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

nope, usually you don't see it. other people are more than happy to tell you though.

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.

there's a difference between body shaming and determining what is right and what is wrong

the body builder and skinny guy are extreme cases and shame or not both are not healthy ways to be.

i would refrain from judging the OP's skinniness from her picture, however, to say someone is skinny imo isn't shaming depending how you go about it, to be like omg you're skinny!!! you should eat frickin steak!! etc etc is shaming and shouldn't be allowed or even reported

to tell someone they could do with a few more calories in their diet based on their picture is sound advice

WARNING: THIS IS NOT IN JUDGMENT OF THE OP:

Just because someone eats a lot, or eats healthy foods all day long, does not GUARANTEE a healthy person. They could be eating well, BUT exercising heavily. I think the best evidence is the visual appearance of a person, not what can be manipulated and faked/padded in the diary. Just saying.

AGAIN: NOT JUDGING HERE.

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.

there's a difference between body shaming and determining what is right and what is wrong

the body builder and skinny guy are extreme cases and shame or not both are not healthy ways to be.

i would refrain from judging the OP's skinniness from her picture, however, to say someone is skinny imo isn't shaming depending how you go about it, to be like omg you're skinny!!! you should eat frickin steak!! etc etc is shaming and shouldn't be allowed or even reported

to tell someone they could do with a few more calories in their diet based on their picture is sound advice

There are numerous threads on MFP in the Chit Chat section that begin with "Rate the person above you" "Hot, Not?" etc, ALL asking for people to judge other people's appearances. Personally, I find that MORE offensive than anyone on here who has replied to the OP, who ASKED for our opinions.

So, I consider it hypocritical of folks who are quick to post "Yea" or "No" to the question "would you bang?", while calling others out for saying they think someone is too thin, or accusing others of body shaming. Any time anyone responds to a thread where people are being judged by their profile pics, THAT is also body shaming.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT IN JUDGMENT OF THE OP:

Just because someone eats a lot, or eats healthy foods all day long, does not GUARANTEE a healthy person. They could be eating well, BUT exercising heavily. I think the best evidence is the visual appearance of a person, not what can be manipulated and faked/padded in the diary. Just saying.

AGAIN: NOT JUDGING HERE.

If I didnt agree with you I would resort to the age old...YOU ARE SHAMING AND BULLYING...........:laugh:

Are you asking if you are too skinny from each of our personal opinions on aesthetics, or unhealthily skinny? I wouldn't want to be as skinny as you look in your profice pic, but if you are happy with that weight then you are not too aestheticly skinny.

I'd have to read your health chart or talk to you doctor to know if you are unhealthily skinny. Do you still have periods? Do you meet basic nutrition goals? Do you get winded easily during aerobic activity? Do you have good balance and sleep well?

there's a difference between body shaming and determining what is right and what is wrong

the body builder and skinny guy are extreme cases and shame or not both are not healthy ways to be.

i would refrain from judging the OP's skinniness from her picture, however, to say someone is skinny imo isn't shaming depending how you go about it, to be like omg you're skinny!!! you should eat frickin steak!! etc etc is shaming and shouldn't be allowed or even reported

to tell someone they could do with a few more calories in their diet based on their picture is sound advice

Acting like you have the right to determine what is "right or wrong" for someone else based on nothing but a photograph is not okay. I understand people responding to the OP because she asked for our opinions, but nobody in the pictures posted here asked for our interpretations on what is good for them.

If it is objectively not a healthy way to be, picking out human examples and using their pictures as evidence is not necessary or warranted. If it was objectively not a healthy way to be, you could make an objective statement and be done with it. I did that, I gave a specific number of body fat percentage that it is not healthy to go under. That's different than posting a picture of someone who has obviously suffered malnutrition and call them "Auschwitz mode bro" or a random woman in a bathing suit and saying how unattractive she is because her BF% is low.

Nope! Not debating disgusting/desirable, I was illustrating how very little lean tissue at a low body fat percentage vs. a lot of lean tissue at a low body fat percentage can make someone appear "too thin" vs. very muscular. Other people have chimed in about how they feel about those bodies but that's not why I posted them.

I understand that you were just giving a visual example of a person with low BF% that nobody would call "too skinny." I know your intention wasn't to body shame, but I don't think the Aushwitz mode bro/DYEL comments were okay.

DYEL/Auschwitz mode is just a descriptive term for someone with little body fat and lean tissue. There's Auschwitz mode, otter mode, strong fat, and fat as fatass mode. Those are the are the major body type labels. It's simply a way of describing fat and muscle mass. Some people even want Auschwitz mode, mainly girls, but I know a guy on here that wants to be Auschwitz mode and refuses to lift. I'm not saying any of these body types are better/worse. Those are up to personal preference. I'm just using them as descriptive terms.

Oh and FYI that DYEL was intentionally DYEL.

You've gotten some good responses, some odd responses, and some people taking everything that gets said as somehow being personally about them, and being very overly worried that other people are going to accuse them of bullying and judging. Chill out, people, you have an opinion and a preference. That's fine. Other people have their own opinions and preferences as well. We are not all going to agree and that's fine. Just because someone does not have the same opinion and preference as you (and does not care about your opinion and preference), it does not mean they are accusing you of bullying and judging. Being a tad oversensitive on this thread and jumping to conclusions.

The Op eats wonderful (except I think it's probably still a deficit. I am very petite and I generally eat over 2000 a day), and she feels fine and healthy and likes her body. But, some people in her life have said she looks too thin. Most of us are helping her to explore why they may have said that, there are many reasons (they have a personal preference, they are heavy and have a skewed sense of what a healthy weight looks like are two examples). We are also helping her to explore this for herself. It's her body, she needs to explore and understand this for herself. She actually didn't ask if we thought she was too thin. She was exploring the concept because she clearly cares about her health and well being. I can't say whether she is too thin or not because I can only see less than a quarter of her body. I am being fully honest when I say that. I really don't know. But. somehow people are turning this into some kind of personal attack on themselves. If you can't take the heat (of stating your opinion and having other people have a response to that), then just don't express your opinion. Seriously, chill out a little. No one is judging you or thinking you are judging. Most people are responding without even reading your comments. And some people are reading way too much into things. She has a valid question and it's healthy to explore when a person has health as a top priority.

Okay okay, I know this is the opposite of weight loss, but I didn't know where else to post it, and it's a legit question - while we don't want to be overweight to an unhealthy degree, we don't want to be underweight to an unhealthy degree either, right???

I ask because someone told me today I'm too skinny because I have a visible "xylophone" (upper chest bones), and I wonder if there's any merit to that? Or the visibility of other bones (ribs? that's the only other relevant one I can think of offhand)? Or is there some measurement of some body part that, if under a certain amount, would indicate too-skinniness? Or is it all arbitrary and dependent on the individual's body shape, and thus there's no universal tell for being too skinny? I just feel like there must be SOME way to tell, because obviously some people are too skinny, and there's likely some body characteristic they all have in common indicating that.

For what it's worth, I certainly don't think I'm too skinny - I have muscle, and I'm within half a point of a healthy BMI (and apparently the BMI measurement is BS anyway).

I would say the best bet would be to see a doctor and get a test to see if you're malnourished or not. If you are properly nourished then I would say, regardless of what you look like, you're not too skinny. The main concern with being too skinny is being malnourished in the first place.

Anyone on here wanna debate my point? Let's discuss the apparent disconnection between what it means to body shame on this thread, and how it's not body shaming on the threads "Would you date the person above you?" "Hot or Not?" "Bang, Hit or Drop?"

I'd really like some clarification, because to me, there is NO difference between them. And if anyone here is eagerly participating on those threads while complaining about body shaming on THIS thread, then I get to throw down the "hypocrite flag".

I wasn't going to debate the point, because I didn't really see how it was relevant. I didn't even know those threads existed before you mentioned them, and yeah it sounds pretty offensive, but I don't see why we should talk about it in this thread.

I was just mentioning, based on my own comfort levels, something very specific in this thread that bothered me.

DYEL/Auschwitz mode is just a descriptive term for someone with little body fat and lean tissue. There's Auschwitz mode, otter mode, strong fat, and fat as fatass mode. Those are the are the major body type labels. It's simply a way of describing fat and muscle mass. Some people even want Auschwitz mode, mainly girls, but I know a guy on here that wants to be Auschwitz mode and refuses to lift. I'm not saying any of these body types are better/worse. Those are up to personal preference. I'm just using them as descriptive terms.

I had no idea that those were commonly used body type labels.

I think there is significant bias in the naming of those labels. You say that you don't mean to imply that any one is better or worse, and I believe you, but the language used makes strong implications that some are better or more desirable than others.

I only know of DYEL being used as an inflammatory remark.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

maybe you look too thin because obesity is becoming the norm? some parts of the country in the us anyway, the obesity rate for a city can be close to 40%. yikes!
i think you look fine. even at a healthy weight depending on your body frame you can still be "boney." at my heighest of 127 (5'4") which is a good weight for that height, my colar bones still stuck out.
if you feel healthy, and your medical professionals have no concerns then don't worry.
people tell me as well that i am too skinny and to eat a sandwich. *kitten*, i just had a sammich for lunch today.
i saw my medical doctor weighing in underweight for my height, but he said all my organs are there, my heart is working and that i appear to be overall healthy. (my irons usually on the lower side which is normal for me. but everything else is fine).
as long as you're content and you have energy and aren't sick all the time, who cares what others say
*edit to fix a typo

A lot of people have said I came here "asking for an opinion," which I most certainly didn't - my first post says very clearly I DON'T think I'm too skinny (in fact, I'd go so far as to say I KNOW I'm not too skinny) - I just wanted to share my experience with people telling me (as a person who is arguably not too skinny) that I'm "too skinny" based on a factor that I believed might be arbitrary, and to see if there was some non-arbitrary way of defining what "too skinny" means.

I mentioned that you were asking for opinions in the midst of a lot of defensiveness. I should have re-read your original post, so I'm sorry about that. I'm going to edit it. (ETA: I didn't have the option of editing that post for some reason.)

Other than health factors, no, there is no non-arbitrary way to define what "too skinny" is. And those health factors will never be outwardly visible except for extreme cases.

Well, it was sure a surprise to post this thread last night as an afterthought before going to bed, going to work (and not having access to the forums on the mobile app), and coming home to all this!

A lot of people have said I came here "asking for an opinion," which I most certainly didn't - my first post says very clearly I DON'T think I'm too skinny (in fact, I'd go so far as to say I KNOW I'm not too skinny) - I just wanted to share my experience with people telling me (as a person who is arguably not too skinny) that I'm "too skinny" based on a factor that I believed might be arbitrary, and to see if there was some non-arbitrary way of defining what "too skinny" means.

So for all who were so um, kind, to share your negative judgments/opinions about my body (both on here and via private messages, of which I received many strange ones) - thanks, I guess? But I don't really care what you think you because I'm happy with my body. I eat a healthy diet (and fyi, I ate almost 2000 calories today, so I'm definitely not undereating), I exercise, I have tons of energy, I feel amazing, and I'm in the best shape of my life. So haters keep on hating, and I'll just keep being happy with myself

(And thank you to all those who had something positive and/or constructive to say!)

Well, it was sure a surprise to post this thread last night as an afterthought before going to bed, going to work (and not having access to the forums on the mobile app), and coming home to all this!

A lot of people have said I came here "asking for an opinion," which I most certainly didn't - my first post says very clearly I DON'T think I'm too skinny (in fact, I'd go so far as to say I KNOW I'm not too skinny) - I just wanted to share my experience with people telling me (as a person who is arguably not too skinny) that I'm "too skinny" based on a factor that I believed might be arbitrary, and to see if there was some non-arbitrary way of defining what "too skinny" means.

You did ask for opinions in your original post. Or at least it was pretty easy to infer this -- "I ask because someone told me today I'm too skinny because I have a visible "xylophone" (upper chest bones), and I wonder if there's any merit to that? " -- as asking for opinions

But I don't really care what you think you because I'm happy with my body. I eat a healthy diet (and fyi, I ate almost 2000 calories today, so I'm definitely not undereating), I exercise, I have tons of energy, I feel amazing, and I'm in the best shape of my life.

But this ^^ is all the opinion you should need. I'm a little confused at the point of the original post if opinions were not being sought, but if you are healthy and happy with yourself, then I personally am happy for you. Good luck on your future goals.

Well, it was sure a surprise to post this thread last night as an afterthought before going to bed, going to work (and not having access to the forums on the mobile app), and coming home to all this!

A lot of people have said I came here "asking for an opinion," which I most certainly didn't - my first post says very clearly I DON'T think I'm too skinny (in fact, I'd go so far as to say I KNOW I'm not too skinny) - I just wanted to share my experience with people telling me (as a person who is arguably not too skinny) that I'm "too skinny" based on a factor that I believed might be arbitrary, and to see if there was some non-arbitrary way of defining what "too skinny" means.

You did ask for opinions in your original post. Or at least it was pretty easy to infer this -- "I ask because someone told me today I'm too skinny because I have a visible "xylophone" (upper chest bones), and I wonder if there's any merit to that? " -- as asking for opinions

But I don't really care what you think you because I'm happy with my body. I eat a healthy diet (and fyi, I ate almost 2000 calories today, so I'm definitely not undereating), I exercise, I have tons of energy, I feel amazing, and I'm in the best shape of my life.

But this ^^ is all the opinion you should need. I'm a little confused at the point of the original post if opinions were not being sought, but if you are healthy and happy with yourself, then I personally am happy for you. Good luck on your future goals.

I think you misunderstood what opinions she was asking for. She wasn't asking us whether we thought she was too skinny, but if there was any visible indication of being underweight.

Someone said she was underweight because she has a "xylophone" and was wondering if there actually is anything you can see on a person that will tell you if they're underweight.