I weigh more than I look

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13

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  • perseverance14
    perseverance14 Posts: 1,364 Member
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    I have the same problem, when I started out I weighed 256 (I'm 5'6"), and now I'm down to 207. I keep telling people I want to lose another 50-ish lbs and they say 'no way, there'll be nothing left of you', but I know what I weigh!

    There's a test you can do to assess your true build. Put your thumb and forefinger around your opposite wrist:

    If they overlap - small build
    If they meet - average build
    If there's a gap - large build

    This works becuase the wirsit is non-fatty area, so even if you're very overweight you will still be able to tell your build type from this test. I didn't make it up, it's from the initial 'true body weight test' from the Dukan Diet! The Dukan diet said my true weight is 168 so that's my first goal to get to, but it still sounds a little heavy so I'd still like to get to 160 at least (ideally 156 so I can Ive lost 100 lbs!).

    Sorry, but I DO NOT AGREE with this. :laugh: All you are measuring is finger length.
    You are supposed to use a tape measure to do it. I had it done for me by a diet place with a tape measure, but I didn't agree with them because I don't have a large frame, it was fat because now my wrist measures for a medium frame, which is what I am.
  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 682 Member
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    we sound similar im 5ft 5 and weigh 153lbs but don't look it my goal was 130lbs too but I think im looking more around 145lbs
  • perseverance14
    perseverance14 Posts: 1,364 Member
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    OP, I'm 5'5" too. Was 166.2 when I started, but I have very skinny legs, so could often disguise my big belly. Nobody knew I weighed that much and I almost had myself fooled as well. =) My initial goal was to get below 150 - so 149. Once I got there I could see that I needed to lose still more, so 145 became the new goal. Now I can see where the excess weight is and I believe that 138 would be pretty decent weight for me. I think 130 might look great, but at my age it's probably not realistic to think I could a) get there or b) maintain that. That said, I think you will know where you should be as you get closer to it. Good luck!
    I think you are limiting yourself to say because of age you can't get there. I am 52 and lifting weights and getting there.
  • glenelliott5872
    glenelliott5872 Posts: 150 Member
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    I have a BMI of 25.1 and yet body fat measured using calipers comes out at ~14 to 16%. So go figure
  • kateangel2312
    kateangel2312 Posts: 242 Member
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    im also 5'5 and 142lbs people always think i weigh a lot less
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
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    I look more than I weigh!:laugh:
  • shining_light
    shining_light Posts: 384 Member
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    I am 5'5 and 149lbs. At my heaviest I was 170lbs. People are always surprised when I told them my weight. I have family members that weigh less than me but wear bigger size then I. Is there really a such thing as being "big boned"? Even when I was pregnant with my son I went the first 6 months without people noticing I was pregnant. I remember going to the ER at 7 months and the doctor thinking I was 7 weeks instead. Anyway, I just think it's weird how people that weigh the same can look so different and it's making me rethink my goal weight . 130 sounds good but I think If I lost another 20lbs I'd look sickly.

    You'd be surprised how evenly your body can lose weight in a healthy weight range(disclaimer: speaking from my experience, not anyone else's). I've had a 20-lb. swing in weight without ever changing clothing size. I'm about 5' 7", low weight was 130 lbs. and high weight was 154 lbs. I didn't change clothing sizes even after an almost 25-lb swing in weight. Friends were shocked when I told them my weight and just dismissed it as "you work out a lot and you must have a lot of muscle." (Not 25 extra pounds worth of it, I assure you...)

    I'm trying to convince myself not to obsess about it too much since I'm in a healthy weight range, despite weighing more than I used to. I'm still trying to lose weight, but I'm trying to work more on building healthy lifestyle changes than I was before.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    i weigh more than my friends and I do look much heavier too. I used to convince myself that I am "big boned" but the fact is that I am just fat.
  • 12skipafew99100
    12skipafew99100 Posts: 1,669 Member
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    I understand. I weighed 130 and so did my friend. We are the same height. She always looked chubby when I looked very trim. She did not achieve the same "thinness" as me until she weighed 115 even though we wore the same size clothes. I think it has to do with muscle mass. I was an athlete and she was not. You have to go by how you look and feel, not by the scale.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    Has anyone noticed that EVERYONE says they weigh more than people think??

    Perhaps this just means that either
    1. We have a distorted image of what is a normal weight. And/Or
    2. People are just being nice.

    I have never heard anyone say, "people think I weigh more than I really do"
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    I have the same problem, when I started out I weighed 256 (I'm 5'6"), and now I'm down to 207. I keep telling people I want to lose another 50-ish lbs and they say 'no way, there'll be nothing left of you', but I know what I weigh!

    There's a test you can do to assess your true build. Put your thumb and forefinger around your opposite wrist:

    If they overlap - small build
    If they meet - average build
    If there's a gap - large build

    This works becuase the wirsit is non-fatty area, so even if you're very overweight you will still be able to tell your build type from this test. I didn't make it up, it's from the initial 'true body weight test' from the Dukan Diet! The Dukan diet said my true weight is 168 so that's my first goal to get to, but it still sounds a little heavy so I'd still like to get to 160 at least (ideally 156 so I can Ive lost 100 lbs!).

    Sorry, but I DO NOT AGREE with this. :laugh: All you are measuring is finger length.
    You are supposed to use a tape measure to do it. I had it done for me by a diet place with a tape measure, but I didn't agree with them because I don't have a large frame, it was fat because now my wrist measures for a medium frame, which is what I am.

    most people don't measure in the right place. even the picture on the website linked to earlier in the thread about how to measure frame size, the tape measure is in the wrong place.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Has anyone noticed that EVERYONE says they weigh more than people think??

    Perhaps this just means that either
    1. We have a distorted image of what is a normal weight. And/Or
    2. People are just being nice.

    I have never heard anyone say, "people think I weigh more than I really do"

    We don't talk about weight at work...there was this guy who is kinda a jerk...once actually asked me how much I weigh...I didn't know how to repsond...
  • dlionsmane
    dlionsmane Posts: 672 Member
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    Overall scale weight compared to how you 'look' has to do with LBM and BF%. High LBM and a lower BF% can make you look smaller than what the scale tells. I have that same issue. I am 5'7" I weigh 168-170 right now and my brothers pegged me at 140. I wear a loose size 10, size 10 shoe, 7 in wrists. I believe I have a high LBM weight, mostly because I spent several years in my late teens heavy lifting. I think I am always going to be on the heavier side of my 'healthy weight range' and I am okay with that, because I will always 'look' lighter.... :)
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    Has anyone noticed that EVERYONE says they weigh more than people think??

    Perhaps this just means that either
    1. We have a distorted image of what is a normal weight. And/Or
    2. People are just being nice.

    I have never heard anyone say, "people think I weigh more than I really do"

    We don't talk about weight at work...there was this guy who is kinda a jerk...once actually asked me how much I weigh...I didn't know how to repsond...

    Your response could be, "You know, you could get fired for asking me that question!"
  • dpwellman
    dpwellman Posts: 3,271 Member
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    Without a true body comp analysis, there's no way to know for sure. I've had one and according to the stats that came back my "ideal" weight is around 165 or so. I'd like to be even less (during cycling / running season).

    I suggest OP do this. Cost varies, but I paid ~$45.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Has anyone noticed that EVERYONE says they weigh more than people think??

    Perhaps this just means that either
    1. We have a distorted image of what is a normal weight. And/Or
    2. People are just being nice.

    I have never heard anyone say, "people think I weigh more than I really do"

    We don't talk about weight at work...there was this guy who is kinda a jerk...once actually asked me how much I weigh...I didn't know how to repsond...

    Your response could be, "You know, you could get fired for asking me that question!"

    LOL I think he already got enough trouble on his plate....
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
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    I wonder how many people who are overweight have been told that they look like they weight less then they really do? I feel like it is a common occurrence that people do , and the same thing with age too. Oh your 34, you don't look a day over 26. Oh your 300lbs, you look like you are 260.
    Not in my case, I had many medical professionals either say that to me, or they would weigh me, look at the scale, look back at me, check the scale, repeat that, shake their head and write it down. In high school I weighed 120, everybody thought I weighed about 100, I was the same size as other girls who did weigh 100.

    In my case I know what it is, I am more muscular than average, and muscle is more dense and takes up less space, so you weigh more but are not bigger. It is not going to make a stupendous difference, in my case it is 20 lbs., but you have to take it into consideration when setting weight goals, it would be fine if I decided to go back down to my high school weight, it would not be healthy if i wanted to go down to 100.

    You know you have no way of knowing this right? Just because your doctor didn't think you weighed as much as you did, doesn't mean somebody at some point lied to you about what they thought you weighed. That, and I don't really think you fit into the examples I gave.
    It didn't just happen once, it has happened to me over and over my whole life, since I was a child. You seem awfully invested in being right. Frame size and muscle mass have a lot to do with how "fat" a person is perceived as being. If somebody said, oh you don't look fat, and you use that as an excuse, then you used that as an excuse. Sometimes friends say things like that not realizing they do more harm than good, or it is clouded by their perception. For example, I witnessed one obese friend tell another obese friend she was not fat once, but the fact is both of them were obese, but the more obese one thought the less obese one was not fat.

    It has nothing to do with me being right, or muscle mass, frame size or anything else you just wrote, I have no doubt that there are a lot of people out there that weigh more than they look like they weigh. You are taking it all wrong. I'm just saying you have no idea if people are lying to you or telling you the truth when they are telling you this, especially if you had a lot of people saying it, that just means there is more of a chance that somebody was lying to you.
  • AlliSteff
    AlliSteff Posts: 211 Member
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    I think it often does have to do with your body shape.

    I am 5'-3" and weigh in the 141 range right now. I am a perfect hourglass and am rather chesty. I wear a size 4/small...sometimes even XS. I know plenty of people my height who weight less or around what I weigh and wear 8/10 in the same clothing.
  • moij0
    moij0 Posts: 87
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    Has anyone noticed that EVERYONE says they weigh more than people think??

    Perhaps this just means that either
    1. We have a distorted image of what is a normal weight. And/Or
    2. People are just being nice.

    I have never heard anyone say, "people think I weigh more than I really do"

    We don't talk about weight at work...there was this guy who is kinda a jerk...once actually asked me how much I weigh...I didn't know how to repsond...

    Your response could be, "You know, you could get fired for asking me that question!"


    love it lol

    weight and age thing.. its complimentary to suggest people are younger than they look and lighter than they weigh.. these people are usally sweet talking you for something in return AND its bad manners to ask a lady her age or weight :tongue:
  • ReaganP13
    ReaganP13 Posts: 35 Member
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    Has anyone noticed that EVERYONE says they weigh more than people think??

    Perhaps this just means that either
    1. We have a distorted image of what is a normal weight. And/Or
    2. People are just being nice.

    I have never heard anyone say, "people think I weigh more than I really do"

    I guess you missed my post completely! I definitely weigh much less than I look! I basically know the reason, too. I have zero muscle, but have soft fat sloshing around. Charming, right?

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