HERE is an article on livestrong on how to calculate your BMI for athletes. Using this formula, it returns a score of 24 for me, which places me in “normal bmi” when adjusted for an athletic frame. Considering that I’m carrying a bit of fat, this makes sense to me.
The same calculator returns a Body fat percentage of 12 for me, which is within 1% of my other measurement. So on that range there is a cross checked accuracy. Try inputting into this system if you have an athletic build of any type or a wide, heavier frame but do not carry a lot of fat.
It’s true that I’m aiming for a frame more solid and heavier than average or the current societal ideal of a somewhat built teenage svelte, or the much vaunted runner’s physique. Aesthethically and emotionally, I find that build more masculine and pleasing to the eye and want that for myself. On the more important side of health benefits, having more muscle mass is never a bad thing as you age; provided you can keep the fat down. Nearly all the men that I know who had, or maintained such a build into their fifties are now healthy and very physically active into their late sixties and even early seventies. They’ll admit they’ve lost a good bit of strength, speed, and everything else that comes with aging, but compared to their peers they are still far more capable in all ranges. No frailty, shuffling, or shrunken frames. Oh the wrinkles are there of course, and everything’s sagging and not what it used to be, but the core strength, solidity, and capability are there and vital. I have few fears, but one of them is aging into a decrepit, slow, carpet shuffler, or a lazy middle aged “skinny-fat” man. A man’s thirties and forties can be his muscular prime, and I intend to spend mine building muscle father than gathering fat, and trying to battle the bike. It’s not for everyone, nor is it a currently overly popular body type, but its what I’ve always admired, and chosen to emulate.
It certainly is irritating when you’re a healthy, attractive weight for your frame, and yet doctors (and random people on the internet) think it would be better/healthy for you to do whatever it takes to get yourself into the ‘Ideal’ range according to some random equation involving pounds and your height.
I will probably always skirt the edge of ‘ideal’ due to body type and genetics, and most lean men I know who have any muscle mass to speak of are considered ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’. BMI is pretty much bullshit for the individual.
Well both yes and no. BMI is a good general indicator of health and physical composition. It is important to not make it your rule, but rather to use it in conjunction with other methods to ascertain your overall results. A good rule is to tabulate your traditional BMI and then adjust for your personal build. If you are an athlete, or have a wide frame, you ought to use the adjusted scale and confirm with a body fat composition test. Of course the mirror is a good, if subjective measuring tool as well Use them all and it will be pretty easy to figure out where you stand.
Hey rhubarbian, I was looking at some old threads related to diet, and noticed that you seem to have been eating Paleo a while back. Are you still eating that way? Still happy with it? My husband and I went “primal” about 6 months ago and have had fantastic results.
**Acid Lamp, I don’t think BMI predicts body fat percentage accurately, and body fat percentage is one of the best predictors both of general health, and what is in fact an ‘ideal’ weight. Of course it’s not free or particularly easy to get an accurate test of your body fat percentage. But I can’t tell you how many people I know with high body fat think they are just fine because their BMI says so. This is just as problematic as all the muscular people who should decrease their mass according to BMI.
**
Renee, my two-year anniversary of changing my diet was this month. I am enjoying the best health of my life and ridiculously excited about it, still.
I was actually looking at T Nation today and I found this article, which might be of interest to you. I’ve tried split squats a few times and I just don’t have the balance.
It’s pretty much the most awesome thing ever, isn’t it? The husband and I look at our dinner plates piled with bacon, steak, and buttered potatoes and veggies in awe that we get to eat this well and still look and feel this good. Such a relief after eating “correctly” most of our lives, and always struggling with our weight.
So far it looks like I’ve lost enough weight off my butt that it is starting to look attractively normal again and not headed toward Flat as a Fridge Butt. This week I had homemade chili (strained the extra fat off, added more beans than meat and extra veggies) for lunch every day, and apparently was extra flatulent at night. It does, however, seem to still be working. Weight check-in will either be tomorrow or Sunday.
Are you worried about getting man boobs at all? I thought that was a problem with drinking lots of protein shakes. I get protein for snacks from unchmeat generally, so I’m probably getting way more sodium than I need to.
What’s the connection between protein shakes and man-boobs? I’ve heard rumblings about soy upping your estrogen, but I’m not sure how accurate that is (most protein shakes seem to be either whey or casein, that I’ve seen).
Congratulations on your success with the weight-loss side. I had no loss when I tried this for 8 weeks a few months ago. I could do the no grains/no sugar/no fruit thing pretty easily, but I quickly discovered I was sensitive to something in eggs, which made breakfast a lot harder. I also didn’t like the mindset of having a binge day, and wound up eating fairly normally on those days.
I’m sure I could have tweaked my diet to try to make it work, but by week 6 the interest had waned. You really do need results to maintain a program, and I wasn’t seeing them so I didn’t care.
I have resumed eating (whole) grains/low GI pasta and fruit. About the only habit I’ve maintained is a reduced diet soda intake (12oz max per day) and drinking more water (at least 64oz a day).
Not really. I’ve heard that rumor myself but so far, no moobage to be found. The exercises do a fair bit of chest and shoulder work, and while I have noted an increase in the size of my chest, it has been equal in proportion, suggesting an increase in muscle mass rather than soft boob. I am keeping a tight eye on the fat gain that is known to accompany this sort of thing.
As a general update, it seems that the poundage gain has slowed down this week, I might have to up my intake back to week one standards with the milk. (sigh)
I’m pretty lucky that I don’t really have any food sensitivities whatsoever (and very few “I don’t really like that” issues either), and the “drink no caloric liquids (other than coffee)” bit was easy enough for me. Breakfast really seems to be the point where it’s most important for me to stick, as having eggs, spinach and lentils in the morning keeps me full for the entirety of the four hours in which I’m supposed to keep between each meal. I do miss being able to have carbs whenever, even though I don’t crave them 80% of the time, but I could easily live on meals that involve beans/peas and veggies as a major part of their calories for quite a while. Sugar snap peas as a significant part of my “lunch #1” has helped, as they’re really filling, full of fiber, and low in calories. (Just as a note: since I usually eat breakfast around 6am, “lunch #1” falls around 10am, which is not a normal lunch time. “Lunch #2” normally happens between 1 and 2pm, depending upon what’s happening at work. Since I had breakfast at 7am today and it’s cheat day, I’ll probably be doing lunch around 11am-noon.)
Did my weigh-in this morning, and I’m down another 3lbs or so, bringing me to 211. Looks like the areas in which I lost weight the most were around my hips and butt, as I look slimmer in those areas. We’ll do measurements when Acid Lamp gets home to compare where it looks like I lost weight to where I actually did.
Yesterday I discovered that I need at least a little variety in my lunches throughout the week, as I was looking at day 6 of chili in a row and VERY tempted by the idea of eating something else. I went to the cafeteria, saw that, not only was it CARB DAY, but it was “day of carbs I have no interest in cheating with”. The only other options were caesar salad and nothing else, as the sides were all fruits, carbs or caloric beverages. I had my chili and made something far more appetizing for dinner instead.
For those who are keeping track: I am moving my cheat day around, but am still following the guideline of “one cheat day per seven day period”. This means that, if I chose to move my “cheat day” for the week to the beginning of the week, I would have an even longer set of “no cheat” days to get through until the next “cheat day”. I’m not going nuts on the cheat day, but neither am I limiting myself in any way. I plan on making pizza for lunch (pepperoni and possibly some other stuff as toppings) and eating something substantial for dinner before I go out tonight and drink medium-to-high gravity craft beer.
For anyone else who’s tried the losing end of this program: Do you start feeling like a small walking furnace after a while? I work in a place which is normally pretty chilly, and I occasionally find myself flushed and overheated if I’m wearing any layers whatsoever. My only real remedy for this is to shed the jacket (if I’m wearing one) and drink more water.
