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Given a BMI, is there a way to calculate how many pounds one has to lose to reach a healthy BMI? I'm 5'10", 190 lbs., BMI is 27.3.

ccnokes
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    I would urge you to consider a different metric for health, BMI was never intended to be used for individuals, it was to be used for large groups of people to assess their collective health. In groups of people, BMI increases are more likely to be fat than muscle tissue. 27,3 could be a healthy BMI if you are muscular, it could also be quite unhealthy if you're not. Arnold Schwarznegger had a BMI around 32 (obese) when he was competing in mr Olympia. What you should really assess is the amount of fat (especially abdominal fat) on your body. Abdominal fat is the only really unhealthy weight. – Mårten Aug 27 '15 at 05:36
  • In addition to what Martin said that bmi didn't differentiate between fat and muscle, also, everyone has a different build. You can't work out if someone is overweight just from their height and weight. You can check your fat percentage, although the cheap measures are extremely inaccurate, you'll need to pay quite a bit to measure your fat percentage. The best thing to do is measure your waist line. – user613 Aug 27 '15 at 08:07
  • If you decide to use BMI measurement as your weight loss guide, you're gonna be *extremely disappointed and frustrated.* You're welcome to try it though. – Kneel-Before-ZOD Aug 27 '15 at 14:02
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    Waist to Height and / or Waist to Hip ratios are regarded as marginally better than BMI, as an indicator of abdominal fatness. They don't require scales and account for muscle mass. – arober11 Aug 27 '15 at 17:29

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A healthy bmi is between 18-24. For you, that'd be 130-170 pounds. So you have about 20 pounds to lose.

http://www.neimef-research.org/resources/bmi-calculator.aspx

bmi chart

*Note: I don't support using bmi, I commented on your question about it. Nevertheless, I'm still answering it.

user613
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