my family keeps saying I'm underweight, am I?

my mother confronted me that her and my father are afraid I've lost too much weight. I have always been very heavy, was 220, now I'm 135 and 5'2". I am 24, small frame hourglass, my thumb and middle finger wrap around my wrist with a little overlap. I can't see my ribs or anything, I do have defined collar bone that makes me look thinner than I am. How can I determine if I'm to thin, or how can I show my family they just are not used to seeing me thin and I am healthy now.

Nope. I'm 5'3" and at my goal weight of 109 pounds. I'm 42. You're actually a little overweight!

FALSE! She is not overweight!

135 pounds at 5'2 gives her a BMI of 24.7 which is in the normal healthy range:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm

I'm 5'7 and around 129-133 pounds. And I'm trying to loose the last 2 inches and become more toned.

So I would say you are at a normal weight.

You are the same height I am. Your mother is worrying too much. You are a healthy weight. I actually started out at 135. She's probably just surprised to see that you've lost so much weight.

EDIT: A month or so back, my mom thought I lost too much weight, too. I told her that I still weigh more than I did when I graduated from high school.

5'2" and 134? Absolutely not.

I'm 5'2" and 100. When I was young I was 90, and even a little under during an experiment with vegetarianism. I was always healthy.

It's said that many people no longer can recognize what a healthy weight is. Your parents may be in that group.

For the record i am 90 pounds away from my first goal weight and i can touch my thumb and middle finger (and thumb and pinky finger around my wrist) thats not a sign you are under weight.

Congrats on your success

The wrapping fingers around wrist is considered a way to measure your frame size, not whether or not you need to lose weight.

However, wrapping your fingers around is also not a good indicator of frame size as wrist sizes do not always correlate properly with actual frame size. Its better to measure your elbow width and your wrist and calculate from there. I can easily wrap my fingers around with a little overlap, but I can tell you I am not small framed, my sister is 4" taller than me and her wrist is TINY, had a friend same height as me and she was small framed, I could easily see the difference in us and our bone structure.

Ask your parents what weight they think you are. I carry weight very well apparently, as the majority of the time when I ask people what they think I weigh they estimate about 20lbs below what I actually weigh. When I tell them my actual weight, no one believes it, had to stand on a scale more times than I can count just to prove it. After they guess your weight, tell them your real weight, and maybe stand on a scale to prove it. Show them a BMI chart so they can see that you are perfectly fine.

You are not underweight it's probably cause your parents are used to seeing you at a bigger size.

Congratulations on your success! No, you are not underweight. My wife is 5'3" and 115 (don't tell her I posted this or she will kill me) and looks great. Agree with the folks above about showing them BMI tables or other references to healthy weight relative to height.

One tip. If you are still talking about losing weight it may be time to stop talking about it. As I have approached my target weight I started to get a lot of people criticizing my desire to lose more. I have done a DEXA scan so I know exactly where my body fat is and where I would like it to be. The math is easy to determine target weight for optimal health. At 6'2" and 205 lbs I find it funny when someone tells me I am too thin. It typically seems to be a defensive mechanism for them and I have learned to be more sensitive to their feelings. Just an observation from my experiences.

Best of luck!

my mother confronted me that her and my father are afraid I've lost too much weight. I have always been very heavy, was 220, now I'm 135 and 5'2". I am 24, small frame hourglass, my thumb and middle finger wrap around my wrist with a little overlap. I can't see my ribs or anything, I do have defined collar bone that makes me look thinner than I am. How can I determine if I'm to thin, or how can I show my family they just are not used to seeing me thin and I am healthy now.

Nope. I'm 5'3" and at my goal weight of 109 pounds. I'm 42. You're actually a little overweight!

she really might not be overweight, bmi is not supposed to be applied on an individual level. That's why I don't worry about it one way or another, I want to lose 10 pounds and that will put me at the very bottom of the bmi range but I have a small frame and I know that I wouldn't be underweight. In the same way, many people just above the healthy range are likely completely fine.

my mother confronted me that her and my father are afraid I've lost too much weight. I have always been very heavy, was 220, now I'm 135 and 5'2". I am 24, small frame hourglass, my thumb and middle finger wrap around my wrist with a little overlap. I can't see my ribs or anything, I do have defined collar bone that makes me look thinner than I am. How can I determine if I'm to thin, or how can I show my family they just are not used to seeing me thin and I am healthy now.

Nope. I'm 5'3" and at my goal weight of 109 pounds. I'm 42. You're actually a little overweight!

Overweight?? WTH!!!! :noway:

my mother confronted me that her and my father are afraid I've lost too much weight. I have always been very heavy, was 220, now I'm 135 and 5'2". I am 24, small frame hourglass, my thumb and middle finger wrap around my wrist with a little overlap. I can't see my ribs or anything, I do have defined collar bone that makes me look thinner than I am. How can I determine if I'm to thin, or how can I show my family they just are not used to seeing me thin and I am healthy now.

Nope. I'm 5'3" and at my goal weight of 109 pounds. I'm 42. You're actually a little overweight!

I can see you didn't mean this in a negative way, but really..... WHY would you tell someone on a weight loss site that they're overweight

(especially when they're not)

Actually, if you are going by the BMI calc and talking about frame sizes (like the OP is). Then she is 'slightly' overweight according the methods she is using, thats assuming she truly has a small frame though I believe she more than likely is average. But BMI, frame sizes etc are all kind of loose and sometimes inaccurate measurements especially when muscle weight is involved.

As for calling someone overweight, overweight is the medical classification and technical term, its perfectly acceptable to say especially on a site like this were we all should be facing reality, which is that some of us are overweight and some of us are obese and some of us are underweight.

OP, I would just keep doing what you are doing, the closer you are to your goal the less noticeable to the weight loss becomes. I think your family is just worried because it is a good amount of weight that you lost (congrats). My family did the same to me, and still does some days, they still constantly ask if I 'lost more weight and I need to stop soon'. Yes, my family is overweight, I do believe their views to be skewed and therefore I continue to steadily lose weight

I'm 5'2" and was 113 a couple years ago -- trying to get back to that point; I definitely wasn't underweight at all, probably could have lost another 5 pounds and still been okay.

You look to be right on the money from what I can tell. You could gain or lose a few either way and you'll still be in a nice place, so you don't have anything to worry about.

5'2" and 134? Absolutely not.

I'm 5'2" and 100. When I was young I was 90, and even a little under during an experiment with vegetarianism. I was always healthy.

It's said that many people no longer can recognize what a healthy weight is. Your parents may be in that group.

Says you, who is actually underweight by BMI standards at 18.3 It works both ways.

For the record i am 90 pounds away from my first goal weight and i can touch my thumb and middle finger (and thumb and pinky finger around my wrist) thats not a sign you are under weight.

Congrats on your success

Same here!

Way to go on getting healthy & losing weight! You are NOT underweight. Is it possible you appear thinner than your actual weight due to having more lean muscle than compared to other women at the same height and weight with less lean muscle and more fat? This could be the case if you lost the weight through diet, eexercise & strength training. Since muscle is much more dense than fat, it takes up much less space - I look much thinner when I'm toned than I do at the same weight when I'm not toned. Do your parents have weight issues themselves? Unfortunately, misery loves company and I have had close family members try to sabotage my weight loss when I've lost weight or try to put me down when I'm at a heathly weight because they are uncomfortable with themselves.

Like other people said, show them where you fall on a BMI chart. If your parents continue insisting you are underweight, and you feel it has more to do with their issues than yours, end the conversation by saying "I have to go" then walk away or hang up. Eventually they will realize your boundaries and keep their incorrect opinions to themselves.