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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think 8 stone at 5'4 isn't that slim

329 replies

Hadbetterdays · 18/06/2016 11:54

I am that weight and height and I often get people telling me how skinny I look and that I need to gain weight.

OP posts:
Banderwassnatched · 18/06/2016 21:25

Sorry Vic, didn't mean to snap. Rather tired and grumpy.

vic1981 · 18/06/2016 21:32

That's ok BanderwassnatchedFlowers

BeYourselfUnlessUCanBeAUnicorn · 18/06/2016 21:45

I'm a comfortable size 10. I'm happy with that. Anything less and I'd feel a bit on the too slim side, any more and I'd feel like I was creeping towards looking slightly chunky.

Vinorosso74 · 18/06/2016 22:28

It is slim and not necessarily skinny, it depends on your natural build. If you have a small frame then no. I'm the same height and weigh 8 stone 11. I was 9 and a half stone a little while ago which was ok on the BMI range but on my frame I felt and looked overweight.
As long as you're healthy and not underweight it's fine. We're all different.

mimishimmi · 19/06/2016 01:02

I'm that height and I would look quite slim at 8 stone. I don't think it's too skinny though. 8 stone 10 is my 'ideal' where I feel my best. Over 9 stone 9 and I start feeling frumpy.

beetroot2 · 19/06/2016 01:12

It is on the skinny side yes.

agnesf · 19/06/2016 01:50

I have to admit confusion about what is thin/fat these days and what is even healthy.

I have the same BMI as the OP. I have had the same BMI for about 30 years (apart from when I was pregnant of course). Yet I have clothes ranging from size 14 to size 6.

Additionally, as I have got older, I have got scraggier looking mainly because all of my weight appears to have sunk with gravity from my face and upper body to my arse. As I tend to expose my upper body rather than my bum I have attracted more comments about being thin.

I have some clothes that belonged to my mother which I cannot event get round my waist. She was considered a perfectly healthy person in her day.

beetroot2 · 19/06/2016 02:04

Im also older and enjoy the way my face looks due to being 5"6 and 11 stone. Friends of mine are very slim and do look gaunt, if that makes sense? It was either my arse or my face and my face won due to not being able to see my arse Grin

agnesf · 19/06/2016 02:11

Yup beetroot - I think as we get older people do look more at our faces rather than our arses. Maybe some kind of choker or supportive polo neck would combat gravity ......

beetroot2 · 19/06/2016 02:19

Grin at agnes, love the name by the way.

DeliveredByKiki · 19/06/2016 03:15

No idea, all
Measurements look so different on people - I'm 5'9" and feel fat at 10stone, happy weight is 9stone 4lbs but I think it's cos it all goes round my middle

Spring2016 · 19/06/2016 03:39

It sounds perfect to me, I wish I were 8 stone.

beetroot2 · 19/06/2016 03:54

Funny enough i was in a few shops today and all the sizes on sale we're from 12 and under. Why is that? Until we realise that a size 14/16 is very normal nothing is going to change. Yes OP you are underweight and you probably do things to make sure you are.

CreepingDogFart · 19/06/2016 09:36

I'm 5"3 and one stone.

PollyPerky · 19/06/2016 11:07

I don't think being overweight so you can retain chubby cheeks is something to aim for Confused It's quite possible to lose excess fat from your middle and still have a face with some flesh on it- it's not a case of either / or.

You have to lose an awful lot of weight to have a gaunt face. TBH all faces lose fat and collagen as we age. I'd rather have a not-so-good face but a healthy body than be overweight with a chubby face and be at risk from heart disease and diabetes.

deste · 19/06/2016 11:14

I am 5'4 and if I weighed 8 stone I would be skin and bone. My bones stick out chest top of arms etc and I am 9' 5.

Floppityflop · 19/06/2016 11:17

I was that weight in my twenties (I'm 5ft4.5), but I'm 9st12 now. I definitely look and feel too podgy and my doctor is not happy! He says that it's all very individual and my cholesterol is too high because I'm not meant to be this weight, regardless of BMI (which, in my case, is at the top end). So, I can well imagine that 8st is fine for some people. For me I think I woul feel happier in the mid to high 8s, as I tend to look gaunt and scraggy round the neck and face now.

PrimalLass · 19/06/2016 11:36

When I was that thin at that height I was starving myself because I was heartbroken.

carabos · 19/06/2016 11:38

Perhaps because I'm a grumpy old woman, (with a BMI around 21) when people tell me I'm "too thin" or need to "eat more pies", I ask "Why?". Too thin for what? Too thin to fit your personal beauty aesthetic? Too thin to survive the winter? The zombie holocaust?

I guarantee OP that if you start responding like that, they won't have an answer, because there isn't one. FWIW in regard to health, about 15 years ago I was severely food poisoned abroad. Over a period of about 9 months I became almost incontinent and my weight dropped to just over 7 stone. My gastroenterologist described me as "a bit thin" (I'm 5ft 4), but told me he had no concerns and would not take any specific action in regard to my weight unless I lost a further stone.

I hope you find that reassuring.

Thefitfatty · 19/06/2016 11:48

As long as you feel good, healthy and are reasonably active and eat well, then who the hell cares?

Gwenhwyfar · 19/06/2016 12:03

"Yes OP you are underweight and you probably do things to make sure you are."

WTF? You know she's not underweight beetroot (check a BMI calculator!) so why do you say such a thing?

WorraLiberty · 19/06/2016 12:23

Pure projection Gwen

The same as the poster upthread who said You sound quite thin and VERY dull to me. I don't think you need to worry about your weight, but you could work on being more interesting which you might find trickier than weight loss.

She got all that from the two very small posts the OP has made Confused

LillianGish · 19/06/2016 12:53

The OP is inviting one of two responses - no that sounds fine or no I've tediously calculated your BMI and in fact you are under/overweight. If you really, really want an opinion we need to see a photo - no one can possibly judge on the brief facts alone. Sounds alright to me, but might be on the scrawny side - I think Victoria Beckham could do with putting on a few pounds others would disagree it's pretty subjective. That's why it is so tedious - who cares? We don't know you, we can't see you - it just seems to be an invitation for people to come on her and discuss how thin they are and make people who have sustained some genuinely impressive weight loss (which is slightly more interesting) feel inadequate.

HelenaDove · 19/06/2016 17:53

Floppity flop when i was 21 stone my doctor told me to get down to 12. I got down to 11

He was very pleased.