[tsutsuki]

I used to bmi 17 before my recovery, people said it definitely showed

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[Bingey]

Felt perfectly healthy.
The 16s are a sweet spot, 15s is ok as well. I feel weak at 14s

 

[mandorlacoconut]

Not the original poster, but I’m curious what you’d consider short. I’m 5’3ish and I’m not sure what I’d call myself.

i’m probably half an inch to an inch shorter than u
Anything 5’3 and under is short

 

[Catface77]

I was fucked at bmi 16. AN (b/p) just not in life at all. Lost everything that made me me. Told my wife the other day I liked my 15.6 body and she was like "you couldn't do anything with that body. You fainted all the time." And it was true.

 

[~ambivalence~]

I’ve been on-and-off at BMI 16-point-whatever for a couple years now. I’m anorexia binge/purge subtype so how I feel depends on which behaviors are reigning supreme at the moment.

At times I’ve been high restricting and binge/purging less, I honestly don't feel bad. I am definitely able to function at daily tasks. Can’t speak with certainty on my health because I’ve not been to a doctor in so long.

When I am binging and purging constantly I feel like utter shit. So fatigued and cold, shaky, headaches and overall body aches. The water weight is more intense at a low weight, too. It comes on with a vengeance at the result of the smallest transgression.

My mental state varies. When mid to high restricting - no binging and purging - I only feel mild brain fog and sometimes, none. When low restricting or B/P-ing I’m dumb as dirt. It wasn’t that severe while at a higher BMI, which is why I am mentioning it.

I am short, only 5 feet 1 inch, so I don’t look emaciated or anything. My arms are thin but my stomach is huge. At lower BMIs any weight re-gained tends to go straight to the middle. You’d notice it yourself, most likely because the “food noise” in my brain is elevated much at bmi 16 as opposed to a higher BMI.

If you have any more specific questions, let me know. Like I said, I’ve been around this BMI on and off for a couple years now.

 

[neurotoxin]

My BMI was hovering around in the mid-16s from September 2018 until August 2019. At that point in my life, my natural set point was around 57 kg so BMI just below 18.2 so it wasn't a huge change from that to a BMI in the 16s. I also lost the weight very slowly.
However, I was definitely restricting and I definitely felt it. My backpack felt heavier to carry, walking upstairs was more difficult, I felt faint and sometimes cold. My brain wasn't working as well as it could be. At the time, I was still mostly in denial about my bipolar disorder and I naively believed that my ED would actually help me keep my mental states under control. I was depressed, I went hypomanic often, I was depressed again. Those are of course non-ED symptoms. I don't think they get exacerbated by ED that much though because they didn't get much worse in my recent relapse beginning in summer 2020.
I looked underweight and small to other people. My friend kept calling me anorexic. My boyfriend said I was too thin and he knew I was anorexic so he was really worried (and pushy about it). I didn't see it. I told my psychiatrist in 2019 that I was anorexic and she didn't question it, just wrote it down and sometimes asked me how I was eating. She saw how I looked so I think it didn't warrant medical intervention, she never asked me my exact weight either.
It is unhealthy. I felt unhealthy. I felt that I wasn't eating enough. My face looked thin and in some pictures my skin looks like it's just kind of hanging on my face.
Here is a picture (idk I hope I don't look big)

Edit: I found more pictures. Some of them look okay. Some of them look scary.

 

[Je suis seul]

Loved ones would express concern, but it wasn't so much about them thinking I was anorexic but rather thinking I was stressed or struggling with one of my health issues which causes nausea. But then I've always been thin, so the weight loss wasn't so drastic/notable, I think. I looked like what I considered, "enviably slim". I didn't feel too thin or unwell until reached 14. So, I'm unhealthy and I can feel it, as opposed to 16 when I just felt slim and great.

 

[Sol_Skinn]

I'm currently at 16 bmi, I was previously much lower but was forced into inpatient, but I'd say anything between 15.5bmi and 16 bmi is a pretty good goal to have, you have an almost anorexic look to you, but not completely, certain parts of your body will still be pretty normal sized (it ranges for person to person, some people will still have chubby cheeks, fingers ect), you'll get comments about how skinny you are, but they're still pretty positive compared to when you get to 14bmi and less

 

[jackalyvia]

Definitely maintainable

 

[firstlove/latespring]

my lowest weight was exactly bmi 16, it was pretty maintainable for me but honestly i barely remember it. i was starved, tired and depressed, foggy brain all day, everyday. but i know one thing, i didn't feel thing enough. i mean i didn't think i was 'fat' but i still wanted to lose 20 lbs and my body felt like shit. but at the same time everyone is different.

 

[mads_is_trying]

i’ve been stuck around BMI 15.8 for over a year now and i hate the way i look. i feel like i’m still too pudgy/normal looking, but i also deal with shitty physical side effects like chronic fatigue, constant bloating and constipation, weak muscles, no period, brain fog, heart palpitations, hypothyroidism, constant hunger, and worsened anxiety and depression. i don’t mentally feel thin enough, but i also don’t physically feel healthy. worst of both worlds 😭 here’s a couple pics of me, if it helps

 

[Faux_Fawn]

At 16 with an extremely low BF% I would say my 2 biggest complaints were the intense anxiety and much it hurt to sit and even lay down. Other than being miserable 24/7 and missing out on life in its entirety, it was just great.

 

[cats_on_cloud9]

From memory it wasn't too bad. I was tired and cold a lot of the time, yellow-tinged skin, and I could only really sit on sofas because other chairs hurt. Also random heart pain

Doesn't sound great, but I still felt invalid as I didn't display or feel some more 'extreme' symptoms, plus my actual body composition/shape looked in the healthy bmi range

 

[ghostgirl13]

Honestly, I don’t know. I hit BMI 16 a few months ago, (I have my ED since like a year now) and I still think I look fat (duh). Everyone sees that I’m thin and even skinny maybe, especially my family. My friends always keep telling me how slim/thin/skinny I am, but I don’t think they suspect anything. Or at least they don’t tell me that. But usually when I’m around them, I eat more. Obviously I don’t want to stay at this weight, but it’s quiet comfortable, actually. Like the previous ones said, I can see my bones very well, but still can hide my body for other people.