Lifestyle

[clancelt]

It's all perspective. I'm 6' 250 lbs, but in my group I'm one of the skinny guys ;)

Don't buy into those stupid weight charts. In my best shape I was 196 lbs and 3% body fat. I couldn't reach my "ideal weight" on the chart even if I cut a leg off. I don't know why people put so much faith in those things.

[davedove]

I have the same problems with the charts. When I was in the Army (and they are still doing this) I never made the weight check based on the charts (and I was in decent shape). However, I always passed the secondary screening which dealt more with body composition (they use a tape measure method).

Many bodybuilding types in the Army have the same problem. They have so much muscle mass that they fail the weight screening by the chart, but obviously they do not have excess body fat.

[GlassMan]

Even the BMI isn't a good guideline. The BMI is simply a mathematical equation using your weight and your height. It has absolutely nothing to do with the relationship of fat to muscle.

The actual BMI calculation according to the CDC is:

BMI = ((weight in pounds) divided by ((height in inches) times (height in inches)) all times 703.

Or to write it differently:

BMI=(weight/(height x height)) x 703

And the chart is:

BMI Weight Status
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5 – 24.9 Normal
25.0 – 29.9 Overweight
30.0 and Above Obese

So a bodybuilder who has is all muscle and not an ounce of fat weighing 255 but who stands only 5' 5" would have a BMI of 42.4 and be categorized as Obese, even dangerously obese. But a person 5' 8" tall weighing 190 pounds has a BMI of 28.9 and be simply Overweight even though their body fat is 36% and at a dangerously high level.

While I understand the need for a simple equation for people to use on their own, I personally put my faith in the Body Fat Percentage instead. Now I think you really meant Body Fat Percentage in your statement, UmAnOnion, since that truly is the relationship between Fat and your total weight. I'm glad to have a doctor now that uses that method, even though it shows that I'm in dangerous territory! I like to know where I really stand.

[Shay]

I go to the gym every day... well, I try to anyway- it usually ends up being 4-5 days a week, with home workouts if I can't go out.

And I use the cheststrap heartrate monitor to measure my progress, which I would highly recommend, since you know exactly how hard your body is working. I think mine was about $50 with a watch that will tell me what my HR is and where I should be keeping it. After about 8 months of going to the gym, I've started really noticing a difference in how I feel every day.

I also think that 'losing weight' is a misnomer- I've put on some muscle and lost some fat, but I still weigh basically the same- I'm just smaller around the hips and middle.

[davedove]

I also think that 'losing weight' is a misnomer- I've put on some muscle and lost some fat, but I still weigh basically the same- I'm just smaller around the hips and middle.

That's a very important point Shay. Muscle weighs more than fat, so some people could actually work out and GAIN weight. A much better indicator is how you feel and how your clothes fit.

[KiltedKnight]

Those weight charts are rediculous. When I was 17 I enlisted in the Army and weighed 166 and at 5'8" that's what the charts said I should weight, three years later I returned from Viet Nam at 195 at 5'8" and anyone who served in Nam knows you didn't get fat there since you were always running and generally carrying more than your body weight in weapons, ammo and the like. I have never weighed less than that since. I'm 220 now and need to get back to something other that 220.

Chris.

[UmAnOnion]

While I understand the need for a simple equation for people to use on their own, I personally put my faith in the Body Fat Percentage instead. Now I think you really meant Body Fat Percentage in your statement, UmAnOnion, since that truly is the relationship between Fat and your total weight. I'm glad to have a doctor now that uses that method, even though it shows that I'm in dangerous territory! I like to know where I really stand.

Yeah thats what i meant - its been a long while since i had to chase after anybody with the calipers & I guess my mind is overflowing with tartans and sporrans and kilts (oh my) so the stuff i learned way back when for my Aerobics instructor certification has fallen by the wayside

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

I'll have to agree with everyone on the charts. I am 6' 3" and 225 right now. The lightest I have ever been since becoming an adult was 195, and I think I was too thin at that point and my wife agrees. Now, I did have much less muscle at that point. However, right now, I think that I might have 5-10 extra pounds hanging around my waist. I have stepped up my workouts over the past few months, and I have gone from 220 to 225. And my waist has shrunk.
And doing the BMI calculation (thanks Glassman) I am well into the overweight range and heading to obese, but I am not there, and I think that any of my pictures would confirm that. It is just not possible to easily come up with a "standard" weight for all of the body type out there.

[GlassMan]

its been a long while since i had to chase after anybody with the calipers

Ooooo! Sounds kinky! :rolleyes:

[Andrew Breecher]

I'm about to do a little workout of hiking 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada.

I'm doing all I can now to gain as much weight as I can so I have some body fat to lose as I begin my calorie deficit.

Andrew.