine that blood work would be a better indicator of your current health.
 
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#4,206
#4,206
itsme said:
Is BMI the worst indicator of health that people use? I went today for a health screening for my insurance and measured at 5'-11" and 229. I run 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week at an 11:45 pace and also hit the gym 2-4 times per week and am fairly muscular. I was told I am obese and unheatlhy. I have to go to a "health training" to be trained by a woman that is 5'8" and around 220. She's going to be the one giving me pointers about health. Sorry for the rant but BMI a ridiculous indicator of true health.
Click to expand...

BMI is way too simplistic to measure a person’s healthy body composition. For an average person trying to get in shape, BMI might be a helpful measurement. But when body builder’s, who have 4% body fat, can be considered obese when using the BMI measurement, you know it’s not reliable. Body fat percentage is a much better indicator of a healthy body composition, but it is much more difficult to calculate than BMI.
 
#4,207
#4,207
KoachKrab127 said:
BMI is way too simplistic to measure a person’s healthy body composition. For an average person trying to get in shape, BMI might be a helpful measurement. But when body builder’s, who have 4% body fat, can be considered obese when using the BMI measurement, you know it’s not reliable. Body fat percentage is a much better indicator of a healthy body composition, but it is much more difficult to calculate than BMI.
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Even if you arent a body builder. If you have a higher concentration of mass anywhere above normal you will be obese.

I would look like Adonis if I was "healthy". But with BMI I am considered borderline obese at even 5'11 210. Who knew that with a 34" waist and 5'11 I am obese....
 
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#4,208
#4,208
ABINGDON VOL FAN said:
2/14/21 257.1
12/31/21 165.0 (92.1)

3/4/22 164.5. Maintaining so far
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3/11 161.9 (2.6) I’m surprised by the weight loss this week. I averaged about 2650 calories intake and only exercised two days. 🤷‍♂️

Edit: probably Ukraine war news and all the reports of nuclear war. It’s not good for the psyche to listen to that all day long. Nothing I can do about it anyway.
 
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#4,210
#4,210
itsme said:
Is BMI the worst indicator of health that people use? I went today for a health screening for my insurance and measured at 5'-11" and 229. I run 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week at an 11:45 pace and also hit the gym 2-4 times per week and am fairly muscular. I was told I am obese and unheatlhy. I have to go to a "health training" to be trained by a woman that is 5'8" and around 220. She's going to be the one giving me pointers about health. Sorry for the rant but BMI a ridiculous indicator of true health.
Click to expand...
I believe BMI was developed using a model of the way people were 70 years ago when strength training was not a significant percentage of the population. It’s laughable here in the one example given where a person has to go to weight mgt counseling for insurance purposes. Kind of like some of the COVID protocols we have seen the last couple of years.!
 
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#4,215
#4,215
Reminds me of some of the stories on this thread. Abingdon, KoachKrab.
Very impressive!
The Diet and Workout That Helped Me Lose 150 Pounds in 7 Months
“I lost a more than 150 pounds in eight months, reaching my lowest ever weight of 169 pounds. I also lowered my body fat from 50 percent to just 13 percent.”
 
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#4,219
#4,219
VolFaninFla said:
Reminds me of some of the stories on this thread. Abingdon, KoachKrab.
Very impressive!
The Diet and Workout That Helped Me Lose 150 Pounds in 7 Months
“I lost a more than 150 pounds in eight months, reaching my lowest ever weight of 169 pounds. I also lowered my body fat from 50 percent to just 13 percent.”
Click to expand...

That's a great story, and it does remind me of my own weight loss journey, although quite a bit more extreme, as I was never close to over 300 pounds. But the chronic foot pain and gaining significant weight during 2020, I can relate to that. Good for him.
 
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#4,220
#4,220
July 9 - 219
July 16 - 218
July 23 - 215
July 30 - 210
August 6 - 212 (no this week - vacation)
August 13 - 210
August 20 - 207
August 27 - 206
Sept 3 - 203
Sept 10 - 201
Sept 17 - 200
Sept 24 - 198 (first time I've been under 200 since 2009)
Oct 1 - 195
Oct 8. - 192
Oct 15. - 191
Oct. 22 - 189
Oct. 29 - 187
Nov. 5 - 185
Nov. 12 - 182
Nov. 19 - 181
Nov. 26 - 180 (couldn't believe I still lost weight after Thanksgiving...very pleased).
Dec. 3 - 177
Dec. 10 - 176
Dec. 17 - 175
Dec. 24 - 175
Dec. 31 - 175
Jan 7 - 174
Jan 14 - 173
Jan 21 - 172
Jan 28 - 170
Feb. 4 - 169
Feb 11 - 169
Feb 18 - 168
Feb 25 - 168
Mar 4 - 167
Mar 11 - 166.6
March 18 - 161.3 --> ???!??!?

Ok, so...

It has been a pretty crazy week. I went from losing virtually no weight at all to suddenly dropping over 5 pounds this week. What gives? Is this good or worrisome? Well, over the past few weeks, I have made a few changes to my fitness regimen.

Starting 3 weeks ago, I began calorie cycling. I was eating about 2000 calories every day. Now, I'm eating about 1800 calories per day on Monday-Friday and about 2400 calories per day on Saturday and Sunday. This helps with preventing your metabolism from slowing down.

I also visited the doctor 2 weeks ago, because I had been experiencing pain in my mid back, just below both shoulder blades. She gave me some prednisone and muscle relaxers and also encouraged me to walk more. So I have been making sure to get my 10,000 steps in per day in addition to my weight-lifting.

To make sure I walk more, I have stopped doing high-intensity interval training exercises, and instead now do low-intensity steady state exercises (which I definitely prefer anyway). Twice a week, on days when I don't lift, I was doing about 30 minutes of all-out cardio exercises with short periods of rest. Unfortunately, this might have caused the pain in my back I was talking about. I don't believe my muscles were recovering well when I did this routine. Instead of HIIT, I now do a brisk walk uphill on a treadmill and Stairmaster for an hour on days I don't lift. For HIIT, I'd get my heart rate up to about 170. For LISS, I try to keep it just below 130 the whole hour.

I'm guessing a combination of all these factors account for my weight loss. Also, my body could have just been a bit heavy when I weighed myself on March 11th. Maybe my true weight was closer to 164 or 163. Weight does fluctuate afterall. I am confident in this 161 right now, though, because I have weighed myself every day this week. It is almost time for me to begin eating to maintain my weight instead of losing weight. I'm really looking forward to slightly larger portions! Keep grinding, everybody!
 
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#4,224
#4,224
LouderVol said:
203.4, -2.6. Doing a Spartan Race this weekend. First time doing any type of running competition since high school. Mostly focused on finishing not winning at this point.
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205.6 +2.2, not surprised or disappointed. After my spartan race last week I was donzo, and couldnt even contemplate doing any exercise until thursday, and this is my last week at my current job so there has been some drinking and celebrating.

Next week should be much better.
 
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