Weight - when is too low

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What do guys consider the point where weight loss has gone too far? Do you physically notice/ see it yourself or is it others?

When someone is actually underweight.

PickAChew so you dont think that a certain weight for one individual can appear less than another?

For me it was when others noticed it - I can only see it looking back at photos in retrospect. I'd never thought I was that skinny at the time, I just started losing weight and kept going. I was about half a stone over being underweight though so it's subjective as well as medical

Deadlysinner do you mind me asking, was it an issue for you or you just hadn't realised?

I agree, when you are underweight. My BMI has dropped below 19 so I am trying to eat more and get it back up nearer 20 though. I had an ED when I was much younger so I know I could end up in trouble again if I lose any more.

I've never been underweight (medically speaking) in my life but I have a broad frame, everything about me is just bigger eg compared to my very delicate sister and people started to say I didn't look well even though I was still 7 lbs over the lowest weight for my height.

I went from being really fat to being slim and people kept telling me I needed to eat more, I was too skinny etc. But nobody was used to me being 9 and half stone. I was even called ill looking. I'm 5'6 so hardly going to look anorexic but people just weren't used to it.

Hard to say. My dad’s really thin, people often comment on how slim he is and how he’s needs to put on weight.

He is definitely thin and has a small frame but he would need to loose about 1 stone to actually be classified as medically underweight.
I think you have to go off the BMI charts, people are larger these days. So I think it skews people’s judgement a bit.

WindsweptEgret I'm sorry to hear that, I hope you get where you need to be

What's your bmi? That's normally a good indicator

For me a size eight is too low, even though it's still healthy BMI I'm tall (5'9) and broad shouldered, last time I got down to a size eight (9.5 stone so not low to a lot of people!) My father and my brother separately asked me if I was unwell, they NEVER get involved in things like that and rarely notice changes in weight, hair styles etc on anyone. I felt great and was super fit but my face becomes very angular and my collar bone very bony. I look much better at a ten or even twelve.

With me it’s other people. Normally family. Very quick to comment on me losing weight and how ‘gaunt’ or ‘fragile’ I’m looking but seem to bypass making any comments to my sister who is on the heavier side at the moment.

Admittedly I did notice it myself in my face recently. It’s annoying because I drink calorie shakes alongside my normal food for weight gain. It’s disheartening when you know you’ve put a pound or two on and you still get ‘there’s more fat on a chip’ comments 🙄

For me it's when you can see the clavicle pronounced on a skinny frame. Mine is like this when I am at my lowest weight but still technically healthy according to bmi. Size 8 around 8stone, usually means not an inch of fat on me but looking at pics I can see it's too skinny a frame and I lack boobs when I am like that.

Currently 9ish stone and I am struggling with accepting having the extra meat even though I am still a size 8. Bonus extra boobage, negatives feel fat and unattractive. Logic tells me I'm not!

I’m 5ft 4 and 9st 3lbs just now trying to lose another half stone. My 15yo DD is the same height but barely 7 stone, for me that would be too skinny but she’s young eats well and it’s just her body shape.

Many years ago when I was at the low end of a healthy weight I had a very bad bout of food poisoning and lost about half a stone. My post doc in the lab pulled me aside to check I wasn’t on a diet...I was able to reassure her but it was clear that that had tipped me from slim to too thin. I was delighted she cared enough to ask.

For me, it was when I got to 9 stone 4 lbs at 5’ 6 1/2”. I’m broad and generally ‘big’ (size 8 feet, massive hands). I was normally fit (worked out with weights a lot) and around 10 st 4 lbs.

My boyfriend at the time ended things as he said it was like being with a starved greyhound. It was a very stressful time for me (new job/relocation) and I’d just gotten into a cycle of working 60-80 hours a week.

Looking back at pictures I look starved and gaunt.

There is a difference between looking too thin and what looks best for your frame. I have a medium frame and can see (from photos) that I look best with a BMI of 21-22. But I have been lighter (in the distant past) and nobody said I was too thin or looked unwell. I have never dropped to an underweight BMI so don’t know how obvious it would look.

twattymctwatterson I just worked it out, 19.9

Unburnished I'm sure you are glad he is an ex, what a comment to make!

Maybe body fat percentage is a marker if you have access to one of those machines you get at the gym. I think I remember reading that over 40 you shouldn’t go below 24%. Below 20% is considered top athlete.

Others noticing isn't always helpful because I lost a lot of weight over a few years and when I finally got down o a healthy BMI, people were telling me (uninvited) that I'd got too skinny.

Siameasy I have literally just I had this done in the past few weeks by a personal trainer, I'm a little over 23% at the moment, pt is advising me how to reduce it without reducing my weight to get as lean as possible

PickAChew yes uninvited comments are awful

And I'm currently 5'4 and 10 stone 4 and have prominent clavicles.

pt is advising me how to reduce it without reducing my weight to get as lean as possible

That is dangerous advice.