Are you being told, "You're too skinny!"

(John) #1

Hello fellow Ketoers ,

I’m being told by a few people that have known me for years , that I’am to skinny and need to stop losing weight! 
I have been pleasantly plump most of my adult years ( I just turned 49 ) at one point I was pushing 260 lbs. wearing a size  38 jean and 40 dress pant . Being 6 feet tall , I have always carried my weight fairly well , a good 80 % was carried in my stomach . 
In February ( pre Keto ) I was 215 lbs. 34 jeans and 36 dress pant and I was full blown diabetic, my A1C was 10.5 average blood glucose was 400 ! 
Now , it’s September 2018 , my weight is  aprox 180 lbs. jeans are 30 and dress paints 32 , dress shirts went from 17 neck size to 15.5 , BMI is aprox 24 . A1C 5.5 average blood glucose is 100 . 
Since April 2018 , I been going to the gym 4 times 1 day rest and focusing on building building muscle mass . 
 My theory is that , because I have very little fat on my back and painfully underdeveloped back muscles, specifically my traps , lats and deltoids this makes my back and shoulders very boney . My chest , while I still have some fat , those muscles are also underdeveloped, I believe this is the reason I look so skinny , most of the fat I still have is on my stomach but the fat to muscle ratio is not bad , those muscles are developing nicely and the fat is slowly going away . I have also lost fat on my face . 
I also believe that it’s possible that a lot of people are so use to seeing me heavy that I do look “ to skinny “ to them , but I am becoming self conscious of this , I’m willing to look at the possibility that perhaps I am to skinny , but the excessive fat on my stomach and chest tell me a different story . 
Have any of you experienced this issue also ? I understand that stored fat on our bodies gets stored differently from person to person and we become very aware of where that fat is that a lot of people don’t notice because we or should I say , “ I “ , have become hyper focused on where the fat is .
I just want to be sure that I am not getting obsessed about losing weight, I no longer have a weight goal per say , but I have a goal of how I want my body to look . 
I want to have a BMI between 10- 12% so my muscles show .

The holy grail 6 pack ab look ! Lol !
I never thought I would ever have this “ problem “

(John) #2

Damn ! Why does my post look like that ???

#3

Fixed your post. You’re too skinny is an envious backhanded compliment! What they really mean is “You make me look even fatter now!”

(Lesley) #4

Are the people that are saying this to you over-weight or have a bit of weight they would like to lose but can’t? I only ask because my mum lost a lot of weight on Keto (she’s in her 70s) and her friends and family keep saying the same to her, with one insisting she looks ill and should seek medical advice as something must be seriously wrong. She doesn’t look ill. She just has less fat in the face which is obviously going to show up wrinkles more but I came to the conclusion that it not about how she looks but how they feel about themselves. Mum is healthier than ever with energy and IBS gone. She keeps telling them it was never about weight loss but healing herself but still they persist.

It can be very hard to figure out other people’s motives and if they are being genuine or not. Some may not even realise their own motives and be convinced they are telling you that for your benefit.

Well done on the weight loss and improvements in health. :slight_smile:

(Sheri Knauer) #5

I had someone tell me he was going to call the anorexia police on me. This is someone who has been going to the same gym as me for about 12 years and has seen me about 50lbs heavier than I am now.

Congratulations on the great job your doing, especially with bringing down your A1C and BG numbers! Don’t let others cause you to second guess yourself. Keep doing what your doing and work on building that muscle. Sometimes people get jealous of other peoples success so they say things like that.

(Bill Pletke) #6

I’ve lost around 60 lbs. People who say that to me are used to seeing me overweight. Let’s face it, most people don’t like change. Take it for what it is. Keep up the good work. Keep Ketoing on.

(charlie3) #7

I’ve had siblings and people at work hint or say that I’ve lost too much weight, from 170-175 to 144, and I was lifting and doing cardio through most of it so fat loss might be a bit more. The BMI calculator says I’m well within the healthy range, just about dead center. Now I’d like to add the weight back as lean tissue over the next couple years. Right now I am lean, there isn’t an extra anything anywhere on me and what muscle I’ve got so far stands out without fat to hide it. May be it’s a bit more striking because I’m 69 and looking a lot younger than that at the moment.

(Canadian Beauty) #8

I can definitely say that losing weight this time using this WOE has left me with much less body fat that makes me look skinnier per say than I have with other weight loss methods I have tried in the past. I think I look better now even though I am heavier than my thinner weight. I have lost 3 pounds in August however many have commented on how much thinner I look. Nobody yet has said too skinny! I can’t wait until they do.

(Trudy) #9

I’m getting the “don’t lose anymore weight it will age your face” comments. BMI is 28ish so have plenty of fat to play with.

I guess after seeing a few chins over the years people are surprised to see me and it is just they are finding the right things to say?!

#10

Amusing that people have the courage to call people too thin, but lack the courage to save their lives by telling them they are too fat!

(John) #11

Thank you for all the kind words !

While I do feel I have a pretty good grasp on what is happening to my appearance , I do like to make sure I am keeping an open mind about constructive criticism .

It is very comforting that a lot of you are experiencing a similar situations .

(Bill C) #12

You know best what your weight is, how the fat is apportioned. Some people are jealous, not concerned. At 6’ you could easily go to 165 and not be too skinny.

(Clint Phelps) #13

Yep. I’ve had people tell me I’m gonna die if I don’t start eating “regular food” again because I’ll become malnourished and get too skinny eating this way. They don’t realize you can just eat the right amount of food to weigh however much you want.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

@Good27 Most people have forgotten that in the past, 180 pounds was considered to be at the upper end of the ideal weight range for a six-foot tall man. You might want to remind your “friends” of this fact. Show them some pictures of shirtless kids at Woodstock or sailors and soldiers during World War II, to remind them of what normal really looks like.

(Sophie) #15

I feel like this is huge. Most people have forgotten what it is/looks like to be a normal size. We’ve become a society so oversized that we’ve lost our bearings as to what is really normal.

(John) #16

Paul and Sophie , both of you make very good points !
Since I have been more concerned with my health and have a goal as to what I want to look like . I have been noticing how much extra weight most people are carrying . I think as a whole we have become so accustomed to seeing people a lot of people 30-40 lbs over weight that people who are 15-20 lbs overweight look average. When I first started to loss weight I thought losing 20 lbs would make me look like a twig . I now realize that I was more like 40 lbs overweight and not just 20. I don’t think most people are jealous, I think they are just very accustomed to seeing people overweight , so that is the new norm .
I guess if I start tipping the scale at 140 lbs . Then I have a problem! I’m not going there !!
10-12 percent BMI is my goal … that’s probably going to take a few years . Muscle mass is a lot harder to gain , as I’m sure most of you know !

(Doug) #17

𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕪.

For all the negatives and pathological thinking associated with it, I just want to hear somebody say it to me.

#18

In my personal experience, “You’re getting too skinny” is generally followed by " I could NEVER give up eating …"whatever their favorite carb laden food is. I just say, “Sure you could.”

#19

This is so true, and also true for our dogs and cats. I often see pets at ideal weight whose owners are worried they are “too skinny.” People have forgotten what a cat or dog should really look like.

(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #20

You’re fine.
Get to your goal.