Do some black women (people) weight more?

knmlov2357

Hello, I have an interesting topic that i want to dicuss. It's Sunday morning and I couldn't sleep so I was looking at the message board and I ran across a woman who has similar goals to mine. She wants to lose 40lbs so her final goal weight will be 180. I looked at her pictures and she doesn't look like she weights that much.

I want to lose 58 lbs so my final goal will be 170 lbs. But if I get down to 180 or 190 I'd still look really good. People look at me today and think I already weight 170 lbs because of where the weight falls and how tall I am. See, I'm 5'9 and I have a small waist (33 inches), small upper body with big hips, butt, thighs, etc. I've always had the coke bottle shape growing up. In high school I was slim at 160 lbs. When I married at 21, I was slim at 180 lbs, (dress size 9). I had two children and my waist size always returned to it's small size with little work involved.

I'd be too skinny if I were to go down to 150 lbs (my clavical bones already stick out at my current weight!) yet that is the goal for some women. And that got me to thinking, "Does the color of your skin determine your weight???":frown:

What do you think?

bbygrl5

I couldn't sleep either, lol.. You pose an interesting question, one I can't answer about black women, but I have the same issue as a white woman. I'm currently 170 lbs and only 5'3" and look much smaller than my weight says I am. I am told this all the time. I know people laugh about people saying they are "big-boned" a lot, and it is kinda funny because people who aren't big-boned, will use it as an excuse, but the truth of the matter is, there really are different body frame sizes which affect weight. (Once of the reasons I find BMI to be such a ridiculous discouragement, lol). I am almost to the point of no extra flab on my body, I know I feel and look good and turn a lot of heads, but I wonder if those same heads would turn if they knew I weighed 170, lol. I have found weight to be a discouraging measurement, since I have a larger than average frame, so I say forget the number. When small framed women are talking about getting down to 120, etc, I have to ignore trying to compare myself to them, because I would seriously be anorexic at that weight, lol. Congrats on the waist! Great proportions!

karenjoy

I think the colour of your skin has little to do with anything really, other than the colour of your skin. But I think body type and where you carry your weight varies between PEOPLE, I see women with HUGE backsides and normal looking top halves, I have seen pear shaped women (apparently classic English shape!) and apple shape (me really) I carry my weight around my middle body more. I have seen huge boobs and top halves with small bottoms, women with huge stomachs and not much else. Men with HUGE stomachs, like my husband had before he began his journey, but not a bottom at all, flat as a pancake! I think genetics carry a lot of it, I have a similar shape to my Mum, also I have her EXACT feet! I am taller, and I used to eat less and do more than her, but then I ate more and did less and kind of turned into her!

I think that heritage and genetics or people and how they carry weight, how tall they are, muscle tone, what activity they do and all sorts affects what we look like.

I am 5'5" ish at a stretch! and at 200lbs I was a blob, at 160 I am still not really slim, I can lose more weight and still not be overly thin. People TELL me I look slim, don't lose more weight etc, but I used to weigh LOADS less than this and looked fabulous, I know I could weigh 140 and still be 20lb heavier than I was when I was 'slim' but I am aiming for 140 and if I get to 150 I will be happy :-)

fitterpam

I don't know if I can directly answer your question, but I can tell you that at my current weight, even doctors and personal trainers have been shocked at how much I actually weigh because I don't look as big as I am.

The weight that I stopped losing (when I did this 10 years ago) was 175 - I looked really healthy and strong, I'm 5'7 so my BMI says I should be 150-165. There are a lot of factors to take into account when talking about how heavy you look: fat distribution, frame size, muscle definition (even if it's hiding under a layer of adipose). Whether some of that is genetically predisposed, I can't say, but it is possible

At my current weight I don't look a whole lot different than my Mom, who is about 30-40 pounds lighter than I am right now (or has been, at her heaviest). That's where a doctor, I recently went to pegged me at and she almost fell off her chair when I told her I was closer to 250 than 220.

So I don't think I answered the question exactly, but I know that people wear their weight differently and that you will typically see similar body shapes within a family - but then I'm an apple shape, my Mom is an apple shape, my Sisters are pear and hourglass.....so what do I know.

AnnaPixie

I agree with everyone esle. Genetics, muscle and weight distribution plays a big part.

I carry most of my weight on my hips and thighs too. And even when I was 12 I was on a diet trying to get rid of it. I think by the time I was 18 I just accepted that I'm built that way! Since then I've been bouncing between a UK size 8 - 12. but most always over my recommended BMI. BMI figures are an average guide. Talk to boxer and he'll be 50lbs above his BMI high.

So, take BMI numbers with a pinch of salt and never compare yourself with someone else, unless its an identical twin!!

Once you feel happy with yourself, then THAT is your BMI average :bigsmile: