To think you can still look overweight with a lowish bmi?

[Shopkinshurtlikelego]

My bmi is just under 19 (5ft 6 and 8 stone) and I still don’t look slim. I don’t look fat but I don’t look slim.
Dh says I don’t need to lose anymore weight but I think I probably still need to tone up.
I think bmi is a very blunt tool isn’t it?

I didn’t have a thigh gap when I weighed under eight stone. It’s body shape not weight.

Your BMI is similar to mine.

I am slim, not toned. This is because I’m not healthy. I don’t over eat but the things I do eat aren’t the healthiest. I have a belly that jiggles and I have cellulite on my arse but I am undoubtedly slim. If I were to loose weight I’d look ill.

I don’t have a thigh gap either although I do weight 6lb more than you normally.

It is weird really as my collar bones are very prominent, but I have quite a large arse and so my thighs are bigger to account for this. If I didn’t have false boobs I’d be a definite pear shape.

Ffs. A thigh gap is about bone structure not weight. I only just had one when I was so skinny it hurt to lie down, breathing hurt and each night I thought I wouldn't wake up in the morning. I had anorexia and weighed 6 stone.

OP I know exactly what you mean! I think the same about myself, I am 5ft 2ish and weigh 8stone but I still have bits that look chubby and stick out, I think if my weight on the scales went lower I would still have these 'bits' but obviously I can't let my weight go too low! So I think the answer would be to tone up. I know lifting weights and exercising may trim bits off and tuck me in abit and that would be the trick but i really can't be bothered to be consistent with it.

I thought i was slim til i started reading this thread. How depressing.

I don't think you can possibly look overweight at that weight and height.

What you might is feel is you look a bit 'flabby' in places, because most peoples bodies arent firm everywhere. I think what this thread is showing is that it's normal and healthy to have areas of fat on your body,. Whether that be a little pot belly after eating a big meal or a bit of cellulite on your thighs. This doesn't make you overweight or fat. It doesn't mean you need to lose weight. People with absolutely no fat are generally pretty underweight, a healthy body fat percantage can be up to 35% bodyfat.

BMI Is a pretty good indicator if someone is underweight. Not so fantastic at overweight, because a lot of muscle can skew it. It's not about how you look it is purely a ratio, so you can look good and be overweight. It's just a measure of health. Overweight, underweight are health categories based on bmi. So if you are in the underweight category I highly doubt a single person is going to look at you and think you are overweight. I doubt a single person will look at you and think you are anything other than slim, if they think anything about your body at all.

Thigh gap is determined by the width of the pelvis, the length of the femurs, and fat in the thighs. One can very thin and not have the right skeletal structure for a thigh gap. I've been seriously underweight due to a medical condition that makes it painful to eat sometimes and I've never had a thigh gap, not even at a stone lighter than the OP at a similar height.

I think what people think of as 'overweight' has gotten so warped by the media that people are thinking anything that wobbles or sticks out a bit is overweight. People are meant to have some fat - it's actually really important and those with low BMIs are at high risk for several medical issues. It fucks up a lot of the systems just like having too much fat does. After years of dealing with digestive issues, I'm only about 9 and a bit stone and standing upright I still look scrawny, but yeah, in the right position, my stomach sticks out a bit and my arms wobble a bit. Doesn't mean I look overweight if we look at the whole rather than at bits.

There are ways to alter how one looks that have nothing to do with losing fat - lots of women build up the muscles near their shoulders and hips to give a more curvy/narrow waist appearence, as one common example. There are also ways to feel better about how we look with surrounding ourselves with more positive people, having clothes that fit us better, and mindset work.

I agree with the poster who said that maybe you need to see a photograph of yourself?

In the past, when I was lower end of bmi scale, I genuinely thought I was 'fat' or at least medium/normal build.

It wasn't until I saw photos of myself at a family event that I realised how thin and dreadful I looked. It was enough to shock me into gaining a few pounds.

I couldn't see it in the mirror at all and my clothes were size 8 (which is a perfectly healthy clothes size, but can also be misleading)
I've gained a few pounds and am still an 8-10, look and feel healthier too.

I know by the tone of your posts that you are quite obsessive about this

Yeah, I know everyone is different but I'm only an inch taller than you and I'm 10st 4. I want to lose about 5lbs but that's the minimum I'd go to.

19 is at the lower end of BMI...

I would suggest that if you want to 'look' slimmer you should focus on a weights based workout.

Cardio does nothing for my figure. I still look squishy. Weights however really tone me up and bring in my waist impeccably well.

At my lowest, during my weights workouts, I was 10st 2, had a 30" waistand and was borderline size 12/14. I haven't been that small since I was in secondary school! Any smaller and I'd look unhealthy for my height 😂

BMI is unfair to short people I am 5ft 3 and 10st 5 and my BMI is 26 and that is classed as overweight! I am in no way fat I am a size 10

Except that it takes height into account...

I am an inch taller than you and when I get to 10 stone I look quite ill (although feel great mentally). I don’t understand how you can look remotely overweight at 8 stone, I would look emaciated at that weight. Of course everyone carries weight differently but I seriously am struggling to understand how you could even look slightly chubby at that weight.

I actually think I would have to starve myself to get to 8 stone, I haven’t weighed so little since I was a child!

And this is the same height, still in the healthy BMI range after 3 children, probably 20 years older than you. No, not skinny and would be better in a bikini top with more support but hey, it’s fine.

The Daily Telegraph reported a few years ago that standard BMI calculations are likely to be inaccurate for shorter and taller people - and that shorter people may be fatter than they think and taller people thinner than they think. For people at the 5’0” mark the improved calculation would add 1 BMI point and for those over 6’0” would reduce their BMI by 1 point.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9815052/Short-people-fatter-than-they-think-under-new-BMI.html

people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi.html

Calculator is here:

people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi_calc.html

Fine, but OP's height I average!

CecilyP And previous posters had complained that they were short so BMI was inaccurate for them (and it probably is, but likely not in the way they thought) or their fit DH was tall but heavy and his BMI suggested he was overweight/obese.

I am 5ft 7' and weigh around 8 1/2 stone. Occasionally a pound or two more, very occasionally a pound or two less.
I have a slender frame but a real pear shape so have quite wide hips.
I have had 4 kids & am over 50
I have weighed the same ( pregnancies aside) since I was 15.
I am so used to being this size & shape that if I put on 1/2 a stone it would feel weird & to me look weird (sure nobody else would notice but I would)
I think as a society we are used to seeing a bigger size as normal, however slim is normal too.
I think the op should not worry about the number on the scales but go to the gym, get some muscle & start to love herself a bit more. Big, slim whatever.

I had a good friend who said the same as you. She’s dead now.

This really isn’t a healthy mindset.

Chickydoo, as OP is only a couple of pounds underweight, she is fine as she is. What has people worried Is that she doesn't think she looks slim and is talking about losing more weight.

I think you sound very slim under all circumstances OP.

I do actually agree that BMI and clothes sizing are not always the best indicators. I'm short and my BMI is between 19.5-20, however I have a massively large chest for my physical frame and I hate it as it makes me look as wide as I am tall. Rationally I know and slim, and I'm fit and healthy but I hate photos because a picture of me facing the front makes me looks massive - it's not just me thinking that, friends, family, colleagues etc... have all commented on how I look so much bigger in photos than in real life.

The problem with BMI is that it is a crude measurement based largely on simple weight. Two people of the same height could have the same waist/hips/chest measurements but be very different weights due to their muscle/fat composition.

You can still have soft parts at a low BMI, that's part of a normal human body. We still aren't used to seeing a broad variety of women's body shapes, especially after they've been through pregnancy and birth. Thigh gaps are not a normal part of a woman's body. Some (usually young) women have the right body shape, but for the majority of us, they are not a natural part of a healthy women's shape and there is no benefit in aspiring to have them.

It is incredibly unlikely to have spare fat at BMI 19. At 5ft 2, I'd have no aspiration to get down to 8st and just keeping under 9 (BMI 22-23?) takes effort to manage in a healthy way.

Eat a range of foods, in sensible portions. Be fit (but not obsessive). Accept the body that you live in. For me, I have a flabby mum tum of overhang and surplus skin. The rest of me is toned and healthy. It will go nowhere by any non-surgical methods. I can't say that I like it, and it doesn't feel like a badge of honour from creating my children, but it's there, a part of me, and there is no point in punishing the rest of my body for it.

Be kind to yourself. Celebrate the good points of your body and what it can do for you. Don't waste your life and energy aspiring after the impossible.