DISCUSS: Is BMI 20 - 22 a realistic target?

blue_grapefruit

Gold Member
Right, im gunna start this one off - sorry in advance for any confrontation this causes.

When i was discussing my target with my CDC i settled for 9st 7lbs as my first target which will take me to BMI 25. According to my height, my BMI 20 - 25 will be 7st 10 - 9st 7.

I see a lot of tickers with different targets - some with "mini targets" (like mine), some with targets to "see what i feel like when i get there" (like STBG :)) and some with their final targets.

Do you think being BMI 20 - 22 is realistic? After all, seen so many maintainers on here (can think of 2 in particular) that lost weight down to a point, and actually settled about a stone or so above that weight cos they found it so hard to maintain.

If i go by a BMR calculator and put my details at BMI 20 in then my total calorie intake for a day should be 1308 :eek: Thats less than the final plan on CD, which means should i get there i'd gain weight slowly over time!!!

This is the one i used: BMR Calculator


DISCUSS!
 
Its tricky one - there are so many points to consider Leah the first and foremost is that it is a guide. No 2 bodies are built the same, you could be a 9 stone athlete short athlete with muscle density who's a size 6-8.... I think that as long as you are within the healthy range then thats fine.
I think its a good idea to have a weight range say from 8st 10lbs to 9st 4lbs - then you know once you go over then you need to cut back.
As you get smaller you may find you feel fitter and do more actively again this will help.
I know its hard when you are not at goal to have a final goal as there's no point but always remember that goal posts need to be moved if necessary xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Isn't the BMR calorie intake what you would burn doing nothing at all though? So just moving around normally - even walking about the house would up what you can have? As for the BMI20-22 thing - I'm not sure. I know in the past when I have lost weight and been BMI 26 I have been a size 12 - any lower is unknown territory - I think some people look great at a lower BMI and indeed recent medical reports suggest that the lower end of the BMI scale is significantly healthier than being over BMI 23 but I also think people can look way too thin right down at BMI 20. I think it depends on height, where you carry weight etc which is why I am just seeing how I go. I know I want to get under 25 as that is the healthy range and I started this diet with a view to getting healthy but I will probably go down to at least BMI 23.

Right now getting back on my restart would be good! Half a day done and still glugging away!
Kerrie x
 
Great thread Leah.

I too had the same concern about going lower and I think my guide weight range is the same as yours Leah. I always originally aimed for BMI25 so that I would at the very least be within the healthy range. Upon reaching the target I reassessed whether I wanted to go lower. Now, in an ideal world another stone off would be marvellous but the questions I asked myself were, why do I want that extra stone off? would I really look that different? am I unhappy with the way I look now? could I reallistically maintain it and even if I could would I have any quality of life? Answering these questions helped me make the decision to remain just within the BMI25, healthy but hopefully still able to eat a well balanced diet without feeling like I am constantly on a diet.

Gxx
 
I think it's an individual thing again Leah. I am like u and that is my ideal weight range but I know that if I got down to 8 stone I would look "wrong", too thin I think. I have had three kids and I know that makes a difference. I am just playing by ear really and aiming for BMI 25 to start with and then make a decision. Having seen the piccies of Porgeous she is very similar in her stats to me, I would be happy looking like she does now. Therefore I think my answer to your questions would be take it a step at a time and make decisions based on how you feel and where you are on your weight scale/clothes size. I think trying to second guess where we will be at the "end of the journey" is too difficult to call
 
I think its personal choice for me my healthy bmi 25 is 12 stone 10 , if i wanted to have bmi 20 it would be 10stone 3 . Now my frame is large as my shoulders are really broad (brick s*** house springs to mind) so at 10stone 3 I would look v skinny at 5ft 11 and too small for my frame. I know of ladies my height with smaller frames that look fine at that weight but not for me, plus my mum would feed me as she thinks 12 stone is too small.

julesrush
cdc norwich
 
I think it depends on the person. My ideal goal of 8 stone 13 means i would have to eat 1367 to maintain. If i get down to 10 stone 2 (which is what i've been before) then i could have 1442. People have said that i'd look to thin if i got down to just under 9 stone, but i think i'm just gonna see how i feel when i hit ten stone first and then decide.
 
Hiya, Just copied this from Leah's link


Harris Benedict FormulaTo determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:
  1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
  2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
  3. If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
  4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
  5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9


If I were BMI 21ish, I would need about 2000 calories per day. That sounds OK I think eh?
 
By the way, my lil opinion is that BMI 20-22 is too LOW for me. On the other hand, my dearest OH is at 17.9 and probably eats around 4000 cals a day. He is simply naturally thin and has a hugely fast metabolism (you can hear his belly rumbling and his hair grows so so quickly it's scary).
 
well I'm rather small framed and petite. Hence why mine is low. I just figured out that even though I have gained weight, since 2005 I have managed to keep off 30.4 lbs woo me.. I think its down to whatever suits you I guess. Size 12 doesn't suit me imo.I'm still classed as overweight even as a size 12!
 
I am currently bmi 22.2, if I get to where I want to be weightwise, I will have a bmi of 20.7. I am 52, 5' 8" and my goal weight is 9st 10lbs, I am currently 10st 6lbs.
 
From photos I have seen of folks whom have gone to a BMI of 20/21/22 I have to say that most of them look scrawny.


 
Hmmmmmmmmm.

This is a tricky one, especially for people like me who have never been slim so don't know what is underneath all this fat.

As I near BMI 25 (10st 3.5lbs for me at 5'4") I feel I still have A LOT to grab hold of. My love handles are less pronounced but my thighs are still enormous (have always been a big problem for me, even my old riding instructors used to say that was what was stopping me from being good cos they got in the way!!). I still have big upper arms and a flabby belly. I know a lot of it is now about toning up, but there's still a lot of fat under the skin.

It has made me realise that I actually do have quite a dinky frame under this blubber, it's just I've never seen it before. My coping mechanism when I was bigger (which I have always been) was that I was 'big-boned'. That just made it easier for me to pretend that I wasn't as big as the scales said.

So, anyway, ticker is counting down to 9st 7lbs (BMI 22.8) but I'm sure I'll want to go lower than this. I'm now thinking of somewhere between 9st (BMI 21.6) and 8st 7lbs (BMI 20.40). Not least because there's heart disease in both sides of my family, and also because it'll make so many things in my life much easier, including my riding, swimming, running etc. I don't want to feel so damned tired all the time from carrying this fat suit around all day.

I calculated my BMR as 1381.7 at 9st, which puts my daily calorie requirements between 1658 cal/day for a lazy ass doing nothing mooching day, to 2141 cal/day for my usual activity levels (But hopefully I'll do more as I get slimmer). The attitude I'm going to take to maintaining is that if I've earnt it, I can have it!!

Hope that makes sense.
 
of course though lets not forget that body fat % is more important than bmi in the long run.
you can be slim and have more dangerous body fat than a bigger person. its the fat around the heart and organs that is a danger - an overweight person could be healthier with a lower body fat % than someone at their 'ideal' weight.

At 12st my body fat is healthy, again for my age grrrrr, my waist is also under 32" which is what the recommend for healthy organs - so bmi is just a part of it - but yet i am still a slave to getting in the normal bmi range!
it's very phsychological!!!!


dancing youre quite abit taller than me, I'm just under 13stone, I think you would look slim at that weight. My doctor said I looked fine at 13stone and i'm a few inches shorter than you. At 12 stone I think you'ld be positively just right!

i also think a BMI in the middle, rather than 20 and below keeps a person looking healthy. I've seen pictures of people with very little fat and it ages them imo. A happy medium is what to aim for. Knowing where that is another matter!
 
Body fat is horrible. I was in the disection room about two months ago when the prof shouted out "good god"

They donor was BMi 21 and the amount of fat between his organs was immense! He had no room to move around in there...scary stuff

sorry about being gross :D
 
My BMI 25 weight is 12 Stone. I only have 1 more stone to go and I already feel happy with my body (apart from my legs- I'm praying this is where the last stone is going to come from!)

Although I would like to be smaller than this I don't think it would suit me. I know I will be happy as a size 12, I'm now a 14. I really think that's as far as I need to go.
 
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