How to tell if you're "too skinny"?

i'm the same, i've been called skinny all my life lol, i have people who are overweight tell me that i'm too skinny etc etc, and in a way... i cracked to this opinion, i don't have severe body image issues, always been comfortable naked in bed etc but i felt it time to increase my weight a bit, the up shot of it is if you do want to put weight on you'll very likely be doing what i'm doing and have to eat a shed load of calories to do so, (currently eating between 3500 - 4000 a day and gaining very slowly)

it's definately good be naturally skinny, but from my own and my ex partner's experience theres an upper and lower normal limit to being naturally skinny, for example

last year i dropped to 12 stone (168lbs) a few times just under, at this point i was eating about 2800 calories a day but could easily skip a meal here and there some times go 3/4 of a day without eating at 6'4 this was definately the lower end of my natural weight

currently eating 3 meals a day and a protein shake, as i said at about 3500 - 4000 calories a day, and i'm now at 13.5 stone (190lbs) which is much better, i feel more comfortable with my body image than before, i keep colour in my face, and i have some muscle and a bit of healthy body fat (about 15% at the moment)

my ex partner is 5' and last year dropped to 6 stone, and she looked too thin same as me, she wasn't eating that badly but just not enough, she watched her calories more closely and is now at the 7 stone mark and looks great for it, she has extra junk in her trunk, and a healthy covering of fat at a guess i'd say around the 18% mark

my advice for you, if you do have ribs that poke out, they'll likely do it regardless of your weight but that's not to say being at your lower end of healthy weight won't make them look worse

try not to skip meals, find foods that you really enjoy: buy and eat more of them, embrace the fact you're naturally skinny and can eat a bit more junk than most, as long as you don't go to the extreme of unhealthy foods, but a pizza once a week and maybe a few doughnuts and things like that are yours to eat and enjoy with the added benefit of giving you a bit more body fat to cover your bones better, do some weights if you want a bit more thickness on your arms, squats for a bit more of a rear end, and chest flies to cover your ribs a bit more

ultimately being naturally skinny is great and is something to be pleased with but it just means you need to keep on top of eating the other way round, eat till you're full, think of food at meal times, try not to drink 20 - 30 mins before a meal so you can feel the full hunger, and i find the quicker i eat the more i can eat, all these will help you if you feel you need them

looking at that actually makes me feel ill lol... you can quite clearly see the dip in his chest and around his collar bones just goes to nothing but skin and bone

For what it's worth, I think you look fantastic. The term "too skinny" is annoying as hell and very subjective. I've been hearing it a lot lately. Mostly from family members. I'm a size 4 and am at 25% body fat. Clearly I'm quite far from "too skinny." I don't think you should worry about it. You look perfect to me.

Honestly, talk to your doctor. Nobody can really tell from one photo of what we presume to be your face and bicep. Your doctor can look at your medical history which will include some sort of history of your weight, blood pressure, etc. and can make a more informed assessment as to your health with that sort of info.

If I were towards to the low end of a normal BMI (or underweight) - i.e. coming from the opposite direction - I would use the following to determine where my goals should be:

1) Body fat percentage to determine lean mass pounds, then converted to total body weight for an "average" body fat level. I'd then use BMI and a bit of further number crunching to work out (a) if I'm less muscular than average, and if so, (b) how many pounds of lean mass I need to gain to have "average" muscle mass.

2) Bone mineral density to determine bone strength and to see if I can just concentrate on muscle mass (i.e. if bone density is average, most of my lean mass gains can be just from muscle mass gains).

3) WHR, SWR/CWR/BWHR, etc. to track progress with an aim of getting towards the golden ratio or equivalent.

That is how I'd determine what to aim for, not to determine if I'm too "skinny" or where I am right now. Most thin people want more muscles/curves. Most average people want more muscle definition. Some defined people go overboard and make their bodies too out of proportion. Most large people want to get rid of the excess fat. The "perfect physique" is more than likely unattainable, but "getting closer to it rather than moving away from it" would be how I'd monitor progress - I couldn't tell from a mirror or photos if I "don't need to lose any more weight" and almost everyone I know has been influenced by the media and/or others, so I'd rather rely on math and the primal subconscious.

Skinny/average/fat are just labels for aesthetics. If strength/health/fitness/etc are your goals you don't really need to worry about it (although you'll probably make aesthetic improvements in such a case, without it being a goal as with those whose sole concentration is losing a lot of excess body fat). The only difference with the average label is you don't hear many people say "you look too average".

Underweight, on the other hand, is a medical label. If a doctor told me I needed to gain weight but couldn't answer whether it was muscle, bone, and/or body fat I needed to increase, I'd question what medical reason (s)he based the advice on (and I wouldn't take "statistics based on population surveys", "BMI/the government says", "the pharmaceutical company that gave me this pen say", "my mother always used to say", etc. as a valid reason).

I disagree with everyone else who says you look too skinny in your picture. Also I've looked at your diary and you seem to eat reasonably healthy, although I agree with the comments about increasing your protein intake.

When a joint looks wider than a whole limb.... you're too damn skinny.

OP, you are a little on the skinny side in my opinion, and I had a peek at your food diary expecting to see some silly calorie intake, but I was actually quite relieved to see you don't under eat at all - in fact you eat around the same amount as me.

Some people are naturally very slender and can still eat a lot. One of my best friends looks similar to you and eats far more than I do.

Don't take the comments on here too literally, we know nothing about you and can only make a judgment on one picture that only shows a quarter of your body. if you are concerned, visit your doctor, but your eating habits seem to be fine.

Are you healthy? Thats what matters. And do you want more muscle mass so you fill out a little? I guess it depends how you feel and how you want to look but for you not for what others say.

Partly disagree. Self-image after is created in a social environment.

:flowerforyou: Excellent point. Too often people here ignore the impact of social conditioning. In addition, evolutonarily humans have survived by being sensitive to group attitudes and behavior.

I would look at body fat percentage as a measure of whether one was too skinny. From your photo you're thin, but I wouldn't say you're too skinny.

I definitely don't think going by what people say is good since people would tell me I was too skinny while still overweight. But bmi can be a good indicator. If you are underweight by bmi, I think it would be a good idea to get your body fat % checked to see if it is in a healthy range. Interested to see what others say....

Be aware of this. Whether it's deliberate or mistaken, people can act quite strangely about your weight loss. Some say that it's jealousy or sabotage, sometimes it's just a shock to them to see you so much smaller than you were before, even if you're still healthy.

Some of my friends and family are telling me not to get "too skinny", when I'm still an overweight BMI and have rolls of flab that I can literally grab and shake! It's sweet of them but not very helpful for me.

I think you should eat healthily, have a good mix of protein, veg and carbs, with the occasional sweet treat, and work on building some muscle if you want to look more rounded, as it will give you more mass but with definition, which will look great! Good luck!

^^ this.
My loved ones are constantly telling me I don't need to diet and that I'm perfect as I am, but it isn't helpful.
At the end of the day, if you feel happy/confident in your body then that's what's important!
But if you so feel like you're underweight, bump up your daily cals a little

I just read thread from beginning to end. This is exactly why you should not base your self worth or self image on others opinions.When I posted on this yesterday I left out my opinion of how I think you look because I didnt want to deal with the less intelligent that would misconstrue my opinion and observation for bullying. Everyone sees you in a different light some think you are fine some think you arent.

Yes I think you are too thin and just like I am often disgusted by ppl that are too fat I am also disgusted by ppl who are too thin. Does it make me jealous? No It is gross and makes me want to cringe and go yuck just like when I saw the pictures of the body builder and the starving guy. Totally my opinion and the reason I say this is because MY opinion shouldnt matter. If you are eating correctly and healthy WTF does it matter what I think or anyone else for that matter? I think you should eat more and get a little more muscle mass so your bones dont protrude but again....my opinion.

I think the real issue here is not whether you are too skinny but is your self esteem too low? I know it is hard to ignore others who say things that to them are totally okay and truthful in their minds. Maybe you should focus on knowing who you are and why you love yourself so you wont have to come into an open forum and base your image on what others think. They arent you, they will never be you, and you are only as beautiful as you believe you are and feel. If you dont feel it fix it whether it be mentally or physically.

Do you feel unhealthy? Is your doctor the one telling you to gain weight? If not, I wouldn't worry. Most people make that judgement based solely on aesthetics anyways. Your body will let you know if we are not well nourished.

I think if you're healthy, happy and your body isn't suffering any medical issues due to your size, you're okay! Some people are capable of being very thin without suffering from any sort of disorder. If you're worried about being too thin, go see your doctor and see what they have to say. I wouldn't worry about what some stranger at the gym says, they most likely have no medical training and are just making an uneducated observation based on their own body image issues.

There have been three pictures (not counting the OP's profile pic) which have come under scrutiny, where people put up a human being for discussion on whether or not their physique is disgusting or desirable.

I wonder how that would go down in a thread about being too fat? Would it be okay to post pictures of people with a high body fat percentage only to talk about how disgusting you think they are?

The bottom line is that body shaming is body shaming, no matter what size the subject is.