Too Skinny after 30 pound weight loss?

rangerstyle

My current stats are

age:37
height: 5'10"
weight: 165
pants size: 30"

I lost 30 pounds in 4 months or so, mostly from weight training, yoga, some cardio, and martial arts training. I do a combination of these activities 6 days a week.

I have received a lot of compliments at work and from friends..however, my sister recently saw me for the first time in months and said I was too skinny. I do want to gain some mass, but not a lot more to be honest. I like the leaner look, always wanted it, but comments by my sister has left me a little shocked. She said I looked "sick". I will add my brothers both had cancer..and no I don't have cancer or an illness, I have had many checkups and colonoscopy. I have went to high protein, low carb diet and made it more of a lifestyle to be fit. I should also add I'm a father and husband.

So my question is if this is too skinny and any suggestions? I uploaded my picture to profile picture.

lemon629

You aren't too skinny. However, your picture doesn't show your face. Did your face get really thin? This may have been what concerned her.
Also, is your sister overweight? It has been my experience that people who are significantly overweight are likely to make negative comments on others' weight loss. Maybe out of jealousy or just a skewed perspective on what a healthy body looks like. As an example if the latter, my obese grandmother told me I was too thin when I was 155-ish pounds at 5'8" (a gain of about 15 pounds over what was normal for me at the time) and most of my clothes were tight.

peleroja

You don't look too skinny at all, in my opinion. You have muscle tone and your body fat doesn't appear extremely low or anything. I can't speak to your health, of course, but purely aesthetically I really don't think you should be concerned about the comment. It is probably just that she is unused to the change.

MagnumBurrito

I was in the same boat you are. Fit with some muscle, but still a little to skinny in clothes.

Keep adding muscle. Deadlift and Squat heavy to build some.

Eat about 500-1000 calories daily above maintenance.

Girls will get those sparkly crazy eyes when you first meet them after you add some more muscle. Guys will respect you more.

Get bigger, it has major benefits.



LeadingMuscle

alexandreariddle

Well, I can tell you from experience it may not be that you are truly that skinny, it is just a shock to her and makes her think you are. My brother in in the Army Infantry. He has always been a somewhat sinewy guy, but after 2 years he has gotten VERY skinny. He is still muscular but he only has like 5% body fat. To me this is shocking and I think he is too skinny, however I know it is just because I have always thought he was little to begin with. He is not underweight (He weighs like 185 and is 6ft) and he eats like a pig! Perhaps it is just that she is used to seeing you one way and looking at you now it is much different.

Azdak

People often say that when you have lost a lot of weight and they haven't seen you for awhile. It's a natural reaction to changing from more rounded features to sharper ones. People also subliminally try to lessen the fact that you have accomplished what they cannot, by implying that there is something negative about your results. The only person you have to satisfy is yourself.

rileysowner

People said that to me when I had only lost 20-30 pounds and was still obese.

The problem here is not seeing you for a long time, so the shock of how different you look has made your sister think you are too skinny, which based on your picture, you are not. As for how thin your face may look, that tends to normalize as well. Give it time and she will get used to how you look now.

raindawg

I had similar weight loss to you years ago and received the same comments at times. Just understand that her lens for assessing how you look now is based on her knowing how you looked before. If you stood before two people right now, one that has never met you, and your sister, the one that never met you would think you are just a normal guy in pretty good shape. Your sister thinks your sickly skinny because she's comparing you to 40 pounds ago. If you heard it from people who didn't know you before then I'd take it more seriously.

darrensurrey

I'm on the fence with this. You need to think about it yourself and consider your goal. After about 8 months of MFPing, people were saying the same thing to me and I decided they were right so spent 2013 focusing on carefully increasing size without getting fat again. I'm back to my original weight but my physique is much improved.

mmcdonald700

My bf is 6'2" and about 150 lbs... now THAT's skinny . He has a small frame, and only upper body muscle and really low body fat%. He eats quite a lot, but as a young guy in his 20's who works in trades (read: burns a lot of calories working 10 hours a day on his feet) and is over 6" he would need a lot more calories to maintain a higher weight. He eats when he's hungry and I don't think he's unhealthy at all just a smaller person. So I wouldn't worry about being 165 at 5'10". For a guy that's on the leaner side but definitely not underweight and judging by your picture you don't look too skinny either. If you don't like it set new fitness goals to gain more muscle weight

sunraven01

If your photo is at all accurate, you aren't too skinny. You are fit with quite a bit of muscle, which isn't the same as skinny. I think it looks very healthy!

rangerstyle

Thanks for all of the comments. I do want to put a little more muscle on, but have this fear of gaining weight back and being back to my old self. I sort of freak out when I see it move up a few pounds, even if I know it is more calories of protein and healthy food.

It is weird..the one comment from my sister has overrules the 10 comments from others in my life like coworkers and friends.

darrensurrey

In order to build muscle you will have to eat more than your TDEE which will result in some fat gain. The difference between now and then is that you will take more muscle with you so the extra fat is less noticeable plus you will look "tapered" still.

FrenchMob

Thanks for all of the comments. I do want to put a little more muscle on, but have this fear of gaining weight back and being back to my old self. I sort of freak out when I see it move up a few pounds, even if I know it is more calories of protein and healthy food.

It is weird..the one comment from my sister has overrules the 10 comments from others in my life like coworkers and friends.

Why do you put so much value on your sisters "opinion"?

SezxyStef

I was in the same boat you are. Fit with some muscle, but still a little to skinny in clothes.

Keep adding muscle. Deadlift and Squat heavy to build some.

Eat about 500-1000 calories daily above maintenance.

Girls will get those sparkly crazy eyes when you first meet them after you add some more muscle. Guys will respect you more.

Get bigger, it has major benefits.



LeadingMuscle

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: @ the bolded part...sorry that is just so funny....

to the OP I don't think you are too skinny...that is my opinionn.

I am sure others may but the big question is this..."Do you think you are too skinny?"...if you are at a healthy weight and a good BF% and are not suffering some ill effects...just add the bulk you want and tell your sister not to worry you understand she isn't used to seeing you like this but you are healthy.

Kar3n84

Girls will get those sparkly crazy eyes when you first meet them after you add some more muscle.

To OP, I'm sure your sister means well and has the best intentions. You said your other brothers had cancer. Maybe she equates significant weight loss with being sick (hence "too skinny" comment) and therefore is concerned about having another brother go down the same route, even though that's not the case. Overtime, I'm sure her vision of "too skinny" will change when she sees you maintaining an active and fit lifestyle.

linsey0689

How do you feel about yourself? You said you feel good but do you feel like you look sick? I think you body looks great but I also think someone face has a lot to do with it. Is your sister overweight? Cause maybe that could have something to do with it that now she feels bad about herself. For example I am still "obese" at 235 pounds and my sisters who are about at my starting weight and much shorter than I tell me if I get any smaller I will blow away. Or they tell me I don't look like I belong in the family anymore stuff like that even though there's no way I am still over 200 pounds at 5 foot 8. So do you think that could be the case about your sister? And I also wanted to say I am sorry to hear about your brothers and congrats with all the progress you have made!!!

aprilslusher

I don't think you are too skinny. You have the same measurements as my husband.

annie61702

I think you look great - very healthy! :-) I say if you feel good and are happy with how you look, then ignore your sister's comment.

dragonflyjill

Dude. DUDE. You look amazing. It's funny how the family comments are the ones that kill us.

Sharon_C

You are the same weight and height as my husband. He is not too skinny but I would advise him not to lose anymore weight. Don't let your sister get you down. She's probably not used to seeing less of you :happy: Does she struggle with her weight? Maybe she's jealous.

rangerstyle

I only took out my face because it seems sort of strange to put a picture like this on the internet..I'm totally new to something like this. I will put a normal profile picture up at some point; if anything I have more confidence in my face and the body thing is the new part.

I like how people are so good with feedback on this forum and do appreciate it. My whole family has had weight issues, so it is odd for them to see me look this as some have said.

bonoeuf

Skinny is no fat and no muscle. You have little fat and good muscle tone. Buy yourself a scale that measures body fat as week as weight, not that expensive. If you want to put on muscle, you need to eat. Once you are happy with your maintenance calories, increase your protein intake by small amounts each day and check your weight and fat levels. Don't go mad, and you will get the optimum calorie intake to grow. When I was cycling regularly as training for rock climbing I kept getting told I was too skinny. My body fat was very low, but I was very strong and very fit; I felt great, slept well, my head was in a good place. The skinny comments did effect me some, but not enough to make me change. Do it for you, not your sister.

TonyStark30

Plus you said its your sister, I don't know why but female relatives tend to say you look ill as soon as you get to the point of being lean, as you just look smaller in your usual clothes. I dunno it could be they think you should have a bit more fat than your should (as females have I higher body fat than men) so they assumed you've lost TOO Much to get to that point, when in reality healthy average isn't even that fatty on a man, and you're just leaner than that.

I'm 5'9 and I would say my goal Walk around weight would be around 162, yes I will lose down to 147 first to get lean enough, but as soon as i'm eating normally I expect to sit around that weight. A good estimate is at what weight did you start to look 'in shape' clothed? thats they weight you should go back upto but leaner. Then you won't be told you look sick as you'll won't look Undersized.

TavistockToad

you're not skinny, you have low bodyfat...

presumably your sister saw you with your top on? it might just be that your face looks a lot thinner because of the lack of bodyfat, which caused her to use the word 'skinny'.

what does your wife think? she's the one who has to look at you every day, after all!

lauren3101

I don't think you look too skinny at all. It can come as a bit of a shock when someone you love loses a lot of weight. My Dad has always been a big guy, but when he had cancer a couple of years ago he had lost a lot of weight by the time he had the all clear, and although he was actually the healthiest weight he'd been in years, the look of him terrified me. I thought he looked like he was still ill.

She will get used to it - it sounds like a normal reaction to me.

rangerstyle

I decided to just use my sister's words as motivation. It really helped me overcome the time difference at this mornings workout

I do have a question. Can anyone estimate my body fat in this picture? I use a calipers, but always seem to get a reading of 10-12% Is this correct? I'm not sure I am measuring in the right place though that does seem likely correct.

MagnumBurrito

10-12% body fat seems right.

You're actually at the perfect level to add muscle without gaining fat.