How do I know if I'm actually thin?

lovelysummerbabe2012 · June 2012

I have a distorted body image of myself. I really don't believe that I'm thin.
How do I know if I'm thin? Is there anything I can do to actually see that I am or ?
I mean..I know I'm not overweight or obese..but I still think I could lose some weight.
Like personally..I think my profile picture is horrid and I need to lose some leg fat.

natvanessa · June 2012

Not foolproof but looking at a BMI chart is a start.

lovelysummerbabe2012 · June 2012

I honestly think BMI is crap and I'm not going to go by some dumb CHART that doesn't know my body type.

imara125 · June 2012

Looking at the picture by your name your legs look really thin. Maybe you dont need to lose weight but tone your muscels and it would seem as if you did lose some. However i dont know what you look like. I also dont think you should look at the bmi because it doesnt account for muscel or boobs.

DorisInTheDena · June 2012

Have you visited a doctor? It sounds like you know the answer. My daughter has a similar issue. She fears being overweight because of me. She battled bulimia when she was a teen. She is 23 now. If you know you are not overweight then you are probably fine. You just have to learn to be fine with who you are. That is something we all have to do. Make a doctor's appointment with a doctor you trust. I hope you work through this.

lovelysummerbabe2012 · June 2012

Well and..I have taken measurements and my thighs range from 15-17 ):
They've been going up lately O_O
I just want to be happy with myself and actually believe that I'm not overweight like I think I am in my head!

natvanessa · June 2012

Thats why I said it's not foolproof. BUT it will give you an IDEA, if you are obese or thin. That's all.

BaileyBoo13524 · June 2012

You look tiny in your pic. I would suggest seeing a doctor or therapist because it sounds like you already have a set image of yourself and unfortunately no one on here will be able to change your mind. We can all sit here and tell you how thin you are or how good you look but ultimately you are going to have to decide and believe it yourself.

Amber50lbsDown · June 2012

Like k5ateacher said you need to talk to your doctor, If its in your head it will never be good enough and you will never be happy no matter how thin you get.
Talk to your docotor about some help, maybe a support group or therapy!
GL

lovelysummerbabe2012 · June 2012

Ok. Yeah. I think I'll do that.

Amber50lbsDown · June 2012

I would say so my DD is 5 and her wrist is 4.5 inches. Mine is 6.5

victoria4321 · June 2012

You see a therapist so you can learn why you have trouble loving yourself first.

If you have a distorted body image it'll be distorted in your mind no matter what size you are. If you can't overcome that for now you can focus on healthy foods and just being active in general. A thin and healthy body is just a by product of an overall healthy lifestyle.

Di3012 · June 2012

Anybody who has thighs in the 15-17" range is thin. That is all.

Go see your doc.

graelwyn · June 2012

"I want to recover and be healthy again"

You might want a therapist and a doctor to help with that, as this thread suggests you are not getting very far on your own.

veganpoler · June 2012

From your profile pic and the BMI stats on your profile you look very thin, almost dangerously thin.

sarahrbraun · June 2012

my 6 year old son has 14inch thighs. Not only are you thin, you are probably TOO thin. You should check in with your PCP, and probably find a therapist to talk to.

lovelysummerbabe2012 · June 2012

I don't like therapists. I've seen at least.. 5 different ones since I was really young.
I just wanted other people's opinion's on my body though.

sarahrbraun · June 2012

keep looking. It just means you have not found the right therapist yet. It took 2 or 3 tries to find the right therapist for my 16 year old autistic son.

truthfully, is it possible that you "don't like" therapists because they are telling you things you don't want to hear?

graelwyn · June 2012

Maybe you need to be looking into why it is, exactly, you feel the need to be thin, and what exactly, it is going to do to improve your life, given you will most likely never be thin enough in your eyes, and will still find yourself unhappy, no matter how thin you get. Is it not better to be working on the faulty thought processes behind your desire to be thin, and small, rather than focussing on whether you are thin and small ?

slkehl · June 2012

BMI will give you a fairly decent picture for what is "normal" if your perception is way off. In middle school, I was 5'4" and 88 lbs, and I thought that was perfectly fine because I didn't see skinny when I looked in the mirror. But when my doctor showed me how off the charts my weight was, I knew I couldn't trust myself. I learned that about 30 lbs heavier was actually "normal". It's not perfect, but it at least gives you a decent range of what's appropriate.

cordianet · June 2012

Probably the best way is to measure your percentage of body fat. There are plenty of body composition scales on the market that can do this for you. While they're not perfect and can have accuracy issues, they're convenient and are much better than just going off BMI.

wackyfunster · June 2012

I agree that BMI = crap. Go get a body fat measurement. Body fat + skeletal muscle = body composition. IMO 18-20% on a woman is 'skinny'. Under 15% is not healthy for most people (some figure competitors chill at around 13, but unless you are a genetic freak, there are a lot of negative health effects associated with staying that low for too long). Hope that helps.

CoderGal · June 2012

^Agreed. It's more for sedentary adults figuring out where to place themselves. However there's a under weight and very under weight and omg why aren't you in the hospital under weight. I'm tipping on the tip of healthy next to underweight. I've been underweight naturally and I felt just fine. If I had to try really hard to get there, that's another thing. And I'd be concerned for myself if I dipped in the middle of underweight.

That being said, I'll bite.

I know a lot of anorexics seem to be told by people who are much larger then them that they are small. Then they quantify that as not being good enough because they want to be seen as small to the small people, and there will always be smaller people. This becomes a problem when you're 5'8 and talking to a person who's 5'0...when no matter what the 5'8er does they're going to feel much larger, not as dainty, etc. Keep in mind that I'm completely pulling this out of my head as an assumption for some people. You have to realize that you cannot top everyone, it's not healthy, there will be people who will be smaller then you, and that's a good thing.

If someone can say something shocking about you, like "my 6 year old son has 14inch thighs."...then there's something wrong, or you naturally have a different body type then most...the first instinct is to say oh that's just me. The second thing is to realize that that's not a instinct. If someone doesn't like their thighs, exercise them, make sure you refuel your body, it's the bet you can do! There's much more to life then size. If you think you're nothing unless you weigh nothing, if you're thin or not thin something has to give.

Anyway if you're having anorexic thoughts I think some of the pictures on my fitness pal from some of the recovering anorexics are very sobering. From boney sunken in photos to muscular full plump hotness (and they are still very petite). Keep a log of them.

I'll also add when I hit goal I wanted to loose a ton more weight. Then I started exercising and that changed things. Muscles feel so much better then skinny fat.

Random sleepy night thought brought to you by the letter C.

slkehl · June 2012

This is very true. It was that kind of thinking that used to warp the way I thought about my weight. I was always a tall kid, and I'd compare my weight to those of my friends. They always seemed to be in the 80s. So when I was in middle school and finally had starved myself down to that weight, that seemed good. But of course I didn't factor in height and different body shapes. They were lighter than me numerically, and I wasn't satisfied with myself until my numbers matched theirs.

Thena81 · June 2012

hey chick! You look very thin to me! Idk what thin means to you but to me, you are very thin. Weight doesn't determine ur worth! Please seek help! I wish you the best!

kdeaux1959 · June 2012

We all have improvements that we feel we need to make. This is natural. Weight training and fitness is key. I agree that BMI does not tell the whole story. Some have elevated fat content even though they are within normal limits of their BMI while others would have to lose muscle mass to ever get within that range. Get a body fat assessment at your local gym ... If it is within range, just start toning the problem areas. Best wishes to you.

ishtar13 · June 2012

This disturbed me.

My daughter is 16, and very fit (she's a martial artist).

She's only 4'11" and she looks great, slender and proportional at ~95 lbs (but she hardly ever steps on a scale).

Her thighs are 18" and she thinks they're too thin.

dyingtobethin18 · June 2012

I wish i had 15 inch thighs. mine are huge. my bmi is like 18.8-18.9 and i stiil look heavier than 150lbs. (I am 5'7" and 120.2)

MaitreyeeMAYHEM · June 2012

I feel the same way. You are not alone. My profile pic is a year old. Last year I was a vegetarian. I need to redo my pic. I do Zumba 5 times a week and yoga 3 times a week. But ya, I feel the same way you do about my image.

jesusHchris · June 2012

Goal weight 50 pounds? No thank you.

I do, however, have a method for others to find this answer:

Step 1: Sleep with me
Step 2: Check phone for a return call tomorrow

Repeat.

Edit: I realize I am hijacking an ED thread. Screw it, they need to stop anyway.

zoegator · June 2012

Everything on your profile screams that you need to see a doctor. A million people could tell you that you're thin, but you're almost definitely not seeing it if you currently weigh less than 70 pounds and want to get down to 50 pounds.

What I'm saying is that you need to see a doctor. I'm not sure if you will because you wrote "forced into recovery" and I'm not sure what that means, but I hope you can see that you need to help yourself soon.

How do I know if I'm actually thin?

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