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technically underweight BUT....

Hi all, I'm new and want to introduce myself.

I am not trying to lose weight.....2 years ago I started watching calories, and I lost 30 pounds. I am still interested in heatlhy eating, cooking, nutrition, organic, sustainable lifestyles (not dieting, I don't want to lose more weight).

Here's the thing. I'm pretty underweight. I'm 5"7 and 104 pounds...I have barely fluctuated at all the past year (except for post-Christmas bloating etc which just melts off after a few days of retaining water weight). Even this winter when I stopped walking (I don't exercise but when it's warm out I probably walk for 1-2 hours a day), I didn't gain any weight although I ate the same amount of food. However, although my weight doesn't change my period DID stop last year (between May and October) and began again when it got cold and I was exercising less. Now it's stopped again (I've been walking more).....but my weight has always been 104.

I really am worried about this......I eat until I'm full, probably around 1400 to 1500 calories a day, all good, healthy stuff (and the occasional beer). I saw a nutritionist, and told her what I ate, and she told me it seemed like it was enough. So what gives? Could the amorennhea (sp?) be unrelated to weight....i..e stress? Scary disease?

I don't really want to gain weight....I think I look good the way I am  now. I'm also an apple shape and if I gained 15 more pounds I would have a little belly. Most apples I've talked to acknowledge that you need to be a little underweight in order to look good.
And don't a lot of people acknowledge that BMI is bullocks anyway?

I agree, I'm also underweight... at 5'8" and usually at 115 I am feeling healthy and look good.. at 110 I look amazing.  at 12o I have a little belly...  it sucks.... I have to be underweight to have a flat stomach... I eat super healthy and work out 3-4 times a week pilates and hot yoga

Sugarfreepompidou The BMI is only 'bullocks' if you're determined to ignore the obvious.   Some people are naturally very thin & healthy at the same time.  You're not one of those people, unfortunately. You are not 'a little underweight'.  Your BMI is 16.4, your periods have stopped, your health is at risk and you are in a seriously dangerous state of denial  Go to see a proper doctor this time and get yourself physically checked out. 

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management. Please help our moderators follow this vision and respect the following guidelines.

Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

limitles the same warning and advice applies to you.   'Looking amazing' is really no excuse for keeping your body at a dangerously low weight.   

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management. Please help our moderators follow this vision and respect the following guidelines.

Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

What is it you want from CC?  We can't support your efforts to stay underweight because it's against our guidelines.  So what are you asking for here? 

clairelaine, what I expected.......was not this kind of backlash.

I have been to doctors--several--and nutritionists, all of whom tell me that I'm eating enough. They have run tests and they have told me I am healthy. I/They are not even sure if my loss of period has strictly something to do with weight.

I'm not anorexic and that's a stupid conclusion to jump to via internet. I am not trying to lose weight, as I said in my post. I'm not necessarily trying to gain weight either. I am rather tall but have a very small frame & am naturally pretty skinny (at my heaviest I was about 135 pounds, and that was drinking every night/eating lots of sugary cereals & cakes/also, I was on antidepressants and birth control which made me gain)

Then what is your question? You don't want to lose or gain weight. Did you just want reassurance that a low BMI is ok? That it has nothing to do with you losing your period?

We only know a few things about you - you have a weight that is disproportionately low considering your height and you stop getting your period when you start exercising. Those things don't sound healthy to us (and one can certainly be correlated with the other), but you seem to be looking to us to say that it is healthy, which clearly we are hesitant to do.

I was wondering if it happened to anyone else..........especially the bit about losing/gaining period without a fluctuation in weight (but a fluctuation in calories in/out possibly, with the walking).

I don't know........or just to introduce myself. Hello my name is x and I don't menstruate. Or even if there was concern, advice to see a doctor, fine, but most of the comments I got in response were rude and (dare I say) hostile.

If you're genuinely worried you should make  a serious effort to gain weight.  That means 2500 cals a day minimum.   I am in total disbelief at the response of these doctors you claim to have seen....  They've done you no favours, whatsoever.

The reason you got a backlash was because you stated that you're seriously underweight but you 'don't want to gain weight' and 'I think I look good the way I am'.  If you had posted saying you were severely underweight, very worried and determined to gain weight and be healthy again, the response would have been a lot more positive.

You may not have been diagnosed anorexic but your determination to stay so dangerously underweight marks you down as having some unhealthy issues with body-image and eating in general.  Get your BMI up past 20 and if your periods still don't return then you can start looking for 'stress' and 'scary diseases'.

It's not hostility... but I think you need to wake up and smell the coffee.

It's happened to me. I'm only 5'5" and ate 1500 calories a day sitting around doing nothing. However, my BMI was 16.9. Doctors told me I was fine, too. Ugh, DUH. No I'm not - I didn't have a period! Now, I'm stuck with brittle bones, which, honestly, I laughed at and thought "nah, it won't happen to me!".
Of course, it's your body you're screwing up. We can't do anything about it but give you the facts - and the fact is, you need to gain weight to be healthy.

As for the perceived hostility, I believe it's because people are becoming tired of all the teenagers striving to be unhealthy for looks.  If these people did a little googling, they'd find out that they're causing damage to themselves. No reasonable people on CC is going to tell you, "hey! You're okay! You're severely underweight and don't have a period! You don't need to nourish yourself - really, who needs those bones and teeth? And muscle? Pshaw! Unneeded in today's sedentary world! Good work!"

Unfortunately, we get a lot of people with eating disorders on this site. Some of them wanting to recover. Others in denial, saying that "1000 calories is perfectly healthy for me" (I'm not directing that at you, sugarfree).

It's difficult to weed out what type of person is posting - we can only go by what is written and how often we've seen similar posts. That, and even if you are not purposefully trying to be underweight, your post (saying, basically, that it's ok) can give support to the people who do have eating disorders who need desperately to believe that what they are doing is healthy and worth it, and so quick responses from people like gi-jane and claire are meant to prevent others from reading and believing that they are now justified in their actions.

People in the Health & Support forum will be more experienced with loss of period, but I'm guessing will be equally concerned with your current weight.

I'm sure everyone here did not mean to be rude nor hostile but is genuinely concerned about your health and would like to help you. Having been 30 pounds heavier 2 years ago, I can understand why it's difficult for you to gain weight. However, having described yourself, it could also be possible that you may be suffering from other illnesses that encompass nutrition such as hyperthyroidism (my mom has it). Most hyperthyroids don't even know they have it and just blame everything on fast metabolism. The best thing to do is to go see a specialist.

The fact that you got your period back when you stopped exercising (for whatever reason) and lost it again once you started suggests that there IS a direct corellation. Your body weight is very low, and you don't have the reserves to burn off... if you want to exercise, you need to eat a lot more. You can feel 'full' on 1000 calories a day if that's what you're used to getting, but that doesn't make it healthy.

Good lord.... how did my post get deleted, I am not sick.... I was merely stating that BMI is not always a good indicator.  I actually have fat on me, I eat super healthy, exersize, get my regular period and all my check ups are fine.  To chalk up anyone who is slim into anorexic category is wrong.  I'm really annoyed to get a warning.  

I have one of those wii-fit balance boards which I use to take accurate weght measurement and it tells me I'm still underweight when I gain weight and have fat rolls hanging over my jeans!  I also believe BMI is NOT a good indicator.  If my BMI was at 25 which I believe is the healthy limit I would be soooooooooooooo unhealthy!  I would have to weigh 165 lbs!!!!  How the heck is that healthy!!!!!!!!!!  I was 140 lbs some 4 years ago and I could barely walk up the stairs without getting winded, I couldn't sit properly cause my belly rolls where pushing on the waistband of my pants.

What I mean, is that it does not take bone density into account, or your natural healthy state.  I am healthiest at a BMI of 17.... I have a very thin bone structure and even though I'm tall my scheleton doesnt weigh a lot.  I study holistic medicine and nutrition, I eat increadibly well.  We can't chalk people up to anorexic because BMI told you so.  That is the point!

What you think and believe about your underweight state and your health is entirely your business.  If you want to be holistically deluded and prove everyone wrong go right ahead.  However, post that it's OK  & desirable to be clinically underweight on CC... a public message board read by all kinds of people..... and you're simply going against the house rules which are on the page when you post the message.   Don't respect the rules you can expect to be deleted by the mods and shot down by people like me.   Not for your benefit.... for everyone else's    

BTW... if you have flesh hanging over your jeans when your Wii Fit tells you you're underweight then it's most likely that your jeans are too small.  

....

My clothes fit properly, thank you very much.  But how can you tell me that at 165 lbs (according to this God-given BMI index) I'm supposed to still be healthy.  I'm not expressing just my personal opinion, I'm expressing a theory that maybe BMI isn't a great indicator of health and fitness.  I'm also not pro- anorexic (that's stupid and unhealthy), rather I'm challenging the standard of being overweight and underweight.  I think it should be based on nutrition and fitness and natural body type of each person.  I am being objective and polite and I feel personally attacked and insulted.  Why?

Original Post by limitles:

My clothes fit properly, thank you very much.  But how can you tell me that at 165 lbs (according to this God-given BMI index) I'm supposed to still be healthy.  I'm not expressing just my personal opinion, I'm expressing a theory that maybe BMI isn't a great indicator of health and fitness.  I'm also not pro- anorexic (that's stupid and unhealthy), rather I'm challenging the standard of being overweight and underweight.  I think it should be based on nutrition and fitness and natural body type of each person.  I am being objective and polite and I feel personally attacked and insulted.  Why?

You know what, it's pretty offensive for you to insult people who are at a higher (but still healthy) BMI by claiming they cannot possibly be healthy. I'd guess that you have very little muscle (so-called "skinny fat") which is why you have "rolls of fat" at an underweight BMI. You can't decided that a BMI of 17 is suddenly "healthy" for you, when there is so much evidence that it is not healthy. Just as weight alone isn't always the most accurate indicator for health (body fat % or waist size can be better indicators) you can't just claim to be a healthy weight just because your pants fit.

limitles - A BMI of 25 is actually overweight. 

To be 'normal', your BMI should be between 18.5-24.9.  Smaller framed people would be closer to the 18.5 while bigger framed people would be closer to the 24.9.  My frame is kind of in the middle, so that's why I'm going with a goal of a BMI around 23.

Why?...... Oh dear, you are sooooooooooo not getting this.

"I have to be underweight to have a flat belly"

LOL!   Nothing to do with health and fitness.  Nothing to do with challenging the standards of being underweight and overweight.  Nothing as worthy as nutritition and natural body type.  You're underweight so you have a flat belly .... a justification that has hidden shallows.  

Just imagine some impressionable,  5'8" 14 year-old girl reading your post and they're a healthy 140lbs.  She could easily think that because she has a slightly rounded belly that it would be a good idea to diet herself down to 110lbs because 'limitles' is doing it!!!

Once again......

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management. Please help our moderators follow this vision

Original Post by gi-jane:

BTW... if you have flesh hanging over your jeans when your Wii Fit tells you you're underweight then it's most likely that your jeans are too small.

I am going off topic because I cannot resist - this is the most genius statement ever.

Original Post by limitles:

I'm not expressing just my personal opinion, I'm expressing a theory that maybe BMI isn't a great indicator of health and fitness.  I'm also not pro- anorexic (that's stupid and unhealthy), rather I'm challenging the standard of being overweight and underweight.  I think it should be based on nutrition and fitness and natural body type of each person.  I am being objective and polite and I feel personally attacked and insulted.  Why?

I don't know why you feel attacked and insulted.  Unless posts have been deleted, I haven't seen anyone attack or insult you.  Just concerns/worries that you may be unhealthy.  Maybe you're seeing attacks where there are none?

Re: Your point about BMI.  BMI accounts for the fact that different people have different bone structures.  That's why there's such a wide range for healthy.  For young teens, the range is even wider because it has to account for before and after growth spurts (at which the same person's BMI will be quite different).  Nobody's saying that you personally should have a BMI of 25.  It's in the healthy range because many people have bone structures/musculature that makes a BMI of 24-25 perfect for them.  Similarly, there's a borderline range of 18.5-20 that covers the naturally tiny, small framed folk.  When you get much slimmer than that, it indicates a lack of muscle (since there's only so small that bones can get). 

When people have suggested that you're underweight, that doesn't mean that they're saying "gain enough fat to get to a BMI of ___".  Weight gained can be either fat or muscle.  Heck, at the right age (with proper nutrition), it can even be bone.  Anyone as tall as 5'7 should be able to maintain their weight eating at least 2000 calories/day with light exercise.  If not, no matter how much you like the look, it's not a healthy weight.  *That's* where the concepts of nutrition, personal fitness and percent body fat come in.