What sort of BMI do you think of as slim?

[Tanaqui]

This question is prompted by nothing but vanity!

I am a healthy BMI, but although I feel quite strong and fit, I definitely look solid rather than slim. Does one need a sleb type BMI of 18 to look slim, rather than "normal"?

I do know that BMI is supposedly set a bit high for shorter people and some ethnic backgrounds, but I'm Caucasian and 5'4 if that makes a difference? (And a biggish build- size 7 feet).

Just wondering whether to stop or try and keep going really!

I sort of agree that 21+ is not slim

there has to be some cut off?

It's just answering the OP. I don't think it helps to not be real about weight and obesity.

Many people in 'healthy' BMI are clearly overweight

I would say under 21 would be slim. As in slim slim, not modern day where "not fat = slim".

However, BMI isn't a perfect gauge of slimness. Although I don't think it's as bad as people make out, there are some people who are at the lower range of healthy BMI but still not particularly slim.

Don't be ridiculous. The whole point of healthy bmi is that people with one are NOT "overweight". Some might have too much body fat but that's not the same thing.

I'm sporty and short and tbh I never look very slim. I look toned and muscly if I've been training or I look stocky if I've been off injured.

Thank you- lots of food for thought!

I am stocky museum mum, and can look beefy if doing lots of weights. Not sure if have the will power to get to BMI of 21 ish- is hard to stick at 23!

Glad I am not alone in trying to get thinner despite "healthy" BMI (and if my scales are to be believed, healthy fat % too!)

I think perhaps your issue isn't that you need to lower your bmi but to appreciate the toned/ strong body you have. You sound like you have a mesomorphic body type and that you aren't going to be a willowy slim type that you are after because it isn't your build. This is obviously just me guessing from what you've said. I think sometimes though we wish we had totally different figures rather than the best version of ourselves. I will never be willowy as I'm only 5'2 so I will never look like Gwyneth paltrow but Eva longoria I can aim for. Anyway I'm talking shit now.

"Many people in 'healthy' BMI are clearly overweight"

Well, if by 'overweight' you mean 'more wobbly than I would like to be', then fair enough.

But if you mean 'overweight' as in 'having a negative effect on health', then it's actually the other way around; the 25 cut-off for healthy is arbitrary, there's evidence that 26 is the healthiest BMI to be, and there's little evidence that health is affected with a BMI under 30.

Yes, mamapants, am always amazed on these threads at the range of sizes for a particular weight. Am currently BMI 23, pretty fit, and rocking a size 14. But that is to accommodate my huge arse, sadly I could easily add a stone of boobage and still fit a 14.

Spot on mama pants- I reckon I am definitely a mesomorph- 5'4, size 7 feet, wide hands, big deep rib cage, gain muscle easily- only thing missing is my shoulders are not particularly broad!

I would never look like Eva longoria, but I will have a think who I could emulate!

Boulevard, I know this is just vanity- in fact sometimes I eat healthier at a slightly higher BMI as I eat more good stuff so don't sneak so many treats! I just wondered how low I'd need to go to look slim- have not been "slim" since very early teens!

I think a bmi of under 21 is slim. I look best at around 21.5. I'm currently battling to get back there at nearly two years post partum! I've never struggled before.

I have a BMI of 25-26 and feel quite overweight. Pushing size 14. My thighs are wobbly and I no longer have a slim waist. I don't even have big boobs. When I had a BMI of 22 I was a comfortable size 10 and felt lovely and slim. My DH is about 21 BMI wise and he has no fat on him, his % is about 3% (I could be wrong but he is in the athlete category). I can't imagine being lower than 21 or 22, but I guess it's to do with bones and body shape too.

Bmi is a range. A guide. Not a hard and fast rule. It works brilliantly for the majority of people most of the time with no fancy equipment.

Not convinced there is a better method at present at population level.

To be slim, I would say normally less than 22ish.

I was slim at BMI 24-25 at 5ft 3. I was very toned from a lot of exercise though so even though I was a size 12 I looked much slimmer. I felt very healthy though and wouldn't want to go much smaller.

Totally depends on build. I'm short, relatively broad for my height, build muscle easily and have big boobs. I am not 'slim' with BMI 26, but am not fat / wobbly.

DP is narrow, lanky & prone to gaining weight around the middle. He would look significantly overweight at BMI 26.

It's build and body fat IMO, although if by slim you mean the waifish / model look, I think that is very difficult to achieve if your body type doesn't naturally support it.

I go for toned & accept that I'll never have a thigh gap

Weight, dress size, BMI, it's just not an exact science in my book.

At my "slimmest" my BMI was 20. I had a bit of lollipop head and was a size six to eight. Everyone told me I looked awful at the time and when I look back at photos I did! I think I look slim with a BMI of 21-22.

Meanwhile I have a friend who looks a bit plump at BMI 20 because she has a tiny frame. She looks slim (and not underweight) with a BMI of 18-19.

Whatever suits your frame.

I'm middle aged and saggy and would look quite unwell (and even saggier) with the BMI of 18 I had in my teens. I look best around 22-23.

Fascinating- thank you. I might try getting to 22- if I can! And either way I might try and lose a bit of fat, see if being more toned makes a difference.

Don't know anything about BMI, but I read / or heard on the radio recently that 10 and a half stone is overweight for a 5"4 woman. That surprised me! It's my height & current weight. I was 8 and a half in my younger days, but would say 9 and a half would suit me now. Also, I'm shocked at how easy it is to put on weight after 35. I don't eat rubbish, but I've no wriggle room for "nice" things in my diet anymore. Must get my BMI done...

I just calculated my BMI on an NHS app and it came out at 19.6 which is lower than I expected. I don't have time to get to the gym anymore, always seem to be tired, my skin is dull, lank hair, bloated, etc. etc. I don't feel healthy and I don't feel slim! BMI doesn't seem relevant to my circumstances or my goals for a healthier lifestyle.

It really is so much to do with build. (Slimness, not BMI.)

My frame is a 6-8, so being a stone overweight and in the size 10 category as I was recently, I look awful because I'm carrying an entire stone and at least one dress size' worth of blubber. To look slim I need to get my BMI right back down under 20 because my frame is so unforgiving.

My friend is one of the slimmest people I know, not an ounce of fat on her and disappears in profile, flat as a pancake, but she has a size 12 frame. She's pretty tall (maybe 5'8?) and has broader shoulders and ribs than I do. She probably weighs more than I do now but it's her frame.

I think as long as you're not carrying a heavy layer of fat over whatever your natural frame is, you look slim.

I know this is an old thread but I really think BMI is a nonesense. I have never been anywhere near the lower end. I’m 5 foot 6 and my healthy weight is 10 stone. I am a size 8-10 (U.K. size) at this weight but still at the upper end of scale. At the moment I’m obese at a size 12. It’s very frustrating as I have a thyroid problem (underactive) and endometriosis/adenomyosis and need fertility treatment to have a child. As my bmi is just in obese I can’t get treatment, it’s very upsetting to be honest.

I am quite curvy I have large-ish round hips and big bum, small waist and big bust, bmi does not take these things into account

How funny to see my old thread again!

I daresay BMI is not perfect, but most people don’t have access to proper body fat measurements; and dress size is insanely variable depending on shop, and on body shape, so I used it as a handy shortcut for “where is the line between a healthy weight, and a healthy weight that looks slim to most people”

If anyone is interested I did briefly get to 22, and did look slimmer, but didn’t stick to it- back at around 23!

My ideal slim weight is with a BMI of 20 or 21 at a push. I still have a fair amount of body fat but have good shape at that weight. I exercise so look toned in clothes but after several pregnancies still have a flabby and scarred tummy, which I don't mind too much.
I have a small frame and my face gets fatter at BMI 22+, look skeletal at 19-.

I'm 5ft 5 and have a BMI of 21.5 and wear a size 6. I workout a lot and do heavy weights. I fit in the smallest size in shops like Allsaints and Whistles, and don't think I should get any thinner.