What is your bmi if you feel slim?

[EscapeRoomToTheSun]

Just that really! I have been losing weight since September and am down down to a bmi of 26, i.e almost in the healthy range. But I still have a lot of visible body fat. Anyone else have experience of this? Maybe it's more toning I need.

Aibu to post in aibu?

A bit off topic, but as @CarPoor mentions it: I have never had a problem with feeling the cold despite being underweight for a lot of the time. I am about the only person in the country who isn't bothered by not being able to afford to put the heating on. But I grew up in a cold and draughty house, so am used to it. My DP, who is fat, would have the heating on all day, given half a chance.

Bmi is 18 atm and i feel slim and healthy.
I was 22 a couple years ago, and didnt like the way i looked/felt.

It’s all so relative though and dependent on body shape. The smallest I’ve ever been was a bmi of 18. I was very very slim, but also quite muscular. I literally barely ate and definitely would have developed an eating disorder if I hadn’t made changes. I now have a bmi of 25 and am the healthiest and happiest I’ve ever been. I am a size 12/14 and definitely could lose a stone and look better but I don’t obsess about food or restrict.

I'm about 21.8 BMI. 5'7" and 9st 13, aiming to lose half a stone although a bit more would be nice.

BMI is fine in theory but I am flabby and shapeless! Big fat tummy, waist is around 31" I think. I've just started exercising again after a hiatus, to tone up and get fit, but basically I always put weight on round my middle. It's always been the same, even when I was young. If I had an hourglass figure I'd feel much better.

You sound very similar to me. I'm slightly taller but my ideal weight is between 8 st 12 to 9 st 2.

Currently I'm 9 st 7 and none of my clothes look right. Any weight I gain goes on my belly and shows on my face too.

Skinny arms and legs, but need my bmi below 20 for my body to look right.

During covid I went up to 9 st 10 and definitely had bigger boobs, which was nice but not enough compensation for losing my hipbones/ribs/jawline.

I am a regular gym goer and do lift moderately heavy weights, but it doesn't make a major difference to my bmi or body shape.

Fwiw when I was veering into full-on anorexic territory, I went down to a bmi of 16 but I still had regular periods and i conceived my first child at that weight, and gave birth to her at 37 weeks with no health issues.

From an aesthetic point of view I'd love to be that weight again but it's a full time job to maintain it, and not compatible with mental health, work and raising children. Or having food in the house

I think I’m 19-20. I don’t have to work at it or think about it. It’s my natural weight. I’m in my mid-50s.

Last year adult DD had BMI around 15, now she is about 16.5. She's commented how much warmer she is this winter, although she still feels the cold a lot more than other people.

I'm allowed to post what the fuck I like on the thread thankyou very much.

This isn't a thread in body image, it's a thread to essentially indulge in body dysmorphia/boast how skinny people are. I'm not shaming you fgs. But surely you can see its depressing that so many women only feel good about themselves at the bottom end of a healthy weight? And if your aim is for women to feel good about themselves do you think that a thread where multiple posters describe a healthy body as chubby, clunky is going to do that?

I haven't said you need to keep youe body image a secret. But improved body image doesn't magically come with losing weight as demonstrated by this thread

BMI of 22 maximum. Anything over 22 and I’m carrying extra. I’m 23.5 right now and need to lose a few kilos.

thank you, this stopped the ED alarm bells ringing in my head a little bit!

That's seriously underweight, and I say that as someone with a long history of anorexia and bulimia who currently feels unpleasantly big with a bmi of 20.2.

I find bmi 17 around the point where it really starts to affect me physically and mentally (fainting, blackout, obsessive behaviour around food, etc).

Does she acknowledge that she might have an eating disorder?

OH heck yeah, DD says she's "recovering" from the anorexia, but she's still very ill. Says all sorts of BS about how "hard" it is to gain weight. I think she's purging nowadays. She must be smugly pleased with how much she's 'fooling' everyone (in a totally unhealthy smuggery way). No point in me starting an argument by saying how little I believe of the words she says.

She'll lose her Uni course if she doesn't improve a lot in next 6 months (long story why, but her work placement year will completely clash with the low energy intake).

Adult kids... means they get to make very bad decisions, Sigh.

I actually feel pretty slim at a bmi of 27, which I know is technically overweight. At that BMI I was a size 12, and am 5ft 9, people used to comment I was slim, and I felt good.
Unfortunately at the moment I have a BMI of 32! Do not feel or look great tbh, am about a size 16. Look and feel a damn sight better now than when I was 18yo with a BMI of 14 though!

Ah I'm really, really really sorry. My eldest is just entering the teenage years and I have to confess I am dreading the next few years. Although no signs of ED yet.

I'm sorry to say that I don't think there is anything you can say which will 'fix' her - I am sure you know this already. All I can say is don't comment on how she looks better, healthier, recovering, less skeletal, etc. - all comments which sent me off into downward spirals in the past.

And if she is eating something, let her do it in peace and isolation. Even if it does come up again afterwards

I'm really sorry and I hope things improve for her and for you. xx

I agree with this. It's quite depressing to read a thread of women saying they only feel slim when a BMI of 20 or below
Why would it be depressing to hear that women feel slim when their weight puts them in the lower third of a healthy BMI range?
Logic says that's where most people are going to feel slim. The further up the BMI healthy range someone gets, the closer they get to being overweight, and a lot of people won't feel slim when overweight if they're used to being in the middle of the healthy range.

Thanks B&F.

Yeah this thread is weird. I know a lot of people who would be overjoyed with the slimness of their bodies if they could get down to BMI = 25-27.

Yeah this thread is weird. I know a lot of people who would be overjoyed with the slimness of their bodies if they could get down to BMI = 25-27.

It’s not weird at all. BMI is a blunt tool and there is a wide healthy range for a reason. It needs to take into account different people’s specific characteristics. Some will look slim higher up the range and some will look slim at the lower end.

Well of course women feel slim at BMIs under 21. The midpoint of the healthy range (18.5 - 24.9) is 21.7.

That is the average BMI for someone of a healthy weight. But healthy and slim are different concepts. To be considered slim you need to be quite slimmer than the average, no? So that would put you under that midpoint.

And I think it's really silly to tout "body dysmorphia" at anyone who doesn't feel perfectly slim at a healthy BMI. People have different standards and different reference points. Of course BMI 22 seems tiiiny if you've been overweight your whole life and are comparing to your former BMI 30 self.

But if you've always been an athletic BMI 19-20 and suddenly find yourself at 22 the chance will be quite obvious and significant to you. When you are slim to begin with, even an extra 5 pounds is quite noticeable in the way your clothes feel and how rounded your shapes are.

That is not body dysmorphia, that's just logic... I really don't appreciated having my mental health questioned because I dare say I have a bit of a tummy and a bit of a thunder thigh situation going on despite being objectively at a healthy BMI.

Thanks Laluz! You've put that into words perfectly. & Lola

It's fucking patronising nonsense, judgement disguised as faux concern. Like good for you Carpoor that you're so high minded. I expect you have no mirrors in your house.

LaLuz7
I agree with you.
It's all relative, and a lot of people apply common sense.
Under BMI I think the 'healthy' range is quite a big weight range. There's 3 stone between the bottom and top of my healthy BMI range. On my frame I look and feel like I'm carrying extra weight at the top end of that range, but someone else the same height and different build might look great at the top end and quite thin at the middle to bottom of that range.

It's not body dysmorphia for someone to say that they feel slimmer when they're at the lower end of a healthy BMI.

I normally keep my BMI at 18. After all, no one needs more than a lick of a lettuce leaf once a fortnight.

I once scoffed a MASSIVE salad. I was so huge after that. We’ve definitely lost sight of what a healthy weight and portion size is. Yesterday I had to stop myself eating a whole tomato.

The slimmest I've ever been was when I had a BMI of 23, I have quite a large build (hour glass though so not built like a brick) so a BMI of 23 looked very slim for me.

My ideal would be 21.5!

My current BMI is in the obese category!

Echoing @lifter - lot of people with very skewed ideas on here and these threads attract that kind of person. Couple of years ago I'd have said I felt fat at anything more than 17.

Sorry I meant BM1 5. Size 0. Extremely tall and extremely willowy. 6'7". 20kg weight.

I really should be a top model. They missed their chance.

R/Whoosh