"I don't want to be too thin" - a "fat" people thing to say?

marinebiologist_girl

When I say I don't want to be skinny I mean under 120 (I'm 5'4) and at that weight I have hip bones jutting out and don't look healthy in my eyes.

This is what I mean. I'd like to get to a weight which is considered healthy and fit and looks, to me, attractive, but I don't want to lose my curves. That, and I live with a suffering/recovering anorexic so I want to make sure I don't fall into the same trap.

nomena

To me that means going back to an underweight BMI and having to ear far too little to maintain my weight. Too thin means unhealthy for me. I've never been overweight, but I have been underweight.

tryclyn

I remember when I was too thin, although I didn't realize I was at the time, I remember being miserable. So for me "too thin = misery". I also remember being fit, I prefer that. Funny thing is, it was only a 10 pound difference.
Too thin is a subjective phrase. With that being said, if one is so thin that the skin from their front grazes their backbone between meals well...

WendyTerry420

I want to look healthy - to BE healthy. Skinny is just as unattractive as fat, in my opinion. A little bit of curves is sexy.

secretlobster

I don't think it has anything to do with fat/skinny. I think that statement would come from a person who is a little bit afraid of identity change. Body size is significant to how other people see you, whether we like to believe it or not, and it's also a part of how we identify with ourselves. A lot of heavier people feel some degree of resent or envy toward those who are thin, and are hesitant to want to identify with them.

They aren't really pretty human emotions, but many of us have experienced them.

ckay220

I am a curvy woman, and it's not an excuse to be fat...Even when I was smaller, I had large thighs,hips, and a big butt. I've always had these characteristics so it comes normal to me to look like that. However, now that I've gained weight, I look at old pictures and see where I was and where I felt most comfortable at a healthy weight. I'm between 5'2" and 5'3" and I don't want to be below 130...and 130 might be too much for me. That may be too heavy for some at 5'2", but I absolutely do not want to be below that. I have pictures at my smallest, when I was in the 7th grade, and I haven't grown an inch since then...but in that pic, I looked sickly...and I know that I was 130 because I've never been below that. So when I say "I don't want to be too thin", it means, I don't want my whole collarbone bulging out like in that picture. Some may be comfortable with that, but I'm not.

WendyTerry420

When I say I don't want to be skinny I mean under 120 (I'm 5'4) and at that weight I have hip bones jutting out and don't look healthy in my eyes.

This is what I mean. I'd like to get to a weight which is considered healthy and fit and looks, to me, attractive, but I don't want to lose my curves. That, and I live with a suffering/recovering anorexic so I want to make sure I don't fall into the same trap.

I am 5' 4" and my current goal weight is 150. I may even get down to 135, but I do not want to go much under that. I have a large frame and when I was fit and fabulous in high school, I was weighing 130-135.

marie_cressman

For me, when I say "I don't want to be too thin" I am saying an unhealthy weight for my height. Obviously I don't know how I'm going to look at 160lbs yet nor do I know how I'll look at 124lbs (I'm currently 182lbs and 5'6" and have NEVER been a healthy weight in my entire life) so 160lbs is my "ultimate goal" for now. If I get to 160lbs, I will decide whether or not it is a healthy weight for me. I don't think the lower end of the BMI scale is "too thin" since I see plenty of women who are in the 120lb range and my height who are perfectly healthy looking and beautiful. I just know that even at 182lbs right now, I have a healthy body fat percentage (recently measured) and I am a size 10 jeans and medium top. My ribs are already visible at 182lbs (but I by no means have a flat stomach... I'm still working on strengthening my core and I have a little bit of loose skin on my tummy). Most of all, I think I don't want to be SO obsessed that I get myself to a place where I am not healthy at all nor do I look healthy.

m16shane

As a guy I personally don't think sticks are attractive I like curves. Each culture and generation defines "fat" or"skinny" differently. Marlin Monroe was an icon of sexy at one period of her life. she ranged between 118-140. A lot of people found her the most attractive at her heavier stage because of the curves. Though each persons judgment is different. I feel the biggest challenge is to worry about your self and not others. Do what make you happy, and be healthy!

DiscipleN2k

I can kind of see where at least some of them might be coming from. I've been over 200lbs since my junior year of high school and got up to 250lbs before I started getting back in shape. After a serious diet change and a lot of hard work, I got down to 185lbs. I was still around 12% body fat and people told me I looked great, but I just didn't feel like me. I just wasn't designed to be a lightweight. I feel MUCH better now that I'm back up to around 200lbs!

coachblt

I don't want to be too skinny. I really don't. But who's to say what is too skinny and what isn't? I have an athletic build with broad shoulders and muscular frame, so who can tell if I'm too skinny? I get compliments all the time when people tell me I don't need to lose another pound and I think I have another 20 to go. So it all depends on who you talk to.

Good luck to you all.

trudance4

my goal weight is 133lbs and i am 5'1 and to me it means I dont want to loose curves or shape, i have always had curves even now . i just dont want to be too thin where i look unhealthy and dont have a shape, i dont actually think i would suit it, i know due to my height 133lbs is the heaviest i should be but sometimes going lower just doesnt look nice!

but that is just my 2 cents!

fbmandy55

I am 5'9" and have a goal of 175. I don't really want to be smaller than that, plus it would put me in single digit pant sizes. Considering I weigh around 225 now and in a size that I'm not too ashamed of I think that is a happy goal for me. I'm pretty thick all over but have a defined waist, legs and boobs. I more I lose the more I am seeing I have the hips and waist to have sexy, healthy curves.

I know a few women who got addicted to fitness and do look sick now. One in particular was recently approached by her boss and family because she looks worse now than she did when she had meat on her bones (she was never "FAT"). I'm tall and I don't want to be a different person and I don't want to look in a mirror and forget who I am looking at. I don't want to be a string bean. I don't find that attractive in other women and it's not what I want for myself.

fbmandy55

i know due to my height 133lbs is the heaviest i should be but sometimes going lower just doesnt look nice!

True. I think Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Aaron from Ghost Adventures all looked much more cute when they were bigger!

vypeters

Too thin can be a frame thing or preference thing. For example: I'm 5'8" and 143 lbs, so a BMI just under 22. Medically that is far from "too thin". On me, though, with my very large frame, it really is a little too thin. I'd like to gain a few pounds but slowly and some of it muscle. My current body fat percentage is a little over 18%.

marie_cressman

"Curvy" is a body shape, not a size. There is a difference between being overweight and having curves. If you are a pear or an hourglass, you will have curves at any weight.

You are very right. I am somewhere between a pear and an hour glass shape I think... wide set hips, small waist, and medium/average bust. I have curves and I know I'll always have them. That's just how my body was built.

aqua_zumba_fan

There is absolutely a point at which too skinny is unhealthy and unattractive. I absolutely do not want to be medically unhealthy because of my weight being too low or to look like my bones are sticking out too much etc. I feel healthy and happy at my current weight so why go further? I could, but why always keep aiming for losing more and more weight? Much more healthy mentally to get to a point where you're happy and stop beating yourself up for not being enough!

HauteP1nk

I never say that, but I think most people don't use it as an excuse. I would assume that they probably don't want to look unhealthy. Not saying a skinny person is necessarily unhealthy, but in a lot of cultures a skinny physique is associated to a poor person with a poor diet. I think today there is much more emphasis on having a fit body as opposed to just being thin as well.

And just like fat isn't attractive to some people, bones aren't attractive to others. Don't take things personally. We are all different and have different tastes.

tashjs21

Yea no, It is not an excuse for me. I am 5'5 and at 120 I was extremely unhealthy looking. So that is not my goal. I do not want to get back there. When I was in the peak of my physical fitness I was 135 and was toned, muscular and looked great. That is my ultimate goal.

But yes, I have heard many people say that and are probably using it as an excuse to not give it their all. As with any blanket statement "people use it as an excuse because they are too lazy" is not a one size fits all thing.

For some yes, it may be an excuse, for others it may be they have realistic visions of their bodies.



** Disclaimer, some people may be 5'5 and look great at 120. I am saying I did not.

andie2013

For me, I'm 5'6" and so skinny for me is anyone wearing pants size 8 or smaller (same height as me)... and so I'm personally aiming to drop down to a size 10-12 with a BF% of less than 20%....

TripleJ3

When I say I don't want to be too thin, I am referring to the time I had lost too much weight and it was too thin for my frame. It wasn't a good look.

I am no size 2, even when you could see my six pack and I am very muscular. Even when I was buying size 4 in skirts, shorts and dresses, I could only wear a size 6 pants if there was some stretch in them to give room for my thighs and calves. So yes, its not because I am lazy, but I don't want to be so thin that I don't look good. Or even well. I'd rather carry a little extra then look sick.

littlepinkhearts

I have said that when i'm describing my goal weight. I'm usually not far away from my goal when I say it and I really DON'T want to be too skinny. I've been there before and I lost too much weight and I looked sick kinda. For me, i'm 5" 4" and I looked too thin at 120lbs.

yogini_runner

When I say, "I don't want to be too thin"... I'm saying I don't want to be in the low end for my BMI.

rml_16

"Curvy" is a body shape, not a size. There is a difference between being overweight and having curves. If you are a pear or an hourglass, you will have curves at any weight.

You are very right. I am somewhere between a pear and an hour glass shape I think... wide set hips, small waist, and medium/average bust. I have curves and I know I'll always have them. That's just how my body was built.

Exactly. I'm an almost perfect hourglass and I have curves no matter my size. I had them when I was 102 pounds and I have them now.

Obviously, there is a point where a person IS too skinny. If you are a woman and you stop having a period, you've lost too much weight. There should be SOME fat and muscle on the body and I totally get that everyone has a preferred size and a place where they are most happy with their shapes. But I hear women who are 400 or 500 pounds refer to themselves as "curvy." Those are not curves.

I'm 5'3" and my goal is 115. I'll reevaluate then, or possibly before then, but I don't think that is too skinny for me. (And I will still have curves.)

Flixie00

I said this when starting out. I think it was a confidence thing on my part, as my target loss was so large that I could not see my myself reaching it. It was my way of mitigating against future failure.

I get people calling me skinny now, I am just 7 lb from goal and am still technically overweight. I always counter these claims by telling people that I have recently put weight back on (only 2lbs) and what they are seeing is a result of strength training not weight loss. They never seem to have an answer to this :bigsmile:

For the record, I am large framed, tall, and my target weight is at the top end of scale for my hight.

Carfoodel

I do have curves, I will still have them when get to a health weight/height ratio - but for me being "too thin" isn't about being derogatory towards those that are naturally thin, it symbolises me having to work too hard at maintenance.

I still have about another year to lose all my extra weight and I will be very athletic and healthy when I get there - but I will want to be able to maintain that naturally without having to count every calorie and be obsessive about macro's and hopefully it will be part of my lifestyle without having to apply the level of focus I am using in working towards my goals. - in other words by the time I get to where I want to be, I am hoping that I won't have to work out what the best nutrition and healthy choices are as I will know them off by heart. I don't want to be forever pursuing the loss of another 7 lbs or the next dress size. Too skinny for me is a uk size 8 dress size - quite happy to stop at a size 10/12.

On a more shallow level I like my proportions for my boobs, waist and hips, so I want to get rid of the extra chunks, but keep my natural curves so that's where I will be stopping.

possibri

Hi!

Just something I overheard the other day that got me thinking. Usually larger people saying that they don't want to be "too thin" or "skinny".

In my opinion both of those terms are relative so one person views skinny as 5'5 110lbs person and another may say that the 5'5 girl is skinny at 120.

So when you say "I don't want to be skinny/too thin" what are you implying? Are you saying you don't find thin attractive or are you simply saying it because you don't believe you can reach a certain weight or is it just an excuse? Like you're heavy and you'd probably like to be that weight but are too lazy to actually work for it?

I don't mean to offend anyone. When I say I don't want to be skinny I mean under 120 (I'm 5'4) and at that weight I have hip bones jutting out and don't look healthy in my eyes.

Not offended either. For me, my height (5'3") says a healthy BMI would mean I'd weight around 120, but I think that's ridiculously small. I am fairly athletic (or I used to be and I'm trying to get back to that), and I can't imagine weighing so little since I expect to have a decent amount of muscle.

I've been overweight pretty much as long as I can remember, and I don't think it really is necessary for me to get that low. Who knows, maybe I'll get to my goal weight and feel I still need to lose another 60lbs, but I doubt it... maybe another 40, but probably not. Mostly, I just want to be healthy and feel good... that doesn't require me to be at the bottom of my ideal weight range. If exercising and eating right causes me to keep dropping weight, then it is what it is.

fbmandy55

I don't understand why fat people feel they are allowed to tell healthy people they are 'too thin'.

Well first off, thin does not = healthy. I have plenty of friends who are what one would consider thin but it's due to high metabolisms. I am much larger but much more active and in shape than any of them. When we do anything active they are the one's who want to quit because they are tired and used to being lazy.

So it''s ok for a thin person to tell a fat person they are too big?

taylor5877

You're right: it is all relative.

For instance, I'd like to be 8% body fat; however, if that means I need to get down to 175 to do it, I'd be disappointed. To me, that would be "too thin." Other people might think 6'0", 175, and 8% body fat was great. It's okay, but it's nothing extraordinary.

I've been 5'10" 180, and that's "too thin" for me. I'm too weak at that weight for what I like to do.

andrewlazenby

I feel like a big problem is that we as a society have a very skewed idea of what a "normal" weight is. In other words, our normal has crept up gradually over the last decade. I am 6'2" and currently about 193lbs. It looks good and folks who know me are amazed that I am aiming to lower that to 180ish. I am hoping my abs show at that point. If not, its lower I go until my BF% is correct. My low end of normal BMI is 149lbs and while that is theoretically possible I guess, I ride a bike far to much to get there.

I think men and women look at goals and body image vastly different base on societal "norms" that have been changing over the decades. I do know, (no offense ladies, I am a teacher and the only male on staff) that you guys can be vicious with each other in regard to looks. MUCH harder on each other than what men think about women.