To think that you can be too thin....

[foreverondiet]

I'll probably get flamed but am a bit at a poster on the diet board, saying that she was depressed by how chubby she was, when she gave her measurements her BMI was 21, and her target BMI was 18.6.

I've been dieting for months, was a size 16/18 with BMI of 30 now 8/10 with a BMI of 20.5, and now feel about right although am being told by everyone that I am getting too thin, which is fair enough, I don't plan to loose more weight.

I know its personal choice (ie some people will be very happy with a BMI of 25 or 30) but is it not a bit alarming that there are those who want to get their weight right to the very very bottom of the "healthy" zone.

[bluebobbin]

Because so many celebs have their weights at the bottom of the healthy zone (and waaay below). Setting bad example.

[MissPenteuth]

Of course YANBU, it is possible to be too thin. But some people look better when they're on the 'skinny' side of healthy. Others look better a bit bigger. I think it depends on your body shape and fat distribution.

It is the minority of people who can put on weight and become 'curvy'. Most people (myself included) are more likely to be flabby/lumpy/pot-bellied. Personally I think flabby/lumpy/pot-bellied is a perfectly fine and normal way to be, however a lot of people (again, myself included) aren't happy with looking that way.

[bubblecoral]

My target bmi is 19, it's 20 at the moment.

Yabu, people should be allowed to be whatever weight they are comfortable at. If my BMI gets to 21, I feel very much a bloater, my clothes don't fit and I can pick up a handful of fat from my tummy. And I only ever get that way if I have eaten A LOT. That would be from weeks of overdosing on bread and pasta, having a treat of chocolate or a biscuit or something every day. So why is that a good thing if eating all that crap is the only thing that puts me in the middle of the BMI heathy range. It's clearly not healthy for me to eat like that.

Some people might be ok with being a little podgy, but I'm not. A BMI of 19 or below is perfect for me. Why is that a problem for anyone else? It only makes me a comfortable size 10 in most shops, ie, not a tight fitting squeeze my self into it size 10.

[foreverondiet]

Of course you shouldn't eat a crap diet with a treat of chocolate or a biscuit every day , but the NHS guidelines are that if your BMI is 20 you shouldn't diet to get it lower.

IMO there is a big difference between dieting to get weight off (ie restricting calories) which I don't think is healthy if your BMI is already as low as 20, and eating a healthy balanced diet including all food groups, with sufficient calories (ie 1700-1800?) for nutrition and this resulting in a BMI of 19.

[ohmyfucksy]

You can be too thin. However my BMI is only just over 18 but I really do not look too thin. WHen all the wedding malarkey was on, Kate Middleton definitely looked thinner than me but everyone was saying she looked fine, stop having a go.

I would look quite pudgy with a BMI of 20, honestly. I have tiny bones.

I eat a lot.

[ilovedora27]

I have a BMI of 18 and dont look too thin. I have 32D boobs, 5 foot 3 and weigh 7 stone 3. I would look like a blimp if I had a BMI of 20. I was only about that when I was 9 months pregnant. All depends on your build/genetics.

I dont diet I eat mcdonalds and drink copious amounts of cider. Some people are just born that way.

[bubblecoral]

BMI is widely acknowledged by HCP's as being a pretty crap measure for if someone is a truly healthy weight though. There are so many factors that aren't taken into account with something as simplistic as the BMI, so I wouldn't worry too much about the NHS guidelines that go with it.

[NettoSuperstar]

YABU tp comment on someone else's weight, and to start a thread about it.

It's a healthy BMI that she wants to achieve.

[foreverondiet]

I know that BMI isn't a great measure esp due to muscle being heavier than fat. But to get your BMI down to 18.5 your body fat need to go pretty low as well.

Again my original post was about dieting to get one's BMI that low, not about those who maintain that weight through eating mcdonalds & cider .

And I now know that there are thin people out there would think I still look chubby, because I have some fat on my thighs .

[foreverondiet]

re: commenting on weight - well I thought that was ok as others about me are commenting on my weight several times a day!

re: healthy BMI, true but as I said more alarmed by someone saying they were depressed about being chubby with a BMI of 21. I think celebs have given us an unrealistic picture of what's normal.

[ilovedora27]

I think it all depends on the exercise you do if you constantly exercise you can eat/drink what you want real

You can be that slim and very healthy if you do lots of exercise. I dont think it means you will look too thin to me that would be emancipated, ribs sticking out, no boobs and most people would have to be way lower bmi to get anyway near to that.

[MissPenteuth]

I exercise a lot but I eat fuckloads a bit too much. If it wasn't for the exercise I do, I'd be gaining weight steadily. And I'm supposed to be losing 5lbs :(

Very true about todays view of 'healthy' size and weight being skewed by celebs and models. The women we see in underwear or revealing clothing tend to be in magazines or music videos. If we compared ourselves to 'real' women on the street we'd probably all be a lot happier with ourselves.

[clam]

Yes. And Kate Middleton has just passed the mark.

[UrsulaBuffay]

Haven't we decided before that BMI is crapola?

[Mumofaflump]

BMI is a crock of shit. My BMI is about 16 I think. I'm slim, but not unhealthy or particularly bony. I can be at times though. I have a poor relationship with food. At the moment though, I look fairly good.

[iEmbarassedMyself]

YABU to start a thread about another MNers weight, very rude too.

[OracleInaCoracle]

YABU and very rude. BMI is a load of shite and some people dont have the frame to pull off an average BMI. BMI doewsnt take into consideration muscle tone, frame size, bone density.

[Yukana]

BMI is a load of shit. I know if I tried to reach my target BMI I'd be in a hospital on food drips.

It really depends on your metabolism, your lifestyle, your build, muscle mass, etc.

[foreverondiet]

I know BMI isn't great for various reasons.

The poster posted her measurements too and she was already slim, wanting to be slimmer. Didn't want to quote these as thought would be bad form. She didn't quote BMI (but gave weight and height) so thought BMI was good way of showing this without outing the post.

Of course people can try and get weight right to lower end of range, but at the same time I think we as a society have lost touch with whats healthy and normal.

[UrsulaBuffay]

Did you say to her on the thread that you thought she was fine & shouldn't diet?

[ohmyfucksy]

It depends what she's doing to achieve the 'goal weight' - if it's just not eating crap and exercising well, then it's not a problem. If it's not eating enough and making herself exhausted then it's not

[teraspawn]

Yes, it's amazing what some people think is "chubby". My BMI is around 25 now, up from about 20 for all of my adult life, and I have the healthiest and most varied diet I have ever had. I feel like I've filled out properly and found my "correct" weight for now. I just need to buy bigger clothes...

[BibaLee]

Aren't BMI's a load of baloney?

I'm pretty sure they aren't the be all and end all nowadays.

I have a BMI of 21 but am tiny. Very thin and get lots of comments along the lines of that I need feeding up, and so on.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

YANBU... If someone's always been skinny, are healthy and they eat plenty then a BMI down on the bottom rung of healthy is probably the 'real them' and they're just naturally thin. But if someone is naturally bigger and is aiming to get to a really low BMI by part-starving every day, that isn't healthy. And, once the BMI is below 19, a woman is statistically a lot more likely to start getting menstrual problems, plus they're at risk of other long-rage medical issues if it stays too low.

BMI is therefore not a load of baloney. But it's just one indicator in a range of health indicators - BP, cholesterol levels, blood sugars etc - that prompt further inquiry if they go out of line.