You're getting too skinny.

I had this from my mother in law recently, she thought that I'd lost enough weight and that I shouldn't lose much more, just thank them for noticing and that you'll keep going until you are happy and at a healthy weight for you.

This happens to all of us I think. I am done and in a healthy weight range. I have muscle now, so admittedly I must look smaller than I weigh. But a co-worker of mine told me my neck was getting too thin. MY NECK! When she told me this, I had been maintaining my weight for about 4 months.

This really bothered me. I wish I had said something but all I could come up with after the fact was that I should have just said "Thank You" with a proud smile on my face.

I am going to comment on the other side of the spectrum. Your height and weight sounds fine for you, but if you want do more have at it I am over weight and I was very concerned years ago for mom when she lost 150 lbs. She had a lot of health issues and an eating disorder that went from overeating to the over extreme. Maybe your family truly is concerned and at least they care. My mom is 5'6 and got down to 150 lbs. She started to look sickly. But she was also overweight her whole life so a lot of that weight was excess skin so really she was more like 120. My mom thought we were all crazy for telling her we were concerned, but even her doc told her if she lost any more weight she was going to intervene. So no, it doesn't always come from jealousy or feeling insecure, sometimes it truly comes out of concern. That being said, its your body and if you're not underweight and you know it, I would just thank them for caring, but that you truly want to be the healthiest you can be!

If these same "friends" did not express concern when you were overweight, their opinion should not hold value.

I take high blood pressure meds


My husban has high blood pressure 130/90 doc wanted him to go on meds. A week before his next doc. appointment he started "hawthorn 300 mgs twice a day" his blood pressure was 128/78 . He is also taking 1Tbs extra virgin coconut oil a day and his cholestrol and tryglicerides where down. All this being said he was up 5 pounds, so this wasn't due to weight loss.

I have a friend who recently lost over 100 pounds about 2 years ago. Your post caught my eye because she had a similar issue at around your weight. She too is 5'2" and when she got to about 135 to 140 people began to comment that she was getting too skinny, her goal was 120. She reached her goal and decided that she felt more comfortable at 130. The key is that it was her decision, her choice and because of that she is able to maintain the weight. You have to keep others out of your head. Listen to your body and your heart and then you'll know what to do. Good luck.

p.s. I love this one: "You haven't seen me naked. And until you have, you're in no place to comment, thank you!"

I wish I had that problem, lol . . .

but seriously, if you know you're eating well and exercising being healthy then that's great

for me, i have a manageable goal to get down to, and then i won't be focusing on the number, just fitness level

if it's worth explaining, just inform them of your current weight and your routine, etc. that's just my personality I like sharing what I'm doing if someone asks or comments weird, it doesn't bother me

I determined my goal weight as a shot in the dark kind of thing, lol I did look at BMI range and I am at the very top of that. I think it's kind of crap though. it can make people feel like they HAVE to be in that range to be satisfied

I have lost some weight and a few people have commented to me that "I need to stop now because I'm getting too skinny". Technically, I'm still not in the ideal range for my height or build. Losing 10 more pounds would put me at the top of that range and lower my BF. I'm not really sure how to take these comments so I just laugh them off but they look at me as if I'm strange or have weight issues. I don't think I'm overdoing it but some days their comments make me second guess my goal. A few of these people are trying to get to the weight I'm currently at so maybe that has something to do with it. I'm also worried that if I stop here I'm just 5 pounds away from being way overweight again (too close for comfort imho). I prefer some wiggle room when it comes to my weight.

So how do you handle comments like this? How did you determine what is the ideal weight for your body?

Girl! I experience the same thing, I'm not technically overweight but basically if I gained like 7 lbs I'd be overweight and for me that as you stated is too close for comfort, and at my current weight (161) I still jiggle and have thunder thighs, I 'm just not really fit or happy here. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "they want to be at the weight you are currently at " (paraphrase), They're probably so overweight that they just want to be where you are, and don't really understand why you want to lose more, but I just let my haters be my motivators, I think it's offensive to tell someone they're too skinny the same way you'd get 'pimp slapped' if you told an overweight person they're too fat! Don't second guess yourself if you really have doubts get a doctors opinion as to whether you're too thin because they'd be less likely to have an ulterior motive and have a more objective opinion.

It is hard to say. Scale weight can be pretty meaningless. Some people look fit at weight x, some look boney, some look lean, some look like they need to lose a few and others look like they need to lose a lot.

I love www.mybodygallery.com just to peek at real people's weights and bodies.

When people say you look too skinny it could be any one of many things:
1. You actually are looking too thin
2. They aren't used to seeing you at such a small weight
3. You aren't looking as healthy (glowing) as you used to
4. They are a little jealous

I am going to be completely honest. I am a BMI hater. Mostly because I am about 80% sure that if I got to "healthy" according to BMI, I would actually be much, much leaner than I would want to be -- probably not "bony" as I do have a decent bit of muscle, but definitely at a low and risky body fat percentage. So it doesn't feel like a very realistic goal for me. I do have a mental idea of a target body fat percentage. And and idea of what clothing size I'd like to wear, and how I'd like to look. So I am more focused on that over the long term. In the short term, I do pay attention to the scale, because my weight is too high at the moment. But once I get to around 2/3s of my goal, the scale won't be a good gauge of success at all.

So check your measurements, and your energy level, and your skin and other body systems. Are you feeling energetic, getting your period, have glowing skin and shiny hair? Then you aren't too thin. If you are getting cold a lot, feeling weak, have no period, notice lots of little hairs growing on your arms, look pale, and your hair starts falling out? Something is seriously wrong.

As other's have said - I think in large part this happens because our collective perception of normal weight is skewed by the more than half of America that is overweight or obese.

That said, I don't think many people (and perhaps even some on here) understand that once you have lost weight and realize that you can control your health, your shape and your level of fitness sometimes you don't want to be "average." If you want to see if you can rock a six pack, put on a gun show or get legs worthy of daisy dukes more power to you! It's nobody's business but yours, so next time it happens, just smile and say, "Awe, you're too sweet!"

I have heard this soooo many times too. I don't have an answer for you but totally empathize.

I was 146lbs when I started, now down to about 131 lbs. I am barely 5ft 1in, so that is the high end of my BMI range. I still have a body fat % of 32% (according to some basic calculators) and a belly big enough to make me look pregnant sometimes

Someone I know went as far as asking me to put some weight back on! I just chalked it up to her being jealous, because honestly I racked my brain and I can't think of any other reason why she would say so. She is bigger than I am now, and trying to lose weight so that seems to be the logical conclusion.

But I am irritated the most by my sister and sister-in-law who are both barely 120 lbs and both much taller than I am. They wear size 2-4 pants. I truly know and believe that they both love me so I know they are not jealous (they don't need to be jealous, they are quite fit!) Why do they think I should not lose any weight. I feel like I have been branded as the short and chubby one for life!!! And they can't imagine seeing me any other way! I am sure they don't mean to hurt me, but it hurts a lot when they think they can be lean, but I shouldn't be.

My mom just said the same thing to me when she came to visit me last week. It was the first time she's seen me several months (well before I started this journey). I still have 5 more pounds to go to get to my goal weight and I am now finally within my target weight zone for my height and frame, but still still need to tone and lose a few more. My starting weight was 148 pounds, Current Weight 135 pounds, Goal weight 130 pounds. (I'm 5'3'').

I know what's best for me, so I don't take it personally and I'll keep going until I reach my goal, then I'll bump my calories up to maintinance (TDEE) at my current activity level.

They probably are not used to seeing the 'new' you. Take it with a grain of salt and do 'YOU'.

Best wishes.

I agree with some of the other posters...people may just not be used to seeing you slimmer. It's also possible that they could be secretly jealous that your losing weight and say you're "too skinny" as their way of venting? I used to be thinner than I am now (by about 7 pounds or so) and people were saying similar things. But I wasn't on a diet then and I kept losing weight. As it turned out, I have Celiac Disease. So my body wasn't absorbing nutrients and calories. But I honestly wasn't scarecrow thin. I was thin for "me" but not necessarly other people. But because people had never seen me this thin before, they were making these comments. My mom included!

I've had several people comment on my weight lately, and they are all obese.

I've also had other runners give nutrition advice that I didn't find to be true.

In one of the encounters I said, "Thanks, but I'm not accepting running advice at this time."

I think that will be my new response to all of the concerns, replacing "running" with "health" or "nutrition" as appropriate.