Women try guessing each other’s weight… | 80 of 90
Hey guys,
I just uploaded a video unlike any I have ever made before. It’s an uncomfortable social experiment that’s already drawing a lot of attention.
I decided to gather a bunch of women together to figure out how accurate BMI, weight, and body fat percentage actually were to a person’s health. I mean, I think we all know to not “judge a book by its cover” but can you judge a person’s health based on an industry-approved medical standard?
I started planning this video a while ago, and I was very aware of how sensitive this topic was going to be. We needed to find women who were comfortable discussing their weight on camera and we needed to produce this video in the most compassionate way. I didn’t want anyone to run off set crying or upset. I wanted to have an open discussion with real feelings about some real taboo topics.
I’m currently reading the comments on YouTube and it seems that the feelings on this video are split 50/50. Some people are moved to tears because they’re incredibly touched…and then others are very upset, saying it was a terrible, pointless video meant to make women feel bad about themselves.
So, what was the point? To show that labels and numbers have as much power as we want to give them. They can make us feel bad. They can make us feel good. Or they can just be data points. But your health, which includes both your mental health, your physical health as well as your happiness is something that cannot be accurately assessed by any number. A number does it’s best to help medical professionals categorize your health as a starting point, but it’s not the entire story. Health really does look different on everyone.
My content is meant to make you think. Yeah, it’s uncomfortable, but when did we ever become smarter, better humans by being comfortable all the time? We grow the most when we’re challenged – and I’m talking emotionally challenged too. If this video made you feel a certain way, take a moment to reflect and ask yourself why you feel that way. Can you dig deep and dissect this feeling further? Some of you may find that you need improvement in the area of not letting numbers control your happiness. And others of you may just find that you don’t want a relationship with numbers at all, and that my content didn’t help you achieve that. Both are okay to feel.
Just so you know, each woman was mentally prepped for the shoot and knew that we’d be discussing weight and other sensitive body image topics. Our producer interviewed each woman who was casted one by one in person, and made sure they were comfortable with the topics before committing to the shoot. The entire Blogifam and the crew was very careful in making sure the women felt good during the entire process, from casting to shoot day to video release. The mental health of each of the women was my first priority.
Shoutout to Irene, Darlyn, Bynay, Ebony, Celeste, Paloma, Covi and Rachel for making this video possible! They were so brave, so vulnerable, and so positive. It was amazing getting to spend time with these women and create a cool thing together.
By the way, here are the charts I was referring to:
BMI chart by NIH:
ACE FITNESS body fat % chart:
I’d love to know your honest thoughts about this video. How did it make you feel? What did you learn?
Yesterday’s Recap:
LUNCH:
3% carbs, 67% fat, 30% protein
369 calories
Chicken thigh seasoned with salt and pepper with a side of sautéed spinach in olive oil. I also snacked on some steamed pork my mom made.
DINNER:
46% carbs, 23% fat, 31% protein
739 calories
Vietnamese summer rolls! I ended up eating almost 10 of these! Each was filled with shrimp, pork, cucumbers and lettuce! I snacked on a bunch of chicken drumsticks on the side, and dipped everything in hoisin sauce. I went ALL out! Hard not to when you mom is cookin!
SNACKS:
77% carbs, 16% fat, 7% protein
554 calories
Pistachios and sweetened cranberries. Had about 3 of these mini handfuls!
2 bananas YUMMMM.
Had an entire jicama plant. It tasted like a slightly less sweet pear! Kinda a fan now!
A huge handful strawberries.
Yesterday I came in at 1,662 calories and 201g carbs (47%), 56g fat (30%), and 95g protein (23%).
I am home now, so ready to get back on track. I already meal prepped my lunch tomorrow. LET’S DO THIS. 9 more days!!! AHHHH!!!!!
18 thoughts on “Women try guessing each other’s weight… | 80 of 90”
There are 18 comments posted by our users.
Okay, so I’ve had enough time to reflect on the video and think about it to give my final thoughts. I did like the video. I do know that your intentions were good. That’s a tricky topic that needs to be handled carefully. Yes, numbers are numbers. Yes, they do have an impact on us. Yes, we can choose what kind of impact they make on us. Or we can conditioned to think that they indeed have a power on us and tell the whole truth. Which is why I felt bad when the slim, lean women were told that they were acceptable or worse, obese/overweight. Although they know that they’re not super slim, it’s still a bit of a shock to be told that. Even worse when they’re asked “how do you feel about ___?” It was very uncomfortable and sad. I really hope that their confidence didn’t get completely shattered!!! Also, Irene is NOT a woman!!! So that was disappointing. Well, I still support you, but just hope you will take some feedback.
Jicama sounds good, I think!?
Cassie!! I’ve loved seeing your journey (I’ve followed you since I was in high school almost 10 years ago) but I just watched this video and wish you had more content like interviews with health professionals! And not just clinicians – those of us in health research know that BMI was created to look at population distributions and not individual health which it was later taken advantage for (I.e. if you’re overweight, you have a higher risk than the “normal weight” of certain diseases when you look at the groups each as a whole but individuals in both groups can still be more likely to not get that disease than to develop it). You’ve been great at your presentation of health related things like your blood test results and noting that we as Asians may not fall under the educated white cut points, but you just have such a platform that I feel like going deeper into some of these measures could be really great for empowering people to understand what’s going on with their bodies.
I think your brave & confident for doing a weight video. I am not doing Pilates everyday like I have been, getting injections on the 20th, hope it takes care of pain,trying to avoid another back fusion, just horrific surgery and a year to get back in shape. So I understand all about weight. Went from a size zero to a eight nothing fits me in my closet. Talk about depressing
This video was great! I’m really happy everyone was open to discussing the topics! I was looking at that dreadful BMI chart and honestly I’ve been in the “overweight” category my whole life. The only time I was in the “normal” category was sophomore year of high school when I took summer PE, which was 4 HOURS of physical activity, hardly any time to eat and volleyball. I’d say that’s unhealthy over being in the overweight category any day. Wish they’d do away with BMI!
I loved the video!! It was great. I then looked up my current body fat %\ measured and I’ve lost 5.8% since I’ve been on my health journey in August. I’m no longer in the “acceptable” category. I’m actually base training for a half ironman and want to get into the best shape of my life. I use the free app Happy Scale —- it is a positive app that shows you trends. Weight is information- it saddens me that some can’t separate from it and choose to ignore it and be less aware (often bc denial of being in poor health.) I have lost weight as well but only 4.6 lbs – the goal is 10-12. Bc I took measurements I have other data points to show progress!
I was at my bf’s family home and it was horrifying how they had zero healthy food in the entire kitchen- maybe 2 fruits. Everything else: processed packaged processed. People in his fam have autoimmune stuff that I think could be mildly improved by eating a Whole Foods diet. I am relieved knowing I will teach my kids to have a good relationship to food, provide healthy foods and not reward accomplishments with foods.
I was described while watching this video as “smiling like a goob” – which was very accurate! I really enjoyed watching this. I think that weight and even body fat don’t fully describe health, and as a student in the healthcare field we learn all the time about the crazy balance our bodies manage everyday – from clotting factors to ion gradients. And that doesn’t even cover mental health, which I was very happy to see the ladies talk about. At the end of the day “health” is on a sliding continuum and we just have to do our best in being kind to ourselves 🙂
It caught my eye to hear one of ladies implicate that she used to be heavier in the past, because that moment really drove home for me the idea that each person is on their own fitness journey. Like yeah comparing yourself to someone else’s “numbers” isn’t really good for anyone, but the better comparison would be to compare with your past self to really see how much your physical AND mental health have grown.
Reading your post, I was afraid I was going to dislike the video, but having watched it I actually really enjoyed it. I’m thankful that the take away at the end is that we can’t know a person’s health by just looking at them, because that is true, and the diet/fitness culture world is filled will judging people based on looks and weight.
I agree that BMI is useless. It doesn’t serve us.
I thought the video was really interesting, especially how they paired themselves up. I would have gotten them all correct, but they all seemed hesitant and like they were trying to be…..polite? I’m not sure that’s the word I’m looking for, but it was like they didn’t want to be like “Well, I’m skinny and you’re skinny so we must be the same!” Or “I know I’m heavier and you look pretty heavy, so let’s pair up!” I didn’t have that same emotional stake in it, so I was more objective with my pairings.
I definitely would not have been able to guess actual weights though. I was very surprised by that, because the women who were closest to my weight had completely different body types from me! It’s just like how my mom weights about 40 pounds less than me, but she can’t fit my tops because I’m a couple sizes smaller up top. Meanwhile, I can probably get one leg into her pants because I’m all thigh and booty.
As for the numbers, I think BMI is completely useless. Height and weight are not good indicators. Before my surgery I weighed in around 150 on average and I’m 5’3″ which put me in the overweight category. But I wore a size XS (still do for tops), so how small would I have had to get to be in the “normal” range. I can’t imagine myself weighing 135 or less. That just blows my mind! Post-surgery I’m definitely struggling to get my weight back under control, and I’ll be more than happy to get back to that “overweight” weight! I was eating clean and I was working out 5 days a week, yoga everyday, and walking 5-7 days a week. I’d say I was pretty healthy for being overweight.
Love that you posted this. I am also 5″3 and weight about 150, and any time I’ve dieted it is such a struggle to maintain anything under 135, even when eating healthy and exercising 5-6 days a week.
I did the weight matching with the video, and got half of them right. I was able to identify the heavier weights correctly (maybe because I’m in that category? I’m 5’5” -technically 5.5 inches but not all calculators use half inches so I round down- 180 lbs, 31.7% body fat, BMI 30.0). I hate being considered “obese” — I knew my extra weight made me larger than average… a size 10/12 isn’t “obese” to me — but honestly, it’s not wrong. My extra weight has given me high blood pressure. I’m not as healthy as I could be, so I’m actively making changes to be healthy.
I can see why this video could cause an uproar, but it’s clear that you weren’t trying to hurt anyone. I thought it was interesting seeing how different women’s bodies look at the same weight. Height and muscle mass can really change things up. I thought it was really interesting how different the 2nd set of girls were because I thought the yoga instructor would have had less body fat because she was more defined but they were exactly the same. I am in the camp of even when I have lower body fat, my stomach doesn’t get defined. My legs, arms, and back look great, but my stomach is never completely flat – always a little extra under my belly button. I’ve learned to love it through the years and know that my body con dresses just serve a little more body.
I’m so proud of all 8 of the beautiful women that were able to show their true numbers to the world in your video. I wish women as a whole would be more open to discussing their weight and stats (if they knew their body fat, etc.). I think it would help take some of the power back from that number that can be so crippling. Thanks for the vid – it was an eye opener.
The moment you told the women they would be finding their weight match it was like all the air went out of the room. They looked around in panic and I deeply sensed that they did not want to do anything to hurt another woman’s feelings. In a world that tends to pit women against each other I found that to be really touching. We really are much more supportive and loving toward each other than we’ve been portrayed.
You got this Cassey!:) Have you visited Vietnam ever?
And I think the video was insightful and entertaining. I don’t subscribe much to the BMI. I think it’s just a number for the medical profession to get an assess of where you’re at, but it doesn’t mean everything.
I thought it was interesting. I felt bad for the women. Some were clearly overweight and that can be a touchy subject. Not sure what else to say about it. At the end of the day I am all about health. I think we should all work towards getting healthier but still love our bodies in the process and not feel ashamed of them. Not everyone will get down to a size zero, and that’s ok. Health looks different on different people.
Thank you for making this video, Cassey. I’ve always been between normal and overweight on the BMI scale no matter what I did. I was overweight and unhealthy for a long time. Three years ago, I made a change. I eat mostly clean now and I workout 5-6 days a week and I feel better. My BMI hasn’t really changed, but I have, and that is what counts. We are more than a number.
I have 66 with 127, I have to admit number can make me happy or upset. Now I’m happy 😂 I can’t lie and tell I don’t want to be thin. I don’t wanna gain weight it’s all I know. Because I feel tired, I can’t have energy for anything. And I’m in a place that I don’t like to be squising in my clothes… I don’t want that. 😟 But I respect every person for who wanna be and I’m not looking up or down to anyone. I only challenge myself.
This is a great video Cassey! I think it was made in a really mindful way. It did make me emotional but mostly because it was so nice to see such genuinely lovely ladies! Girls supporting girls! I personally don’t use numbers at the moment to measure my health – I measure on my own ability in comparison to when I started. A lot of it goes hand-in-hand with mental health too, which was mentioned in the video.
Less than 10 days left to go! Where has this time gone?! Xx
It’s okay to not want to be fat, Cassey. You don’t have to keep making these videos about how you’re soo body positive and trying to pretend numbers don’t matter to you when it’s obvious that they do. Why can’t you just accept the fact that, although 70% of the population is overweight, you are not, and you like it that way? There’s nothing wrong with enjoying being fit and toned. You’re a self obsessed narcissist and the way your body looks is very important to you. Cassey, that is okay!!! Please stop trying to be inclusive. You clearly dislike heavier people and all you do is make them feel like shit under this umbrella of “acceptance.” Just stop. Admit to yourself you enjoy having a healthy body. You’re not doing anyone any favors trying to balance on the line between health and acceptance.
Nice article Very useful