I lost 55 pounds over the last 12 months and reached the weight suggested by my doctor. I celebrated with a brand new smart scale... that immediately told me my BMI is 30.1 and that I am still obese.

[u/AttachedHeartTheory]

I have been putting in the work. Walking. Eating right. Not cheating on my diet. I had some health issues that my doctor discovered, and I worked really hard to get to a goal weight of 208 pounds. I finally hit my goal weight. I bought a smart scale to celebrate and memorialize where I'm at today. And the first thing it did was tell me I was obese and send me a notification asking if I would like weight loss advice.

Sometimes you just feel like life is 5 steps forward and 10 steps back.

I feel like this post flair is appropriate.

[u/claudekennilol]

Dang you're 208 and look like that? You must be tall, right?

[u/jimscoolaid → u/claudekennilol]

5 foot 9.7 inches at 208lbs would put bmi at 30.1

Edit: to put into perspective how bad BMI is, in order for this person, if they are 5'10(I rounded up), to be at the high end of normal they would have to lose over thirty more pounds to be at 174lbs. 130lbs is still in the normal range.

Edit x2: I get it. You don't look like this despite weighing similar or less. You also don't have any muscle mass. Muscle is more dense than fat, so just because you don't have a flat belly doesn't mean this person has lied about their weight, it means you aren't as strong.

[u/FranksWateeBowl → u/jimscoolaid]

I'm 6 foot. No freaking way am I hitting 186 pounds.

[u/THE_GREAT_PICKLE → u/FranksWateeBowl]

Im 6 feet and my doctor keeps telling me to get to 180. I got there, but only after a major surgery where I lost about 40 lbs naturally after not eating much from the surgery. I looked and felt sickly, my bones were basically sticking out. And that was at 180. I'm back up to 200 which I feel and look the best.

[u/nanaacer → u/THE_GREAT_PICKLE]

My doctor mentioned in passing once that I could lose a little weight and I said "But I'm a bodybuilder and I just finished a cut" before showing him my abs and he responded " Oh, then don't do that (by that he meant lose weight). He has a very dry sense of humor and it's one of the reasons I like him.

[u/tortosloth → u/nanaacer]

I used to wrestle and at the beginning of the season everyone has to weigh in, take a hydration piss test and get told by an official what the lowest weight we were allowed to cut to based on a bmi chart. I was told i was overweight, but can only cut 10 pounds, which would still leave me in the overweight category. I had a six pack, out lifted everyone but the linemen on my football team, and ended up winning state as an “overweight” 171lber. Bmi charts mean nothing for anyone that has the tiniest bit of muscle mass.

[u/toxcrusadr → u/nanaacer]

What does that mean, just finished a cut? Reduction in weight?

[u/nanaacer → u/toxcrusadr]

Yeah, short for cutting weight.

[u/toxcrusadr → u/nanaacer]

OK thanks.

[u/Ok_Dragonfruit_8102 → u/toxcrusadr]

Not "weight", specifically fat. Bodybuilders aren't ever looking to intentionally lose muscle mass.

Bulking is the term for eating a calorie surplus with the intention of building muscle. Cutting is the term for eating a calorie deficit with the intention of losing fat. Bodybuilders will typically rotate bulking/cutting cycles in winter and summer.

[u/NichtSoSchlau → u/nanaacer]

Having a real giggle here. "Oh, then don't do that." xD

Jokes aside; you propably know the whole shabang about how muscle is denser and weighs per unit of volume then fat, which in turn makes BMI a non-sensical thing to use for you. It also really is a significant use for statements about whole populations and as a first indicator for the individual, that has to be put into context to be useful (best example, you). More interesting measurments for you are bodyfat percentages. Also ... don't cut. That is on principle a health hazard. Easier said then done, if you are a bodybuilder. Also please do not go below 10% bodyfat. That is the mark where the hormones start to go iffy and prolonged imbalances can run the risk of becoming either permanent or leaving you with long-time health hazards.

[u/Hoshbrowns → u/NichtSoSchlau]

I've always been somewhat annoyed with BMI because so many athletes end up being considered obese from the muscle they tacked on. The most relevant thing I can think of for how BMI is the most helpful is impact on our joints? I'm just guessing but I remember LeBron added a bunch of muscle when he went to Miami for those four seasons. When he went back to Cleveland he shaved the weight off and a lot of analysts were talking about the impact more weight has on career longevity.

[u/diverdown125 → u/THE_GREAT_PICKLE]

The fact that this has over 500 upvotes is a big reason why American has a weight problem. I’m 6’ and 180 definitely don’t look my best body fat wise.

Unless you’re all muscle, 6’ 200 is slightly obese, but not terrible compared to most US males

[u/Ms_DNA → u/THE_GREAT_PICKLE]

At my healthiest point in life I was about 210. Once in my adult life I dipped to 190’s and I was very much not that healthy. BMI as a ballpark estimation is all fine and good until it becomes the deciding factor for insurance premiums, healthcare, surgery requirements, etc.

[u/Old_Quality1990 → u/Ms_DNA]

Bmi is stupid when looking at individuals. It was a tool designed for figuring out rates of various diseases that would appear based on average BMI for populations of 1 million people. It wasn't designed to determine individual health outcomes. Just using height and weight when people are broader, more muscle dense, more patite, longer legs versus longer torso, can all drastically change your weight even if height remains the same.

[u/ungsumac → u/Old_Quality1990]

I worked a job where we did a waist to height ratio measurement. Much better results for lean muscular people that would’ve had a bad BMI otherwise. If there is any measurement doctors should use, I would think one that factors waist size would be a better indicator of overall health.

[u/wofo → u/Old_Quality1990]

Even in that case these days they've found waist size is a better predictor

[u/IAPiratesFan → u/Ms_DNA]

The government lowered the weight in the 90’s. So a guy who was 6’0 tall and 185 lbs went from normal weight to overweight.

[u/Paweron → u/THE_GREAT_PICKLE]

What a bunch of nonsense. I am 6'1" at 175lbs and nowhere near "bones sticking out". Sure 200lbs can be a healthy weight if you have decent muscles, but 180 is totally normal looking

[u/Benedikto0 → u/THE_GREAT_PICKLE]

lol ppl are so weird. I m 6'2 and 185 and I still have 10 lbs of fat to lose. I m in great shape though.

[u/bamberflash → u/THE_GREAT_PICKLE]

im 6 foot and 155. i have a pudgy stomach and a little bit of gyno boobs. i dont eat very much and i work a physical job, do about 30k steps a day at work and lift boxes all fucking day lmfao bodies are weird

[u/Abrew → u/THE_GREAT_PICKLE]

I’m 6ft and 169 lbs here. You’re certainly not having bones stick out at 180. Stop the cope and listen to the medical advice

[u/IveGotaGoldChain → u/Abrew]

I’m 6ft and 169 lbs here. You’re certainly not having bones stick out at 180. Stop the cope and listen to the medical advice

Seriously. Super weird that people on reddit just don't want to admit they are overweight. I'm 6'3 and 185lbs and am muscular. I no way is someone 6'0 and 186 skinny lol

[u/The--Marf → u/IveGotaGoldChain]

Absolutely man. I've lost over 200# and im currently sitting ~175 at 5' 10". And I'm still overweight. Do I look slim relative to the average person? Yup. Do I want to cut another ~10 pounds, also yup. Will I be fine if I don't, again also yup.

[u/CastielsBrother → u/Abrew]

Thank you. That comment sounded insane to me as someone that's similar to you.

[u/DankiusMMeme → u/Abrew]

Americans are a different breed man. I'm 200 lbs and 6'4 and could stand to lose some weight lol. Thinking you can't hit 190 lbs at 6' is just so insanely out of scope with what a human being should look like.

[u/curtcolt95 → u/DankiusMMeme]

it's this discussion every time BMI comes up, Americans just have a view so warped when it comes to what a healthy body looks like they can't accept it. I'm 5'11 155 lbs and right around average, hell I could even lose a few and still look normal

[u/FourLetterIGN → u/Abrew]

crazy that the commenter youre replying to is at 500 upvotes

[u/VisitAdmirable6871 → u/Abrew]

Couldn’t agree with this more. I’m 5’9 and around 160 and I could still lose a bit more fat and have plenty of muscle mass. I’ve been working out regularly for over 25 years and am at my high school weight and feel great.

[u/SuperPotatoThrow → u/THE_GREAT_PICKLE]

I think the whole BMI thing is blown completely out of proportion. If everyone was where they are supposed to be BMI wise as recommended by doctors and shit, we would all be looking anorexic as fuck.

EDIT: Lmfao post a picture of a red crayon on Reddit and people are still going to argue about what color it might be technically called.

[u/diaphoni → u/SuperPotatoThrow]

if you do a quick search you'll find how it's based on flawed math that had nothing to do with health

[u/artecide → u/diaphoni]

BMI is useful as a rough screening tool and generally isn't used for diagnostics. It can't discriminate muscle from fat, thus many athletes have a high BMI.

Though, if someone has a BMI over 25 and isn’t visibly muscular, then they are statistically more likely to be overweight, though BMI alone can’t prove that on an individual basis.

[u/rexlyon → u/SuperPotatoThrow]

That’s definitely not the case lol. I’m at a normal range and could easily lose 10+ pounds without looking anorexic, and a further 10 pounds would still have me in the normal range.

The 18.5 to 25 range leaves a lot of room for you not look anorexic

[u/IveGotaGoldChain → u/rexlyon]

That’s definitely not the case lol. I’m at a normal range and could easily lose 10+ pounds without looking anorexic, and a further 10 pounds would still have me in the normal range.

Reddit hates to hear it but most Americans are overweight so it is just normalized. BMI is fine for 99%+ of people including those on Reddit claiming it isnt.

I say this as a former college athlete who is still in great shape.

Also, even when I was in the overweight BMI category with super low body fat I understand that long term me carrying that much muscle was not healthy for my body. Which is exactly what BMI is trying to measure.

[u/unicyclegamer → u/FranksWateeBowl]

Eh, I’m 6’ and 185 lbs but I’m clearly carrying some fat. I think my preferred weight would be 170-175.

[u/IngenuityAway7449 → u/unicyclegamer]

Yeah this comment chain feels weird to read. 6'2 at 175lbs, I'm not muscular, but I'm not withering away like some of the other users describe themselves at shorter/heavier. I even have a bit of a gut sticking out.

Bodies are strange in just how drastically they carry their weight.

[u/Nuva_Ring → u/IngenuityAway7449]

I’m 6’5, 200 lbs. This comment chain is full of liars. 1 in 10 are probably accurately describing their bmi/weight and how they look.

Everyone in America agrees we’re fat as fuck and yet whenever there is a metric that confirms this, we call bullshit. Either every single person in this comment chain are in the small minority that bmi doesn’t accurately apply to, or they’re lying. Simple as that.

[u/BruceBoyde → u/Nuva_Ring]

I'll grant that BMI has many, many flaws, but yeah. I'm 6'1 and am carrying a fair bit more fat than I prefer to because having a young child makes it harder to find gym time. I'm at 180 and have some pudge around the waist. Probably not "unhealthy" levels, but I could easily be 10 pounds lighter. I was at 155 a few years ago, but that was probably at untenably low bodyfat.

[u/IAmJacksSphincter → u/BruceBoyde]

Roughly same height as you, went from 210 to 175 pounds over the past 9 months. Still have a bit of pudge around my midsection, but feel much better at this weight.

[u/Talonsoldat → u/Nuva_Ring]

They are just delusional and think overweight is how people are supposed to look, I'm 6 foot and was at a healthy weight at 145, I had no problems with energy or anything and definitely was not starving. I'm now 170, and can pinch fat around my waist and stomach, still no issues, still not wasting away. People are acting like anything under 200 is unsustainable and you look like a twig, they are just so used to seeing fat people they think it's normal.

[u/funnychica → u/Talonsoldat]

Ooh this hurt. It's true though. I just lost 50lbs and technically (female 152lbs, 5'6) an technically according to BMI I'm overweight. But ok who cares. The bigger issue is that I didn't think I was 'that big' when I've now lost 2 dress sizes, skin cleared up, feel 1000x better. On the other hand, friends think I'm too skinny now- like what? I'm a solid size 8 US. I think your brain adjusts to the 'new' you and any change really freaks people out.

[u/sonofaresiii → u/Nuva_Ring]

This comment chain is full of liars.

I always find it funny/irritating when people are walking around like "Yeah BMI is so bullshit, you can be super muscular and it'll tell you you're overweight!" while they have an entire domino's pizza for dinner.

[u/tomoe_mami_69 → u/Nuva_Ring]

Yeah anybody who is 6 foot tall 185 and can't squat at least two plates is almost certainly obese. People in this thread need a wake up call, being over 20% body fat (yeah it's not what BMI measures but very few 6 foot tall people are 200 lbs and below 20% fat) is not healthy or sustainable.

[u/turntheairon → u/unicyclegamer]

Yeah, I'm 6'2" and fluctuate between 160 to 170 lbs. I have pretty substantial leg muscle, rather mild chest and arm muscle, and some slight pudge in the stomach area.

Optimally, I'd like to gain a few pounds in muscle in my upper body and be able to keep off the stomach fat more consistently. I can't at all picture 180+ lbs looking good on me.

[u/Hungry-Bug-6104 → u/unicyclegamer]

I am 6'2 160 and still have a little fat. Prob could use more muscle tho lol

[u/ATG915 → u/unicyclegamer]

I’m also 6’ ~185 lbs. I don’t exercise at all, have a bit of a gut because of it and eating junk. I was actually like 190-195 a 6 months ago but cut back on eating a bit and lost 10 lbs lol. I think I’m in the same boat as you though, I felt better around 170

[u/ClassicPlankton → u/unicyclegamer]

I'm 5'11 176lbs and still flabby. I think people in the US are just so used to how heavy set we've become they don't realize that for most of human history, and in a lot of places on earth still, people were like rails and that is probably how we're supposed to look.

[u/TinieWenie → u/FranksWateeBowl]

Crazy how everyone's body is different. I'm 6'3 currently about 175 and feel great, doing a lot of cardio. A few years ago I was close to 155 and still couldn't see clear grooves in the ribcage. I would like to be around 165

[u/Nate_Devine → u/TinieWenie]

Same here, I'm at 6'4 and hover right around 165, and reading some of these comments they make it seem like I should be a walking skeleton lol

[u/naileyes → u/Nate_Devine]

yeah i'm 6'1 165 and i just look like a regular person i feel like? honestly i could probably lose a little. i do some light weights at the gym 2 or 3x a week. I was 155 from like high school until i turned 40

[u/Gaebril → u/TinieWenie]

Yeah, man. All these dudes in here at 6' saying 174 is unhealthy are wilding.

I'm 6'3" and 178lbs. I go to the gym 3-4 days a week with a base of rock climbing and weights; I do sports for cardio or elliptical.

I don't watch what I eat but try to do a balanced diet. My goal is maintain weight.

[u/eugeneugene → u/TinieWenie]

That's wild lol. My husband is 6'4" and 225lbs and is in great shape. He got down to 199lbs because he wanted to see what it would be like to be under 200lbs and he was so hungry and cold all the time and had barely any energy. Was a stupid experiment

[u/katamuro → u/TinieWenie]

yeah, I was 6'2 and 190 and you could count every rib and my spine was sticking out so much the doctor kept saying I should eat something, my friend who was two inches taller was 165 and he looked soft all around.

[u/twelfthfantasy → u/FranksWateeBowl]

Yeah, also 6' and I'd be thrilled to get down to 200lbs

[u/Active_Confection655 → u/twelfthfantasy]

At 6'2 I felt absolutely great between 205 and 210. I wasn't to bulk for more than a couple weeks before I got injured at work again. Now I am sitting around 220 and want to get back to where I was.

[u/Tmaccy → u/twelfthfantasy]

Give it to me am 5"11 and currently 145lbs

[u/TheMuffinTheft → u/twelfthfantasy]

I’m 6ft and 187lb right now after a few years of lifting. BMI would still call me overweight even though most of the weight is muscle and people look at me and still think “he’s skinny”. BMI is such a bad metric, I’m surprised it exists still

[u/Chendii → u/TheMuffinTheft]

BMI is a bad metric for individuals. It's a metric designed for populations. It always has been.

[u/NanoCharat → u/TheMuffinTheft]

For real. At my absolute healthiest, where I am STILL literally skin and bones and muscle and can count my ribs front and back...my bmi is just shy of being overweight. I am short, female, and genetically have muscular/stronger legs.

Any thinner and I'm physically sickly and have lost important muscle. I look like I could star in Schindler's List.

BMI is a terrible metric and doesn't account for differences in body composition at all. Same with women's clothing sizes. A size 0 is smaller than my skeleton???? Wtf

[u/dyingofdysentery → u/FranksWateeBowl]

I'm 6'4", 165 lbs

[u/jaisteez → u/FranksWateeBowl]

I’m 6”3 I can’t get OVER 180 unless I run a meal plan 😔

[u/lawn_neglect → u/FranksWateeBowl]

I'm 6'2" and I drink too much beer but exercise a lot at 186#'s

[u/notunhuman → u/jimscoolaid]

I'm very confused by this. I'm 5'10" 186lbs and I look like shit. I'd be thrilled to look this good, so I just frankly don't understand how this guy can weigh more than me if we're the same damn height.

[u/HyperSpaceSurfer → u/notunhuman]

Having muscles helps hold up the flabby skin, OP's also definitely holding his breath in for a flatter tummy.

[u/Orange-Toed-Lemur → u/HyperSpaceSurfer]

Yeah, caught that too. Sucking it in doin some work ;)

[u/saturnshighway → u/Orange-Toed-Lemur]

You can only suck in so much though

[u/fury420 → u/HyperSpaceSurfer]

Looks like he's also cinching the waist of his pants with the other hand.

[u/Quick-Dirt-1814 → u/HyperSpaceSurfer]

Yeah this is not an honest picture one way or another, but part of it is definitely the muscle from OP.

BMI has its correlations, they are very well tested. Even if pop. level statistics don't apply to individuals _exactly_, I would have to guess that OP still has a bit of weight to lose. Maybe excess skin can contribute to the weight, too. Not sure if non-muscle tissue density may vary across bones / fat depending on former weight, too. Doesn't look like 210, but also, it's not really clear that he is healthy if that is his actual weight.

[u/Budget_Walrus_7576 → u/notunhuman]

I’m 5’9” 185lbs and have a similar build to this guy, unless he’s hiding some thunder thighs in those jeans I have a hard time believing he’s pushing 210.

[u/Can722 → u/Budget_Walrus_7576]

Yup this is absolutely fake / attention whoring. 

[u/diemunkiesdie → u/Can722]

Notice how there isnt even a smart scale in the picture and OP cant even hold his phone straight to hold a picture. Just bait.

[u/maresayshi → u/notunhuman]

muscle weight vs fat weight

[u/funkymagee → u/jimscoolaid]

can confirm: 215lbs at 5'9"; ~31bmi (though I'm considerably less skinny than our friend here)

[u/qTp_Meteor → u/funkymagee]

His scale just seems faulty. I very much struggle to believe that a 5'10 210lbs person looks like that

[u/StellarSloth → u/qTp_Meteor]

I am 5’10 and 175lb. OP def looks skinnier than me.

[u/qTp_Meteor → u/StellarSloth]

Makes sense. Im 6'0 at around 165lbs and im not too far off op. There's no way that he has 40 lbs on me, is shorter, and looks like that.

[u/Revolutionary-Wash88 → u/qTp_Meteor]

We need another angle

[u/MatthewNGBA → u/claudekennilol]

If he’s 208 lb and BMI is 30 or above then the tallest he can be is just under 5 10

[u/TTTaToo → u/MatthewNGBA]

That's weird. I'm 178cm and about 79kg, so 5'10 and about 175 pounds, and while not huge, I definitely look much chunkier than op.

[u/spekt50 → u/TTTaToo]

5'10" here and 135 lb. My scale reports a BMI of 19.5

I think OP is tall, and the scale has bad height information.

[u/zufaelligenummern → u/spekt50]

I think op is lying. Either bmi or height. He totally doesnt look like 30 bmi.

He doesnt have muscles and doesnt have the weight. Im 6'5" and have his weight and look more chubby even with muscles

[u/WeGoinToSizzler → u/MatthewNGBA]

BMI is a terrible measurement tool for health. Your typical US Army Ranger will be obese according to the chart. When I was in (2012-2018) I was 6’1” 225lbs @10% body fat or less. My BMI was close to 30. A lot of guys in Regiment are on gear or taking lots of supplements and working out a ton. My first squad leader was 5’9” 230lbs of pure muscle and his BMI was like 35

[u/pazz → u/WeGoinToSizzler]

BMI without volume involved is quite meaningless, the height/weight chart is just a shorthand for people in the middle of the bell curve. I think it works well as quick shorthand check on your weight. But if you have no muscle or lots of muscle then the chart quickly becomes an inaccurate estimate.

[u/forgotwhatisaid2you → u/pazz]

Its a fine measuring tool but shouldn't be used as the be all, end all.

[u/QuantumModulus → u/pazz]

Very few people have so much muscle % and such low fat that their BMI would misleadingly indicate they're overweight.

[u/poophroughmyveins → u/WeGoinToSizzler]

Ah yes BMI is entirely useless for the average person checks notes for example look at how it doesn't apply to a professionally trained 10% body fat army ranger

[u/Frisbridge → u/poophroughmyveins]

For every roid bro at BMI 30, there are dozens of skinny-fat guys with deficient muscle mass that BMI classifies as healthy.

But I agree, for normal folk BMI is decent enough. Mine is accurately atound 27, and I could stand to lose a few.

[u/grilledstuffed → u/Frisbridge]

Skinny fat and a normal BMI is going to have far better health outcomes over decades than an underweight or overweight BMI.

This should not be a controversial take.

[u/Orneyrocks → u/WeGoinToSizzler]

This system is meant for people not taking roids or dedicating their lives to keeping themselves physically fit.

[u/Difficult_Tea6136 → u/Orneyrocks]

Its a very useful metric for looking at large groups of people. Whats the average BMI will give you a very good indication of the levels of obesity or opposite in a group.

On an individual level, it works for most people. A lot of the exceptions are pretty obvious.

[u/__Hello_my_name_is__ → u/WeGoinToSizzler]

BMI is perfectly fine, you just have to use your brain a bit and figure out that if you have extremely low body fat then maybe the average metric doesn't apply to you.

[u/WideHuckleberry1 → u/__Hello_my_name_is__]

They way people talk about BMI is like if they talked about driving tips for the average car and said "yeah but these driving tips are useless because I drive a transfer truck and can't use any of them."

[u/aesclepia → u/WeGoinToSizzler]

BMI still gives a good idea of how hard the heart has to work. Whether it’s muscle or fat contributing to the weight, that’s still increased systemic vascular resistance, which leads to cardiomegaly and increased risk of arrhythmia.

[u/yesitismenobody → u/WeGoinToSizzler]

How much of the population has the same body fat as an army ranger? 1 percent? Maybe a few at most...

[u/RugbyEdd → u/claudekennilol]

Or it's a funhouse mirror

[u/taveren3 → u/claudekennilol]

Im 6'1 and 210 and way chubbyer looking. The math isn't mathing

[u/longtimegoneMTGO → u/taveren3]

Shit, I'm 6'2 and 180 and I look way chubbier than this pic. Something is off.

[u/rickandshorty37 → u/claudekennilol]

My husband is 190 and 5’11. This guy looks like he has more muscle. Looks plausible to me

Edit lol I meant to add they look very similar

[u/royk33776 → u/rickandshorty37]

Your husband is taller and weighs less lol. 25-30 lbs of muscle (the difference) is a LOT, most people don't appreciate just how much size that is and how it looks.

[u/ChiefSeminoleCounty → u/rickandshorty37]

damn. husband out here catching strays

[u/-duckduckduckduck- → u/claudekennilol]

He’s sucking his gut in. Looks overweight but not obese. Maybe 20% bf.

[u/LibraryNo7025 → u/-duckduckduckduck-]

Yeah I'm shocked more people haven't realized that I'm sure his body is fine but he's absolutely got a bigger gut than he's showing.

[u/PhD_Pwnology → u/claudekennilol]

He's sucking in his gut, hard. You can tell

[u/SunnyTheMasterSwitch]

If you are obese then I am a titan of greek mythology

[u/PudPullerAlways → u/SunnyTheMasterSwitch]

Time to cast you for a live action God Of War movie :D

[u/JeremyMarti → u/PudPullerAlways]

Time to cast him in bronze.

[u/eggcracked2wice → u/SunnyTheMasterSwitch]

I assess people's fitness and body composition for a living and imo either OP's scale is wrong or he's full of it. 

BMI is better for assessing populations than individuals, and it cannot give a full picture of an individual's health. Literally everyone knows this. 

But if you look like that with a BMI of 30, you may have an adamantium skeleton. 

If OP has managed to achieve a truly miraculous level of muscular density and is tipping the scales that way... he'd be well aware and seeing this as a huge win. Not posting it here.

[u/FunGuy8618 → u/eggcracked2wice]

Yeah.... Dude has pretty negligible muscle mass so unless he gets a dexa to find out, the doctor is right to assume higher levels of visceral fat. Which wouldn't be outside of the realm of possibility. Unlikely but that's the info the doc has to work with.

[u/PhoneWalletKeysID]

You look healthy, don’t let a shitty piece of hardware tell you otherwise. Fantastic work! You should be very proud of yourself.

[u/salter77 → u/PhoneWalletKeysID]

I would put the blame on how BMI is calculated rather than the overpriced calculator.

Isn’t BMI just calculated based on weight and height? Muscle is actually more heavy than fat, so muscular people may have high BMI.

[u/Bilboswaggings19 → u/salter77]

Indeed, imagine being an NHL superstar and BMI thinks you are very obese because of the muscle and the height

[u/NightShadowWolf6 → u/Bilboswaggings19]

I had a friend who was into competitive soccer (or futbol where I am from). His legs were similar in muscle tone to some star athletes of the sport. He had defined abdominals on a leaner upper body.

We went for a health check up when enetering uni, and you can bet your arse the nurse checking us told him he was "obese" according just to his BMI...nevermind how he looked, or the fact that he was in better shape than 99% of the students there.

[u/korkkis → u/NightShadowWolf6]

That is one shitty nurse then, or doesn’t have eyes

[u/AwkwardSummers → u/NightShadowWolf6]

My husband has a six pack and is "overweight" according to bmi. Meanwhile, my stomach jiggles when I walk and my bmi is "normal" lol.

[u/0kShr00mer → u/Bilboswaggings19]

To your point, Arnold would have been 'morbidly obese" during his prime bodybuilding years based on BMI. It also doesn't take into consideration a person's bone/tendon density; which is highly dependent on genetics and increases with consistent exercise.

[u/kielkaisyn → u/0kShr00mer]

Peak competition Arnold was barely into obese during his prime, at around 30-33BMI. Morbidly obese is hyperbole. He would have looked like Zangief from street fighter.

The only famous person I'm aware of who attained morbid obesity was Ronnie Coleman, who only had that weight during non-competition season when he was bulking and would have looked quite burly and definitely was very unhealthy (not to mention the steroids/his heart).

[u/LordShesho → u/0kShr00mer]

Arnold at his highest competition weight of 240 would have barely cleared into the obese range lmao, what are you on about? And he was jacked with insane amount of roids to get to that level. No normal, natty person is getting to the obese range with pure muscle.

[u/-duckduckduckduck- → u/Bilboswaggings19]

Imagine thinking the exceptions that apply to body builders and professional athletes apply to you, a person is neither of those things.

[u/Nuva_Ring → u/-duckduckduckduck-]

Everyone in these comments are apparently athletes because bmi applies to none of them.

[u/My_Brain_0422 → u/Bilboswaggings19]

Yes but most people aren't NHL superstars. BMI is meant for the average person as a single tool. Not NHL players or The Rock.

[u/crankyandhangry → u/salter77]

This is true, but only a very small percentage of the population are so muscular that their BMI would put them at "obese" while they had a healthy body fat percentage. I suspect OP's scale is just fucked.

[u/viciouspandas → u/salter77]

It's far more common for BMI to say someone is not obese when they actually are, than the other way around, but nobody ever brings that up in the West at least. There's always exceptions though.

[u/Huge_Piece_7513 → u/salter77]

That's not what's happening here. It's common, maybe even more common than the "obesity from muscle" scenario you've outlined.

He's skinny fat, coming down from being chubby. Those that aren't chubby don't really have any way to know just how bad it is. You spend months and months to lose 30lbs, finally see defined abs, back, even some definition in your legs, only to realize you have another 30lbs to lose. Then probably another 30. Maybe another 30 after that. Then you start lifting heavy and eating bigger meals to put weight on. Then lose it again. Then bulk up again. Then lose it again. That's life.

The truth is that normal people don't lose fat to uncover muscle underneath, they lose fat to uncover what looks like muscle but turns out to actually be more fat to lose. Then again. And again. And again.

[u/Stomatita → u/PhoneWalletKeysID]

I agree with everything you said, and it is truly something to be proud of, but just want to say that "looking" healthy can sometimes be deceiving. I had a friend who looked amazing, not like fully ripped but you could tell he took care of himself and had a great body. Went to get some routine checks at the doctor and he was a cheeseburger away from having a heart attack, arteries were absolutely clogged with fat.

[u/zxcoleman]

Silly question but are you sure you put in your height correctly? Smart scales just use predefined tables to calculate BMI. Also, BMI doesn't do a good job of factoring in muscle mass vs body fat content. People with large muscle mass (professional bodybuilders) and very low body fat will still come up with a high BMI. Instead of being upset about a number that, based on your photo, appears to be way off, celebrate your amazing achievement!

[u/scorgie → u/zxcoleman]

Yea this guy isn't "so muscular he's technically obese" either so he's probably put in something wrong.

[u/One-Possible1906 → u/scorgie]

Right, he has a perfectly average looking body that BMI should be an accurate reflection of. He’s clearly not obese nor some extreme body builder shape that calculates as obese. I would question the calibration of the scale as well because at 5’9 he really does not look anywhere near 208 pounds no matter how he carries his weight

[u/The_RESINator → u/One-Possible1906]

I'm 5'10 220lbs and the last time I looked like that I was 170lbs.

[u/One-Possible1906 → u/The_RESINator]

Yeah I’m 5 inches shorter than OP and looked a lot bigger than he does at my highest weight of 165. I can’t imagine 5 inches could add over 50 pounds to that and look thinner without being too muscular to bend over or having a Willy the size of my forearm and made out of lead.

[u/Vorabay → u/zxcoleman]

Exactly, BMI is simple to calculate by hand. OP needs to double check the numbers.

[u/ImWhatsInTheRedBox → u/zxcoleman]

I think it was last another guy had a "smart scale" tell him he was very overweight when he clearly wasn't. He lived somewhere in Asia and apparently the bmi settings is lower there.

So yeah, don't just trust what one of those scales says.

[u/fcocyclone → u/ImWhatsInTheRedBox]

yeah, the smart scales that work off body impedance and only through the feet can be pretty bad. And I think this might be especially true for those who have lost weight, as often you still retain those thick calves you gained while doing the work of lifting your fatter self up every day, and those calves add extra resistance to the current.

[u/Tricky-Ad7897 → u/ImWhatsInTheRedBox]

That would be my next guess, is it perhaps an LG or Samsung Smart scale and you accidentally bought a Korean spec version? Cause that would be the kind of thing they'd do.

[u/lucky3698]

BMI is the dumbest calculation in the world. Never use that to determine your fitness or health.

[u/jimscoolaid → u/lucky3698]

What do you mean? Its perfect if you are a young male going through puberty in the 1920s. That's really the only baseline for weight that anyone would ever need.

[u/Sj410 → u/jimscoolaid]

A young white male

“The BMI was always designed as a metric for European men. For women, and people of non-European origin, the scale is often biased. As noted by sociologist Sabrina Strings, the BMI is largely inaccurate for black people especially, disproportionately labelling them as overweight even for healthy individuals.[54]”

[u/gr8tfulbeetle45 → u/Sj410]

Just want to add that it was created in the 1800s by a mathematician with no medical experience. It’s actually wild that we use this at all in any medical settings

[u/Old_Quality1990 → u/gr8tfulbeetle45]

It was to find out the rates of various health outcomes in populations of 1 million people. It works on that scale but not on individual scale. Too much variation person to person.

[u/feartheoldblood90 → u/Old_Quality1990]

Even at that scale it has huge racial bias implications tho

[u/Weathervane_ → u/feartheoldblood90]

I wouldn't say huge at that scale. There are some differences, but at the end of the day, human bodies are not so different where the sheer mass, calculated among enough individuals to account for lifestyle variance still has informative value.

Of course, there's possible exceptions like probably some Samoans who always defy nature, but by and large, the main criticism to BMI is how stupid it is for individuals.

[u/takingthehobbitses → u/gr8tfulbeetle45]

I don't know about elsewhere in the US, but where I am they focus on BMI for literally everything. If it's even a little bit above average they will blame everything on that and you can barely get anyone to take you seriously. They also make sure to add it to your list of vitals on the printed forms they give you after your appointment. It's always at the top.

[u/Rich_Bluejay3020 → u/takingthehobbitses]

And apparently once you’re labeled “obese” they don’t change it unless you specifically ask. Source: I lost a fuckton of weight and am still obese on my medical records despite being a normal BMI for over half a decade at this point lol

[u/Take-to-the-highways → u/takingthehobbitses]

In California in the early 2010s they would line all us children up and calculate our BMI and read it in front of our entire class

[u/juanzy → u/gr8tfulbeetle45]

Have said this multiple times on the thread - he only surveyed affluent white Belgian men in 1840s Brussels to make the initial conclusions. Not women. Not other ethnic groups. Not even other nationals.

[u/sarcasticorange → u/Sj410]

Below 5'10

[u/fri9875 → u/sarcasticorange]

Yeah it starts getting funky as you get taller. I grew up extremely skinny but then got into weight lifting in college. According to BMI I was “overweight” at 6ft 185lbs, despite the fact that if anyone looked at me they’d say I was underweight.

BMI is just stupid. There’s really no circumstance where it ever makes sense, especially nowadays that we understand so much more.

[u/BaronVonHoopleDoople → u/Sj410]

You're just going to leave out the next sentence from the Wikipedia article you pulled this quote from?

A 2012 study of BMI in an ethnically diverse population showed that "adult overweight and obesity were associated with an increased risk of mortality [...] across the five racial/ethnic groups".

Call me crazy, but I'm trusting the 180,000+ person scientific study by epidemiologists rather than a claim made by a sociologist in a book about fatphobia and racism.

[u/NegotiationJumpy4837 → u/lucky3698]

For reference, if BMI tells you you are obese, that's accurate for 95% of men, and 99% of women. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2877506/

The real problem with BMI is for people that are told they are "normal" but actually still have too high of fat percentage (skinny fat type people).

I think most people hear that "BMI isn't accurate" and take the wrong message. It's a pretty reasonable first barometer to get a reality check. If it says you are obese, it's probably worth asking your doctor about, as that means you actually are obese in the overwhelming majority of cases.

[u/smjurach → u/NegotiationJumpy4837]

I’m skinny fat and people don’t fucking listen to me when I say I need to lose weight. It’s so frustrating.

[u/Michael_Dukakis → u/NegotiationJumpy4837]

redditors tend to believe they're too muscular for BMI to be accurate

[u/Big_Assistant9329 → u/NegotiationJumpy4837]

Exactly, BMI is mostly inaccurate for being too lenient, not the other way around. If you have too much muscle for bmi, you wouldn’t be using BMI.

I had BMI of 22 but I had love handles and no muscle. I did a Dexa scan and I had like 30% body fat. Took a few years to really fix the issue.

[u/JalapenoPopPoop → u/NegotiationJumpy4837]

Yeah people always severely overestimate how often it's wrong. Whenever BMI comes up everyone immediately loves parrotting how you can actually be in good shape but the bmi will calculate wrong when that's only true for very intense body builders. Most other people are just handwaving away results that they don't like the sound of with an explanation that doesn't apply to them. Guys I promise you if your BMI says that you're large it's not because you're actually super duper jacked, it's because you've lost sense of what healthy sizes are

BMI will tell people they're obese and they throw it out as wrong because their idea of obese is people who are so fat they use mobility scooters or some extreme example and that's the only thing that counts as "obese" in their eyes so they ignore that they've got 4 extra inches of waistline due to fat

[u/PatReady → u/lucky3698]

This is how the Army used to determine if you were out of regulation. They would take height then weight. If you were over 20BMI, they took your neck to belt line ratio and determined if you were too fat based on that.

[u/Mother_Chorizo → u/lucky3698]

It’s intended for population metrics and should never be used for an individual. I think the person that came up with the concept even said as much. 

[u/rickandshorty37]

It’s calling YOU obese? Time to return it.

[u/Baron_Light]

BMI does not distinguish between muscle, fat, and bone. It's a fairly dumb way to judge yourself and you should absolutely NOT feel bad about it.

[u/awatt25]

Throw that damned scale in the trash. You look fantastic. Great job!

[u/AReptileHissFunction]

Scales are only accurate at telling you one thing, your weight. You're wasting your money if you bought it for something else.

[u/Bad-Luck-Guy]

Was your height set correctly?

[u/Dex_Midnight_Runner]

You look great. That scale doesn't seem very smart.

[u/Live_Life_and_enjoy]

You need to setup the height on your scale

Read the instruction manual, these things aren't meant to be used straight out of the box.

[u/edfitz83]

Can your smart scale fly as far as a frisbee?

[u/SuperFlik]

For anyone who doesn't know: The Body Mass Index was derived between 1830 and 1850 by a Belgian astronomer, has not changed at all in the past 200 years and played a key role in the development of eugenics.

BMI is pseudo science at best

[u/xtrordinarlyOrdinary]

Same thing happened to me, I'm 6'3 and like 220ish lbs, I forgot to set my height.
Still chubby but I feel better about it.

[u/JeffSergeant]

Your scale is faulty, or you have programmed it incorrectly. 

[u/LionOdd3424]

Great job!! Fuck that scale, keep up the good work!

[u/m3smth]

sigh... here we go again (almost daily it seems). Yes BMI can give outputs that don't align with reality, but as a whole, it's not terrible either

[u/SkyYellow_SunBlue → u/m3smth]

People bringing up The Rock being “obese” by this metric never look like The Rock.

[u/look_at_tht_horse → u/SkyYellow_SunBlue]

"BMI doesn't work if you have muscle!!"

The muscle in question:

https://giphy.com/gifs/oLyjxtg0hpX7OS0VcQ

[u/pilzenschwanzmeister → u/m3smth]

Lot of belly sucking in that photo too.

Ask me how I know.

[u/pereline]

bmi is some bs. I'm 6'3" 170lbs and I look like a twig. to be "underweight" bmi I'd have to weigh 147lbs and I'm pretty sure I'd be in the hospital

[u/Little-Basils]

BMI is a population measurement tool for research, it’s not suitable to determine the health and fitness of a single person

[u/wwhijr]

Bmi is bs. It doesn't account for muscle, which is heavier than fat. It was made up by insurance companies to deny coverage.

[u/Global-Fact7752]

Don't pay any attention to the BMI how do you feel? and how is your energy.?

[u/pepito1989]

You must be really dense, the body dense, not brain 🙂
Definitely don’t look like 30BMI, did you enter the height correctly? BMI is meaningless if you work out.

[u/Vape_Like_A_Boss]

Smart scales aren't actually very smart and a lot of the features are useless. Like the ones that analyze water content and muscle mass and such. They're just taking a calculated guess based on their rudimentary algorithm.

[u/dundeegimpgirl]

I am obese. I do not deny this. I do not agree with BMI numbers for a major reason. They scale came from a limited sampling and didn't include women or other races in the sample. Oh and it was created in the 1830's. The fact that the American Medical Association hasn't completed an updated study that samples all races and fitness levels. I don't think that a man or woman who is a body builder should be placed with someone who doesn't exercise because again they use height and weight and that's it. Muscle mass is not included. Long way to say that you look great don't base your self worth on an outdated index.

[u/explosive-diorama]

I'm 6'3". I hit 14.6% body fat, with abs slightly visible, at 208 lbs... about 13 lbs above the "overweight" BMI cutoff.

BMI is not a good measurement for individuals; it's generally only useful for populations. It's meant to summarize general weight of large groups of people, not to be a marker of individual health.

[u/RealisticParking5184]

BMI isn’t a scale I’d listen to. It’s heavily outdated. Do what makes YOU feel good about yourself.

You also look amazing!!!

[u/Impressive-Yak-7449]

Height to weight tables are BS. Only way to truly know your BMI is going in a dunk tank. It measures your body's displacement and used with your weight to calculate BMI.

[u/Tangy94]

My husband is 6 foot 6 at 238 and they label him as overweight. BMI is inaccurate and outdated.

[u/EastLimp1693]

Bmi is bullshit, never follow it.

[u/762way]

Nope you look ideal for your frame

BMI is bullshit

[u/SuspendedResolution]

Yet again, BMI is a dog shit metric. Focus on your fitness, not your BMI.

[u/Canadian_CJ]

Once you start getting lean/fit BMI doesn't mean much.

I was shocked in University, as a Varsity soccer player, to be considered overweight while I had barely any body fat and a shredded 6 pack and was running ungodly amounts between practices and games every week.

I have big legs, wide shoulders, me shredded is still "overweight", BMI means far less once you are fit.

If your doctor likes your body composition, ignore the smart scale. He now will care about your BMI, waist, BP, A1C, Cholesterol, and maybe chat about your cardiovascular health/resistance training, and together that will form a better picture.

Tell BMI to pound sand.

[u/Few_Elevator_8075]

BMI IS BULLSHIT

[u/fascinatingshit]

I'm honestly shocked every time I still see BMI being taken seriously. It's inherently, deeply flawed and far from being a reliable indicator of overall health. A BMI that doesn't take into account the amount of weight your muscle accounts for is not worth your time or worth fretting over.

[u/potatocakes1989]

Yea thats physically impossible lmao

[u/brianlefebvrejr]

Ignore BMI it makes 0 sense and has no relevance. Body fat % is probably a better metric if you wanted to have one.

[u/Stunning_Geese]

I'm 6'1.

I started dropping weight when I was at 350ish pounds. I'm 220 now and look great! I feel good, I look good, and my medical issues have gone away. It's taken almost 4 years to get here and a lot of hard work.

My smart scale tells me I'm overweight. According to the BMI scale, I should be under 190. I'd look like a skeleton at that weight!

[u/seductivestain → u/Stunning_Geese]

I'm 5'11 and 220 but have a LOT of lean mass thanks to being extremely fit and active through adolescence. BMI says I have to be under 180 to not be "overweight" but according to bodyfat metrics I would literally be dead below 175

[u/WindSpecialist420]

Sets scale wrong... this IS mildly infuriating.

At 208 you would be 5'10" to have a 30 BMI

[u/teamdragonite]

dude congrats! but some of us also know youre sucking in your stomach a bit lol

[u/sj2k4]

BMI is dumb. As a mass indicator for a population’s obesity rate - “maybe useful”.

But at an individual level, BMI can’t tell:
•Body fat percentage
•Muscle mass
•Bone density
•Fitness level

Ignore BMI.

[u/Medusa-Damage]

Read about the origins of BMI. It’s a highly flawed metric. So infuriating that it’s still used by the medical profession.

[u/RespondMinimum9186]

BMI is total bullshit and I think recent research has said something similar. You look great man, be proud of the work you’ve put in and don’t let yourself be bullied by a bullshit calculation that doesn’t take many of different body types and other factors into consideration!

[u/Sci_man_scimon]

BMI is bullshit

[u/WebMaka]

Umm, yeah, BMI is very close to pointless as a health metric. What actually matters for metrics are the results of actual lab work, such as metabolic panels, that tell you what's going on chemically within the body.

My age and height would require me to be about 180 lbs. to have an "ideal" (sub-25) BMI, but I'm 1.8m/6' tall and 60cm/2' wide at the shoulders and the BMI calculations don't consider frame size at all - at 180 lbs. I would look like I have an eating disorder and I would have to surrender muscle mass to cut to that weight.

[u/Broad_Poetry_9657]

A smart scale can’t determine accurately if you are overweight. Listen to your actual doctors.

[u/ndtx248]

Ignore the BMI. A better gauge of fitness is called the body roundness index. You can find an easy calculator with a simple search.