What Metrics Do You Care About and Why?

@namaoza I don't consider BMI to be that flawed. Yes I'm out of the standard reference range for it, but that's explainable. It's when further explanation isn't examined that issues with it arise.

But I can't say I find any of the other markers to be particularly flawed.
 
@neostarwcc For BMI my reason for considering it flawed comes down to interpretation. If you’re using it to describe the relative proportions of someone, as it was originally designed, then it’s fine. But if you use it, as many do, as a marker of health and fitness, I’d argue it’s a poor number since, as you point out, many fit people are out of its range.
 
@namaoza I’m the guy that for 20 years said BMI was as BS because it said I was overweight from the time I was 25. Right around then was when I stopped running regularly because it was too hard. Now not massively overweight but I was also young and healthy enough to still be able to be extremely active. So I switched to other things like cycling that I could do easier when carrying the extra. So I looked at it like BMI was wrong for me. That my body was just old or I was big boned and not built to go long distance. But after making a bunch of changes to my diet and losing the weight I am now 47 and stronger then I have been since my 20s. And I am that because I am right in the middle of my BMI weight for normal when I said that was BS. For me this weight has given me something I never thought I would have at almost 50 and that is energy and endurance. I honestly haven’t felt this way since my mid 20s that’s how much of a difference it has made.

So is bmi perfect? Of course not. It is just one metric of many. But I know I was stupid to discount it outright. Now I run regularly and haven’t done that in years. And I am seriously considering doing an ultra marathon before 50 when 4 years ago I never thought I would run again.
 
@namaoza I don't care about any one number that much. I do track steps and activity minutes and usually have some target in mind, but what matters is I'm staying active and feeling good about it. I tend to fluctuate in terms of what activity I'm into and will have short term goals, but I mainly want to keep on enjoying to exercise, since I used to feel like I was "bad" at it and simply wouldn't bother at all. I like seeing progress as much as the next person, but what progress means is in flux and will depend on my life circumstances, time, motivation, the weather and countless other things.
 
@namaoza Generally I go by this

Health is a big concern for me since I suffer from PCOS so I try to be as balance as possible as when it comes to diet and exercise. I like to do a variety of sports so one can say I’m actually a master of none. I do enjoy Muay Thai, pole dance and lifting. My only goal is to just be better than I was before. I don’t have a specific goal.
 
@namaoza I care about my TDEE. Weird, I know, but when I started paying attention to my calories I realized how uncomfortable I was while eating too little during a cut or eating too much during a bulk (even clean bulk). I decided that I would define "done" as being happy with how I looked in the mirror, generally healthy fitness levels, and having a TDEE that matched my appetite. So now, when I maintain weight, I'm comfortably eating what I want, still working out hard but I'm not really challenging myself in terms of my diet.

As a reference, I'm 5'8" 168lb and I've been maintaining at 2700 calories for the past 3-4 months. I had similar stats a few years ago and was fat, so the "happy with how I looked in the mirror, generally healthy fitness levels" part cannot be overlooked.
 
@halley68 I am in the same situation as you. My diet has become a far bigger component of my health. Took 2 years to really learn weight control through diet alone. And now the exercise is so much easier. I usually intermittent fast but just at maintenance calories for the last 2 years. I feel better at 47 then I have in decades. Far more energy and many of those middle age problems disappeared when the weight did.
 
@namaoza Resting HR, Blood pressure, body fat% (informally/subjectively measured), pain free knees, lower back, neck, decent muscle mass/maintained bodyweight. I work a physical job, so its way more important to me how I feel on the job than at the gym.
 
@namaoza
  • How much I can lift (squat/bench/deads/dips/pullups).
  • How my pants fit.
  • How I look in a t-shirt.
  • How my wife thinks I look naked.
  • How many bags of groceries I can carry in one trip.
  • How hard it is to keep up with my son.
  • How I sleep.
 
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