How Thin is Too Thin?

If you lose even ONE POUND OF MUSCLE, you are too thin.

That is the primary distinction that I make between girls losing bad weight and losing good weight.  When a girl looks gross skinny, it's almost always a result of losing weight the wrong way - losing muscle.

Oh sure, no one sets out to lose muscle.  The set out to lose "weight".  Notice I never talk about losing "weight" in any of these articles?  I'm not interested in losing weight, and you shouldn't be either.  The scale has nothing to do with how you look or feel.  You should be concerned with losing fat, and your body fat percentage.  Losing fat is ok.  If you lose ANY muscle at all, I'm going to be really angry with you.

You see runway models are gross.  I know, all of those girly magazines out there are telling you that runway models look good.  That's where I come in, I'm a boy.  It makes me kind of unique in the women's fat loss world, this whole being a boy thing.  So I can tell you, guys think runway models are gross.  Guys like Victoria Secret Models.  There is a huge world of difference.

So what is the distinction between runway models and Victoria Secret Models?  Probably about 20lbs difference, in terms of scale weight.  I gaurantee you Victoria Secret Models are much leaner.  In fact, Leticia Casta talks about how she wanted to be a runway model, and that before she became a super-model, she was told she was too fat!  Can you believe that?  It's friggin' crazy. 

So lets talk about that, how crazy that is.  Leticia Casta is pretty lean (bodyfat percentage), but she isn't so lean that she doesn't have breasts.  There is no guy in the world that would trade a healthy looking Leticia Casta for a gross looking runway model.  So why is the fashion industry obsessed with girls that are so skinny they look like boys?  I have no idea.  Do the clothes hang better on girls that look like boys?  Not my area of expertise. 

So now I come back to body fat percentage.  When a girl looks gross, it's because she's lost muscle.  This can happen for a lot of reasons.  If you starve yourself, you will lose muscle and look gross.  If you do too much cardio, you will lose muscle and look gross.  If you don't eat enough protein, you will lose muscle and look gross.  Have your body fat percentage tested.  Keep track of your muscle to fat ratio.  It's the ratio of muscle to fat that will determine how good you look, not your scale weight.

My hottest clients are really little girls who weigh a lot more on the scale than you would think.  They have some muscle.  They look like Victoria Secret Models.  They don't lose muscle ever.  They lose fat, and they look sexy, lean, toned, and HEALTHY.  They are strong, strong girls.  They can do pullups and handstands and hard pushup varations.  They can do bodyweight deadlifts and lunges with heavy dumbbells.  They are healthy and strong.  They eat all the nutrients they need - they eat protein, carbs, and fat, in small meals, often.  They eat like five times per day.

Look like an athlete

So lets say you've achieved enlightenment, and you are focused on body fat percentage instead of scale weight.  This is actually one of the biggest steps you can take in terms of having a healthier relationship to your body image.  The next step is  - what is a good body fat percentage?

24-30% you are a pretty cute girl.
At 21-23% body fat or below, you are really, really hot.  Whether you know it or not, guys are checking you out all of the time.
18-21% is rockstar lean. 

I never take girls below 18%.  Below 19% most girls don't have breasts, and they look like really fit boys.  In fact, some of my female clients look better at 23% than they would at 18%.  It's an individual thing to your body.  But somewhere in the 18-23% range is where you are going to look really really hot.

So what happens when you get into that magical range of 18-23%?  You're done.  You are as hot as you ever need to be.  Many clients have a really hard time accepting this.  Which goes to show how bad the body dismorphia (distorted body image) is in our society.  Or maybe it's just that most people can't ever deal with the fact that they are "good enough". 

The truth is though, when you hit in that 18-23% range, you are a really really hot girl.  You are done.  Your next goal shouldn't be a body composition goal, it should be a fun goal.  A fun goal like: Doing your first pullup, your first one legged squat, running your first marathon (or even better - running a really fast 5k time), climbing a mountian, who knows, what ever is fun for you.  Set a performance goal.  And enjoy the fact that you are hot enough already. 

My book The Stubborn Seven Pounds: How Go From Good To Rockstar, comes with an eight week journal.  One of the exercises in the journal is to write down one thing, every day, that you love about your body.  Try that.  In your workout log or your food log - right before you go to sleep at night or first thing in the morning when you wake up - write down one thing that you love about your body.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds: Take Your Body from Good to Rockstar.
National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES)
Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor (RKC) and Combat Applications Specialist (RKC/CAS)

Comments

[wzljc]

http://wzljc.blogspot.com/
come to my blog can help you Burnthefat

[russ greene]

Well I did 339 on fight gone bad today.

I like your posts. I think that guys like girls who have similar exercise programs (or lack thereof) to them. Crossfit guys like crossfit girls, runner guys like runner girls, sedentary geeks like sedentary geeks, etc. It's all very subjective. That said, I saw a girl in the gym yesterday doing snatch pulls, overhead squats, and one leg squats, with nice breasts, flat stomach, and a great ass, and it was a beautiful sight. If you're a guy and you can't appreciate something like that, something's wrong with you. Some guys still prefer the anorexic look though, and some think that any amount of muscle looks masculine. Those guys tend to be the sedentary geeks.

[Judy]

I think it's a little rude and insensitive how you keep going on about runway models being 'gross'. I happen to be naturally thin and have the figure of a runway model WITHOUT ever dieting or worrying about my weight. I am 5.9 and a size 4 and I eat about 6 meals a day and live a healthy life style. It took me a while to accept that being this slim is ok (meaning: having small hips, small butt and small breasts) but I can now accept myself and be proud of my body. So to then hear you saying that runway models look gross is not cool. Perhaps you could say that it's simply not your personal particular taste, or perhaps that the anorexic (! there is a difference!) look is gross, but girls that are naturally very slim (ballerina figure) are NOT gross.
And by the way, many of the Victoria's Secret girls have implants.

[rainydaze]

To Judy: Runaway models are usually severely underweight and at a size zero (or even less!), most of them have so little body fat that they don't even menstruate. So yeah they are gross. And the fact that many girls and women feel that these are role models to follow in terms of health and body shape, is just plain gross. It puts your health at risk, so it is gross. You're a size 4 and u're probably healthy and slim. Now, size zero, non-menstruating runaway models who consider lettuce, celery, vodka and cigarettes their main meals are just plain SCARY. And gross.

My 5'10 friend is a size 4, fit as fiddle, toned and strong even though she's skinny looking. She can wolf down a big mac and large fries in less than 5mins, weight trains twice a week, eats modestly on some days, and more on other days. That's faaar from being anywhere near unhealthy. There's nothing unattractive about having small breats, butt or hips as long as your body is healthy looking, and u don't look like a starving person from some refuge camp. Jessica Alba is a perfect example of this as she has small boobs and almost flat hips, but because she's fit and lean, everything looks perky and that makes her look so darn good.

[bit**]

you know what? runway models are gorgeous. not everyone has to be a fat ass looking person. ew.. just so you'd know::cause it seems you know nothing about the fahion world... almost all the models on the runway are naturally thin. its just that there are too many obese and overweight people in this world that think naturally thin is anorexic. and victorias secret models are really pretty too, (they are very much the same size as regular runway models) so yeah...

[liana]

I'm 20, I've been running for the past year, and I do tae kwon do. Now I'm really light and faster at running, but I haven't worked enough on building muscle. I always make sure to eat plenty to at least fuel and recover from workouts and not lose muscle, but I probably have been losing muscle. Earlier in the summer I was at a good bmi (20% I think) I'm 5'3" and I weighed 114 for a long time. Then in the fall I had a job and went back to school, and I got sick for one week thanks to lack of sleep, and I started losing weight. It just kept going too, and I didn't want it to. I was then at 106 for a while, and had to get back on track from when I was sick. I guess I didn't really try to find out how to gain the weight back, but I kept exercising (cardio including running, biking, and ddr, since I'm a dork) and just figured that the 30 sit ups and 20 push ups I was doing at tae kwon do were enough strength training. I'm starting to think that was wrong. My boyfriend sometimes comments that my legs are skinny. When I look at myself I feel like I'm too skinny now, with a bmi of 18.4, and I guess I'm worried about it getting worse. I'm eating more, about 2500 calories a day in 5 to 6 small meals a day. There's a pull up bar in my garage, and I'm gonna start some strength training today.

[Joshua Hillis]

Hi liana!

Make sure you get a push, a pull, a squat, and a deadlift in your workout program.

Add strength to each of those lifts, and make sure you're getting enough protein.

Have fun!

[Jenna]

I just have to say that I am so thankful for this article. I struggle so often with my body image because for some reason I have it in my head that the "skinny toned boy look" is what is attractive. 3 years ago I started losing a lot of weight due to an unknown (at the time) health issue and because of this weight loss I got excited and started trying to lose even more weight. I begin to starve myself and worked out twice a day (cardio and light weights). The result was a 34lb loss in 3 months (from 115 lbs to 81 lbs at 5'2). I looked more than gross! Yet, now that I have finally gained most of that weight back, I have been feeling extremely huge and fat because I have had this "beautiful" image of when I was bone skinny. HOWEVER, this article has been very encouraging (thank you, Josh), not only has it changed my mind about wanting to starve myself and do as much cardio as possible, but Josh has given me ideas about how to eat and exercise in order to actually look good and be healthy. I want to be lean, but not bony. As Josh put it, I want to look like a lean athlete. I will begin to focus more on getting stronger and eating to energize my workouts and feed my muscle rather than on whether or not I can fit back into the 00 stretch jeans I wore when I weighed 81 lbs and looked like a scary (gross) 10 year old boy!

Thank you for being honest and bringing reality to the women who read this article, Josh. And thank you for giving me a new and healthy perspective; after all, health is what working out should be all about anyway!

[Joshua Hillis]

Hi Jenna!

I'm so so glad you got all that from the article!

It's so not about scale weight.

Eat to fuel your workouts, and workout to be proud of what your body can do.

Most of all - have fun!

Josh

[stephanie]

Thank you so much for this article! I have had struggles with my weight and body image since I was 9, yes 9! I am now 22 and am still dealing with the effects of eating disorders. When I was about 17 I started doing a serious starvation diet and tried to kill myself several times. I am 5' 11" and I went from a unhealthy 190 to an even more unhealthy 150 in a very short amount of time. My hair was falling out and I stopped having a cycle. Not long after that I started popping stackers like candy along with the frequent laxatives I was consuming. And when I came close to a heart attack (my pulse was 175 BPM) I knew I had to stop. I gained all that weight back an about 20 pounds more. So now my struggle is getting that fat off the right way. I wrote all this because I want people to know that this stuff is real, and it is not worth it to starve yourself. My heart beat is irregular at times and so sometimes it is scary and I still can't remember how long I starved myself. I just wanted people to know that body image is a serious subject and something that needs to be seriously addressed. I thank you so much for writing this article, it helps more than words can say.

[Joshua Hillis]

Thanks for sharing your story Stephanie.

Would you be willing to share some of the strategies you use now to deal with food? How has your mindset about food changed? What do you think is a healthy relationship to food?

[Stephanie]

First, I would have to say that you have to educate yourself on all of the different strategies that are out there. I have seen overwhelming evidence to support that multiple small meals eaten throughout the day is the best strategy. So that has become my first realization. Next, evaluating everything that you do eat is important. I know that a lot of the times I have to ask myself whether I don't want to eat because I am truly not hungry or whether it is something deeper. Listen to your body. My mindset towards food has changed dramatically. I can't say that I no longer have those days where eating something is a chore or something painful, but after you eat something that is good for you like fruit or veggies you feel better about yourself and physically your body feels nourished as well. That last question is a good question, I think that it is important to be realistic with yourself...I know that I will have those days where I don't want to eat, but I also tell myself the consequences that come with that are not to my benefit and will only hurt me in my goals. So food is no longer an enemy, but something that will lead you to your future goals. I have learned that Goal setting, evaluation, and knowledge are the best tools to utalize. I hope that answers your questions.

[Stephanie]

First, I would have to say that you have to educate yourself on all of the different strategies that are out there. I have seen overwhelming evidence to support that multiple small meals eaten throughout the day is the best strategy. So that has become my first realization. Next, evaluating everything that you do eat is important. I know that a lot of the times I have to ask myself whether I don't want to eat because I am truly not hungry or whether it is something deeper. Listen to your body. My mindset towards food has changed dramatically. I can't say that I no longer have those days where eating something is a chore or something painful, but after you eat something that is good for you like fruit or veggies you feel better about yourself and physically your body feels nourished as well. That last question is a good question, I think that it is important to be realistic with yourself...I know that I will have those days where I don't want to eat, but I also tell myself the consequences that come with that are not to my benefit and will only hurt me in my goals. So eating is no longer an enemy, but something that will lead you to your future goals. I have learned that Goal setting, evaluation, and knowledge are the best tools to utalize. I hope that answers your questions.

[Stephanie]

First, I would have to say that you have to educate yourself on all of the different strategies that are out there. I have seen overwhelming evidence to support that multiple small meals eaten throughout the day is the best strategy. So that has become my first realization. Next, evaluating everything that you do eat is important. I know that a lot of the times I have to ask myself whether I don't want to eat because I am truly not hungry or whether it is something deeper. Listen to your body. My mindset towards food has changed dramatically. I can't say that I no longer have those days where eating something is a chore or something painful, but after you eat something that is good for you like fruit or veggies you feel better about yourself and physically your body feels nourished as well. That last question is a good question, I think that it is important to be realistic with yourself...I know that I will have those days where I don't want to eat, but I also tell myself the consequences that come with that are not to my benefit and will only hurt me in my goals. So eating is no longer an enemy, but something that will lead you to your future goals. I have learned that Goal setting, evaluation, and knowledge are the best tools to utalize. I hope that answers your questions.

[Stephanie]

First, I would have to say that you have to educate yourself on all of the different strategies that are out there. I have seen overwhelming evidence to support that multiple small meals eaten throughout the day is the best strategy. So that has become my first realization. Next, evaluating everything that you do eat is important. I know that a lot of the times I have to ask myself whether I don't want to eat because I am truly not hungry or whether it is something deeper. Listen to your body. My mindset towards food has changed dramatically. I can't say that I no longer have those days where eating something is a chore or something painful, but after you eat something that is good for you like fruit or veggies you feel better about yourself and physically your body feels nourished as well. That last question is a good question, I think that it is important to be realistic with yourself...I know that I will have those days where I don't want to eat, but I also tell myself the consequences that come with that are not to my benefit and will only hurt me in my goals. So eating is no longer an enemy, but something that will lead you to your future goals. I have learned that Goal setting, evaluation, and knowledge are the best tools to utalize. I hope that answers your questions.

[Jessica]

I think i have muscle dysmorphia!! ahhh!! i'm like 18 or 19% body fat, 140, 5 foot 9 and i always think i can improve on this and that. i'm strong but i can be stronger, i'm a size 0 or 2 but i can fit in my clothes better, i have a flat toned stomach but i could be even more toned. luckily i ENJOY working out and improving my body and eating healthily and still have breasts :) (DD's, i have no idea how that happened!)

[Kathy]

I am fascinated by this website! I was about 125 15 yrs ago, then after 3 kids got real fat, then lost weight to about 130, gained about 15 back now I'm at 140 but flabby as crap on my thighs and under my arms, I feel so gross. I run about 3 miles, but not sure where else to start to get all muscle and no fat. My fat thighs have go to go, I had a tummy tuck so that is all nice and small. My biggest question is How much protien do I need to keep my muscle? Is it in your book, I need help and am so desperate to get rid of this fat. Underarm fat, can that ever be toned after someone loses lots of weight?
Argh, so many questions? I wish I cld hire you to be my trainer, I would give anything, but I live in OK (pouts)
I'm 42 and don't want to live the rest of my life with thunder thighs Ü

Thanks, Kathy

[Darrel needs to lose weight in a safe and natural way...]

I would like to add something about the Program

Josh had me doing exercises I had never even heard of before, As soon as I tried "Renegade Rows", I could feel my whole body getting firmer and tighter! I realized why all of the exercises I'd gotten out of magazines were totally useless, and how these new full body exercises were melting the fat right off of me!

These workouts are different. We didn't do bicep curls or leg curls. We didn't spend a lot of time on machines. The power is in the movements, and these "accelerated fat loss moves" were way more intense than anything I'd ever done before. They kicked my butt!

I'll be honest - these workouts are NOT EASY. Hey, I figure if you want a workout where you dont sweat, go to curves. I wanted hard workouts that get results.

Josh's "Stubborn Seven Pounds" workouts are different because Josh has a different background from all of the other fat loss trainers out there. Josh actually stumbled on this program totally by accident. You see, he used to train like all of the other fat loss trainers out there, and he got his clients ok results, just like all of the other trainers.

But then back in 2004, just playing around with his clients, he stumbled onto the secret. You see Josh hangs out with military trainers and some of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the world. "Just for fun" he mixed in some of the hard-core workouts he learned from his strength and conditioning friends, and his clients loved it. They thought it was the most fun workouts they had ever done. Because his clients loved the workouts, Josh kept doing 'em. Then something unbelievable happened...

His clients started losing weight FASTER. And even more exciting, it jump started the fat loss of some of his leanest clients. Something about the intensity of the workouts and the power of these new full body movements was turbocharging his clients fat loss.

When I first heard about this I was excited, but I was also kind of nervous - are the workouts too hard-core? I want to lose fat, but I don't want to look like a big military dude either! But my friend who referred me to Josh, assured me that Josh works almost exclusively with girls just like me. In fact 83% of his clients are women who came to him in good shape, just needing to work with Josh so that they could lose the stubborn seven pounds. Josh is a specialist in working with women and helping them create what he calls the "rockstar body".

[alden]

I'm 5'7 and I used to be 118-121 lbs and 17% body fat. I'm now 128-130 lbs and 19% body fat. I'm in a sorority and I've been getting a lot of pressure to lose the weight. Thanks for this article. It makes me realize how ridiculous those girls are.