Am I Too Skinny: 15 Symptoms And Signs To Look Out For

Being skinny is when you are very lean or thin, and emaciated. This is mostly as a result of a poor diet, bad lifestyle choices, or is hereditary. Some people tend to think they are skinny because they have others that are relatively heavier than those they are around. In most cases, this is not the case. There is actually a standard for measuring skinniness.

Body-Mass Index (BMI) is the ratio of your height to your weight. With BMI, being skinny can be related to being underweight. Normal weighted humans are within 18.5 and 24.9 BMI. When you fall below 18.5, you may be termed skinny or underweight. It is of great benefit, therefore, to constantly check your BMI with your health provider or you can simply determine it yourself.

Sometimes being skinny comes as a result of overworking or over-using the body's stored energy. When you eat a small amount of food and go a long day on the strength of that food or when doing heavy workouts, you are on your way to becoming skinny. It is also necessary to include that becoming too skinny can come as a result of a health challenge. Certain bacterial diseases such as acute tuberculosis and viral infections can make a person go skinny. Where this is the case, it is necessary to seek swift medical assistance; as this has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle and you are not probably going to be able to curb it by changing your diet. Regardless of whether you are a male or female, you are skinny if a few of the following 15 symptoms apply to you.

Yes, this is the first on the list. Models pray for tiny waists. Ladies want the hourglass figure. You need to be careful when your waist is no longer proportionate to the rest of the body. It can be a sign of being too skinny. When you or someone close to you look like they'll break into two very soon epecially in the middle, it means the person is evidently skinny.

So, you bought really nice clothes some weeks ago and suddenly, the clothing looks like it’s for your elder sister or brother on you. It's a big sign you're becoming skinny if not already too skinny. Often, skinny individuals would have to keep slim-fitting their wears to look good on them. In a way, that may be an extra cost. People who are moderately OK in size rarely have the need for such.

When you take a pinch size of your skin, you'll find out there's a layer just beneath it. This layer adds to the thickness of your skin. When you notice that your skin is thinner than normal, or seems like you can feel your bones just right under your skin, you are probably becoming too skinny or just getting to that stage.

This applies more to females. Your two breasts are supposed to leave you with a minimal breastplate if you aren't the skinny type. But where your breastplate makes your breasts almost insignificant, you are really too skinny. In fact, to make matters worse, your chest may start carving in. So, walk up to the mirror now and look at those two things Mother Nature has blessed you with. Do they still take their rightful position or have been largely shelved?

Sometimes this is associated with sleeplessness, which also is a symptom of being skinny. The flesh underneath the eyes starts sagging and no matter how much you try to hide it with makeups, it still shows. Usually, everyone has eyebags but for a very skinny person, the color changes to pink instead of its normal black color.

By natural functioning of our body, when we are famished, the brain sends a message to the body to make it want to get fed. This message, which is often ignored by skinny individuals, releases some anxiety into the body system that often leads to moodiness and depression. And what's the point? Undernourishment, which is the biggest cause of skinniness, makes your emotion unstable. And when you begin to experience incessant mood swings, it may be as a result of you being too skinny.

Just take a look at your upper arms. If they are so thin to the extent that your palm can go round them, you are damn too skinny! Usually, muscles are specially aggregated here and the fact that your palm can go round mean you have lost a substantial muscle mass. You would notice it's not only your upper arm that is thin, even your wrist would be so tiny that you may have to use the last hole on your watch before it can stay. These two places are undeniable pieces of evidence of being too skinny.

This happens when your joints seem larger or bigger than the bones they're joining. For example, the wrist looking bigger than the forearm. What this means is that your bones have become reduced compared to the joints.

Most of us have this fleshy part at the back of our legs. When you notice yours is less fleshy or being replaced by bones, it is a clear indication that you are becoming too skinny and that requires immediate intervention. Similarly, when you see that your hands can easily wrap around your legs, you have become too skinny. The muscles of your legs are supposed to be large to an extent in which your palm cannot easily go around it.

This is a huge sign you have become too skinny. It may not be noticeable at first, but as time goes by, it will become more evident that something weird has happened to you. When you notice this, you need to be on your way to make changes immediately. This loss in weight is not usually an accidental one. It would have begone at a time you thought you were still doing fine. And, that is the more reason you should constantly check your weight so you can detect in time if something is not going right.

Since there is little or no muscle to burn out, and the body's energy store has been exhausted, you get easily tired during exercises. You start gasping for breath after jogging or running less than a hundred meters. You have less endurance and break down fast enough. This is another important symptom of being too skinny.

Less sleep, less food, and mood swings all contribute to depression in skinny people. They get anxious easily and cannot hold in fear. This mode is characterized by a feeling of sadness. Depressed people lose interest, concentration, energy levels, and even self-esteem too easily.

Skinny people have evidently visible ribs. A few thin people have visible ribs. But when you can count at least 4 rib bones without actually touching them, it's a sign you are skinny.

This is another evidence that you have become too skinny. The shoulders are covered by muscles that make it difficult to see the shoulder bones. When these bones which are supposed to be hidden covered or covered by flesh become easy to see, it's a sign of being too skinny.

You don't get enough sleep time. It may mean sleeping difficulty or being sleepy during the day. This is because a body that is poorly fed would find it difficult to lay calm at night. In addition to regular exercise, one good way of sleeping well is to feed well. Therefore, if you are not sick and you don't have a pressing challenge as to keep you awake at night, yet you find it difficult to sleep soundly, it may be a signal you have become too skinny

That's a long list of symptoms. If quite a number of those symptoms and signs apply to you, you are not alone. So many people out there too are skinny. There are, however, simple but proven way out. The bulk of the task is in making lifestyle changes. These changes are summarised in ten points below:

1. Eat good food at the appropriate time. Good food in this sense would mean a balanced diet. And though a diet is balanced, if it isn't taken at the correct time, the body would still be lacking in nutrients.

2. Ensure your meal follow the correct dietary requirement for your age group. Different age groups have different dietary requirements, and you will do well to find out which one suits your age.

3. Eat healthy fats like olive oil, whole eggs, peanut butter, and cheese. They help to add some skins to your skeleton.

4. Have proper rest and sleep. Overstressing yourself can make you go skinny even if you are eating well. Sleep nothing less than 7 hours, the recommended amount every day. And when time permits you; it is advisable too that you take some naps even during the day.

5. Take energy drinks while involved in exercises or workouts. This helps to supply the required energy during that period and thus, prevent you from becoming too skinny.

6. Take food supplements such as multivitamins, blood boosters, multi-minerals, etc. These serve as make-up to your normal diet.

7. Rebuild your muscles by taking muscle-building foods such as proteins.

8. If you are the type that leads a sedentary lifestyle, this might be an opportunity to make a change. Exercise is what you cannot avoid if you wish to quit being skinny. It helps build your muscles.

9. Drink enough water, being always hydrated. 70% of our body is composed of water. Taking enough of it will bring life into the weak and dead cells of your body.

10. Eat good fruits too: apples, bananas and the like. And, include a high level of proteins: nuts, eggs, and peanut butter (if not allergic).

Being skinny can be fashionable especially for female celebs but there comes a stage when it becomes a stigma, and that's when you are too skinny. Even as a male, you may not have all the respect due you because of your skinniness. In some parts of the world, it is a direct outcome of abject poverty. But in some other places, the phenomenon can be hereditary. Whatever may be the cause or factor predisposing anyone, being skinny can be addressed if determined efforts on such individual's part would be taken. Having a balanced lifestyle is the way to good health. If you notice you have any of these symptoms, or someone close to you is suffering from any of these, it’s time to make a drastic change in your way of life. Being skinny is not a good one especially if you are conscious of your body shape.

Also note, maintaining a good body shape is the journey of a lifetime. This journey involves a change of diet, increased water consumption, increased exercise and all other items listed above.