Body Mass Index Bunk

BMI has got to be one of the stupidest things - I don't know WHO dreamed it up, though I'm sure I could find out fairly easily - but OHMIGOSH what was he (I guess it could have been a she....though it seems difficult to believe a woman could be that out to lunch)ON?!

So BMI is supposed to be an indication of your...fat status? What would you call that, anyway? There are four categories: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese, and your assignment into a category basically defines your level of health.

RIDICULOUS RIDICULOUS RIDICULOUS!! According to BMI most, probably all (the successful ones, anyway) body builders are obese. Football players are off the scale. World-class gymnasts are often classed unhealthily underweight. And on and on and on.....

Now, of course, I'm listing some seriously elite athlete types here. But the whole BMI sucks thing is actually true for a HUGE number of us regular types!! I, for example, have rather large legs, even underneath my femoral fat ;). My calves are hard as rock but I can't do up a pair of hooker boots without busting the zipper to save my soul. My BMI is less than two points from obese. What about a skinny person? It can work both ways - know any skinny skinny girls we all just hate 'cause they can eat whatever they want and still look killer in skinny-leg jeans? Have you ever seen them in shorts? Skinny skinny girls with serious cankles?? BMI may put them in the underweight or normal category, but if you were to actually look at the percentages of their lean body mass versus fat mass they'd be overweight.

How do you fix BMI? Somehow there needs to be a way to account for body composition. There's not with BMI as it stands. That's that.

Now, I'M recording my BMI for a bunch of reasons. One, it's Wii Fit's main measure. Two, I'm interested for my own sake to see just HOW thin I'd have to be to get myself into the "normal" category. Three, hoping that anyone who's stuck with it as a measure can see my regular-joe case of it being garbage and look for something better (ask your doctor for a body composition test - let me know if you want a list of what's out there!). AND there's a bunch of other reasons why I record it, but that's all I feel like inundating you with for today.

Sorry I haven't bothered to back up my claims with any scholarly anything - I'm feeling lazy at the moment. I can pull out the books, if you'd like verification, though - just leave a comment and let me know!!!

TODAY
Walked Girlie to day camp, walked to the path and I oh-so-can run the whole path and almost all the way back without stopping to talk to old people! (I wasn't being antisocial - there was no one on the trail this morning!) Soooo...walked for about 35 minutes and ran for 25.
45 minutes yogilates.

Wii Fit Measures:
Weight - 177.7 lbs
BMI - 28.56