At what BMI would you class someone as 'slim'?

happyhealthy

Omnomnomnom
Rewind to December 1st 2010. After years of being unhappy with my weight, I plucked up the courage and weighed myself and was just under 13 stone. I knew that for my 5'2.5 frame, this was far too much, so I started a healthy living/exercise plan and I'm now delighted to say, 4 months later, I weight 9 stone 4lb - a loss of nearly 50 pounds.

Yet here is the problem: I still feel 'fat'. Everyone and their uncle tells me that I looking good, but I personally can't feel it or see it. My friend suggested that because I've lost so much weight in a short period of time, that I will still think of myself as a larger girl until my body realises that it's now slim. I admire her words but I look at myself and think 'this could never be considered slim'.

Does anybody else have a similar problem? When do you think someone could be classed as 'slim'? I don't mean stick-thin, but 'slim', not 'slightly chubby', 'chubby' or 'carrying a few extra pounds' but bog-standard slim lol!:p

Good luck will all your weight loss goals! xx
 
I pretty much AM you back in December 2010. I'm the same height as you and weigh just under 13 stone. The fact you have got to where you are now through plain healthy eating/exercise is a great inspiration to me.

I was on the Cambridge Diet when I was 19 and got down to just under 9st in around 2 months & at the time I didn't feel slim etc either. I still felt fat. But looking back at those pics now I'd give anything to be there again. And I'll get there, the same way you did - no fad diets this time!

I think your friend is right. It'll just take time for you to feel more comfortable in your new body :). In the mean time, just continue eating a healthy diet & by all means, exercise til you feel more 'slim'. Just don't go crazy, :p.

I'd say being sort of smack bang in the middle of a healthy BMI would be the safest place to be.. the optimum place sort of?

CONGRATS!! on your success & good luck with feeling better in yourself sometime soon. xx
 
Hey!

I know you've probably heard this a million times before, but the most important thing about losing weight is to stick at it. I was one of those people who used to promise myself 'I am going on a diet', and yet, despite being overweight, 'dieting' would never last more than a few hours. Yet, once I did get properly started, the results were almost instantaneous (because we're small a weight loss is more noticeable on us :D) and that spurred me on. Also, don't beat yourself up if you have a bad day. On friday I munched a domino's pizza because it was my friend's birthday and I hadn't had domino's pizza in months. And guess what... the scales didn't go up by 100 stones! It's alright to treat yourself like once a week :) But stick at it because everyday you might make a small change, but over 100 days, all those small changes make a BIG difference. You can honestly do this! If someone ordinary like me can do this without joining a club or the gym (I just started walking places) then so can you! xx
 
I don't necessarily think that BMI and what looks 'slim' go hand in hand. I have friends that I easily class as slim but their BMI puts them on the bigger end of healthy and even 'overweight'. I would definitely class you as slim! :)

I sometimes wonder if we will ever be happy with the way we look! We spend so long scrutinising our bodies that we cannot see how far we have come. I know I still see myself as grossly overweight, even though I have dropped from a size 18 to a size 12. I can't ever imagine being slim as I have never been slim in my adult life. You have done SO well - it is inspiring for me too as I am also petite :) Well done!
 
happyhealthy said:
Rewind to December 1st 2010. After years of being unhappy with my weight, I plucked up the courage and weighed myself and was just under 13 stone. I knew that for my 5'2.5 frame, this was far too much, so I started a healthy living/exercise plan and I'm now delighted to say, 4 months later, I weight 9 stone 4lb - a loss of nearly 50 pounds.

Yet here is the problem: I still feel 'fat'. Everyone and their uncle tells me that I looking good, but I personally can't feel it or see it. My friend suggested that because I've lost so much weight in a short period of time, that I will still think of myself as a larger girl until my body realises that it's now slim. I admire her words but I look at myself and think 'this could never be considered slim'.

Does anybody else have a similar problem? When do you think someone could be classed as 'slim'? I don't mean stick-thin, but 'slim', not 'slightly chubby', 'chubby' or 'carrying a few extra pounds' but bog-standard slim lol!:p

Good luck will all your weight loss goals! xx

Always feel like that... Then I carb overload retain water and within days I realise I was slim but could not believe it.. Then the cycle starts again... Mentally I will always be fat sadly :-( I totally identify with you :) x
 
Always feel like that... Then I carb overload retain water and within days I realise I was slim but could not believe it.. Then the cycle starts again... Mentally I will always be fat sadly :-( I totally identify with you :) x

Do you feel that eating carbs has an effect on your weight? I'm quite a fan of the old carbs, so maybe that's got something to do with my rounded tummy lol!
 
If I eat carbs for 3 days I retain water and easily put on 2 kgs and feel disgusting... I hate that... I love carbs :-( x
 
My bmi is currently 28.6 at 5ft 10 and 14st 3lbs. According to BMI charts anything under 12st 7lb would put me in the healthy range but the nurse at my local practice said I should be below 12 stone (BMI 24.1) and ideally closer to 11 (BMI 22.1). She reckoned that although 25 was technically in the healthy range, most people are still carrying too much fat at bmi 25. I don't know whether to believe this or not.
 
I am here with a BMI of only just 25 (I am 5'5" and a half!!). I really am quite big and I would consider myself as looking pretty fat and feel very unhealthy. I dropped down to BMI 20 once and I was a lot skinnier but I still could have had quite a way to go to be still in the healthy range and I would have looked emaciated. I think the boundaries are too broad. I look best at about BMI 21 which is quite low but others would look too slim. I have a friend the same height/weight and she looks well skinner than me.
 
i still see myself as fat aswell, i will compare myself to others and think i look like a whale compared to them, its that bad i avoid mirrors. i dont like using a mirror that i can see my full body shape in, so ill use a small mirror i can only see the top part of me in. even in the gym i cant look at myself in the mirror and if i do then all i can see is huge hips, fat legs and a pregnant looking belly....

my BMI may be low, but in my head it dosent match the image i see, my BMI shows a slim person, my head shows a fat person
 
gina_b said:
i still see myself as fat aswell, i will compare myself to others and think i look like a whale compared to them, its that bad i avoid mirrors. i dont like using a mirror that i can see my full body shape in, so ill use a small mirror i can only see the top part of me in. even in the gym i cant look at myself in the mirror and if i do then all i can see is huge hips, fat legs and a pregnant looking belly....

my BMI may be low, but in my head it dosent match the image i see, my BMI shows a slim person, my head shows a fat person

Snap... My head always sees a fat person x
 
even when people tell me ive lost weight, i dont belive them becuase i cant see it in the mirrors
 
all i see is big hips and fat belly.... even being the clothes size i am dosent change how i feel about myself x
 
What an interesting thread! It goes to show that "slim" is very subjective and not a factual description of a particular BMI or size. There are days when I do feel slimmer than others and I imagine that until we realise in our heads that we are slim and that we look good, we will never quite believe what others are telling us. The biggest challenge in weight loss is to get our heads straight and then our bodies will usually follow.

Happyhealthy, you have done so well - congratulations on your great weight loss!
 
sigourney said:
Yes we are all self critical aren't we x

Whoops I must of accidentally unsubscribed to this thread! It's very interesting to see what everyone regards as 'slim'. I'm finally starting to see how slim I am becoming - hopefully in time I'll see sense :D
 
happyhealthy said:
Whoops I must of accidentally unsubscribed to this thread! It's very interesting to see what everyone regards as 'slim'. I'm finally starting to see how slim I am becoming - hopefully in time I'll see sense :D

Good for you... I feel positively fat today x
 
I think that (generally speaking) once your BMI is below 24 and you still think you're 'fat' it is mostly in your head because you certainly wouldn't look fat to others. My BMI is about 24.5 now and I do look chubby as I am unfortunate enough to carry all my spare fat like a rubber ring around my middle, but I know that if I lose a few more pounds and get to BMI 23 this will no longer be an issue because I remember it from before. I reckon if you have a BMI of 21-22 you should really try to enjoy your body, otherwise you are liable to let it go and then kick yourself for not being satisfied when you had a body that was TDF. Get some nice clothes and a bikini right now!
 
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