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

[Hadbetterdays]

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

It depends, doesn't it. Namechanger22 says they would be a size 6 at 8.5 st 5 ft 6. Well I'm 5 ft 5.5, was a size 6 when I was 7.5 st (pre-pregnancy) and am now size 8-10 at 8.4 st. I now look slim not skinny. So if I was basing it on how I look, I would says the OP is slim but not skinny.

I'm 9st4 at 5ft11, i work out nearly everyday and eat upwards of 2200 calories a day. If your looking after yourself whey does it matter?

I think it's the height of rudeness to make unsolicited comments on whether people should gain or lose weight based on your personal preferences. I would sometimes like to correct people who text or email me using (for example) "your" instead of "you're" which is in my view far more of an offence than being a few pounds over or underweight, but I somehow manage to restrain myself because to do so would also be rude in the extreme.

Yes my dh very rarely looks in the mirror. He has an image in his head of how he looks based mainly on the fact that someone told him he looked like John Travolta several years ago.

That is funny Ilost, same with dh, he does not know his size, or bmi, he just tries different clothes on in the shop and sees which fit, and buys them. Lets have a bit of humour in this thread, before it gets depressing .

Those men who wonder about in summer topless, with their stomachs hanging out, looking more pregnant than I did at 9 months gone, don't think they have any hangups.

Aeroflotgirl "Trying that height"?

If that was a typo I can't work out what for (although probably will as soon as I press 'post').

I used to get the same thing when I was in my twenties I was the same weight and height as the OP. I was active and ate anything I liked and it made no difference to my weight and I used to get really fed up with the comments and accusations that I wasn't eating enough as if anything I loved my food and never skimped - lots of meat, chocolate whenever I fancied it , massive amounts of butter on potatoes etc. The saving grace was that my Mum was exactly the same in build and metabolism so I knew it was "my normal". Just like my Mum when I hit forty my metabolism slowed down and now I do have to deal with more weight - and that's a problem not because I worry about the numbers on the scales but because I feel less healthy now I'm heavier (about to start C25K and I hate exercise )

My 25 year old son is 6 foot 2 and rake thin too -he eats like a horse - a lot can be genetic.

Yes it's quite skinny. I'm 5'4 and 9 stone (late. 30s and one child). I look pretty slim and wear 8/10. I was 8 stone when I left uni and I was skinny. Nothing wrong with it but if you think you're fat or something then that's a worry.

I'm 5'4. I am very overweight. However, I did get down to 9.5 stone many moons ago. I looked far too thin and gaunt - awful in fact. I have a big frame (mother's side of the family) but a distinct lack of height (father's side of the family). If I were 8 stone, I'd look like a cadaver. As a pp said, it depends on your build, shape and muscles.

Depends completely on your build.
Are you healthy? Reasonably fit? Eat a good amount/variety of foods with no issues regarding eating?
If so then meh, you're fine.

When I was that height and weight, the GP used to ask me if I was anorexic. (I wasn't. I just didn't have access to nice food!)

Sometimes they came right out and said it, other times, they asked around it e.g. "What weight do you think you are?" and then: "How do you know the answer to my question - is it something that matters a lot to you?"

I agree, it does depend on your build and where your weight's distributed. I'm 5'4" and 8.5 stone but I have a large head. Hats hardly ever fit and I have a round face and chubby cheeks. I often wonder what I would weigh if I cut my head off.

I wish I could add 3" to my height and subtract 2 stone from my weight! I'd possibly be damn near perfect but would probably still find something to worry about. If you feel healthy, don't get tired from lack of energy, eat reasonably healthily without becoming obsessed about it, why worry?

I would have loved this thread once. When I was anorexic.

It all really depends on how you feel- I know it can be just as hurtful people telling you you're skinny/need to gain weight as it is for people being told they're overweight.

When someone says it to you just say you feel healthy and happy!

The thing that annoys me about these threads isn't the discussion about proportions, BMI, etc.

It's the fact that people inevitably say it's overweight people who make these comments, or people who are dieting, or that we're so fat as a society that we've forgotten how we're supposed to look. And yes, as I said above, there's always a certain amount of out-skinnying. It all creates the impression that the issue isn't that people are being rude to pass comment on other people's weight, but rather that the problem is, yet again, people who are overweight. And it doesn't help the OP tackle the rudeness, or even ascertain whether she really does look worryingly thin.

ILostIt, apparently a human head weighs 4.5 to 5 kg. Even a gigantic one couldn't be more than about 5.5?

(I burn very badly in the sun but it took me years to find a sunhat to cover my poor scalp with; eventually I had to order one from Australia because it was the only company I could find who made one big enough)

I'm 5'6". At over 12 stone, you could see every bone in my face.

We're all different.

No-one is going to be able to ascertain whether the OP looks worryingly thin, any more than they could ascertain whether someone (having given their height and weight) looks worryingly fat.

As others have said, everyone carries weight differently and the people commenting to the OP could either be rude or genuinely concerned.

Ultimately, if the OP is eating healthily and taking enough exercise, she's probably not worryingly anything.

It's very slim but not unhealthy. A little bit more and it would be thin. BMI is ok.

People have got so used to overweight that they want everyone to be that way. Frustrating.

I'm 5'4 and weigh 7st 12lbs. I don't look too skinny, I look just right. I've got a really small frame, with skinny arms and legs.

NarcyCow You're coming across as quite big headed

It is very slim. But that's what you wanted to hear isn't it.

Instead of reassuring op that she is fine and not to worry and just to live her life, everybody is competing on how slim they are and giving their vital stats. This woukd be very damaging if somebody reading this gas eating disirders or issues with their body. Yes it was a typo on my first post 0.