Scale, measuring tape, fat caliper or dress size?
Replies
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obscuremusicreference wrote: »
ETA: Clothing sizes are insane. 5'6" 200-pound women are not supposed to be size twelves. I also have a pair of size 15 jeans that I've only recently been able to wear again.
I do think that clothing sizes vary but not more than body types do. I've seen women at 150lbs who look more like 250lbs to me. And conversely, some 200lb+ women look much smaller/leaner to me than their weight would imply. I guess height is a big factor but also the amount of lean muscle mass vs. bodyfat. It amazes me when I look at pictures on this site (and all over the internet) and read what some of the weights are. I remember (when I was much smaller) I would get weighed at the doctor's office on those old scales where you slide that thing from 100 to 150 to 200, etc. The nurses would always assume they should slide the thing to 100 for me when I knew it should be 150 because I was about 155lbs. I recall one nurse thought the scale was broken until I told her what I weighed. I guess it's good that they thought I weighed less but that just told me that the scale is not a good measure of someone's size. Hence, it's not a good indicator of what size clothing they would or should wear. That's my long drawn out way of saying that I do think a 200lb woman can wear a size 12. I did (actually, I am now fitting into my size 12's again) and I'm just under 5'8".
you are lucky. i think my body is not typical in being a size 12/14 at 140 pounds though.
I'm talking about womens size 12 in the US, just to be clear. I've worked out for 20+ years so I think that gave me a lot of muscle under this fat suit, lol. When I was in college I was about 135lbs and wore a juniors 9/10. When I was 150lbs about 3 years ago, I was squeezing into a women's size 6 (size 8 fit perfectly) and was the smallest I had been in my adult life, I think. And that's with having pretty thick thighs and glutes; I'm a pear.
It's hard for me to know whether, at my starting weight of 240lbs, I looked like the "typical" 240lber. As you stated, and I concur, I didn't realize I was fat until I saw pictures. I literally was not able to fit into my winter coats which were XL (because I have long arms) and I still was in denial. Even now, I am closing in on 40lbs lost and it's hard for me to see the difference in the mirror. Even though everyone is telling me (even the ones who don't know I'm "dieting"). I know I must be much smaller because the XL coats fit again and the 12 pants I couldn't button last year I am wearing and they aren't loose but perfectly acceptable to wear.
Perhaps you like to wear your clothes looser than I do?0 -
obscuremusicreference wrote: »
ETA: Clothing sizes are insane. 5'6" 200-pound women are not supposed to be size twelves. I also have a pair of size 15 jeans that I've only recently been able to wear again.
I do think that clothing sizes vary but not more than body types do. I've seen women at 150lbs who look more like 250lbs to me. And conversely, some 200lb+ women look much smaller/leaner to me than their weight would imply. I guess height is a big factor but also the amount of lean muscle mass vs. bodyfat. It amazes me when I look at pictures on this site (and all over the internet) and read what some of the weights are. I remember (when I was much smaller) I would get weighed at the doctor's office on those old scales where you slide that thing from 100 to 150 to 200, etc. The nurses would always assume they should slide the thing to 100 for me when I knew it should be 150 because I was about 155lbs. I recall one nurse thought the scale was broken until I told her what I weighed. I guess it's good that they thought I weighed less but that just told me that the scale is not a good measure of someone's size. Hence, it's not a good indicator of what size clothing they would or should wear. That's my long drawn out way of saying that I do think a 200lb woman can wear a size 12. I did (actually, I am now fitting into my size 12's again) and I'm just under 5'8".
you are lucky. i think my body is not typical in being a size 12/14 at 140 pounds though.
I'm talking about womens size 12 in the US, just to be clear. I've worked out for 20+ years so I think that gave me a lot of muscle under this fat suit, lol. When I was in college I was about 135lbs and wore a juniors 9/10. When I was 150lbs about 3 years ago, I was squeezing into a women's size 6 (size 8 fit perfectly) and was the smallest I had been in my adult life, I think. And that's with having pretty thick thighs and glutes; I'm a pear.
It's hard for me to know whether, at my starting weight of 240lbs, I looked like the "typical" 24lber. As you stated, and I concur, I didn't realize I was fat until I saw pictures. I literally was not able to fit into my winter coats which were XL (because I have long arms) and I still was in denial. Even now, I am closing in on 40lbs lost and it's hard for me to see the difference in the mirror. Even though everyone is telling me (even the ones who don't know I'm "dieting"). I know I must be much smaller because the XL coats fit again and the 12 pants I couldn't button last year I am wearing and they aren't loose but perfectly acceptable to wear.
Perhaps you like to wear your clothes looser than I do?
yeah, US size 12 or maybe size 14. i was squeezing into the 12's. I have very wide hips naturally due to bone structure and gain all of my weight on my thighs, butt and stomach. I'm also not muscular. Now I'm around 106 pounds and finally a size 2. Most people reach size 2 at a higher weight. I was also still a size small in tops though at my highest weight, my body is extreme on the pear shape.0 -
The dog with the 'fro is cracking me up, btw. OMG, 106lbs? You must have to hold onto things when it's windy!
I'm a pear, too, but not extreme, I guess. And even though I have big legs and butt, I don't think my actual hips are wide. I gained a lot of weight over the past two years and gained fat in places I never dreamed possible. I used to yo-yo before +/- 20lbs and would gain mostly in thighs and butt. This last time, I got bigger boobs, looked 7 months pregnant, my very thin face got rounder, ugh. It was horrific. Can't let that happen ever again.
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The dog with the 'fro is cracking me up, btw. OMG, 106lbs? You must have to hold onto things when it's windy!
I'm a pear, too, but not extreme, I guess. And even though I have big legs and butt, I don't think my actual hips are wide. I gained a lot of weight over the past two years and gained fat in places I never dreamed possible. I used to yo-yo before +/- 20lbs and would gain mostly in thighs and butt. This last time, I got bigger boobs, looked 7 months pregnant, my very thin face got rounder, ugh. It was horrific. Can't let that happen ever again.
hehe, yeah, i love afro ken. he's adorable.
oh right, i also gained it in my face. it was a terrible look. not in my boobs at all though unfortunately.0 -
i'm confused. you were wearing a size 12 when you were 200 pounds? i was wearing a size 12, but probably really a 14 since it was tight when I was only 140 pounds. i'm 5'4".
I'm 5'1" and I was a size 14 at my SW of 155. Now I'm down to 140lbs and I'm comfortably back down to a size 12. (This is using Banana Republic US/Canada petite sizes as a reference point... I wear BR a lot 'cause I'm short, so it's a good guide for me.) So no, I don't think you're that unusual to be in a size 12/14 at 140lbs.
It has to do with body fat percentage, yeah. But also weight distribution. I'm pear shaped, like you -- my hips are 10" wider than my waist at its smallest point -- and I tend to gain weight at the hips first and lose weight off the hips last. I'm guessing you're the same.
My goal weight is 115lbs, at which I expect I'll be about a size 8, going by the last time I was that weight. I don't ever see myself achieving a size 2. I just don't think I'm built that way, and I'm not prepared to go to extreme lengths to get there. But comfortably maintaining at a size 8 (or, dare I hope, 6...? Though I'd probably have to get down to ~100-105lbs or thereabouts to achieve that) would make me happy.
Clothing size is just one part of the equation.0 -
The dog with the 'fro is cracking me up, btw. OMG, 106lbs? You must have to hold onto things when it's windy!
I'm a pear, too, but not extreme, I guess. And even though I have big legs and butt, I don't think my actual hips are wide. I gained a lot of weight over the past two years and gained fat in places I never dreamed possible. I used to yo-yo before +/- 20lbs and would gain mostly in thighs and butt. This last time, I got bigger boobs, looked 7 months pregnant, my very thin face got rounder, ugh. It was horrific. Can't let that happen ever again.
hehe, yeah, i love afro ken. he's adorable.
oh right, i also gained it in my face. it was a terrible look. not in my boobs at all though unfortunately.
I'm actually looking forward to going back to being flat-chested. No pain or bounce when I workout and can get away with no bra 99 percent of the time!0 -
By the way, mybodygallery.com/ has user-submitted photos of people at different heights, weights, body shapes and clothing sizes. Quite the spectrum.0
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For now mine is the scale. I am trying to reach 130 by the end of the year. I want to start the year off as 130lbs so I am focusing on the scale right now. Later I will focus on measurements, but I have not decided when.0
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I am tracking multiple sources of data, but how I use them has changed as I have lost weight.
My health stats--BP, cholesterol, general health--was the most important reason to lose and those were documented by my doctor to be in the healthy range about 40 pounds ago. So I'm not focusing on that as much now.
About 10 pounds ago I started really liking the mirror, though I'm still overweight. I'd be fine with staying a size 10-12 (US), though I'd probably look better if smaller and wouldn't mind losing some more. I just don't feel the urgency to look different that I felt when I was heavier.
Right now, I'm mostly making a weight-related decision to keep losing, since my BMI is clearly in the overweight range. This is more about reducing my long-term health risk since there is no immediate health issue being caused by my diet/exercise/weight. When you are in your 40s as I am, you start worrying about what's coming down the pike, health-wise. Would like to make things as easy on myself as possible.
When I hit a normal BMI, I plan focusing on body fat % and on making sure it's in a healthy range too. Will probably go get another independent measure of that to verify I'm there since I don't know how accurate my scale's estimates are.
Finally, once both weight and BF% are in "healthy" zone, then I stop caring about numbers. I'll shift to focusing on maintaining what I've accomplished and making progress on fitness goals. I'd like to run faster. Maybe train for a half-marathon.0 -
you are lucky. i think my body is not typical in being a size 12/14 at 140 pounds though.
My mother and I both wear size 10 and she is 5'4" and 120 pounds. I'm 5'5" and 165. I was size 12 around 180, she at 130. The difference is due to the fact that she is very sedentary because of her fibromyalgia and other health problems. Probably low-muscle. She also is low in bone density (not osteoporosis, but it runs in the family and she is borderline), so that might matter too. But I am much more muscular.
We also carry our weight differently--we've stood side by side in the mirror in the same pair of pants (well, okay, different pants... but two different pairs of the same brand/size/style) to figure out where this extra weight is on me! I'm mostly carrying it in my chest (B for her vs DD for me), legs (She has bird legs where I have muscular thighs and monster calves that won't let me wear boots), and arms (skinny vs. more fleshy). Bottom line is we all carry weight differently and the pant size is mostly determined by the weight carried in your butt/thighs/waist. Tells you nothing about the rest of your body's size.
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I'm 5'6", 172, and a 12/14 in pants. But I'm looking at that website segacs posted and it's interesting to see the range of sizes. All I have to say about this lady is that she must have some dense bones.0
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obscuremusicreference wrote: »
ETA: Clothing sizes are insane. 5'6" 200-pound women are not supposed to be size twelves. I also have a pair of size 15 jeans that I've only recently been able to wear again.
I do think that clothing sizes vary but not more than body types do. I've seen women at 150lbs who look more like 250lbs to me. And conversely, some 200lb+ women look much smaller/leaner to me than their weight would imply. I guess height is a big factor but also the amount of lean muscle mass vs. bodyfat. It amazes me when I look at pictures on this site (and all over the internet) and read what some of the weights are. I remember (when I was much smaller) I would get weighed at the doctor's office on those old scales where you slide that thing from 100 to 150 to 200, etc. The nurses would always assume they should slide the thing to 100 for me when I knew it should be 150 because I was about 155lbs. I recall one nurse thought the scale was broken until I told her what I weighed. I guess it's good that they thought I weighed less but that just told me that the scale is not a good measure of someone's size. Hence, it's not a good indicator of what size clothing they would or should wear. That's my long drawn out way of saying that I do think a 200lb woman can wear a size 12. I did (actually, I am now fitting into my size 12's again) and I'm just under 5'8".
you are lucky. i think my body is not typical in being a size 12/14 at 140 pounds though.
I'm talking about womens size 12 in the US, just to be clear. I've worked out for 20+ years so I think that gave me a lot of muscle under this fat suit, lol. When I was in college I was about 135lbs and wore a juniors 9/10. When I was 150lbs about 3 years ago, I was squeezing into a women's size 6 (size 8 fit perfectly) and was the smallest I had been in my adult life, I think. And that's with having pretty thick thighs and glutes; I'm a pear.
It's hard for me to know whether, at my starting weight of 240lbs, I looked like the "typical" 24lber. As you stated, and I concur, I didn't realize I was fat until I saw pictures. I literally was not able to fit into my winter coats which were XL (because I have long arms) and I still was in denial. Even now, I am closing in on 40lbs lost and it's hard for me to see the difference in the mirror. Even though everyone is telling me (even the ones who don't know I'm "dieting"). I know I must be much smaller because the XL coats fit again and the 12 pants I couldn't button last year I am wearing and they aren't loose but perfectly acceptable to wear.
Perhaps you like to wear your clothes looser than I do?
yeah, US size 12 or maybe size 14. i was squeezing into the 12's. I have very wide hips naturally due to bone structure and gain all of my weight on my thighs, butt and stomach. I'm also not muscular. Now I'm around 106 pounds and finally a size 2. Most people reach size 2 at a higher weight. I was also still a size small in tops though at my highest weight, my body is extreme on the pear shape.
I am a size 14, rarely 12. My weight at 5'3" is 200lbs. The fat centers on my butt, hips, thighs & stomach. But then, I AM interested in building muscle, so there you go.0 -
By the way, mybodygallery.com/ has user-submitted photos of people at different heights, weights, body shapes and clothing sizes. Quite the spectrum.
I think I visited this site a while back but thanks for posting. It is wild how many shapes and sizes there are for people of the same height and weight! Or the differences in shapes for people of different heights but the same weight or size pants. Holy cow. I think this site clearly demonstrates the lean muscle vs. bodyfat difference.0 -
I think this site clearly demonstrates the lean muscle vs. bodyfat difference.
That's part of it, for sure. But there are also so many different shapes and sizes, different places where people carry their weight, and of course, massive differences from one brand to the next on what constitutes a particular clothing size.
What I get from this is that we're all worthy. And we're all so much more than the size on our jeans label.0 -
i'm confused. you were wearing a size 12 when you were 200 pounds? i was wearing a size 12, but probably really a 14 since it was tight when I was only 140 pounds. i'm 5'4".
I'm 5'1" and I was a size 14 at my SW of 155. Now I'm down to 140lbs and I'm comfortably back down to a size 12. (This is using Banana Republic US/Canada petite sizes as a reference point... I wear BR a lot 'cause I'm short, so it's a good guide for me.) So no, I don't think you're that unusual to be in a size 12/14 at 140lbs.
It has to do with body fat percentage, yeah. But also weight distribution. I'm pear shaped, like you -- my hips are 10" wider than my waist at its smallest point -- and I tend to gain weight at the hips first and lose weight off the hips last. I'm guessing you're the same.
My goal weight is 115lbs, at which I expect I'll be about a size 8, going by the last time I was that weight. I don't ever see myself achieving a size 2. I just don't think I'm built that way, and I'm not prepared to go to extreme lengths to get there. But comfortably maintaining at a size 8 (or, dare I hope, 6...? Though I'd probably have to get down to ~100-105lbs or thereabouts to achieve that) would make me happy.
Clothing size is just one part of the equation.
but i'm 3 inches taller than you at 5'4". I think being size 12 is pretty unusual at my height and 140 pounds. yeah, my reference point is also banana republic.0
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