Last weekend, I was showing the bf the BMI Project to more completely illustrate to him what complete hooey BMI is.
To further my point, I decided to guestimate my own BMI. I know I’m about a size and a half bigger than I was in the mid-summer when I was lasted weighed at a doc’s visit. I don’t keep a scale in the house, so I don’t know exactly how much I weigh. This summer, I fell into the “normal” part of a woman’s weight range for my height. A size and maybe a little more bigger… and I am near obese. The bf nearly choked on his own tongue. I got the usual, “You don’t look like that!!” Yeah, well neither did a lot of the folks in the BMI project look like their classification. 😉 He then went on to make sure I wasn’t completely crushed by this discovery and still felt cute and sexy. He’s a real keeper – no doubt.
The next day I was a) a little shocked that I wasn’t completely devasted to be some small percentage from obese and b) I was a little scared. Why scared? Well… many reasons – most of them not good ones.
In the past, when I was weight/thin obsessed and saw fat as a moral issue, learning something like this could cause some major binging, depression and wearing sweats every day. I went through a day of being a bit nervous about potential irrational reactions on my part. A little voice in my head popped up to remind me that FAT IS SO UNHEALTHY… ZOMG!! Fortunately, I was able to challenge it quickly and effectively.
Today, I am relieved to be free of the scam that is BMI. Number me however you want, you ignorant, pseudo-science, “health” measure. I am still me. I am still awesome. I am beautiful and smart and caring. I am the pet lover who walks her cats several times a day. I am the girl who loves to throw out bizarre non-sequitors in awkwardly silent moments to lighten the mood (for example… “ummm… when I was older…. (fades to confused murmur…)” LOL). I am still a living being of value. I am still loveable and worthy of respect. Nothing has changed except for what some closed-minded and otherwise ignorant folks who are hung-up on the BMI scam will think of me… and why do I care what they think anyway? Right! I don’t!
The really neat bit is that I feel a whole lot healthier than I did over the summer AND I’M FATTER. Don’t you know that fat is unhealthy? Well, I feel way healthier. I have way more energy, hunger isn’t nearly as urgent when hunger happens and I feel more sturdy in terms of me not getting colds/flu all the time. Either there are less bugs going around or my immune system has improved. I’m betting on the improvement.
I used to have this phobia of fat (like many people do) where if I was anywhere near the “obese” category that I couldn’t possibly be sexy, beautiful or cute. It is funny to me that some years ago that if you had told me that I would be this fat that I prolly would’ve considered suicide, but, today, I feel sexier than I ever have in my entire life. It’s funny how that works.
My “professional” recommendation (yeah… I know… I’m finance professional, but still 😉 ) is to love your fat and give BMI and weight charts (and their ridiculous ilk) the finger.
–AngryGrayRainbows
Angry Gray Rainbows 
angrygrayrainbows…heh..LOVE it!!
As far as BMI and I know this has been said repeatedly but do they even take into account muscle or body frame?!?!
Me thinks not..
EFF THE BMI!!!
That’s a shirt.
Nope… I know muscle is not taken into account for BMI…and in most measurements I ever saw body frame was not taken into account.
However, the way I saw body frame taken into account also made no sense. You were to see how well your thumb and forefinger circled your wrist and that determined whether you are small, medium or large framed. By that measure, I am a small frame. What I really have is small hands and slender wrists. I also have large framed hips, crazy long legs and big, muscular thighs. Not to mention my large rib cage and fairly broad shoulders. Sigh. A wrist does not measure an entire frame! Grrrr.
I love the shirt, Hot Mama. Hehehehehehehe… Welcome to AGR! Thanks for making me smile. 🙂
“…Number me however you want, you ignorant, pseudo-science, “health” measure. I am still me. ..”
*hahaha!* me too, man.
* ; )
Last time I was at my doctor’s I flat-out said “I don’t believe in BMI.” It was awesome. I was surprised at my own cajones for even saying that instead of just sitting silently.
If nothing else, my huge boobs must ad at least 10-15 pounds that wouldn’t otherwise be there.
I have to agree with you there. I know someone who swears she’s a size 8. I am a size 12. She is bigger than I am, and when she says size 8, I’m like NFW! When I was an 8, I was way smaller than she is. So I’m left shaking my damn head.
Muscle would add weight and also having heavy bones so I really don’t understand how BMI works.
Exactly. Having muscle – even if you are thin -could potentially make you obese by BMI standards. BMI also doesn’t accurately account for bone structure… like people who are actually big-boned. BMI is such a crappy measure of health.