Yes, for most people, depending on body shape (tall people have it harder in that regard). Beyond that, not really . To make good progress for goals beyond that (e.g. the 1000 club), you're going to go off the scale. But that's not relevant to my original point, which is that BMI is not "mostly absolutely correct". It's a general guide, with fuzzy edges. A general guid is enough to tell you you're obese, though.