Obese? Really?

[nicole309]

After reading all the posts on here about weight issues, I have decided to post one that has been bothering me for a while.
In February I went to the bike expo in Seattle and they had this machine that measures a variety of things like body fat, weight, etc...
Then it gives an overall asessment of your health. There are the following groups Average, Overfat, and the worst Obese. Yes, I was rated obese!!
I am 5'10" tall and weigh 162 lbs. Which sounds like a lot, but I am tall!! I wear a size 8 for the most part, sometimes a 6 sometimes a 10, you know how it goes!!
I know that overall Americans are quite an unhealthy lot, and maybe I spend too much time comparing myself to other people and have lost sight of my own health. I'm not saying I couldn't lose a few pounds, that I couldn't afford to make a few diet changes. But obese? Really?

[LBTC]

Nicole, I agree with you! Your weight for your height is perfectly normal. I thought that as soon as read your specs, but then I checked this http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ BMI calculator and it puts you right in the normal range.

Was the device meant for elite athletes? Did they have a weight loss product to sell? Regardless of their reasons, I think that their measuring device is grossly inaccurate! Yikes!

Your weight makes my 135 pounds on a 5' 1 1/2" frame ghastly overweight - and I would not consider myself obese either.

If you feel good, are healthy, and your clothes fit, don't worry. Enjoy life and be happy with your nicely functioning body!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[teigyr]

Nicole, we are about the same size only you might be smaller than me. I'm 5'11" but am a fairly solid size 10. I am so glad I didn't see that at the Expo or I would be scarred for life.

I know as a population, we're getting bigger and we take that for granted. I always read about the effects such as larger hospital beds, extra-sturdy chairs, and all of that. I think that is obese....we might not be extra-skinny models but we're healthy. I know people who are obese who eat unhealthy food and complain that it's impossible to lose weight. That isn't us.

Gads. I'm sorry you had to experience that.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Don't forget that muscle is denser and heavier than an equal volume of fat. People with more muscles tend to get rated as having excessive body fat instead with some of these dumb evaluating systems. There is no WAY you are obese! Fools invent such things.

[nicole309]

Thanks for your comments. I just wanted to ask. Mostly, I didn't expect anyone to say that I really am obese, but it is just frustrating.
They were trying to sell something, the machine that gives all this information. It mostly just looks like a bathroom scale, but supposedly measures weight distribution etc...
I actually asked the guy if they ever sell any of the things with those kind of results? I can't imagine!
I have looked at BMI charts and just using height and weight is really not a good indicator for me. I have actually weighed less and been a bigger size than I am now.
I actually have a pretty good body image overall, but that whole thing really scared me.

[Jolt]

Were you perhaps a bit dehydrated? That can throw off the accuracy of some of those devices if they are the kind that sends a small electric current through the tissues to measure body fat. If I remember correctly, fat has a lower percentage of water than muscle, so that would mean that if you were somewhat dehydrated it might have read a higher percentage of fat than you actually have.

[nicole309]

Were you perhaps a bit dehydrated? That can throw off the accuracy of some of those devices if they are the kind that sends a small electric current through the tissues to measure body fat. If I remember correctly, fat has a lower percentage of water than muscle, so that would mean that if you were somewhat dehydrated it might have read a higher percentage of fat than you actually have.

Interesting...
The results did say that I was a bit dehydrated that day. You would think if it knew that, it would also know that it was muscle and not fat!!

[LBTC]

It mostly just looks like a bathroom scale, but supposedly measures weight distribution etc...

If it's anything like the Tanita body fat scale that I use, it's obvious to me that you would need to set your personal settings up as athlete. Somehow that setting understands that it's more muscle than fat, or something like that.

I'm glad you're happy with your body. Yay!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Torrilin]

A rough sanity check for light boned women is 100 + (height in inches - 60)*5. That gives you pretty much the numbers on a doctor's height and weight chart... and that puts a 5'10" woman at 160 lbs. It's fairly reasonable to have around a +/- 20 lbs variation around that estimate (tho that still leaves some heavy boned women overweight on paper and bordering on underweight in reality).

There's really no substitute for knowing your own body tho. If you've historically been healthy at 155, or 170, and your measurements have changed, then your current weight probably isn't ok.

[RoadRaven]

What???

Crazy... just read Darcy's last post, as well as this whole thread...

How do people define overweight socially anyways? By crap opinions of naval-gazing media "personalities".

As a society/global community, we really do have to get away from the weight goals and set fit goals. If we have fit goals (and a balanced diet) and try to achieve them the weight stuff will usually take care of itself.

Niciole, I did the BMI thing earlier this year. My son has just finished a Health and fitness tertiary qual, and they were looking at the BMI and discussing its flaws, and which group of people it was best suited to as a tool for measuring. Women wasn't one of those groups...

I am 5'10" and now weigh 99kg... that means I am just a few kgs away from being overweight, instead of obese! Even at 110-5kg when I started biking, I didn't see myself as what I had in my head of "obese". I didn't lose any weight the first year, but I did drop two dress sizes and still I was obese!

Its a standing joke at work now, I tell the diet crazy girls I can't have something cause I am aiming to be overweight, and no longer obese... one of the girls has no weight that needs losing but is a very fit toned sportswoman - shes overweight according to BMI and thinks, like me, that its amusing.

[nicole309]

I guess the whole issue of what society sees as overweight is what tempted me to take this test in the first place. I just wanted a so to speak medical evaluation of my weight, etc...
I think that our views are often skewed by the media. Like I said in the beginning, I'm not necessarily saying that I couldn't afford to eat a little better or tone up a bit. I don't necessarily think I need to lose weight. I think for the most part it wouldn't kill us all to be a little healthier. I was hoping to find a goal to work towards. Something achievable, as I said I really like numbers!!
On a side note...
I too went to work and told my all female office that I was obese, and we all joke about it.

[Mr. Bloom]

My Mercedes is 38 years old and it has "antique" car insurance.

I'm 44 years old...what's that make me? Older than an Antique???

I think your experience underscores the short comings of the machine's inventor...

[anakiwa]

I'm calculating your BMI as 23.3 based on your height and weight- that is normal (BMI <25 is normal, 25-30 is overweight, 30+ is obese).

Did they calculate your body fat percentage? If so, how did they do it? Body fat percentage measured by calipers and someone who knows what they're doing is more accurate than BMI. Body fat percentage measured by one of those scales you stand on that measures electrical current is notoriously inaccurate (various things like hydration status will change the numbers).

Either way, focus on living as healthfully as possible and don't worry about the numbers.