Muscle vs. Fat, is weight just a number?

Hi there!

I'm 5'2 and I weigh 135 lbs.  According to CC, this is slightly overweight (although by most bmi ranges I think it's just at the top of the 'normal' range).  My measurements, however, are approx 34-28-36.  I'm certainly not skinny, but now I'm not sure, am I overweight?  I exercise a lot, and naturally have a muscular build, so maybe some of the reason my weight is high is because I have a lot of muscle?  Any thoughts?  Or is anyone else having a similar problem?

You could go to healthcentral.com and put your measurements into the home body fat calculator. That will tell you an estimate of how much of your 135 pounds is fat and how much is muscle/bone/water/etc...

BMI does not apply to muscular builds. My BMI is 35 but in reality would be closer to 26 if I had the same 140lb of lean mass that the BMI chart seems to work off of.(YEs I pulled that out of my imagination)

 

If I was 160 at my height my BMI would be 23.6. At 10% BF I would weigh 200 lbs. .5 point away from being obese in the eyes of the chart, but very low bf%. There is no way I can, without giving up muscle, attain a healthy BMI. 

 

 

The BMI is only a number some people use-----I know doctors & personal trainers that don't go by the BMI--but go by how much you work out, how you look, how you feel etc. etc. and not by the number on the scale. I think you should look at a lot of other stuff besides that scale number

I really enjoyed your math work there cstefan.  So I took the above advice of using that home body fat calculator, and apparently I have about 15% bf, which means I carry about 21 lbs of fat.  If I were to lose 15 of those pounds, my bf would drop to 5% which I think is pretty unhealthy.  Which means the only way I could get down to the BMI that CC says I should have is by losing muscle. 

And Bootser1 you are right, those other things are more important than the BMI, but they are more relative, and difficult to measure.  I'm a scientist at heart, I like numbers. 

Thanks for your helpful comments!  This totally made my day.

This makes me feel so much better. I have been fluctuating up to 3lbs a day on the scale, and haven't dropped past my lowest weight in two months, but my pants are all falling off me! I do notice how much stronger i am and how much more I can lift, lunge, ect. It bums me out to not see the numbers move that much, but losing a couple jean sizes works too!

BMI is just a guide. My boyfriend has an amazing body, he was in a body building/fitness competion a few weeks ago and got his body down to 5% fat, but being well over 200lbs and 6'3 he registers as obese on the BMI chart, and i can promise you hes most definately not.

I have a BMI of 20.5 (down 14lbs from profile picture) im 5'7 and 130lbs, my best friend/gym+weight loss buddy is 5'2 and 125lbs with a BMI of 122lbs, but compared to me she looks tiny. Impossible to think that we are only 5lbs different, theres no way ill be as slim as her in 5lbs time. Shes quite muscular (not more than normal though), but i guess that just throws the scales off

I am like this too... currently around 16% bodyfat, and I weigh 113 pounds.  I am 5 feet tall, and I can get down to about 107 pounds and still be healthy (which is around 13% bodyfat with caliper test).  The "ideal weight" range for my height according to some websites is 90-110 pounds (BMI is a little more forgiving though).

It took me a long time to realize that I'm just really muscular and I have a large frame, and being under 100 pounds and healthy is not possible.  My bodyfat % confirms this, so I would suggestthat you not use BMI as a primary determinant of how you feel about your weight.

ughhh...just went on healthcentral.com and what I thought was a bmi of under 20% is actually 23.5%!!! I am 5'8" and 126lbs...

ok, I need to work out more because I don't want to lose any more weight!

depressing...

I think you must be confused. BMI (Body Mass Index) is just a number (such as 22). Bodyfat percentage (BF%) is a percentage (such as 18%). It seems you have these two numbers confused.

after

reading all the posts above I came to a realization I think we can agree upon-or maybe not!

 

I don't think we have the technology to distinguish people with muscle mass v. fat when it comes to BMI

 

I'm not even talking about the 'pure numbers on  a scale' business.

In a few years-probably less, we'll being looking back at this time in our lives thinking how archaic our choices were(and are, right now).

I also need to believe this for pure selfish reasons.  

Since I started to workout most of my jeans fit tighter around the thighs and ass.

I think it's because my rear and thighs have been 'lifted up where they belong'.

 

Original Post by imccarthy:

I think you must be confused. BMI (Body Mass Index) is just a number (such as 22). Bodyfat percentage (BF%) is a percentage (such as 18%). It seems you have these two numbers confused.

 

OK, so how does one calculate BF%?

really, I'd like to know,

thanks!

if it helps, i weighed 102 and wore size 1 jeans when i decided it was time to get a hold of my eating disorder. ive been working with a trainer for 2 months now and gained 10 pounds. all my clothes still fit great. i still wear size 1. when we started, i was 8% body fat. i still am the same body fat. but i gained 10 freakin pounds!!!! sooo i think when you're muscular, numbers dont apply.