Weight goal differences in African American women vs other races

naj1991
naj1991 Posts: 93 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Let me start by saying I am 140lbs 5'4 African American Woman with a BMI of 24. I am currently 27 years old. Over the past 5 years I have worked hard to GAIN 30lbs ( I started at 110lbs). Let me tell you, I STILL get called skinny, asked if I eat...or told I could gain a few pounds. Also, I am regularly checked by my doctor and I am healthy in all aspects. My doc even gave me the "ok" If I wanted to gain a few more pounds.

Per BMI, I am pushing into the "Overweight" Catagory. But by cultural standards I am still a skinny mini (heck, even white ppl tell me I am tiny).


My question to everyone is, how and why is weight perceived differently by culture? And I don't personally think I am anywhere near overweight! I could probably gain at least another 15 pounds and still be "small". How many other black women in here are actively trying to put on pounds and still feel tiny at their weight while others are saying they feel big?

Please share....
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Replies

  • marissafit06
    marissafit06 Posts: 1,996 Member
    Hmmm. I am also black and prefer to be on the smaller side. I’m seven inches taller than you and less than ten pounds heavier than you are. I live in the Northeast, but my baseline when I lived in the South was higher because the people around me were too. No one tells me I’m tiny
  • naj1991
    naj1991 Posts: 93 Member
    marissafit06 wrote: »
    Hmmm. I am also black and prefer to be on the smaller side. I’m seven inches taller than you and less than ten pounds heavier than you are. I live in the Northeast, but my baseline when I lived in the South was higher because the people around me were too. No one tells me I’m tiny

    Wow thats interesting. I am in california and seems to still have similar mantality to the south as far as weight
  • naj1991
    naj1991 Posts: 93 Member
    whitney_cherelle wrote: »
    Oh my!!! Can we be besties??? I’m going through the exact same issue. I have been small my whole entire life and have been called names, made fun of and shamed. The only ounce of fat I have is in my tummy (2 kids) and a little booty. I have just now started exercising the beginning of this year and I have been consistent...each day building up more and more strength. I thought maybe if I’d exercise, I’d build muscle (which is heavier I was told) and would possibly tone up my booty and stomach...especially the stomach in the process. But since I’ve been exercising I have been eating like crazy to just keep up my caloric intake. It’s funny you mention the weight class thing because I am 5’3 weight 134.7lbs. I did the health fair at work the other day and for *kitten* and giggles I weighed myself and for my height, 135 is considered overweight...but I still look like a stick. My goal weight is 140...I think maybe 140-145 would best on me. I’m so glad I found someone else going through the same exact thing as me...it makes me feel a little better.

    Omg wow and youre only a little shorter than me! Most of my weight is in my lower body so I am happy about that but it is so crazy to me how ppl still call us skinny when we are "healthy" weights.
  • ipmac22
    ipmac22 Posts: 74 Member
    What amazes me is the focus of what any body should be. I'm white and have been told my entire life that I'm built like a black woman. I personally think I'm built like me. And if you are healthy and your doctor thinks you and your goals are healthy and realistic, no one else really gets a say! My doctor says while I'm slightly overweight, it's nothing to worry about, but I feel uncomfortable because I know I was much more comfortable 15 pounds ago. I have family suggesting I should lose weight and others telling me I'm crazy for trying to lose weight. Healthy and realistic is what I strive for, and everyone's body composition is different! I'm sorry you are going through this. Keep doing you! Big hug!
  • Kst76
    Kst76 Posts: 935 Member
    marissafit06 wrote: »
    Hmmm. I am also black and prefer to be on the smaller side. I’m seven inches taller than you and less than ten pounds heavier than you are. I live in the Northeast, but my baseline when I lived in the South was higher because the people around me were too. No one tells me I’m tiny

    That's because you are so tall! Tiny is more like petite I think. You are tall like a model and slim :)
  • Kst76
    Kst76 Posts: 935 Member
    whitney_cherelle wrote: »
    Oh my!!! Can we be besties??? I’m going through the exact same issue. I have been small my whole entire life and have been called names, made fun of and shamed. The only ounce of fat I have is in my tummy (2 kids) and a little booty. I have just now started exercising the beginning of this year and I have been consistent...each day building up more and more strength. I thought maybe if I’d exercise, I’d build muscle (which is heavier I was told) and would possibly tone up my booty and stomach...especially the stomach in the process. But since I’ve been exercising I have been eating like crazy to just keep up my caloric intake. It’s funny you mention the weight class thing because I am 5’3 weight 134.7lbs. I did the health fair at work the other day and for *kitten* and giggles I weighed myself and for my height, 135 is considered overweight...but I still look like a stick. My goal weight is 140...I think maybe 140-145 would best on me. I’m so glad I found someone else going through the same exact thing as me...it makes me feel a little better.

    According to your BMI of 23ish you are just right.
  • Cutemesoon
    Cutemesoon Posts: 2,646 Member
    Bump
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,246 Member
    Interesting topic that I haven't seen on here before. I'm of European descent, but I grew up in the deep south and had several black girlfriends. Most of us were about the same size, as I recall, but that was the 70's. Statistically, America was thinner as a society than now (by a long shot). I certainly don't remember that many heavy people of any race.

    Something I find interesting now is the focus on having a big booty. I don't recall that being a thing in the 70's and 80's. None of my friends ever seemed to have that as a goal. I've always been pear shaped and the last thing I ever wanted was a big behind, but it was/is. I worked hard to lose it, with limited success. Now I see posts on here where people are trying to lose fat everywhere EXCEPT their bum. Is this a cultural thing? If that's a current measure of beauty, then perhaps women without the exaggerated booty are perceived as too skinny?
  • Cutemesoon
    Cutemesoon Posts: 2,646 Member
    I would say that in certain cultures, beauty is perceived differently. Black and Hispanic cultures may like curves. Caucasian and Asian cultures may find a thinner, less curvier woman attractive. Losing weight helped me to realize that people don't know what healthy looks like. I had people around stage a mini intervention because they felt I was getting too skinny. I was by NO means skinny.

    As for the current obsession with backsides, I blame Kim K & Instagram "models" for that. Unfortunately, there are so many small minded women that are dying or losing limbs because they get illegal "enhancements." So sad. I believe in squats NOT shots.
  • k8eekins
    k8eekins Posts: 2,264 Member
    naj1991 wrote: »
    Let me start by saying I am 140lbs 5'4 African American Woman with a BMI of 24. I am currently 27 years old. Over the past 5 years I have worked hard to GAIN 30lbs ( I started at 110lbs). Let me tell you, I STILL get called skinny, asked if I eat...or told I could gain a few pounds. Also, I am regularly checked by my doctor and I am healthy in all aspects. My doc even gave me the "ok" If I wanted to gain a few more pounds.

    Per BMI, I am pushing into the "Overweight" Category. But by cultural standards I am still a skinny mini (heck, even white ppl tell me I am tiny).


    My question to everyone is, how and why is weight perceived differently by culture? And I don't personally think I am anywhere near overweight! I could probably gain at least another 15 pounds and still be "small". How many other black women in here are actively trying to put on pounds and still feel tiny at their weight while others are saying they feel big?

    Please share....

    Every culture has a different perception of beauty. As a native/indigenous islander (ie a Mela-Polynesian) of the South Seas, the cultural norms of what is generally touted to be ideal is - what is determined as "the virginal look" - wholesome. The heritage beauty scale for weight is wide. It encompasses women who would be classified as what is referenced "skinny fat," the off-season bikini bodybuilders and the obese.

    Generally, modernity settles on healthy UK size 8 and healthy UK sizes 14-16 - soft and feminine. There is no emphasis on scale-weight like the South-Koreans or even BMIs. What is frowned upon are those who fall into the emaciated and petite/tall or the big and physically inactive categories OR very recently, women within our worldwide community, who dare to qualify and compete in the bikini (in season), figure and the physique bodybuilding competitions. If we are weightlifters, bodybuilders or powerlifters - we all fall into the "want to be a man" category. We have to learn to roll with the verbal vamp-assaults.
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
    Part of it may be where fat is carried. I'm Latina and along with Black women, we tend to carry weight on our butts, and thighs. We can be overweight, but from the waist up, we look small.
  • HeyJudii
    HeyJudii Posts: 264 Member
    It may also be regional (or community) specific. Here, it is very rare to see anyone of any race (it's relatively diverse) that is overweight much less obese. If they are, they apparently don't leave the house. The neighborhoods are also designed to encourage walking, running, biking and hiking. Yoga pants, running shoes and SUVs. Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Trader Joe's within a mile of each other. Part of the reason I decided to get fit again was I felt I stuck out like a sore thumb compared to everyone I saw around me.

    It wasn't anything that was said to me, but I am not blind.
  • Davidsdottir
    Davidsdottir Posts: 1,285 Member
    HeyJudii wrote: »
    It may also be regional (or community) specific. Here, it is very rare to see anyone of any race (it's relatively diverse) that is overweight much less obese. If they are, they apparently don't leave the house. The neighborhoods are also designed to encourage walking, running, biking and hiking. Yoga pants, running shoes and SUVs. Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Trader Joe's within a mile of each other. Part of the reason I decided to get fit again was I felt I stuck out like a sore thumb compared to everyone I saw around me.

    It wasn't anything that was said to me, but I am not blind.

    You sound like you live where I do. I'm by no means large (muscular 140 lbs size 2/4), but I'm bigger than a lot of women walking around town in their lululemons.
  • HeyJudii
    HeyJudii Posts: 264 Member
    Davidsdottir wrote: »
    HeyJudii wrote: »
    It may also be regional (or community) specific. Here, it is very rare to see anyone of any race (it's relatively diverse) that is overweight much less obese. If they are, they apparently don't leave the house. The neighborhoods are also designed to encourage walking, running, biking and hiking. Yoga pants, running shoes and SUVs. Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Trader Joe's within a mile of each other. Part of the reason I decided to get fit again was I felt I stuck out like a sore thumb compared to everyone I saw around me.

    It wasn't anything that was said to me, but I am not blind.

    You sound like you live where I do. I'm by no means large (muscular 140 lbs size 2/4), but I'm bigger than a lot of women walking around town in their lululemons.

    For my height, I was what some might call "zaftig" But, here, in comparison, in my mind, I just looked lazy.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    edited June 2018
    VUA21 wrote: »
    Part of it may be where fat is carried. I'm Latina and along with Black women, we tend to carry weight on our butts, and thighs. We can be overweight, but from the waist up, we look small.

    Im built that way lol but Im neither latina or black. I have a smaller upper body always have.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Yes, there are differences in overall body composition. Some of them are genetic. Some are pseudo-genetic.

    Yes, I just made that up. Some things(childhood diet/activity/etc) that impact adult body composition, bone density, musculature, activity vary between cultures and subcultures. These factors aren't exactly genetic, but they do tend to trend within social, ethnic, and economic groupings. A diet higher in beef will affect both palate and to a lesser degree nutrition and body composition in different ways than a Vegan/Vegetarian diet or a diet based on lean fish or fowl. Hormones, micros, etc these are factors that we're only just beginning to consider the impact or ramifications of, but when you a Southeast Asian(Korean, Japanese, Chinese, etc) in the US eating a more traditional diet to one eating a more traditionally American diet, it appears superficially, that the one eating the more traditional American diet(regardless of calories) does appear more American in height/body composition. Than one who grew up eating a more traditional "ethnic" diet. There's no reason to think that within social/ethnic/economic subcultures within the US that that would not also be the case.

    Just something to think on.
  • Cutemesoon
    Cutemesoon Posts: 2,646 Member
    I started at a 6 and am currently at a 4. If I tried to attempt 0-3, my family and friends would stage an intervention. Some people think all girls should look like 0-2 and some people think 3-5 are completely normal. Many would think 8 & 9 look too manly. It's so interesting to hear different perspectives on this.

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  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    stanmann571 wrote: »
    Yes, there are differences in overall body composition. Some of them are genetic. Some are pseudo-genetic.

    Yes, I just made that up. Some things(childhood diet/activity/etc) that impact adult body composition, bone density, musculature, activity vary between cultures and subcultures. These factors aren't exactly genetic, but they do tend to trend within social, ethnic, and economic groupings. A diet higher in beef will affect both palate and to a lesser degree nutrition and body composition in different ways than a Vegan/Vegetarian diet or a diet based on lean fish or fowl. Hormones, micros, etc these are factors that we're only just beginning to consider the impact or ramifications of, but when you a Southeast Asian(Korean, Japanese, Chinese, etc) in the US eating a more traditional diet to one eating a more traditionally American diet, it appears superficially, that the one eating the more traditional American diet(regardless of calories) does appear more American in height/body composition. Than one who grew up eating a more traditional "ethnic" diet. There's no reason to think that within social/ethnic/economic subcultures within the US that that would not also be the case.

    Just something to think on.

    Huh. You just blew my mind. I'm way smaller than the rest of my relatives and have almost an Asian bone structure. I grew up despising meat and ate very little of it. And that was before they started shoving hormones into everything. I wonder if that has something to do with how I grew (or didn't).
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    mom23mangos wrote: »
    stanmann571 wrote: »
    Yes, there are differences in overall body composition. Some of them are genetic. Some are pseudo-genetic.

    Yes, I just made that up. Some things(childhood diet/activity/etc) that impact adult body composition, bone density, musculature, activity vary between cultures and subcultures. These factors aren't exactly genetic, but they do tend to trend within social, ethnic, and economic groupings. A diet higher in beef will affect both palate and to a lesser degree nutrition and body composition in different ways than a Vegan/Vegetarian diet or a diet based on lean fish or fowl. Hormones, micros, etc these are factors that we're only just beginning to consider the impact or ramifications of, but when you a Southeast Asian(Korean, Japanese, Chinese, etc) in the US eating a more traditional diet to one eating a more traditionally American diet, it appears superficially, that the one eating the more traditional American diet(regardless of calories) does appear more American in height/body composition. Than one who grew up eating a more traditional "ethnic" diet. There's no reason to think that within social/ethnic/economic subcultures within the US that that would not also be the case.

    Just something to think on.

    Huh. You just blew my mind. I'm way smaller than the rest of my relatives and have almost an Asian bone structure. I grew up despising meat and ate very little of it. And that was before they started shoving hormones into everything. I wonder if that has something to do with how I grew (or didn't).

    Obviously there are very real genetic differences that set a scope or scale, but all you have to do to observe the impact of diet is compare the adult population of North and South Korea. There are also second and third order/generation effects, usually observed that as prosperity(food availability) increases, children tend to be taller than their parents(obviously within the standard limits, and obviously there's variability here as well.
  • naj1991
    naj1991 Posts: 93 Member
    steveko89 wrote: »
    Like some others have mentioned, I believe this not to isolated to the black community or cultural preferences; it's symptomatic of society getting used to a fatter idea of what "normal" weight looks like.

    Interesting read with some key statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

    highlights pertinent to this topic:
    - Overall, 36.5% of US adults are obese (not just overweight)
    - Among non-hispanic blacks, the obesity rate is 48.1%
    - there's also a section with maps which show geographic distribution for obesity, which I found interesting.

    Because of familiarity, an obese person is now perceived as the new "overweight", "overweight" is the new "normal/healthy", and those at an actual healthy weight are perceived as too small or skinny.

    Beyond those societal factors, individual perceptions play a large role as well. I'm a 29 y/o white adult male smack in the middle of healthy BMI who lifts weights and hovers <15% body fat. I get comments that vary from "woah, looking a little 'bulky', have you thought about cutting back on your lifting?" to "why are bothering trying to cut fat? if you lose weight you'll just look scrawny." depending on the individual offering these sage words of wisdom.

    I definitely see where you are comingfrom with this, but I do believe some races carry weightdifferently. Some have more muscle and weigh more thenthey look

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