I look skinnier than I actually weigh. I am 5’6 and not muscular. It is not all in my head either - when I was at my skinniest (130lbs), people frequently thought I was around 110 pounds, and when I was 190 pounds people thought I was in the 160s/170s. I actually think I looked better at 190 then I did at 130, which looked way too skinny on me. It's like I do not look good when I am too skinny, my body looks best with a little bit of extra weight. It is making it hard for me to decide that my goal weight should be, because I look best when I am still in the "overweight" category on the BMI. Also, my pants size is usually higher than other people’s when they are the same weight as me. When I was 130, I was barely squeezing into a size 8, but other people at the same height & weight as me were in size 4s - yet I looked skinnier than they did. Why is this? Does it mean I am large framed? When I put my fingers around my wrist, it (barely) touches on my right and doesn’t touch on my left.
taramcopley1198
Member Posts: 2 Member
Member Posts: 2 Member
Replies
I have one son who is the same. He looks lighter than he is, and one the opposite he is so light but looks bigger.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Ninerbuff, this is me at 190 pounds. I am 5’6
However when I was a always very heavy compared to those around me growing up when I was "Normal" sized. I've busted a few peoples ribs, when they ran into me trying to knock me over playing various sports. I would end up standing there, and they would literally bounce off of me almost 10 feet. As a junior in High school I played on the senior football team as a tight end. Being a junior, I would often square off across the line in front of me and be intimidated by the size and angry look in there faces... Yet to my surprise, I always ran right over them literally. they had no ability to hold me back, and there were plenty of special teams designed to try and stop me. I've never even been knocked off my feet or broken a bone.
Went to wonderland with my family in my mid-teenage years and they had one of those guys that had to guess your weight within so many pounds or you win a prize. He under guessed by 60 pounds... I wore a 32" jeans at time.
And here near the peak of my last weight lost transformation... I'm wearing 36" pants and weigh in at 267 or was 272lb. I'm just short of 6 feet tall.
So there is lot to be said about body composition, bone structure and general muscle mass. On the downside, I also had a significantly elevated resting heart rate compared to my friends who were about the same height with a similar pant size. (I just out weighed them by 60-80 pounds.)
It wasn’t until I started looking at photos of myself from a trip we’d just returned from that I had a reality check.
Fat woman packed into leggings, right here^^^
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
When I was obese, I knew I was obese. I looked fat, but it wasn't unusual for people to think I was less fat than I actually was. What I knew, and they didn't, was that I have quite narrow hips (skeletally) . . . but I carry a bunch of weight (not all the extra) around my hips. With weight loss, my hips went from upper 40s inches to around 34".
There's also a lot of weirdness in our own body image, plus a social milieu these days for a lot of us where it's common enough for people to be moderately over-fat that it looks normal, and things of that nature.
Since you say you're at a higher body weight, plus in a larger pants size than others who appear heavier, I think probably multiple of the above factors are at play.
BTW: I'm not suggesting that you should want to be thinner than you think looks good. That's entirely up to you, maybe with a little input from your doctor if there's a question of health risk in the mix based on multiple metrics like BMI, waist size, body fat percent, waist/height ratio, etc.
What are your measurements?
http://www.myfooddiary.com/Resources/frame_size_calculator.asp
But you also do look like someone who both knows how to dress and is carrying more energy reserves than a normal weight person would.
No idea if 130lbs is too far in the other direction for you.
By no means is the above statement to be taken as a "need" to diet.
That's way more complicated than a picture and a look!
You carry your weight well! I just checked my wrists and they don’t touch on either side. I’m currently 130 and a similar height. I still have at least 10-15 to lose. It’s honestly such a personal opinion what feels comfortable but it’s good to have a reality check from time to time- for me it’s getting too thin, perhaps for you it’s gaining too much. It definitely varies, and I respect your appreciation for honest responses!
Both your fingers and wrist slim down as you lose weight, just ask my watch!
Personally I’m not working towards a number goal right now. I have recently hit a healthy BMI. I will now see where my weight naturally settles given the lifestyle I want in terms of food, treats and exercise.
You definitely dont look extremely overweight but also don't look what I would call 'skinny'. I'd say you appear a bit bigger than me, I'm 5 foot 5 and about 135lbs, but as I said, hard to tell from that pic.
Ultimately, if you are happy with your body and there are no health reasons you or your doctor identified that mean you should lose weight, I would say don't worry too much about an arbitrary number and just be happy!
Many above have touched on body composition already. Are there other metrics you use to define your health and goals?