To ask if at 5'4 and nine and half stone I would be considered slim

[Worried61]

Mil commented today that I'm in her words quite a high weight for my height. She is around the same height and over a stone lighter. I think I'm a good weight and that 5'4 is slim and not overweight at all. Am I in denial?

Worried my BMI is 18 and I am absolutely underweight no denying it. Can't help it but know it should be higher.

I do a lot of exercise though and like to think I am fairly fit, just built like a twig, we are all so very different.

Love the idea of being an anorexic heifer ! We can't win can we ..

Any chance your MIL could have just been clumsy in her choice of words - i.e. saying that you are surprisingly heavy compared to her as she thought of you are just as slim/slimmer and therefore implying that you are fitter/in better shape/have more lean mass than her...if not then she is very rude!

You are a healthy weight. Compared to me now you are definitely slim. When I was the same BMI I personally felt I could lose another 7-10 lbs, so slightly above my ideal - I would still say I was slim then though.

I think it's a healthy weight but not a 'slim' weight for your height.

Im 5'4" and a about 9 1/4 stones. I am definitely a bit in the chunky side at the moment BUT when I able to work out regularly and was a much trimmer shape I actually weighed about the same because of the old muscle being heavier than fat thing. I know I need to sort myself out at the moment as I have a 30" waist which isn't good for someone my height.

How on earth do people know how much their friends and relatives weigh?

I have no idea how much my two closest friends, my mum and my sister weigh, and I speak to them most days. I couldn't even guess their weights, I wouldn't know where to start.

Baby the reason I know those two friend's weight is because we've talked about it; the friend I said is chubby is always wanting to lose half a stone so she's under 9.

Other friend I've always known as we did a sport together.

I'm about 5 3 and weigh about 9 stone 4lb. I'd love to lose a couple of pounds but there is nothing wrong with this weight whatsoever x

Well I don't bloody understand.

I'm 5'7 and I weigh 10st 10 which according to this thread is clearly huge yet I am sat here wearing size 10 leggings and a 30 back bra. Comfortably I may add.

Work that one out for me

I'm 5'4", a broad build with big boobs, and 9.5 stone would be very slim for my frame. I weighed that when I was 21 and going out clubbing in hot pants and a bra and looking fantastic.

I was recently 10 stone having lost quite a bit of weight and was fairly slim with just with a bit of squidge on my tummy and upper body - I'm apple shape so any fat is always on my stomach, back and boobs.

Another half stone off, down to your 9.5 stone, and I would definitely be very slim for my frame. unfortunately I've put 9 lbs back on so am looking a bit pudgey again

Look on the BMI calculator (NHS) and you'll see you are a healthy weight which is what matters. I used to be the same kind of weight and height but have put on a stone and between 9 and 9.5 stone is my target.

This place really does make me laugh at times. Most women on MN if to be believed are of birdlike appetites and 'tiny framed'. All. The. Time.
They could never 'eat thiiiiissss mucccchhh >.

See I don't want to be slim which people seem to find weird. I want to have muscle definition and lift heavy weights and be strong and healthy and fit. Slim doesn't even come into it

OP I'm the same height as you and 9st 3lb. Definitely slim. I am 'big-boned' but run a lot and don't gain weight terribly easily.

My lightest adult weight was 8st 11 and I looked awful!!

I'm an easy size 10 in most shops at 9'7 and that's fine by me. I wouldn't say super slim but just right.

I'm 5'4'' and look fat at 9.5st. That's because I carry weight on my arse/thighs and face - the reference points for looking fat. If more of that weight was on my boobs, I might look less fat, IYSWIM, because there'd be less on my arse and face.

Well henry if you're quoting me there, I don't have a bird-like appetite, I have a quite large one. I have a small frame - I must do as I don't weigh much yet I'm not "skinny". I'm strong for my size but lean as I do a lot of sport.

I don't know why saying that I have a 'tiny frame' is not to be believed, but whatever makes you feel better, or "laugh"

How on earth do people know how much their friends and relatives weigh?

My mom was obsessive about her weight (MN makes me think a lot of women are obsessive about their weight). So Mom bitched talked about it a lot. Also about when she got down to 95 lbs (poverty driven). Often mentioned her height, too. That's how I have a pretty good idea what she weighed and what her frame carried well.

What we weigh now is infrequently discussed in my household, thank goodness.

I wasn't quoting anyone Aye just quoting what is always trotted out by so many on these threads

Reminds me of Ex MIL who used to hand me down her size 18 clothes suggesting they may not fit me as I was bigger than her but I could try them just in case.....I was a 12/14.

Totally depends on nosy shape and muscle mass.

I am 5ft 3 but have a tiny frame, think child hands and size 3 feet. My upper limit before dieting is 9st

Henry - some people do naturally have a small frame, my head is like a pip, watches don't fit my scrawny wrists and I wear children's trainers.
I also don't have a bird like appetite which is why I am a bit chubby at 8st 10. I have a jelly belly and and DD boobs but still manage to have a small frame.

5'5'' and 10st 11lb - judging by the majority in this thread, I feel obese! BUT I do remember 13, 14 years ago when I weighed between 8st 10 (lightest ever) and 9st 6 - I thought I was chubby then! Madness! I'd love to be 9 & half stone now - I'd be doing cartwheels in the street! Don't listen to your MIL & certainly don't take it to heart!

BMJ article on BMI mortality curves for reference:

www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2156

Figure two has best fitting polynomials for various study groups from the meta analysis. This particular study looks and smokers vs non smokers, but in pretty much all of them you can see that the lowest mortality rate sites at marginally under 25.

The mortality rating starts slowly increasing once you're into the overweight category, but is lower (though I've not looked at the base data to check so it's an eye-only best estimate) partway through the overweight category than at 20, which the NHS currently deems a healthy weight.

At 5' 4" a BMI of 24 would be 10st. 23 would be 9st 8. This is the nadir (lowest point for mortality rate on the curve) for never smokers.

Ele exactly what I am banking on

Slightlypeturbed - it seems to make a surprising marginal difference to how I've looked between when I've weighed 10.5st and 8st. I wore the same jeans no matter what weight I was. I was just permanently freezing when I weighed 8st.