Anyone have good BMI but belly fat?

[Paige]

Ahhh. The latest research on belly fat and normal BMI was written for me. Last year my husband and I started the Dr. Esselstyn diet (my dh has a ton of heart disease history in the family) and we lost about 10 pounds each and kept it off from Sept. to Dec. and then the holidays finally got us. I am so frustrated by my big belly. I exercise a lot, but my blood pressure went up after an August of being a slacker...I also read that increasing muscle mass will help with my metabolism so I have a plan! My waist size is bigger than the recommended size and I am built just like my mother...(it just happens no matter how much you swear it won't). Soooo.....I am going on a plant based healthy eating binge and hoping to lose my belly! Just needed to tell someone! Anyone want to join me!:)

[bunnys]

I went on an exclusively plant based diet 7 years ago and lost about 65 pounds. I have stayed on the exclusive plant based diet and have kept the weight off. But, I do still have some belly fat.

[Suzanne]

My BMI is 20.74, and I have some belly fat; I'm really thinking that my expectations for a flat(ter) stomach are just plain unrealistic. The concave belly is just not my body type; I'm very short-waisted with high hip and lower hip measurements almost the same. There's only just room for 2 fingers between the bottom of my rib cage and the top of my hip bone. Even when I was very thin (around 105lb), my waist size was never as small as the "perfect proportions" tables suggested, despite fanatical exercising, and I was always somewhat rounded in cross-section. Now I'm 53, it's unlikely that my bone structure will miraculously change. I maintain my body weight on a high-fat, low carb, somewhat omnivorous diet (I don't eat fish, seafood, legumes, and nuts).

[Gardenarian]

My BMI is around 19 but I have some belly fat. I have trouble doing exercise for my abs as they generally hurt my lower back, but I've found that doing the "plank" is helpful.

Here is a link to the Mayo Clinic on Belly Fat (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/belly-fat/WO00128).

[lmerullo]

I have a love/hate relationship with the plank.

I have found that supermans are good for building the opposing muscle groups, which are often neglected when trying to isolate the abs.

Thanks for the article - wonder if the info is similar for men? My hubby has a "beer-belly", except he doesn't drink.

[Suzanne]

Belly fat isn't necessarily bad. If your belly is fairly hard and holds its shape when you lie down, then there's deep visceral fat. We need some visceral fat to protect our organs and keep them warm. If the fat lies between the skin and the muscles, and your belly sinks when you lie down, that's subcutaneous fat. It's jiggly fat, and it's benign even if we hate it. A better measure of health risks than BMI is the waist-to-hip ratio. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/waist-to-hip-ratio-calculator/

[ctg492]

Good luck

My BMI is 19. I came to the realization a few years ago that I am doomed to have abs of jelly. I gave myself 2 hernias on the no pain no gain, I want flat stomach program. Now I just try to do the best I can. But like most I am too hard on myself. Yesterday a very sweet neighbor brought over a desert Tunnel Of Chocolate. She said ever so nicely, it is yummy we wanted you to have some and we think you are too thin and need it.

[bae]

I'm ~50.

When I put in the figures for my college fighting weight, when I was lean enough that I'd sink when swimming in fresh water, I get a BMI of 37.7... I'm up to a BMI of 41 now, and perhaps even stronger than I was then, but am carrying about 20 pounds too much, mostly in the abdomen. I have a flat stomach - somewhere :-) - my abdominal muscles feel like bocce balls, under a layer of excess winter food storage. That fat only goes away when I am not eating enough while working hard in harsh environmental conditions, for weeks. I can go without food in the wilderness for extended periods of time, if I'm going out hunting for < a week, I usually just throw a loaf of bread and a hunk of cheese in my pack. In normal conditions, I will sometimes eat 0 meals a day, but then on another day I'll gotta have a wildebeest :-)

My blood pressure is 100/70, resting pulse is about 50. My LDL cholesterol is low, HDL is high, all other bloodwork looks good.

My bones are in the 99th-percentile of size, and I am shaped roughly like a refrigerator. I suspect Mom may have taken up with a Neanderthal while Dad was out at sea...

[Paige]

Funny, bae...My BMI is only 23.4, but my waist size is 37.4 and hips are 38. I am only 5'3" so you can see where my weight goes. But being the geek that I am, I lay on the floor and my belly went relatively fat, if not gelatinous. I guess that's a good sign, right, Suzanne. I couldn't find the answer on the hip to waist ratio. Maybe I don't want to.... Good to know there are others pondering this stuff.

[danna]

There is a new Obesity Scale some doctors are just starting to use.
It is called the "Edmonton Obesity Scale" and it is used with the BMI to determine if your BMI is actually bad for you.
It adds in the numbers that Bae has mentioned. It allows for better health with a higher BMI and that a lower BMI can sometimes mean you are not healthy.
Sounds like a better way for a doctor to look at a patients weigh and health together........

[JaneV2.0]

I'm ~50.

When I put in the figures for my college fighting weight, when I was lean enough that I'd sink when swimming in fresh water, I get a BMI of 37.7... I'm up to a BMI of 41 now, and perhaps even stronger than I was then, but am carrying about 20 pounds too much, mostly in the abdomen. I have a flat stomach - somewhere :-) - my abdominal muscles feel like bocce balls, under a layer of excess winter food storage. That fat only goes away when I am not eating enough while working hard in harsh environmental conditions, for weeks. I can go without food in the wilderness for extended periods of time, if I'm going out hunting for < a week, I usually just throw a loaf of bread and a hunk of cheese in my pack. In normal conditions, I will sometimes eat 0 meals a day, but then on another day I'll gotta have a wildebeest :-)

My blood pressure is 100/70, resting pulse is about 50. My LDL cholesterol is low, HDL is high, all other bloodwork looks good.

My bones are in the 99th-percentile of size, and I am shaped roughly like a refrigerator. I suspect Mom may have taken up with a Neanderthal while Dad was out at sea...


Hahaha! Clearly separated at birth. I once described the family build as refrigerator-like. Bosomy refrigerators on the distaff side. Hearty peasant stock. I have considered my 5% of questionable DNA may be Neanderthal (it's a toss up with space alien...)

[Spartana]

There is a new Obesity Scale some doctors are just starting to use.
It is called the "Edmonton Obesity Scale" and it is used with the BMI to determine if your BMI is actually bad for you.
It adds in the numbers that Bae has mentioned. It allows for better health with a higher BMI and that a lower BMI can sometimes mean you are not healthy.
Sounds like a better way for a doctor to look at a patients weigh and health together........

Glad to see that Drs are finally coming around to finding a better tool to meaure body fat than BMI. I HATE BMI measurements as a measure of body fat - or worse, a measure of health. Really, really a poor tool IMHO. Doesn't take into account so many other variables like muscle mass, bone density, etc... A "good" BMI doesn't mean you have low body fat (and good health either) and a "bad" BMI doesn't mean you have high body fat (or are unhealthy). We had a thread somewhere here awhile ago (on the Open forun I think) about using BMI with lots of reasons BMI is a poor measurment.

So having gotten my rant out :-) I will say to the OP that some people no matter how thin or how little fat they have, often have stomach fat. I personally think it's hormone driven to a large extent for women (and beer driven for men :-)!). It seems almost impossible to get rid of short of surgury - maybe with extreme exercise and dieting. However you can tone the area and build muscle there to firm the underlying muscles and that will make the belly's appearance look better and less fat. Gotta do those crunches though :-)!

[herbgeek]

Not a fan of BMI either, but mostly because my number is right on the line of normal/overweight. I am a lot heavier than I look, due to muscular (read: peasant) legs. How can one number represent a whole host of body types?

[Spartana]

Not a fan of BMI either, but mostly because my number is right on the line of normal/overweight. I am a lot heavier than I look, due to muscular (read: peasant) legs. How can one number represent a whole host of body types?

I agree. In that other thread alot of people said that, according to their BMI's, they would be considered obese - even extremely obese - when in reality they had very little body fat and looked in great shape. And the opposite is true too - a low BMI doesn't always mean you have a low percentage of fat. Didn't they use to make scales that had some kind of electronic way to read your body fat levels when you stepped on it? I remember having something like that done with electrodes at a gym to determine the actual percent of fat I had. That seems a more acurate way to go but I guess you can't do that at hpome with just a height/weight calculation.

[Gardenarian]

I agree that BMI is not very accurate. My dd weighs more than I but is solid muscle, and 2 sizes smaller - but has a higher BMI.