Saturday, September 25, 2010

The Milestone Numbers

On  my previous diet blog, I did a post about the magic numbers. Fat people seem to always have certain weights they associate with certain time periods or milestones, I think. (From what I've read on blogs, at least). If you asked me what was my magic weight, it wouldn't be the slimmest I ever was or the slimmest I wanted to BE (and never was). It would be what I weighed when I got married: 154.

But I have other "milestone numbers", which is what would be the weight numbers that show I've crossed health classification levels. Here, from that Once Upon a Diet post in June of this year:

I was fiddling with the NIH's BMI Calculator. I know I'd done this before--trying to figure out where I stopped being obese, etc, but I'd forgotten.

So, I did it again.

The WHO's classification for obesity is this:

BMI Classification
< 18.5 underweight
18.5–24.9 normal weight
25.0–29.9 overweight
30.0–34.9 class I obesity
35.0–39.9 class II obesity
≥ 40.0   class III obesity 


























Well, at my highest, my BMI--as approximated using the NIH calculator-- was 48.3. That means that at 299, I was in a subset of Class III obesity called super obese.

When I started this blog at 289 lbs in 2007, my BMI was 46.6. Still super obese.  Today, I was a scosh over 263, which has my BMI at 42.4. No longer in the worst category, but still in Class III. This is morbidly obese.

To leave Class III, I'd have to get down to 246, at which weight my BMI would be 39.9 and Class II Obesity, and I'd be considered severely obese.  At 216, I'd have a BMI of 34.9 and be in Class I--plain old obese. No scary modifiers.

But 186 lbs is THE magic number: No longer obese at all. Merely categorized as overweight. BMI of 29.9.


My goal "end weight" for this blog is 160. That's not my magic Wedding Day number. It's not even my larger "happy weight" of 175, a weight at which, while I was large, I was able to feel flexible and not look too large dressed up. In fact, I could dress up, cause my belly wasn't gargantuan. :) The medical charts would still have me as overweight, but let's be frank: I'd have so much hanging leftover skin at 160, that you could take away 20 + pounds just for excess flesh, and that would put me well into ideal medical weight zone.

The short-term medical milestone goal for me is 246 lbs. I'd no longer be officially morbidly obese. And that's a bit under 9 lbs from where I am today. I will be most celebrative when I see that number on the scale Milestone. :D

What are you magic and milestone numbers?

5 comments:

Michelle said...

My next milestone number is 163 which will not only move me from obese to merely overweight it will also mean I've hit 30 lbs lost. I'm sitting at about 166 as of this morning but have been in that range for the last month or so with no real progress so I'm hoping to hit it soon. My actual goal weight would be 130, I don't ever remember weighing 130 - I remember weighing 136 in 8th grade 20 or so years ago. My magic happy number would be about 145. I don't know if I'll even get there but I do know its a process and every step I take towards that goal is one more step towards a healthier me.

Anonymous said...

My next "magic #" is 199, my goal is 160 or 170. Basically a BMI of 24 ...
Good to see your blog. Pretty! Congrats on your hard work!
D

Karen said...

My next mini goal is 185, then 170. My ultimate goal is 145, a weight that I've never been as an adult. The smallest weight I've been as an adult 153.

My ultimate goal seems far away, yet closer than I've seen in years :)

Lyn said...

Hi! Nice new blog :)

I am aiming for 168 right now... hoping to go lower but that will be 110 pounds gone and a weight I have not seen in a long, long time. We can do this!

Rochester said...

I nominated you for a Blog Award. Check out this post for details: http://rochester-freetobeme.blogspot.com/2010/09/blog-award-blog-with-substance.html