So, my friend Joe sends me a special invite to check out Revolution Health and I decide to check out the “BMI Calculator” which takes your height and weight and tries to approximate your BMI. Well, apparently, for someone who’s 5’3″ and 190 pounds, it thinks my BMI is 33.7 which it tells me is not just “overweight” or “chubby” but “obese.” Damn. I’m one fat bastard.
Watch out, or I might eat you in a fit of uncontrollable hunger.
Tags:
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obese
Programmer, husband, father, singer, guitarist, tinkerer, reverse engineer, strange, and living in New Jersey. 
Uhhh, 5’3″ 190 sounds pretty obese to me, unless you are a tank.
There is actually some controversy over the BMI. The body mass index takes into account the ratio of your weight to your height. Muscle is heavy and therefore a person with a lot of body muscle may have a higher BMI than an average individual. In fact, a lot of very fit professional athletes are technically considered to be “overweight” or “obese” based on their BMIs http://www.consumerfreedom.com/oped_detail.cfm?oped=160
I wouldn’t worry too much about the obese label.
Matthew: I’m definitely chubby, no arguing there. But, I’d never thought of myself as obese before. Perhaps what I call “obese” is what is medically referred to as “morbidly obese” which is apparently 100 pounds over ideal body weight.
Most people who look at me have a hard time believing that I fluctuate between 190 and 205 pounds regularly–they’re convinced I weigh less. Of course, my scale doesn’t lie …
amc: Indeed, I’m quite muscular, especially my legs. Apparently, my weight is well-distributed, too.
I’m remarkably surprised that after all these years, no one has evolved a better fitness measure than BMI, one that more accurately describes the physical situation. Of course, I guess using just height and weight alone, there’s not much you can do. But, what if you just added one or two more variables (gender, age) … could it produce more refined figures?
Hi Dossy, (Corey from Boxely days) – as author of the little tool, sorry. Blame the CDC, it’s their calculation.
But yeah, you’ve got some interesting stats, 5’3″ 190, and you aren’t obese? Consider yourself lucky. We’ll be posting more technical details shortly about how to use the tool – (and how to put it into perspective if you’re a lean mean crime fighting machine such as yourself).
Corey: Hi! Guess you left AOL and went to Revolution Health, huh? Cool.
I guess this is the right time to launch “amiobeseornot.com” … heh!
Well Dossy, I am one that finds it difficult to believe you weigh 190 as I weigh about 170! Nevertheless, your hair probably contributes quite a bit.
Yes, I suspect you are quite muscular, I guess the teeshirts you wear just hide that fact to me.
Hello!
I think weight is a relative issue. Exercise, sleep and caring for your health are the most important. I would personally recommend http://www.spine-health.com to get an idea about the latest advancements in the orthopedic arena; particularly (and strange enough) those concerning sleep, food, exercise and related topics.
If you’re interested in reading what people have to say about these topics, I would recommend checking out the blog: http://blog.spine-health.com
Good luck!
Miray