29 May Real Talk | Body Mass Index
Dr. Murphy discusses body mass index (BMI) and what it actually means.
It’s called the body mass index. It has its uses, but it also has its limitations. It’s about the only truth that’s available. We looked at others, I say we, not we, other people have looked at other things, waist-hip ratios, neck circumferences, abdominal circumferences. And I think these are all tools we can use. But still, at the end of the day, the body mass index is a relatively close judgment, but it’s not exactly precise. Now I’ll give you an example. Arnold Schwarzenegger, when he was in his prime, Mr. Universe, he had a body mass index of about 34. So he was morbidly obese. But he didn’t quite look morbidly obese, did he? But he was, according to the body mass index. So it doesn’t apply to individuals. It applies to populations. And that’s when it was invented 200 years ago. That’s what it was done for, population-based studies. Even a fellow that invented it said, no, you really don’t want to use this on individuals. But we do. Insurance companies weaponized it against us. They’re like, no, you’re obese. You get a higher rate. But it is a good study. And if you use that, and you can look it up online what a body mass index is. At an 18 index, you’re anorexic, which means you have no body fat theoretically left on your body. Therefore, anything above that weight is fat. So if I were to jump on the scale right now at my height and everything, the weight of 200 pounds, if I drop down in my body mass index right now would be about 26 and 1 half, somewhere in there. If I drop my weight to 150 pounds, my body mass index would be about 18. So I’d be anorexic. So I carry about 50 pounds of fat on my body. And it’s really kind of interesting because I don’t really look like I’m carrying 50 pounds. But some of it you actually need. You need some fat around your heart. It’s somewhat protective. You have a lot of fat on the inside of your body and on the outside of your body. I mean, it’s just a natural progression of things. And of course, then you have the gravity that sets in where all fat seems to go with gravity and tends to fall down over the years. But yeah, that is. And then when you do gain weight, you try to lose weight, but you still can’t seem to lose the last 20 pounds. Well, that’s skin and everything that we have to contend with. So if you can’t really lose it through any means other than surgery. But yeah, that’s a good way to determine so many pounds. So if I had to lose 50 pounds, roughly I’m carrying around 25% body fat. Then theoretically, 10% would be fine, 10%, 15% I’m OK with, which would put my weight right at about 175, 180, which is where I should be.
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