When you're striving to achieve a healthy weight, it's natural to look for guidance about what exactly that means for your body. While the jeans test is telling in terms of your body's changes, your pants can't tell you how many pounds you might need to lose or gain to get to your best weight.
For years, we turned to the body mass index (BMI) formula for a clue about where we fall on the health curve, but the calculation doesn't differentiate between the weight of muscle from fat and therefore isn't as trusted as it used to be.
Health.com recruited its top two nutrition experts to calculate the BMIs of seven celebrities by analyzing their photos. The experts were told each celebrity's height measurements but used weight estimates, so their calculations aren't 100 percent accurate. Still, the results offer some surprising insight about the accuracy of BMIs. To see their approximate BMI calculations for celebs and athletes like Beyonce and Tony Romo, read more.
| Celebrity | Height | Estimated Weight (lbs) | Estimated BMI | BMI Verdict |
| Angelina Jolie | 5'8'' | 118 | 17.9 | Underweight |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | 6'2'' | 240 | 30.8 | Obese |
| Beyonce | 5'6'' | 130 | 21 | Normal |
| Tom Cruise | 5'7'' | 166 | 26 | Overweight | Tony Romo | 6'2'' | 224 | 28.8 | Significantly overweight |
| Serena Williams | 5'9'' | 150 | 22.1 | Normal |
| Jennifer Love Hewitt | 5'2'' | 120 | 21.9 | Normal |
Lanvin
Benefit
Laura Scott
Angelina Jolie being underweight is no shocker. Brad needs to give her a sandwich.
1I always hated BMI calculations that only use height/weight. Even in the military, they use other measurements (neck, waist, hips) to be at least a little more accurate.
2I know her arms look like straws...
3I seriously do not believe that those are the actual weights of certain celebrities... sorry.....
4No way on Beyonce. Just NO way.
5ah this lbs-system is really hurting my brain... hail the metric system!
however, it shows that you can't use the bmi for athletes, especially those muscle-packed ones...
6haha, I cal BS on Beyonce's weight. Sorry.
I've always thought BMI was a terrible way to decide whether someone is healthy. When I was extremely muscular, and a size 4 (and therefore, very healthy for my frame) I was overweight according to the BMI calculator. Now that I've gotten extremely out of shape, and I'm a size 6, but it's more fat weight than muscle weight, I'm within the normal size range according to BMI. Trust me, I can tell you I was healthier when I was "overweight."
7No way is Beyonce 5'6" and 130!! I'm 5'6" and look a heck of a lot smaller than that at 130!
8Beyonce is about 160.
9I'm sorry, but Romo and Tom Cruise can't be classified as overweight. That system seems way off.
10tyra banks is 165lbs and she is a giant compared to beyonce. I think her weight is actually accurate. she has a curvy body type with a very small waist.
11Lol I am in the same boat! Honestly I have GAINED weight since I started to really weight train 4 times a week! Like 8 lbs! Being 5'6" and wieghing 135lbs probably clasifys me as overweight, but I honestly don't look it. I am tiny, but strong!
12Pretty sure 135 pounds at 5'6" does NOT classify you as overweight, Lovely_1. That's definitely that Hollywood ideal seeping into your head.
13I think BMI calculations works for the average person, but not for rare cases (like the naturally skinny tall girl or the hardcore athlete). I think in the end, it's how your clothes fit and how much extra fat you think is too much.
14This seems pretty pointless when the WEIGHTS are estimates themselves! It would have a lot more credence if it was accurate heights and weights, although I appreciate the concept they were going for.
15There's no way Jennifer Love is 120. She's pretty thick.
16Why people feel the need to say they don't believe what someone weights or take the opportunity to make catty comments? This is why I hate weight "discussions".
17I was actually more shocked that Tom Cruise is 5'7". Really?? He's only an inch under Jolie? Somehow that doesn't seem correct lol.
18I don't know, isn't J Love like 5'2"? 120 for that height seems decent to me. I'm 5'10" though, so I obviously don't really know what I'm talking about.
Francoise- I think people just get upset when celebrities say they're 5'9" and 110 pounds, when that's obviously a lie. That's what starts eating disorders... when a teen girl decides since so and so is 110 pounds, that's what she should be too.
19greatscott...that is so funny. I love Brad and Angelina, but he really should give her a sandwich. Ha ha
20yeah NO WAY Beyonce is 120. not even close to possible.
21Sorry, Francoise, but it IS a 'discussion'
While the male counts are surprising, the female ones seem correct.
22I would have thought beyonce was a lot taller - 5'6 is pretty short to me for her. I'd think she was more in the 5'9 or 5'10 region.
23BMI is always off if you're a shortie like me and J. Love and Tom Cruise. Since it's a height/weight ratio, if you are really short, you're kinda screwed. I have a friend who is 4'8" and for her to be normal on the BMI charts, she'd have to weigh something like 90 lbs, which for her would be very unrealistic. I'm only 5'3" and when I weighed 130, I was perfectly healthy and not overfat at all, but my BMI was higher than most people's would have been. When you're tall, you have more room to spread the weight out.
Most of the rest of the numbers on here aren't really that shocking...Angelina's underweight? Really? Wow, tell me something I don't know. She's a walking stick-figure.
24beyonce looks much bigger in pictures and on tv than she does in person. i saw her and was very surprised by how small she looked, so i think her height and weight listed here are probably pretty accurate.
jennifer love hewitt looks soo much taller than 5'2"! wow.
25I find some of those weights questionable, too. My BMI is 20.5, and I MUCH smaller than Beyonce and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Oh well.
I find that BMI is very strict and unforgiving. I doubt Beyonce and Jennifer would fall under the "normal" range of BMI. JMHO.
26Weight estimates? How is that useful? Yes, BMI can be misleading for SOME people, but making up numbers isn't exactly the best way to illustrate that.
27They really underestimated Beyonce and Serena's weight, they have way to much muscle to be that light.
28The entire idea of measuring BMI by height and weight is off... it's a measure of body mass, not width. It should be measured by using a tool that pinches your skin and fat (but not muscle) at certain target areas -- waist, hips, thigh, upper arm. You measure how many millimeters of "excess material" you have, and your BMI calculated from these numbers.
At least, that's what I've always heard. Everyone's complaints about muscle weighing more than fat, body type, etc are right on.
29see - i think that there are times when you shouldn't look at BMI to see what range you're in. look at tony romo - we all know that he's not VERY overweight - he's all muscle, but i guess the calculation doesn't account for that.
30*giggles*
5'7'', poor guy.I'm taller than him.
31Very nice site!
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