Do you look thinner than you are?

heis4u2004
heis4u2004 Posts: 176 Member
in Motivation and Support
It seems I hide some of my excess weight well. People are always amazed when I tell them how big I am. And I do have friends that weigh less than I do but look much bigger to me. I guess it is where you carry most of your fat. I am 5 foot 2 medium frame. When I was 145 pounds many years ago, my mom thought I looked sickly/too thin. According to doctors I was overweight. When I was 195 earlier this year people thought I was thinner and some even bought me clothes that was too small. Recently I am receiving compliments on my almost 35 pound weight loss (currently 161) and body fat 34.5 % and some have said I am disappearing. I will not stop until I reach a healthy body fat % of somewhere between 25%-30%.

I guess I am wondering if there is anyone here that tends to look thinner than your weight/fat% says and what kind of comments you get.
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Replies

  • shortnsweetbb
    shortnsweetbb Posts: 29
    I definitely understand what you mean! I am 5'1" and am right now at 172 after losing 11 pounds and 16 inches. When I first started my weight loss journey (for the 15th and last time!) people would say, "why are you trying to lose weight? you look good". I definitely appreciate their compliment, but at 183 pounds and as short as I am, it's not good. I guess it's amazing how well clothes hide the weight. As I continue on, I'm nervous people will say the same thing they are saying to you - that they think I'm losing too much weight or getting to small. I guess we'll see how it goes. Either way, keep it up!!! :)
  • MyouTakaraTriesAgain
    MyouTakaraTriesAgain Posts: 68
    I blame it on all the weight I carry in my boobs!
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
    I look a bit smaller than I am. Every single time I go to a doctor's office, since I was a KID even, the nurses who weigh me express surprise about how much I weigh and make a passing comment that they wouldn't have thought it was quite as high. They never say it in a rude way but sometimes they seem genuinely surprised/shocked.

    Right now I'm 223 and I think I look in the 200-225 neighborhood but some of my friends assume I'm under 200 already. I think it's less to do with me looking smaller and more to do with them having a poor reference point because they're much smaller anyway. I guess when you're 135 and your tall friend is losing weight you just assume she's probably at 180-ish, not 200-something. Kind of like my ex's boss who was a size 00 just never thought about me being too big to wear non-plus sizes. To her I was big but not the biggest woman ever, so she assumed I was a 10 or 12, right? No. LOL

    This whole weighing more than I look thing was more dramatic when I was in my higher weights, like 280 I really really think I looked more like 240. I think a lot of it is the way I am proportioned and that I have a relatively thin face, neck, hands, calves & ankles, etc...compared to my very large bust, bum, hips, belly.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    I look like I weigh less than I do, but that's a good thing. It's a sign that all the effort I'm making to maintain my lean body mass is actually working.
  • Gingermilander
    Gingermilander Posts: 7 Member
    I think I carry my weight well. I'm 5'7'' and 203lb. I haven't lost anything for over a month but can tell I'm losing inches. I've also been working out 5-6 days a week and doing some weights once a week (included in those days- I have one off day)
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
    I think that might be the case with me. I weigh in the mid 120's, but I have had more than one person guess my weight at around 100. A 25 lb difference is quite significant, and there's no way I could actually go that low and be healthy.

    I'm also tall, so that might be part of it.
  • mmipanda
    mmipanda Posts: 351 Member
    its a bit of a mixed bag because my brain is weird.


    I dress well for my shape and people are surprised to find out how much i weigh. Also I guess having an angular face helps with that.

    But my body is a trainwreck beneath the pretty dresses & I am well aware of this, mostly.


    BUT then I get all 'heyyy I'm back to my old comfortable plateau, damn i look good' and I ignore the fact that I still need to drop a lot more. Until I put on exercise clothes and look like a fatass, then I just get cranky and self-conscious.
  • photojunkie28
    photojunkie28 Posts: 292
    yep...I will put my hand up for that one. I am 5'5 , 174lbs and 28% bodyfat. People ask me all the time why I want to lose weight. 28% isn't THAT high and I carry most of my weight in my butt and thighs and am hourglass shaped so I think where my fat is located is generally accepted by society or even liked b some as strange as that seems to say lol.

    I think most things have to do with body shape and body fat %. Identical twins could both weigh 150lbs and one could workout all the time and eat clean and look completely different than the other who say eats like a poor college student and thinks exercise is a waste of time.
  • j6o4
    j6o4 Posts: 871 Member
    I'm the opposite, people think I'm heavier. They tend to think I'm about 10lbs more than I actually am.
  • JannAtBeach
    JannAtBeach Posts: 14 Member
    I blame it on all the weight I carry in my boobs!


    LOL:bigsmile:
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
    I'm 5'7" I weigh 194 and everyone tells me I look 160ish. And even at my heaviest which was 229, I wore I size 14. I guess my weight is equally proportioned. So according to the BMI my lowest is 118, I don't think so. I would look sick at my height and my genetics. I'm shooting for the highest range of my BMI which is 169.
  • JannAtBeach
    JannAtBeach Posts: 14 Member
    I'm 5'4" & weigh 141... 16 lbs too much, but since I have skinny arms/legs people think I'm skinny..
    I know how to dress & keep my fat areas (waist) hidden. lol
  • vaultgirlsam
    vaultgirlsam Posts: 28 Member
    I'm 5'4'' and ~ 210lbs. My whole life people have been saying "you carry your weight well"

    ...what does that even mean?
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
    I'm 5'4" & weigh 141... 16 lbs too much, but since I have skinny arms/legs people think I'm skinny..
    I know how to dress & keep my fat areas (waist) hidden. lol

    This is me. I'm really skinny up top (xylophone and all), while I'm just a little slim in the legs and waist. I think that's why people guess me lighter than I am. Come to think of it, that may have been part of the reason why I let myself get overweight since I figured I didn't look that bad, judging by my upper body.
  • rezekiel
    rezekiel Posts: 209 Member
    Exactly, thanks for the back handed compliment.
  • rezekiel
    rezekiel Posts: 209 Member
    [...what does that even mean?
    ]
    Exactly, thanks for the back handed compliment.
    [/quote]
  • marsellient
    marsellient Posts: 591 Member
    I'm with seltzermint: my doctor is always surprised by my weight. 5' 5" and 174lb. Still need to lose about 25lb. I swear it's all on my belly!
  • PhoenixStrikes
    PhoenixStrikes Posts: 587 Member
    Yes, people always seemed surprised at my weight but personally I feel like they were being kind or under estimating to spare my feelings. It's like when people guess your age they always shoot low to be safe.
  • xoTalim
    xoTalim Posts: 212 Member
    Yeah I wear my weight pretty well. People don't believe me when I tell them I'm 170ish pound.
  • retiree2006
    retiree2006 Posts: 951 Member
    Funny you should ask! I went to my usual masseuse recently and she commented that she hoped I didn't lose any more weight. I told her I was trying to maintain now and didn't want to lose more. Before I left I reassured her that I was trying to stay between 138 and 141...and she said she thought I was around 100! (Nah...it's just the flabby stuff left since I have no elasticity anymore at my "advanced" age! :laugh: )

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