My doctor called me fat. My tests show otherwise

L

little96

New member
In all fairness, I have been heavy my whole live. I topped out at age 17 at 5'3" tall and 210 lbs. Shortly thereafter I started running, and after that cut out sugar, and dropped 60 pounds before I started college.

I (33F) have maintained at 155-160 lbs since then, but happily. I'm a little easier on what I eat, but I lift, bike commute, rock climb, do yoga and maintain a very active lifestyle.

Yesterday at my physical my doctor and I chatted about my overall health. I told him I'm still rock climbing etc., and just finished a 150 mile weekend bike ride, which floored him. Then he looked at his records and informed me that, according to my BMI, I'm obese. I've always known that's what the BMI thinks of me. And I've always discounted it and relied on my understanding of when my body is healthy and when it isn't. Yes, I assured him, I know I could lose weight. But I also know where I've come from, and know I'm more fit than most of my peers.

He persisted, and scheduled me for a screening for (ooh I love this) "hypercholesterolemia." That night I got my results. Allow me to share:

Blood pressure: 109/63
Heart rate: 61
Temp: 96.9
BMI: 28.14
Cholesterol: 196 mg/dL (standard range 0-200, "borderline high" is 200-239, high is >240)
Triglyceride: 83 mg/dL (borderline high for my age is 150-199, high is >200)
HDL: 76 mg/dL (40-60 is desirable, very good is >60)
LDL: 103 mg/dL (borderline is 130-159, high is >160)
Estimated age, according to my cholesterol: 17.

Yes, I will strive to be fitter and healthier and to feel good. But I'm also proud of where I came from, and will never, ever go back. Suck it, BMI.
 
@little96 Same ...had my doc claim that I was definitely pre-diabetic if not diabetic because of my weight (which is not terrible...he mentioned that he was surprised that I weighed as much as I did because I do not appear overweight). I told him that I've lost a lot of weight and that I exercise daily (lift, jog, etc.)...he was still adamant about me having pre-diabetes because of my BMI. Got A1C tested and my number was the optimal 5.3. He had nothing to say lol
 
@little96 Bmi doesn't take into account your muscles and body fat percentage. I would suggest checking them out if you want to be more accurate. Good job with staying active and healthy!
 
@little96 Freakin congrats on that long ass bike ride. I am in my "healthy" weight range for my height and I struggle on a 20 mile bike ride (might be my not road bike worthy bike ;p ). I also have terrible upper body strength and would suck at rock climbing. So your overweight body kicks my "healthy weight" body's ass!

I don't think it's fair that people are saying you'd be healthier if you got down to the range that's been deemed "appropriate" for your height. You are currently healthy according to your records. Losing weight would just put you at what has been deemed an expected average for your height by the medical community. Losing weight would likely put you at an aesthetic level that signals to the outside world that you're "healthy."

You do you. If you end up losing those 20 lbs, awesome. If not, oh well.
 
@little96 Be proud of all the weight that you've dropped since college. Losing ~60 pounds isn't an easy task. You're taking really important steps to developing healthy habits. However, you need to shift your mental game a bit. Writing phrases like "...what my BMI thinks of me" seems to me to illustrate someone who might be slightly defensive when it comes to body image issues. A BMI can't "think" anything of you. It's not judging you and I doubt your doctor is judging you. He is doing his job by reporting where you are on the Body Mass Index and then running tests to ensure there aren't health hazards or complications due to your current weight.

You write "I know...I'm more fit than most of my peers." You might be more active than other people, but activity !=fit. I see people "reward" themselves with food for making it through a workout--negating most of the benefits gleaned from the workout itself. For me (personally), it's hard to connect the dots between what I eat and how much I lose/gain weight without logging everything into MyFitnessPal and counting calories. This doesn't work for everyone and you obviously need to do what works for you, BUT progress doesn't happen when you're in denial about your overall fitness level.
 
@dawn16 Yeah, you've got a good point. I realized after I talked back to my doc that I am a little defensive. It's okay to know you've made headway, and still know you can make more.
 
@little96 it's all good. body image issues are tough to work through. it brings out a lot of emotions--especially feeling frustrated that nothing is working, and then especially to feel like your efforts aren't "good enough". I think the mental part of the game is harder than just making sure you're eating at a deficit. But you've come very far already and you've proven that you can do it--that's quite the accomplishment and something that you should be proud of!
 
@little96 Actually if you gave an accurate weight (160), you aren't obese in BMI terms, just overweight. You would move into the normal zone at 140.

Gender
Age
Height
Weight
-
BMI
BMI Categorization
-
*Estimated Body Fat %
*Estimated Fat Free Mass
*Estimated Fat Mass
-
*Estimated Goal Weight @ 30% BF
*Estimated Goal Weight @ 25% BF
*Estimated Goal Weight @ 20% BF

Basic Info


Female

33

5'3"

160 lbs

-

28.3

Overweight (25 - 29.99)

-

36.2%

102 lbs

58 lbs

-

146 lbs

136 lbs

128 lbs

*Estimates more accurate for untrained individuals. Use a caliper for actual values.
 
@kansas22
Gender
Age
Height
Weight
-
BMI
BMI Categorization
-
*Estimated Body Fat %
*Estimated Fat Free Mass
*Estimated Fat Mass
-
*Estimated Goal Weight @ 30% BF
*Estimated Goal Weight @ 25% BF
*Estimated Goal Weight @ 20% BF
-
*Estimated Weight Change for 20% BF
*Estimated Time @ 1 lb/Week
*Estimated Goal Date
-
BMR (Calorie burn per day at rest)
Exercise Frequency
TDEE (Calorie burn per day w/ exercise)

Basic Info


Female

28

5'1.5"

111 lbs

-

20.6

Normal weight (18.5 - 24.99)

-

25.8%

82 lbs

29 lbs

-

118 lbs

110 lbs

103 lbs

-

8 lbs

2 months

9/3/2016

-

1179

3x / week

BMR * 1.375

1621

*Estimates more accurate for untrained individuals. Use a caliper for actual values.

Lose Weight / 20% Deficit
Lose Weight / 15% Deficit
-
Maintain Weight
-
Gain Weight / 5% Surplus
Gain Weight / 10% Surplus

Macros - Female (3x / week)
Calories
Protein (.8g/lb)
Fat (.4g/lb)
Carb
Fiber
lbs / Week

1297
89g
44g
135g
18g
-0.65

1378
89g
44g
156g
19g
-0.49

-
-
-
-
-
-

1621
89g
44g
217g
23g
0.00

-
-
-
-
-
-

1702
89g
44g
237g
24g
0.16

1783
89g
44g
257g
25g
0.32

Lose Weight / 20% Deficit
Lose Weight / 15% Deficit
-
Maintain Weight
-
Gain Weight / 5% Surplus
Gain Weight / 10% Surplus

Macros - Female (5x / week)
Calories
Protein (.8g/lb)
Fat (.4g/lb)
Carb
Fiber
lbs / Week

1379
89g
44g
156g
19g
-0.69

1465
89g
44g
178g
21g
-0.52

-
-
-
-
-
-

1723
89g
44g
242g
24g
0.00

-
-
-
-
-
-

1810
89g
44g
264g
25g
0.17

1896
89g
44g
285g
27g
0.34
 
@little96 Your tests say you're healthy. Great! That doesn't change the fact that you're overweight for your height. Unless you're a female version of Dwayne Johnson or something, you could stand to lose weight to be healthier. Do it, don't do it, it doesn't matter to me, but your doctor is not wrong to say you're overweight.
 
@little96 It's OK. I'm a bit bitter - my doctor doesn't seem to care enough about my weight and I wish she had when I was mired in the whole "I exercise so I'm healthy" and was eating a whole medium pizza in one sitting and feeling OK about it. She'll dance around it a bit but won't straight up say it.

Have to hunt for someone new because my doc is retiring this year so hopefully I'll get a straightforward, shoot from the hip kind of guy/gal.
 
@little96 Nice! I'm 5'4" so I can relate to the BMI challenge. I've been out of shape at 140 lbs and very in shape at 140 lbs and there is a big difference. It's good that your doctor did the tests but honestly, those should be done on a yearly basis regardless of weight in case there is an issue down the line. I'm surprised he didn't take your activity into account during his speech. I'd also imagine you have a nice bit of muscle, I'd be interested to see progress pics if you have them! I get a lot of motivation from looking at pics of people that are the same height.
 
@profsanctvs He didn't take that, for some reason. I asked if it was okay that I'd eaten that day (before I got my blood drawn for the cholesterol test), and the doc assured me it was okay.
 
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