Low end BMI but don’t look ill.

[SkelatorIamNot]

On every weight related thread on Mumsnet there are comments about how people look ill and gaunt at anything below the top end of the healthy range.

Those of us at the lower end are made to feel like we have eating disorders or are in denial.

I have a BMI of 19, I am short at 5ft 2 (and a half!) I don’t look ill, I am not tiny, I am a normal healthy weight woman with a waist, curves, a flabby belly. I am fit, I exercise and lift weights (not very heavy one’s mind)

Pretty sure I am not the only one who actually IS chubby at the high end BMI and doesn’t look ill within the healthy range.

It’s all relative. My BMI is about 18 and always has been. Nobody comments. If someone’s BMI has always been 35 and dips to 25, they’re going to look different and their face may well look relatively gaunt.

I make no observation on anyone’s weight, ever. I would say they look nice without it needing to be related to size in any way (and it never is).

Yes it’s all about build. BMI doesn’t work for me as I have a wide skeleton and weight is spread over a bigger area. So opposite to you, I’m very thin in the middle of the healthy BMI and look slim two stone into “overweight”.

I'm short, and I imagine I have a small frame because I look very fat at the top end of a healthy BMI, and pretty good at the lower end (not ill in any case). Bodies are just different, and some people will look better at the lower end of healthy, while others look better at a higher weight.

And???

If you know that you’re healthy, exercise, and do not have an eating disorder, then just go about your day?

I don’t understand why you’d care about other people talking about themselves. Nobody else knows your numbers.

Are you asking for advice or?

I also have a BMI of 19, but am 5'11, and I look normal too. I think it depends on build and if you've recently lost a lot of weight maybe.

Exactly. It all depends on your frame. A whippet and a staffie could be the same age and height, but they are never going to weigh the same, are they?

I’m not asking for advice I am posting to find other people like me because from Mumsnet it seems that everyone looks ill at a lower bmi and we are all deluded. It is nice to see a bit of representation on here sometimes.

Never mind a flabby belly, can you count ribs?

Bellies have fat and if you've had weight there the skin will be stretched and saggy.

@Oldandgreyer what do ribs suggest?

You can have visible ribs and also a flabby belly 🤷‍♀️.

What’s the driver on this @SkelatorIamNot?

Unless you are deep in an eating disorder it’s pretty easy to see if you’re smaller, medium or larger sized. Forget other people and their issues. Their motives could be kind or jealous or sinister. BMI is not the only tool, you can use waist size or clothes size or even visible ribs/clavicles but these are also affected by natural physiology.

I can say I’m a strapping build (like @Disturbia81) with a bigger frame and muscle so I do look gaunt at bmi 19 BUT does that help you prove your point?

Im going to offer this completely neutrally; but you can gain a lot of social capital and/or self esteem from being lower weight. And BMI CAN prevent anorexics from accessing treatment. The number on the scale isn’t an indicator of your moral character.

There is no specific driver, like any of the posts on Mumsnet people seek validation from people like them.

I notice it a lot where people say they look positively ill at anything less than 23 and maybe it does make me feel a little defensive that small people are other, something to be pitied because we are delusional and clearly don’t know that we have an eating disorder.

I know I can’t be the only one feeling that slimmer people get so much hate on this site.

Oh and I don’t dispute that SOME people do look better at higher BMIs, everyone has their own preferences regarding aesthetics and people’s build varies wildly.

My post isn’t to say that people preferring the higher end of bmi are kidding themselves, I just want to know that there are people like me out there and I am not some weirdo. When it seems like every post denies that I exist.

Why do you think people say those at lower BMIs look ill? They don't? People with underweight BMI can look ill, though not always, my DS is 17.8 and he looks what he is, tall slim and athletic. I've never heard anyone claim that people with a healthy albeit lower end BMI look ill.

I'm a slimmer person, and I don't think we get much hate at all, certainly not as much as overweight people do, anyway! I think people sometimes think that those who have lost a lot of weight look "gaunt" or "ill" because they are used to seeing them larger.

I think my BMI is around 18.4. I certainly don't starve myself. Not sure how I look to others (other than many say I look younger than my 58 years). My ribs can't be seen, I feel comfortable and well. So far I've had 2 shredded wheat, chocolate cake, chunky veg soup and bread and clementine. I expect a couple of biscuits this afternoon, mixed nuts and wine, salmon, roast potatoes, broccoli and carrots. If I'm hungry after, there's fruit and greek yogurt, gu pot or ice cream. I enjoy my food.

I'm not obsessed, but like walking and do 3 exercise classes a week. Also, do most of shopping on foot which is good exercise carrying weights up the hill. Guess this helps.

Congratulations on your BMI - but no one cares that deeply about a total non issue.

I’m at the low end of BMI scale. Always have been, probably always will be. I am fine, strong and healthy. I am a runner. Only when I was actually unwell did people comment in a concerned way. Otherwise I just get the usual - nothing of you, you’ve got no insulation (when I have to be more careful open water swimming), you’re lovely and slim.

I'm only 159cm and small framed which means I really don't carry weight well. I start to look chubby at about bmi 22 because of the way it is distributed on me. I look best at around bmi 20 as then I go in and out at the right places!