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)?

I’m early 40s and also 5’8” so I think my height might make me look more skinny that someone shorter. I do worry that the weightloss has aged me in my face also. My dad (one of the biggest offenders for constantly going on about me being too skinny!) has made comments that suggest it’s made me look old in my face. Not come right out and said it, but stuff like “your face is too skinny, you have to be careful about that as you get older” stuff like that. I do think I look older than when my face was plumper. One of the biggest downsides of losing weight 40+ annoyingly

I’m an apple shape. Skinny arms and legs, no bum, average boobs & narrow ish hips and I used to have a giant pot belly when I was heavier. All the weight just went straight to my stomach. I always thought my body was more like an overweight middle-aged man’s with a beer belly!

At 20.5 I look slim, not skinny in the least. Size 8 5'2, big boobs. Mind you, at 27 I'm still a size 12 and people tell me I'm not overweight. Still 5'2, big boobs, big thighs and you can still just about see muscle definition under my flabby belly.

As you say, it depends entirely on build/frame IMO. I start looking a bit bony with a BMI of 20/21 because I’ve got quite a large frame, despite being short. I got to BMI of 19 once and I looked like a lollipop head. It wasn’t a good weight for me (and was incredibly hard to attain). I look and feel at my best at around 22-23.

I think it's your build as well as people having to mentally adjust to you being slimmer. I'm BMI 22 and was 21 at my lowest. But I'm a pear shape and never looked skinny (size 10) and my bingo wings are flappy enough I could take off. It sounds like you carried it around your middle and now that's gone you've got a slim physique which people are going to need to take time to adjust to. Remind them you're a darn sight healthier than you were!

FWIW my face shows my weight loss too - I've got a turkey neck - but honestly I think I'm just showing my natural age instead of having fat pad out the wrinkles a bit?

18.5

You won’t look too skinny with that bmi. Ignore them. They’re just used to seeing you carrying more weight and also seeing lots of fat people everywhere.

My friend has lost weight it when she had lost a stone and her bmi was still 28, she had other overweight and obese people telling her she was too skinny. It was ridiculous. She now has a bmi of 22, looks healthy and toned and most importantly feels much better.

Of you’re getting enough calories, nutrients, have a healthy bmi, exercising and feel strong, you’re fine.

Depends on many things maybe the mid-lower side of the healthy to underweight range, depends on the person’s height and body shape.

I was surprised to see someone I work with look much slimmer around the face (on Teams). A few months ago looked very different. I didn’t say anything I don’t comment out of the blue to someone I hardly know.

I don’t know what BMI they would have been as I can’t see the rest of them on a virtual call.

I’m BMI 21, not skinny as short.

Face shape can affect perceptions too. One of my sisters has great bone structure and looks skinny even when she’s carrying a bit of weight. My mum has a round face and cheeks, and looks plump even when she’s a healthy bmi.

Mine's 20. It's only been higher than that when I was pregnant. I'm 5ft 10 and an apple shape. I've also got skinnier arms and the weight is going more on my stomach.

I’m a pear shape and a large build so look skinny at BMiI 23…

https://mybodygallery.com/ this website gives you a good idea of what different bodies look like at different weights.

Agree. It's replaced slim.

It depends on your shape and muscle tone. If my bmi is lower than 23 I tend to look very slim but you can still be quite wobbly looking with a low bmi and have a belly. Really depends on the person

Mad innit. I had someone tell me 'not to lose too much more' once when I was wearing a size 18 dress!
I'm very densely built, though. Definitely a weird build.

I thought slim was still slim and thin can be called skinny.

I agree with others - it's about how you look now as compared to your previous size.

I'm regularly complimented on how slim I'm looking - I had a double mastectomy due to breast cancer! Very few people seem to clock that I've lost the weight from just one area, as it were. It's very odd.

My BMI is 17 and I’m 5,3. I would describe myself as petite rather than skinny. I prefer to go by the tape measure rather than BMI as it’s not very helpful and doesn’t take into account women’s various shapes and builds.

My BMI is 23. I look ripped (ie low body fat high muscle mass). I don’t think I look skinny as I have such good muscle tone.

Agree with this - lost 6.5 st on WLI and eventually stopped at BMI25 (24.9 LOL). I briefly dropped to 23.8 but decided at 57 that it made me look ‘old’ and the skin on parts of my body is a little bit loose at that weight.

Decided to hover around the BMI25 mark and weight train to tone up - and although I am a size 10 and dramatically slimmer I still have curves - fleshy thighs, a bum and boobs (am 5ft 5, naturally muscular). I’d think that most people start to look ‘skinny’ when they drop below 22? But to be honest, it depends on build, how much muscle you have, how tall you are - and your age.

If you feel good at your size then, really, that is all that should matter.