BMI on NHS website is bollox doesn’t take into account muscle mass etc, back when I was a student at 6ft & 85kg would be classed as overweight even though had a 6pack because was going to gym lots & windsurfing loads a PT did a proper BMI test at gyms beginning of Jan when after Xmas & New year & had BMI of 10 not 25 as claimed by NHS site.

@k1100t I had a calculator fail, I multiplied by 10 when it should have been 5. So I can drink twice as much as I thought. Great!

https://www.staustellbrewery.co.uk/proper-job

St Austell tribune – 125 calories
Banks Bitter (my favourite) – 150 calories
Greene King IPA – 155 calories
Less than a chocolate bar!

Less than a chocolate bar!

Yes but rarely would you eat 6 chocolate bars in an evening… along with 2 bags of crisps and some salted peanuts 🙂

Yes but rarely would you eat 6 chocolate bars in an evening… along with 2 bags of crisps and some salted peanuts 🙂

Speak for yourself!

People have called me skinny in the past but I’m 9 stone 10 and 5ft5.

BMI on NHS website is bollox doesn’t take into account muscle mass etc, back when I was a student at 6ft & 85kg would be classed as overweight even though had a 6pack because was going to gym lots & windsurfing loads a PT did a proper BMI test at gyms beginning of Jan when after Xmas & New year & had BMI of 10 not 25 as claimed by NHS site.

“Overweight” by the slimmest of margins though. 84kg is would be a BMI of 25. It’s a measure that’s accurate at a population level, there are very few people who have a BMI>25 or <19 who would be described as healthy. You can pick examples, but they tend to have job titles like “international tight head prop” or gold medalist track sprinter”.

What do you define as a “Proper BMI” test? if such a thing exists. Or are you confusing BMI with BF%?

People have called me skinny in the past but I’m 9 stone 10 and 5ft5.

As long as you’re a 12 year old girl that’s fine

My target for next year is 75kg/11stone11lb (another 2 stone) which would give me a bmi bang on 22.5 (i.e. supposed average). I guarantee the current comments of “you look healthier” will turn to “you look ill”. I can already see ribs!

I know I’m hitting my target weight when my MiL says I look ill 🙂

Ha, I can beat that. 5′ 7″ and 9 stone 10ish for years up until earlier this year when I cut down of snacks and booze. Currently 9 stone 4.

@thisisnotaspoon
Well the PT called it body mass Index, was done 20yrs ago at gym when I was applying for PT jobs they measured height & weight & took various body fat measurements from between shoulder blades & other places on body to measure your body mass because if your lifting weights surprise surprise muscle is heavier than fat so a standard BMI test is inaccurate. & not don’t have to be a bodybuilder to prove its inaccurate.

When you say “took various body fat measurements” do you mean using callipers? If so that’s body fat percentage not BMI.

Well was 20yrs ago but yes must be body fat percentage which was low so does that mean having a BMI of 25 & only 10% body fat make me overweight?

A BF% of 10% would be consistent with a 6-pack.

A BMI of 10, even if you could subtract all the extra muscle and fat would be impossible, your skeleton, internal organs and blood would have a BMI around that!

surprise surprise muscle is heavier than fat

Surprisingly, not by as much as most people think. It’s just that fat tends to collect around places people measure. A volume of muscle is only about 10%-15% heavier than a volume of fat.

Yes but rarely would you eat 6 chocolate bars in an evening… along with 2 bags of crisps and some salted peanuts 🙂

Lightweight 🙂

I guess I think body fat index is more accurate. Anyway I know I will never have the figure of a cyclist, equally if a cyclist turned up as your PT you wouldn’t be too happy as he would look a bit wimpy to be a PT

Transition 1, my old trainer was a tri-athlete. Very skinny bloke. He was very good, former Royal Marine. Takes all sorts.
I hear what you’re saying though, but BMI is a general populous tool, not intended to account for the 0.5% of the population whom lift weights. I was 95kgs at 5 foot 8 and always between 7 and 10% body fat. I’m now just under 70kgs. My wife met me when I was a Rugby League player and thinks I look weird now, I’m constantly getting remarked on how unhealthy I look. Wife won’t allow me to go lower than my current weight.

Woodster your PT as ex Marine would def know his stuff despite being skinny & that is some impressive weight loss & body transformation & yes if playing rugby league most of those guys are big but trim. I need to loose the fat now that was once muscle 😂

I guess I think body fat index is more accurate.

A more accurate measure of actual fat yes. 10% would put you in the athlete category.

10% would put you in the athlete category

Years ago when I was a gym rat I got my body fat measured at 8%. My body looked great..my face however looked like I had some horrific wasting disease

St Austell tribune – 125 calories
Banks Bitter (my favourite) – 150 calories
Greene King IPA – 155 calories
Less than a chocolate bar!

Kronenbourg / San Miguel – 250 calories per pint
Brewdog Punk IPA – 270 calories per pint
Guiness – 200 calories per pint
Goose IPA 200 calories per 350ml bottle

Good to hear everyone’s stories here, I’m one of those in the process of trying to lose a bit of timber.

A proper spreadsheet showing progress, Zwift, less beer, extending the dog walks and healthy breakfast has been good for me so far, 7.7kg/17llbs down.

Still a bit further to go and expect to fall back a bit over xmas.

Just catching up with this thread after getting in from work – very interesting. I’ve lost about 10 kg in the last 18 months or so, partly because of diet changes partly because of an increase in the amount of riding I’ve been doing. I’m now just under 67 kg, BMI 21 (5′ 10″). I’ve lost track of the number of people who’ve asked me if I’m alright because I look thin (especially in my face. Edit: as tpbiker said). When I look at family photos from the 70s, everyone is basically the same body size as I am now – no-one though it worth any comment then, so I guess what is considered normal has changed. Thing is, I feel good – and that’s what I keep focusing on.

When I was 12.5 stone (6’2″) I was bang in the middle of my BMI.

People said I looked gaunt and my family said I looked like I was from a concentration camp.

The problem wasn’t me (I felt great) – the problem is in a country where 70% of people are fat bastards then anyone of normal weight looks skinny.

Quick trip to Europe and you’ll feel normal, come home and watch the lard-arses.

@Mounty_73 (OP): good on you – enjoy being able to but low cost stuff on Ebay and cycling websites (I recently bought some 30″ waist drainpipe cords – would’ve been laughable a couple of years ago).

Interesting thread. I believe general weight loss for most adult males would be restricting to 2000cal a day maximum, cut out all forms of sugar and mild exercise.

Anyone lost a decent amount and managed to maintain drinking alcohol at the same time ? … yes that old problem 🙂

‘If exercise was a pill’ etc…

Yes but rarely would you eat 6 chocolate bars in an evening… along with 2 bags of crisps and some salted peanuts

You clearly haven’t seem me after a few pints.

Coconut, I did when younger, when I got into my early 30s I had to be more careful with the alcohol.
I’m now 47, still drink once a week, but do approx 8.5 hours of training each week, plus walk the dog for 3 miles every day. Weight is stable at just under 70kgs. But my main vice is chocolate biscuits!
I know at my age now, for me to lose weight my diet would have to be very clean. Can’t get away with it like I used to.

Weighed myself last night, 11stone and 5lb, so I have just polished off 2 very nice croissants as a treat! 😉

6′ 1″ and gone from 91kg to 75kg (not by choice), got back on the bike for the last couple of weeks and surprisingly my fitness is almost back where it was already but I guess the weight reduction helps!
On the flats im as quick (or quicker) than my mates but the climbs are hard work although that is improving.
Do I feel fitter in myself for losing the weight? I think so but that’s hard to answer.
BMI is spot on but I’d like to get up to 80kg, serious eating and exercising again has got me back to 77kg so not far to go now.
A few people have said I look thinner but nobody has suggested I look ill…… yet.

I am 5ft 11ins so its looking ok. Just done my BMI on the NHS site, 22.6

Sounds about right to me.

Adding 40 miles a week commuting to my usual exercise ( which probably dropped a bit) I lost over 2 stone in a year.

5’6″ when I played rugby properly just shy of 13stone but could cover 100m in give or take 11s so the bulk was muscle.
Now 68kg to be fair it’s 15 years later. Apparently I’m still overweight although 30″ trousers are hanging off me now. It’s all a bit horses for courses but most folk could do with “cut down on you pork pies and get more exercise” it’s what I’ve been doing recently.

For me, this has turned out to be an interesting thread…….

Tinas – I have seen someone with a BMI of 11 still walking around. Very much an outlier tho

the other failure of BMI is that its best on average height people as it does not account for the greater mass of tall or the lessor mass of small people properly

Its a very blunt instrument but its an easy thing to measure and compare

Body fat % is much more accurate but callipers only give an approximation – you need to be weighed underwater to get a true body fat % and as for the machines that do it by electicity – not worth a fig

Anyway I know I will never have the figure of a cyclist,

Barring disability then that’s Only because you choose not to. Targeted training , a proper diet and hardwork would do it.

But many people do use the * I lifted weights /played rugby /wrestled * line to justify carrying weight into middle/old age.

I’ve had a couple of DEXA body scans which use low dose x-ray to differentiate between fatty tissue, muscle, bone etc and work out percentages/mass of each component. About as accurate as it gets.

The guy who ran it said despite people often claiming to be sub-10% body fat, from the 1000’s of scans he had carried out he had rarely come across anyone who was truly under 10% body fat.

MTBTomo, you could be correct. I just use the BodyTrax image scanner.
No idea how accurate it is, but can’t imagine it being massively incorrect. Happy to share my stats, shows loads of good info, not just body fat, but muscle compostion, water, bone weight, internal fat etc – really useful info.