At what bmi do you think someone starts looking skinny?

[Seymorbutts]

I know it depends on body type/how much you work out etc, but, as a general rule, what bmi do you think most people start looking skinny at? I’ve recently lost 3st with WLIs and gone from bmi of 29 to 21. I do tons of exercise & always have, except now you can actually see a bit of muscle definition, whereas before it was hidden under layers of fat. I think I’m finally looking toned but people keep telling me I look too skinny. It’s so annoying. I think sometimes they think they’re giving me a compliment “ooh you’re so skinny”, but others esp extended family keep saying stuff like I look unwell, I’m too skinny, I need to put weight on etc. It’s driving me up the wall, my bmi is slap bang in the middle of average and I’m a size 10! I’ve always had a very straight body shape with thin arms and legs (I’m happy with the skinny legs!) but I’ve always hated my skinny arms, even relatively skinny when I was 3st heavier. But I’ve worked really hard to make them look toned and now I finally think they kinda do I just get told how skinny I look all the time. And I’m really not one of those women who wants to look skinny. I’m a fairly masculine lesbian and I want to look buff lol. Are they right? Does a bmi of 21 look too skinny on most people? Should I try and put on a bit of weight or are these people just used to seeing me 3st heavier (which I’ve been for the past 3-4 yrs)?

They’re just used to seeing you bigger so it does seem you are now skinny in comparison.

I have a bmi of 20. I’m not skinny because I’m an apple shape. My arms are like twigs though, but my belly has plenty of stuffing. I’m also a size 10 and work hard to have toned arm muscles and a strong core.

How tall are you?

This.

I never liked being called skinny. I wasn't, I was quite toned, and always wished to be a bit more (yes, I tried).
Don't like the word.

Agree they are just used to you at your previous size.

If you want muscles, check out Caroline Girvan. Her dumbbell workouts are extremely effective.

Agree with the PP, some people are probably just jealous because you have lost a considerable amount of weight, hence the comments.

When I had a BMI of 20/21 i was a UK size 8 slim and muscular, not skinny. I imagine anything under 18 starts to look thin, but people carry weight so differently so it difficult to say.

It depends on shape. I'm 5'8" and long legged, but I look "plump" at 24.5, healthy at 23.5, and lean at 23.

I'm 63 and if I go below 22, I look drawn and ill. How old are you OP, it really does make a difference.

Well done on the weight loss though.

Given that normal BMI starts at 18.5 I'd say under 18 would be skinny rather than slim.

I don't think it's a particular BMI. It depends on your shape and height and where you carry weight. You only have to look at the different shapes and sizes mentioned on this thread.

I'm 65, 5'8" and my BMI is 20.5. I'm not skinny, I am very pear shaped, flat chest , big thighs and bottom. Thin arms, waist and face. I wear size 12/14.
If my fat was distributed differently I might look skinny - big bust, evenly spread fat over arms and legs.

21 will look quite skinny on most people.
I just checked and mine sits at 19.5 and I’m definitely not on the upper cusp of skinny.
I find when people have been bigger and lost weight quickly it can look more drastic due to the change, but due to muscle loss their skin and fat hangs off their bones more after large weight loss which can result in people looking skinnier on the face, collar bone etc.

18?

Height and build makes a big difference here as does bone structure on face. I'm 5'7" and hourglass with quite pronounced bone structure on face. If I go below 25 I start getting comments from family.

As I've got older, my face looks really gaunt as soon as I'm anywhere near a healthy weight. Luckily I can't seem to shift the 10kilos to get me there so don't get comments!

I have a very petite friend who can be at (what i assume is) in the middle of averagely healthy weight and always looks healthy.

I’m bmi 20 and dress size 8, just under 5ft 7. When I hit goal about 18 months ago. I got a lot of comments about looking skinny. Now everyone thinks I look a normal healthy weight.im also very toned with muscle definition.

i think its the change in appearance. I look v different to my bmi 32 size 18 self, even i still double take sometimes, but now everyone is used to it, they don’t think it.

people who have only known me this size, think i look normal i assume.

I don't know. I certainly don't look skinny now, my BMI is 23, but people keep telling me I do because I've lost 3 stone this year and the contrast is fairly significant. (I'm 5'4" tending to hourglass shape). My face does look a bit gaunt but I'm putting that down to a combination of age and recent weight loss and honestly I don't mind it anyway.

I am fairly muscly and for me it happens at about BMI of 22.

Years (and years!) ago I had a BMI of just over 22 and looked amazing. And then got a sickness bug. And went from “slim and hot” to “thin and gaunt” basically overnight. I thought it was just because I had been ill but even when I was completely better (but still half a stone down) I still looked too thin. Luckily Dairy Milk stepped in and helped me solve the problem.

Sadly since then Dairy Milk (and Perimenopause!) has led to my BMI now being over 25 for the first time. I can safely say I do not look gaunt these days!

I think be aware that BMI is a blunt tool that covers all adults from late teens to old age. Initially 20-25 was the healthy range based on the average 30 something white male (like most healthcare tools). They added the lower end of the healthy range to account for some asian ethnicities, and late teens who are still developing. Unless you are one of them the bottom end is not healthy. Men also have more muscle so would trend to the higher end.
18.5-25 is not the healthy range for every individual, it's meant to cover the full range anyone might be healthy at.
You expect an older woman to carry more weight than a late teen, it is biologically normal. So actually for a middle age caucasian woman the healthy range is probably closer to 19.5-24.5 or even 20-25. So your 21 is not underweight but it certainly isn't in the middle, it is the lower end.
BMI is a terrible tool the way the NHS presents it.

It’ll be the change.

My BMIs always been around 19 unless I’m pregnant or post baby. I’m tall, I know I’m slim but nobodies ever said I was too skinny.

Can you post a picture OP.?

For me, I look too thin at BMI 22 or below. My face melts and I look unwell

She doesn’t need to post a picture so you can judge her body. Good grief. I’ve seen numerous threads on here where posters post pics of very healthy models and screech they are under weight. There’s a ridiculous thread where a poster is claiming a size 18 clearly over weight model is a healthy weight. People place their own biases based in their feelings on their own bodies.

Congratulations on your weight loss OP. We've lost sight of what is a healthy weight tbh and normalised being overweight. If you were overweight for a while, chances are you've been classed as a fat person by people you know and now that's changed, it's taking some getting used to iyswim.

To have a BMI of 21 I'd need to lose 17kg. I've lost 20lbs since the end of March and can't see me losing that much. At my very slimmest my BMI was 22.5 and I remember a friend saying I shouldn't lose any more 🤔. Anyway. I'm a blood donor and the NHS Blood Service won't take a donation from anyone weighing 7 and half stone or less because they are likely to be underweight.

It can vary incredibly wildly. I’ve never found it worked for me - I’m 5’5, and I don’t know if I’m January heavy boned or whatever but my weight has never matched with my size. At my thinnest, I was a UK size 6, had a 24 inch waist and looked AWFUL. My BMI was still 23. I’m currently a large size 10/ small size 12, 29 inch waist and my BMI is 28 and I’m apparently overweight. I do both do a lot of sport so have quite a bit of muscle, and also am very hourglass and carry most of my weight in the chest.

My BMI is the same, but my waist measurement is definitely not the same! Sounds as though you have a lot of muscle. You might find height: waist ratio a better indicator of health for you.

Same as you, op. I was 12 stone and 5'3", (weight shot up when I hit 40) and after weight loss tablets I went down to 8 stone in 2024 - 2026.

8 stone on the dot was a little too light for me personally, and not maintainable, and I've settled at around 8 stone 6 lbs or so. Fluctuates with my period.

At first EVERYONE told me I was way too skinny and felt the need to comment on how "gaunt" I looked. It's so rude.

BMI doesn’t really give much of an indication of body type I don’t think, maybe if you’re officially underweight? My BMI is 21.6 currently but I have big boobs and quite muscly legs so I don’t think I ever look ‘skinny’. I worry sometimes I don’t even look slim! I wish I could get a boob job.

Haven't read the full thread and am wary this could be read by someone with an ED. I have a life limiting condition and am tube thread. I'm also very skinny and in my opinion. I don't look well. I think I started to look skinny with a bmi of about 17. It's quite a bit lower now.

What surprises me is people feel it's ok to comment, two even called DH, like we don't own mirrors.