Why am I slim yet wide? Should I lose more weight? What to do? Help!

KittenTamer91
KittenTamer91 Posts: 54 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello I'm new to MFP. I've lost so much weight over the months. I'm close to being underweight honestly. My stomach is flat and so is my chest now and and bum and so on but what I don't understand is why am I still wide. I see other women who weigh more than me yet are narrow [below]. I'm trying to narrow myself down below but no matter how much I exercise, eat healthy and lose weight I remain the same width. WHY? Sorry for freaking out. Here are example pics.

2lvipew.jpg

2njy9nb.jpg
Look how wide I am [below] in this pic! But I am so slim from a side view. I don't get it. How can I become less wide?
:neutral:
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Replies

  • psmd
    psmd Posts: 764 Member
    girl that's your bone structure!!! you look great!
  • cmcdonald525
    cmcdonald525 Posts: 140 Member
    psmd wrote: »
    girl that's your bone structure!!! you look great!

    This!
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
    You are woman-shaped! You certainly don't look like you should be wanting to lose any more weight.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. You are super skinny and narrow!
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    edited April 2015
    For the same reason I'm bald: Because genetics.
  • KittenTamer91
    KittenTamer91 Posts: 54 Member
    ]
    psmd wrote: »
    girl that's your bone structure!!! you look great!
    Are you sure? Even though I'm slim from the side I often feel pear shaped. I wish I was more banana or inverted triangle. Or even hourglass. In my college I see so many other ladies who are more narrow below.

  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
    edited April 2015
    KittenTamer91 wrote: »
    ]
    psmd wrote: »
    girl that's your bone structure!!! you look great!
    Are you sure? Even though I'm slim from the side I often feel pear shaped. I wish I was more banana or inverted triangle. Or even hourglass. In my college I see so many other ladies who are more narrow below.
    Banana shaped??
    5zyf7x3s7d4l.jpg
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I'm not seeing any "wide" in your photos. :neutral:

    If you're close to being underweight, I wouldn't keep trying to lose, unless you want to be bony and gaunt, which doesn't look good on anybody, in my opinion.

  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    I think you're wishing for "willowy" but not all women are that shape. You should be proud of how far you've come!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Also don't you want to look like a woman, rather than a straight up and down figure, like a boy??
  • KittenTamer91
    KittenTamer91 Posts: 54 Member
    [/quote]
    Banana shaped??
    [/quote]

    Banana shaped means straight shaped. Well that's what it said when I looked up body shapes.

  • KittenTamer91
    KittenTamer91 Posts: 54 Member
    Ok sorry for worrying so much. I just wish I was more narrow. You know like athletic built. I envy busty women [who's bust and shoulders are wider than their lower half].
  • MynameisJerryB
    MynameisJerryB Posts: 168 Member
    For whatever it's worth, you look great as is. Nothing in your pics looks wide or un proportioned. You have nice curves, everyone has different bone structures, just be you and rock it and enjoy all that you've accomplished.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    For what it's worth, men tend to find women more attractive who have a .7 waist/hip ratio. If you were more narrow in the hips, then you would not have that advantage. Although you should never devote self-worth to what others think or find attractive, it's at least a small consolation to know that even if you can't have your own ideal body type, you do have the body type that many others find ideal.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    I honestly don't think you look wide. We are our own harshest critics, and I think you're seeing yourself way differently than you look in reality. A lot of people who lose a lot of weight experience this, actually.

    That being said, it's just your natural shape! I'm the same way - very wide hips and shoulders. It bums me out sometimes that no matter how much weight I lose, I'll never be "small" like a lot of my friends. I'm always going to be wider and take up more space. But there are positives, too - those womanly curves can look awesome! I think you look amazing in that dress - you obviously have a small waist, but also an awesome feminine shape. I know a lot of "skinny" girls who would kill for that to be honest. One of those "the grass is always greener" things :)

    You mentioned that you're nearing underweight, so please don't attempt to lose any more. You look great, and there's no need to become unhealthy in an attempt to look less wide. Love the skin you're in. You've worked hard for it!
  • Unknown
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  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Even if you were naturally wide, it's the bone structure you were born with and there'd be nothing you could do about it. And like another poster mentioned the majority of men don't like the stick thin, no shape look. I've never met one that has...
  • KittenTamer91
    KittenTamer91 Posts: 54 Member
    Ok then. Thanks guys. I guess this whole time I've been worrying over nothing. Thanks so much for your help. I'll stop attempting to lose more weight. I'll just work on maintaining it.

    I have one more question though. Will I always have my flat bum and flat chest due to my shape or is there a way to fix that? Are there ways to shape my bum and chest better without surgery? Like a special diet or exercise?
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    That can be fixed with exercise. Try lifting weights, full body moves like squats and deadlifts, pushups and pullups, overhead press and rows. You can work on rounding out your butt and shoulders, and that will make your curves more balanced.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I've got a flat bum too. Lunges and squats are your best friends :D
  • KittenTamer91
    KittenTamer91 Posts: 54 Member
    SnuggleSmacks wrote: »
    That can be fixed with exercise. Try lifting weights, full body moves like squats and deadlifts, pushups and pullups, overhead press and rows. You can work on rounding out your butt and shoulders, and that will make your curves more balanced.
    Thanks!
  • Anniepi66
    Anniepi66 Posts: 45 Member
    Have looked and looked. I don't see any wide! You are fine. Listen to me. You are fine. You have a curve between your top and bottom, which is exactly the way a woman should look. If you are measuring yourself by the stick figure models who have to fit into a size 0, you don't need to be doing that! You are beautiful. I would kill for your body, which I will NEVER have, no matter how much I lose. And please be happy with all the work you've done and what you've lost. You don't have to answer to anyone else. That 'wide' that you see is your BONE structure! They are not going to get unwide! Which, again, you are not wide. You are not. Now enjoy all those pretty clothes you can wear, the bikini you can wear. You. Are. Not. Wide. :)
  • bulk_n_cut
    bulk_n_cut Posts: 389 Member
    both girls and guys like wide thingsss
  • denden736
    denden736 Posts: 2 Member
    sucks to hear but its all genetics. just the way your body was made and your bone structure. you still have way more curve than me and i'm at 17% bf so its definitely not changing on my end haha
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    KittenTamer91 wrote: »
    I have one more question though. Will I always have my flat bum and flat chest due to my shape or is there a way to fix that? Are there ways to shape my bum and chest better without surgery? Like a special diet or exercise?

    Heavy weightlifting - particularly, heavy squats - can help lift and shape your bum, though some of that is always going to be determined by genetics. I've always had a large behind but I have noticed it's gotten more shapely and perky since I started lifting weights.

    Unfortunately for the chest, there's not much that you can do that I know of. If you discover the secret, please let me know *grumble*

    But yeah, the other thing I was going to suggest if you're not happy with your body is to try body recomposition (meaning you don't lose any more weight, but attempt to "tone up" by putting on some muscle). You can never change your natural bone structure - so you probably won't end up looking less "wide" - but body recomp can help with things like shaping your booty. For that you'd want to pretty much cut out cardio and focus on strength building.



  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    edited April 2015
    Wide...where?

    I see long-waisted and no curves at all, but I don't see anything wide.

    My guess is that you might look more attractive in separates than in dresses. A padded bra could help too. However, there is nothing WRONG with the way you look. You look fit, healthy and quite thin.

    You are not seeing yourself realistically.
  • awinner_au
    awinner_au Posts: 249 Member
    KittenTamer91 wrote: »
    Ok sorry for worrying so much. I just wish I was more narrow. You know like athletic built. I envy busty women [who's bust and shoulders are wider than their lower half].

    you cant narrow you hips beyond the hip structure, you can widen your shoulders by putting muscle on them. Swimmers for example, have the look i think you are looking for, lots of hard work to look like that though.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    edited April 2015
    ...

  • threnjen
    threnjen Posts: 687 Member
    edited April 2015
    I think you have a very enviable figure. Really, you do not look "wide" to me at all. I think the things you are unhappy with are genetics, although truly I think you have a really nice, slim hourglass shape. You look quite slim to me but with a nice defined waist. It's very shapely.

    I am pear shaped. No matter how small I get, I am still gonna be pear shaped. That's just life. It's hard to deal with though. We are our own worst critics.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    How are you seeing hourglass? Absolutely not an hourglass in any sense.
This discussion has been closed.

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