Is this underweight

billyhead

I am just over 6ft and just under 64kg. My parents and brothers are worried that I am getting too thin and that I look very gaunt. I do a lot of cardio training i.e running and cycling etc but according to the BMI calculator I am in the healthy weight range. Would you consider this to be too thin or unhelathy.

cowzerp

BMI means very little, its just a basic tool that gives doctors a simple guide for healthy weight ranges, but at your height your too light imo, im 5,6" and walk about at 70kg when im not in competition-i just look healthy and fit like this!

try cut back on the cardio and up your calories, and i'd recommend you start weight training too..

best of luck with it..

Hail 2 Da Chimp

IMO you are, I'm roughly the same height as you and the lowest I have gone is 75Kg...

gabgab

I am 6 foot 1 and 75kg, people reckon that I look quiete skinny too. Its your choice but at 6ft and that weight I reckon you look slim alright,

BrokenArrows

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

IMO you are, I'm roughly the same height as you and the lowest I have gone is 75Kg...

.


before i started weight training i was always around 75 and 6ft1. never went much lower.
i never ate much and i felt i was really skinny. since ive started training ive probably but on about 8-9kg and im much more filled out.

at 64kg you must be very skinny. me at 83 kg i cant imagine myself being 19kg lighter.

billyhead

So what would you recommend. Just stuff myself silly and cut down the cardio. I would like to put at least a stone of weight on but I do eat quite a bit and am finding it hard too.

BrianD3

The lightest I have been as an adult was ~60 kg @ 5 foot 9.5. I looked very skinny but based on how I felt and medicals I did, I was healthy.

Now I'm 81 kg (the extra 21 kg is almost all muscle) and I still get comments about being a "whippet". IMO because there are so many fat people about, people have skewed ideas about what is skinny, average, big etc.

BrokenArrows

post up your current diet and training and people will be able to advise you on changes to make.

billyhead

Diet

9am-Massive bowl of meuslie or porridge with protein scoop and full fat milk

11am- Apple or pear

1pm-Sandwhich i.e two slices of bread with chicken or Tuna and mayonaise
Usually go for a half hours walk during lunch aswell

3pm- Apple or pear and protein bar

5pm-7pm-Training in the gym i.e either one hour cardio of running or 2 hours cycling outdoors weather permitting or full body weights in the gym. I dont do squats or deadlifts (I should try and incorporate these). Note I exercise practically every day

7.30pm- Big dinner of 2oo grams of pasta or rice and 200 grams of chciken or salmon with veg on the side

9pm-Half a protein bar and full fat milk protein shake (2 scoops)

I also take a multivitamin and flax oil poured over my dinner (3 spoonfuls)

Money Shot

billyhead wrote: »

Diet

9am-Massive bowl of meuslie or porridge with protein scoop and full fat milk

11am- Apple or pear

1pm-Sandwhich i.e two slices of bread with chicken or Tuna and mayonaise
Usually go for a half hours walk during lunch aswell

3pm- Apple or pear and protein bar

5pm-7pm-Training in the gym i.e either one hour cardio of running or 2 hours cycling outdoors weather permitting or full body weights in the gym. I dont do squats or deadlifts (I should try and incorporate these). Note I exercise practically every day

7.30pm- Big dinner of 2oo grams of pasta or rice and 200 grams of chciken or salmon with veg on the side

9pm-Half a protein bar and full fat milk protein shake (2 scoops)

I also take a multivitamin and flax oil poured over my dinner (3 spoonfuls)

Are you training for a particular sport? I'd never recomend training every day - you could give yourself two days rest a week which will help with the weight gain.
I'd try and cut out the protein bars and get something more nutritionally substantial instead, ditto cut down the scoops of whey if possible.
If you're goal in life is to put on weight, eat more and do less cardio.

gabgab

Hey Billy,

If I remember correctly you were/are triathlon focused before an injury was it??

Work out your maintenance calories and go to www.fitday.com

Crazydiamond

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch is 6'6" and weighs 69kg and look at the chick he hangs out with. He looks healthy enough to me and I'm sure sleeping with her keeps his weight down. Stick with it mate, who knows you may end up with a super WAG like her some day

billyhead

I compete in road running races and have and am doing a few triathlons this summer (2 more sprint ones and the Dublin Olympic one in August). What do ou recommend to eat instead of the Protein bars which are 300 cals each. Also why do you suggest to leave out the protein shakes. I need as much protein as possible to help with recovery

gabgab

Hey if you are a runner and competitive at a longer than sprinting distance then its unlikely you will ever be heavy,

My honest advice is to do the sums and eat like a horse, clean decent food.

IF you want to put on weight, to be fair just because people have called you a whippet does not mean you have to start putting on weight, its like me calling my cousin that plays rugby a fat bastard because he carries a bit because of his position,

Colm_OReilly

If you want to put on size and strength I suggest www.startingstrength.net (.com if you want to buy the book, which I recommend).

Squats and a shed load of milk will help you put weight on.

However, this training may interfere with your long distance competitive schedule, particularly as you're in season atm. I don't know how advanced you are.

If this is a problem, do the squats in the off season.

celestial

OP, you sound like a typical ectomorph, i.e you are naturally lean and may tend towards looking 'skinny'. I put that in quotes cos while folks on here would very likely call you lean, others may call you skinny - especially well meaning relatives. My da once lost a lot weight after being fat for quite a while. Family members said he had 'gotten too thin' - even though he was a perfectly acceptable weight for his height. It's just people's perceptions which as was mentioned can be fairly skewed. When you think about it, it's now the absolute norm for people to walk around with overflowing guts and beer bellies.

You eat well enough and exercise lots - perfect. Before you change anything, ask yourself why you want to put on weight - is it because you want to look bigger/more muscular for reasons of vanity (perfectly fine by the way:)) or for performance reasons - or is it because you are being influenced by what people say?

billyhead

Thanks for the replies. Its just that my family and I do undertsnad their concern for my health are beginning to irrtate me by contactly saying you need to put on weight, your too skinny and its in the face that it shows i.e the long drawn face like Ruud Van Nistlrooy the footballer.

celestial

billyhead wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Its just that my family and I do undertsnad their concern for my health are beginning to irrtate me by contactly saying you need to put on weight, your too skinny and its in the face that it shows i.e the long drawn face like Ruud Van Nistlrooy the footballer.

Tell them to feck off!! I'm only half joking. Family members and close friends think they have license to say whatever they want just cos they know you so well. If it genuinely bothers you then stick up for yourself. Just let them know you don't appreciate the comments man.

Dudess

Crazydiamond wrote: »

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch is 6'6" and weighs 69kg and look at the chick he hangs out with. He looks healthy enough to me and I'm sure sleeping with her keeps his weight down. Stick with it mate, who knows you may end up with a super WAG like her some day

Yeah, a "WAG"-type woman (vacuous, dumb, shallow, gold-digging, rough-as-a-badger's-arse bint) is really worth aiming for. He's not asking whether he's attractive enough to girls, he's worried about something just a tad more important - his health. And he does sound very thin - just going by his weight and height alone, nothing to do with that stuff about thin and healthily lean/slim being distorted. Cowzerp is a trainer and he says the OP seems really thin.
I'd agree OP, focus on weight training rather than cardio, and maybe give yourself a break from training once or twice a week.

BossArky

billyhead, if you were not training and were just an average joe on the street I would say you are way too skinny at that weight and height. If I drop below 70kg at 5 foot 7 I feel / look skinny.

However, since you are a runner your lightweight status should be a benefit coupled with a long stride.

You do have the benefit of being able to put muscle on a lean frame now since you probably have little to no fat on you. A bit more focus on the weights (pull ups, deadlift, squat, bench press) would help here, as long as it dosen't take away from your running.

smellslikeshoes

Crazydiamond wrote: »

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch is 6'6" and weighs 69kg and look at the chick he hangs out with. He looks healthy enough to me and I'm sure sleeping with her keeps his weight down. Stick with it mate, who knows you may end up with a super WAG like her some day

Whatever about his football skill or the woman he is with but he is horribly horribly skinny, He is like a sweeping brush with a Liverpool jersey on.

Jesus Wept

Crazydiamond wrote: »

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch is 6'6" and weighs 69kg and look at the chick he hangs out with. He looks healthy enough to me and I'm sure sleeping with her keeps his weight down. Stick with it mate, who knows you may end up with a super WAG like her some day

Some websites say 6'6, some say 6'7. Some say 69kg, some say 75kg.

Liverpool's official website goes with 6'7 and 75kg.

Crazydiamond wrote: »

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch is 6'6" and weighs 69kg and look at the chick he hangs out with. He looks healthy enough to me and I'm sure sleeping with her keeps his weight down. Stick with it mate, who knows you may end up with a super WAG like her some day

Dudess wrote: »

Yeah, a "WAG"-type woman (vacuous, dumb, shallow, gold-digging, rough-as-a-badger's-arse bint) is really worth aiming for. He's not asking whether he's attractive enough to girls, he's worried about something just a tad more important - his health.

Isn't he with yorewan who was in Hell's Kitchen? She didn't come across as you've described to me, seemed a nice girl.

BraziliaNZ

I don't think he needs to be any heavier. People with less body fat live longer and are less prone to cancer, as well as numerous other health benefits. Stay the way you are mate if you're happy.

BraziliaNZ

Dudess wrote: »

Yeah, a "WAG"-type woman (vacuous, dumb, shallow, gold-digging, rough-as-a-badger's-arse bint) is really worth aiming for.

Perhaps but they are ridiculously hot and you can always dump them when the sex starts to get boring.

g'em

I can't tolerate reading about WAGs in my favourite girly weekly gossip magazines as I trawl the pages staying up to date with how many pounds Charlotte Church has gained during her latest pregnancy with baby Lapis Lazuli or which big brother starlet is keeping our screens ablaze and neither will I tolerate having to read about them here*. Stay OT please folks.



* For those of you who are bored this morning, I've laced this post with just a hint of sarcasm. See if you can spot it

Racing Flat

billyhead wrote: »

I am just over 6ft and just under 64kg.

This is not underweight if you are a long distance runner. Steve Cram was 6'1" and 10stone and he was the face of Kellogs Start - he looked so athletic. No one said he was too skinny, but it was the 1980s before we all put on weight.

Seb Coe was 20% underweight for his height, and a profile of all world champions in the eraly 90s showed that they were all underwieght compared to norms.

I'm about 5'9"/5'10" and 10stone 10 when racing and lay people say I'm too skinny, but in the changing room after National races I'm usually the 'fattest' in the room.

So my answer is no it's not necessarily too skinny, but it all depends on whether you yourself are happy with it or not.

Al_Fernz

OP, when I first started to grow (height-wise) I was 6 foot and just under 70kgs. This made me look ridiculously skinny. Looking back of photos of myself I do not look "healthy." Since then I've put on about 10kgs - and look and feel much better.

Everybody is different so I accept that my experience could be vastly different because of your sport. IMO most long distant atheletes look gaunt. But thats the nature of their sport - I respect that becuase of the training and dedication it takes to perform at these events. The question really boils down to how you feel about your training and lifestyle. If you feel that you could benefit from putting on weight then go for it - don't let anybody else make that decision for you.

IMO your diet could do with a hot beef injection. Good foods you don't eat are also eggs, pork and cheese.

Dudess

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

Whatever about his football skill or the woman he is with but he is horribly horribly skinny, He is like a sweeping brush with a Liverpool jersey on.

He reminds me of Frankenstein. Oh yeah sure, Abi Clancy isn't with him for his money at all...

But yeah OP, as someone advised, keep making yourself look like Peter Crouch and girls like her will swarm to you... :rolleyes:

g'em

Dudess, there's already been a warning in-thread, enough.