# I'm not THAT skinny... am I?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [April 10, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706 "2003-04-10T02:29:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/1 "2003-04-10T02:29:19Z")
Okay… I keep having people telling me I’m skinny. I know I’m thin, but… I don’t think _that_ thin…
I’m 16 years old, 6’0-6’2 (not really sure), and - at highest - 140 pounds.
Is that really that thin?
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### Author:  [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/2 "2003-04-10T02:56:29Z")
If you’re 6’2 and 140 pounds, you sound pretty spindly. But that’s normal for a 16 year old; you just haven’t grown into your for-the-time-being awkward shaped body yet. For someone 6’2, 140 pounds is considered underweight (using BMI as a measure).
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/3 "2003-04-10T03:08:26Z")
When I was 16, the guys who were 6’0" to 6’2" were usually skinny; when your body is that busy growing UP, there’s not much left over for growing OUT. You’ll get there. Give yourself time. As a female, by age 13 I’d grown to 5’9", six inches in nine months, and spindly doesn’t begin to describe it. Alas, that is no longer the case. Ah, for the days of spindly again…
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### Author:  [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/4 "2003-04-10T03:52:53Z")
Tell me about it. I’m 16, too, 5’5" (maybe) and I weigh about 100 pounds.
People ask me if I’m anorexic.
No, stupid. Look at my sandwich! I am eating the sandwich! Mmm, peanut butter. Also, I notice you are not eating anything today. Now who is anorexic?
Seriously, though, skinny guys are the best. So sexy.
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### Author:  [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/5 "2003-04-10T04:25:19Z")
Yeah, I’d like my physique, except for the mutated ribcage that seems to be where my normal one should be. Imagine this “B” as my ribcage. Yep, it protrudes on one side, and looks bizarre and (according to some accounts) disgusting and freaky.
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### Author:  [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/6 "2003-04-10T05:39:48Z")
If you can’t see yourself in the mirror when you turn sideways …
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### Author:  [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/7 "2003-04-10T06:33:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Zenster \*
> \*\*If you can’t see yourself in the mirror when you turn sideways … \*\*
…What? Is this a bad thing??? It doesn’t mean I’m too skinny, does it? DOES IT?!?
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### Author:  [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/8 "2003-04-10T06:38:06Z")
There are many options available for dangerously underweighted individuals like yourself. I recommend a slow steady gorging process combined with assal horizontology. You’ll want to focus on the neglected food groups such as the whipped group, the congealed group, and the chocotastic.
And remember, if you’re not sure about something, rub it against a piece of paper. If the paper turns clear, it’s your window to weight gain!
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### Author:  [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/9 "2003-04-10T07:18:59Z")
HI! Doctor Nick!
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### Author:  [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/10 "2003-04-10T07:24:27Z")
Heh, I’m assally horizontal enough already, and yet I’m about 5’11" or so and 120-130 lbs. (and 18 years old). I feel your pain, **Speaker**.
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### Author:  [@Lezaza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lezaza)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/11 "2003-04-10T07:38:39Z")
I’m 187 (what, 6’3"?) and weighs 75 kilos (can’t do the math). People tell me I’m skinny, and I’m 20 years old. Whatever. Thing is, if you’re not feeling sick, you probably aren’t (of course, there are exceptions, but what the hey).
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### Author:  [@etgaw1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etgaw1)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/12 "2003-04-10T07:45:37Z")
BMI is a POS. I am 24yo 5’11" 265. my BMI says I should be dead. But my Body Fat is under 20% more than healthy. Do you feel that you are unhealty has a doctor said that you have any health problems due to your size. If you are eating properly then don’t worry about it. People have diffrent body sizes.
etgaw1
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### Author:  [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/13 "2003-04-10T07:59:26Z")
Weight isn’t really as important as things like heart rate, muscle tone, and cholesterol level.
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### Author:  [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/14 "2003-04-10T12:18:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by etgaw1 \*
> \*\*BMI is a POS. I am 24yo 5’11" 265. my BMI says I should be dead. But my Body Fat is under 20% more than healthy. Do you feel that you are unhealty has a doctor said that you have any health problems due to your size. If you are eating properly then don’t worry about it. People have diffrent body sizes.
> etgaw1 \*\*
Heh. This is one of my pet peeves too.
Did you know that according to BMI, Arnold Schwarzenegger would have been considered obese when he won the Mr. Universe title?
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### Author:  [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/15 "2003-04-10T12:35:37Z")
When I was in hight school - your age, **Speaker** , I was about 5’8"-5’9" (maybe 170cm) and 145lbs (errrrr … 70-75 kilos?) and when I look back at the old videos my friends and I made I can’t believe how scrawny I was. You must look really funny.
😉
Still, it doesn’t last forever.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/16 "2003-04-10T12:45:07Z")
My son is 5’ 11" and about 140. He’s pretty thin, but not sickeningly so. I’ve had a battle with skinniness all my life. The key (for me) was to eat lots of small meals every day. It really helped. I was 5’1" and 86 lbs at my lowest, and now I’m at a whopping 100 lbs. WooHOO!
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### Author:  [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/17 "2003-04-10T12:57:49Z")
Heh. When I was 16, I was 5’8"and weighed about 108lbs. I gradually filled out.
I agree that body fat % and cholesterol level are much better indicators of skinniness/fatness than BMI.
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/18 "2003-04-10T13:01:38Z")
No, it doesn’t last forever. In college, I was 6’5" and 185 pounds…a rail in other words. But, over the next twenty years, I slowly crept up, year by year, a few pounds each year, to nearly 260. My knees hurt, my wind sucked, and I felt _old_.
Those twenty years will pass faster than you can possibly realize. It will indeed happen to you.
(Last July I decided that at age 45 I was too yound to feel old, and am now down to 205. So, if it does happen to you, it doesn’t have to stay that way!)
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### Author:  [@Vixenation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vixenation)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/19 "2003-04-10T13:41:31Z")
Don’t you worry. I went to high school with many guys that were 5’9-6’1 and none over 140 lbs. I’ve seen them all recently, and all but one have filled out wonderfully (with the aid of working out or just plain weight gain). Skinny teenage girls are usually the ones who fill out nicely, and it’s no different for the boys. But in the meantime, if you’re worried about it, my current boyfriend is 21 yrs, 5’9 and 125 lbs and all the girls think he’s just the best thing ever. 😉
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-that-skinny-am-i/167706/20 "2003-04-10T13:47:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by various people
> I’m 16 years old, 6’0-6’2
> I’m 16, too, 5’5"
> I’m 187 (what, 6’3"?) and weighs 75 kilos
:dubious:
Not nice to give the readers whiplash. That’s centimeters, right? Not years?
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