My BMI is 29. So, unfortunately, my answer is yes.
Ask HN: Are you overweight?
21–30 of 31 posts
Re: Ask HN: Are you overweight?
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Well that certainly depends on your particular interpretation of the widely overloaded term "overweight." Yup. The problem with the BMI is it doesn't take into account the variety of lifestyles people have. For example, a lifter is going to weigh a lot more than the average person simply by increased muscle mass and would probably be considered overweight or even obese by BMI standards.
Yeah, BMI should be retired as a useful metric, percentage body fat is far more useful. The problem though is measuring this accurately... (the scales that include the body fat percentage give wildly different numbers depending on time of day, water consumption etc.)
It is a useful metric, but it was never intended to be used for assessing individuals. It's intended use is as a metric for populations of people. It works very well for that.
Re: Ask HN: Are you overweight?
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Well that certainly depends on your particular interpretation of the widely overloaded term "overweight." Yup. The problem with the BMI is it doesn't take into account the variety of lifestyles people have. For example, a lifter is going to weigh a lot more than the average person simply by increased muscle mass and would probably be considered overweight or even obese by BMI standards.
As a lifter with a BMI of 26, it's not a very useful metric. Last time I measured my BF% with calipers it was around 9%... Edit: Okay checked my spreadsheet, I misremembered. Honestly I don't track it that closely
4% body fat is fatal really fast, isn't it?
Re: Ask HN: Are you overweight?
#24yes
Re: Ask HN: Are you overweight?
#25I used to be. Not anymore.
Re: Ask HN: Are you overweight?
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Well that certainly depends on your particular interpretation of the widely overloaded term "overweight." Yup. The problem with the BMI is it doesn't take into account the variety of lifestyles people have. For example, a lifter is going to weigh a lot more than the average person simply by increased muscle mass and would probably be considered overweight or even obese by BMI standards.
As a lifter with a BMI of 26, it's not a very useful metric. Last time I measured my BF% with calipers it was around 9%... Edit: Okay checked my spreadsheet, I misremembered. Honestly I don't track it that closely
Highly unlikely that you are at 4%; is my understanding that you can be at 4% BF for a short period of time:
http://cdn.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/body-fat...
Re: Ask HN: Are you overweight?
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a lifter with a BMI of 26, it's not a very useful metric. Last time I measured my BF% with calipers it was around 9%... Edit: Okay checked my spreadsheet, I misremembered. Honestly I don't track it that closely
Highly unlikely that you are at 4%; is my understanding that you can be at 4% BF for a short period of time: http://cdn.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/body-fat...
Yeah not sure how accurate the calipers are, I pay more attention to if it's going up/down than the absolute value.
Re: Ask HN: Are you overweight?
#28No, in actually good shape. Lift 3 times a week, have a 6-pack.
Re: Ask HN: Are you overweight?
#29Nope.
But is HN itself overweight?
Re: Ask HN: Are you overweight?
#30I used to be. Not anymore.
What did you do about it?