Recently the wife and I underwent minute clinic physicals (for life insurance purposes). My Doc measured me, took some blood; then sat me down. She politely explained that yes, I am still 6’2″, that my blood markers were solid, and according to BMI (Body mass index) charts I am the new face of obesity.
Come again?
My measurements:
- 6’2″
- 204 lbs
- 32″ (same as in high school).
- 12-13% body fat
- I can still run a five minute mile (if only when I’m being chased).
What is BMI?
Developed by Belgian statistician Lambert Adolphe Quetelet during the 1830’s (yes, almost 200 years ago), BMI described the “average man”. The government used BMI to estimate obesity rates in the general population.
You calculate Body Mass Index using a person’s height and weight. Use the the formula BMI = kg/m2 (kg is a person’s weight in kilograms and m2 is their height in meters squared) to find your number.
Doctors consider scores between 18.5 to 24.9 healthy. Meanwhile a BMI of 25.0 or more ranks as overweight.
My BMI is 26.2
Presently I measure 12.4% body fat percentage.
BMI measures categorize basically anyone with muscle (which is denser than fat; throwing off the equation) as overweight. That means:
- Tom Brady: Overweight.
- Usain Bolt: Overweight.
- Me: Overweight.
You’re thinking one of those names above doesn’t belong with the other two. Fine. Brady’s out; he never ran track.
So I’m a little worked up over a useless standard of health/beauty with no scientific value.
Insurance companies, looking for any excuse to charge more money on their premiums, must love their precious BMI. This wonky measurement lets them charge healthy people like me significantly more each year.
Advertising and Insecurity
Advertising digs for pain/insecurity. Healthy people obviously don’t need workout plans or diets? You need to buy this gadget so you can lose that last 5 lbs, lower your cholesterol, or your BMI. You’re told this so someone can sell you their weight loss program, their diet plan, or their workout (or charge you more for insurance).
Fit is, obviously, a fitness business. Business needs customers. How can we sell fitness without contributing to this negative and misleading copy? Seriously?
I feel shady pushing the you’re overweight and need to lose 5 lbs angle; disingenuous pushing the ‘you’re perfect the way you are’ angle.
How ’bout this
Getting fit has been the most powerful experience (aside from my son’s birth) of my life. As Bill Bowerman (played by Donald Sutherland) says in the film Without Limits: ‘Running, one might say, is basically an absurd past time upon which to be exhausting ourselves; but if you can find meaning in the kind of running it takes to be on this team chances are you’ll find meaning in another absurd pastime: Life.’
Now sub in Fitness/training/yoga for running: they’re all “absurd past times”.
Stop worrying about the scale. Set a goal, then Lift; Run; Stretch; Breathe. Find something out about yourself. Find meaning. Make the workout about that, not the number on the scale.
That’s #facts from an obese trainer.