Comments on: When you may not wish to be “normal”

By: ovpemar

ovpemar — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:51:34 +0000

“When we’re talking risk, we’re not talking about 10-20 lbs extra. To get to 40% body fat requires significant additional adiposity.”
What I can not believe!

By: Amazing new workout program

Amazing new workout program — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:58:43 +0000

GR8 Mate, Wish we had people like you in New Zealand too, this is valuable content!

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:44:38 +0000

Bin Laden doesn’t need to work on killing Americans, McDonald’s is doing the job for him. It is now considered normal to eat several cans of soda, fried foods, enriched bread and cheese. You are a freak if you eat whole grains and anything green.

By: sandy peters

sandy peters — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:47:52 +0000

What I find interesting is that I’ve recently gained 25 pounds (since I quit marathon training after an injury). I complain about how I’m just huge now, and my children are constantly telling me that I shouldn’t worry about it because now I look normal. I’m finally average, and I should just be happy. Yes, I wasn’t even on the BMI chart for awhile there when seriously training, but even being in the middle of the “normal” BMI now, is so much larger than I’ve ever been (unless pregnant–and I’ve had 5 kids) that I’m thinking the charts are actually very, very generous. I’m in the middle of my BMI and I need to face it; I have a serious muffin-top now. Why does everyone else tell me to be happy I’m now average? Since when was being average a goal?

By: Sat, Dec 5th – CrossFit Ireland - Great People. Great Fitness.

Sat, Dec 5th – CrossFit Ireland - Great People. Great Fitness. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:59:04 +0000

[...] When You May Not Wish to be “Normal” – Stumptuous.com Thriving, Not Just Surviving – Mark Sisson [...]

By: Lyn

Lyn — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:30:29 +0000

I sought solace in the BMI project a couple of years back when I was still in denial about my diagnosis of pre-diabetes. I think it boils down just to what Elizabeth says: that the popular image of “obese” is a size that would appear on peopleofwalmart.com. As Lex says, that people look reasonably healthy with a BMI over 30 doesn’t prove anything about what might be happening to health markers, especially as people get older. Here the post on metabolic syndrome is relevant as well. Let’s face it: Type 2 Diabetes is not a social construction.

By: Lex

Lex — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:21:40 +0000

I just checked out the ‘BMI Project’ over at a fat acceptance blog and coming over here to read this makes me feel better. I like your point about non-hard training athletes saying BMI doesn’t account for muscle. The first thing I thought of when I saw the pictures on the ‘BMI Project’ was that, well, most of them look like they fit their ranges well. There were a few exceptions and one of them stood out to me because she looks fit but is classed as overweight. I know several women who fit that description and it really isn’t that strange when you know their fat percentage as well. For the rest of them, it looks like BMI is a good gauge. The ‘project’ would have made more of a point if more information was given, like fat percentage for a start.

By: Mistress Krista

Mistress Krista — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:25:00 +0000

Cassandra’s point is very insightful. In the US there are major, major differences in the manifestation of obesity and overweight, and these correlate very closely with ethnicity and income. Nearly 100% of black women in the lowest income bracket in the US are overweight, whereas a much smaller proportion of middle-class white women are. This is another clue that obesity is mostly about environment, socioeconomic structures, and access to health resources.

That being said, many folks of Hispanic descent carry genes that make them more susceptible to the metabolic foundation for obesity, such as poor glucose tolerance and central adiposity (fat around the middle — the apple shape). This is also true for some indigenous groups, esp. those in the US Southwest.

By: Mistress Krista

Mistress Krista — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:20:22 +0000

Lau, at 5′ and 135 you are still in a healthy range if you are active and well nourished. When we’re talking risk, we’re not talking about 10-20 lbs extra. To get to 40% body fat requires significant additional adiposity.

BMI is fairly closely correlated with body fat %, although researchers recognize that there are individual differences that are statistically significant but not “real world significant” at the end ranges (i.e. the very lean and very obese). There is some fluctuation with age but not so much among adults — more between adults and children.

Complaints about the BMI being used as a blunt instrument should really be directed at media, insurance companies (in the US), and other similar oversimplifications. All physiology researchers know that BMI is at best a “best-fit” predictive model, and like all predictive models it is subject to some range of error.

By: Lau

Lau — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:44:03 +0000

What is the “normal” correlation between body fat and BMI? I’m one of those definitely-overweight-by-BMI women who insists that I’m OK. I’m 5′ tall and 130-135 lbs usually. I have a scale that’s supposed to measure body fat, but it fluctuates between 17-22% within a day so I doubt it’s accuracy.

My cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. are fine. The only functional problem I have is an artificial knee, from bone cancer, not from ruining my joints because of my extra weight. Ironically the only time as an adult that I have been a “healthy” weight in terms of BMI was during chemo.