petite girls, does this happen to you?

dottheallison

So I was talking to my boss, who is almost 6 feet tall, has lost a lot of weight very successfully with weight watchers and kept it off and isn't ashamed to admit it/talk about it etc. I explained that really need to lose weight because I know I'm not healthy and I need to fix this while I can. I told her I need to lose about 40 lbs and she looked concerned! Then I told her I'm 5' 1" and 160 lbs. But I'm a size 6! Proof that I'm not supposed to be "big" - and her only response to those details was "you're a size 6 at that weight?!"

Its true. I have gotten this same reaction from friends. I hold my weight very well and at my best healthiest size I should actually be a size 2 to 3. But when you say those numbers to people who would look sick in them it seems to worry them more than anything else. its really kind of a bummer that they can't understand what "petite" really is and I'm just curious if this happens to any other would-be petites?

Rayman79

It affects most of us actually! People can look very different at the same weight - for some it is a good thing (like you), for others its bad (like me) . I used to be annoyed that my old gym buddy was heavier than me, had the same strength, yet looked 100X better... I guess he had very heavy kidneys or something :laugh:

The bottom line is that people shouldn't get caught up in BS like using the BMI to determine your 'ideal' weight or judge themselves against others. Just be healthy, and get to a weight that YOU are happy with. Follow the visual cues more than the arbitrary number the scale gives you.

dottheallison

Ha ha! I don't know that its necessarily a good thing, maybe if I looked worse I'd have been motivated to take care of this problem sooner!

But very true, thanks for confirming my philosophy.
it seems deciding to change ones appearance drastically is a more interesting way to to find out how others see us than I ever imagined!

SherryTeach

At my heaviest, I was 136 pounds. at 5'1" I was wearing a size 10. I'm very eager to get back into my closetful of size 6 clothes.

Rayman79

... it seems deciding to change ones appearance drastically is a more interesting way to to find out how others see us than I ever imagined!

Very true, people's reaction when I tell them how much weight I've lost is still pretty priceless, and I've only lost a small amount compared to so many people here (~60lb).

essjay76

Completely understandable. I'm 4'10" with a small frame, petite everything (shoulders, torso, legs) and when I was at my heaviest, I got that a lot. I was probably 125-130 pounds and wore a size 5 or 7 in juniors, which is average for most women.

Now I am about 103 pounds, size 2 or 0 Petite (ladies) and a size 3 in juniors, and while some people might think that's super small, it's a good fit on me. People have to realize I'm not your average size female. That weight and size does not actually make me super thin at my height.

purplerose7

So I was talking to my boss, who is almost 6 feet tall, has lost a lot of weight very successfully with weight watchers and kept it off and isn't ashamed to admit it/talk about it etc. I explained that really need to lose weight because I know I'm not healthy and I need to fix this while I can. I told her I need to lose about 40 lbs and she looked concerned! Then I told her I'm 5' 1" and 160 lbs. But I'm a size 6! Proof that I'm not supposed to be "big" - and her only response to those details was "you're a size 6 at that weight?!"

Its true. I have gotten this same reaction from friends. I hold my weight very well and at my best healthiest size I should actually be a size 2 to 3. But when you say those numbers to people who would look sick in them it seems to worry them more than anything else. its really kind of a bummer that they can't understand what "petite" really is and I'm just curious if this happens to any other would-be petites?

I am 5'1" and 161lbs and I am nowhere near a size 6... I am a size 9/10. Maybe our body shapes are very different but a healthy weight for petite ladies like us is 105-135lbs. At 135lbs I wore a size 6 and was very healthy...

filomenae

I can relate! I'm 5'1, but at my heaviest (165lbs or so) I was size 10/11. I'm 119lbs (maybe a little less) now and I mainly wear a size 2. I still have weight I'd like to lose (about 10lbs), and I know I'll end up probably a 0/1 when I meet my goal.

When I started to lose weight and gain muscle, I hung around size 8/6 (150-135lbs).. Considering my BMI (which is a bunch of BS to me anyway) was overweight, I was wearing relatively average/slightly under average sizes.

People look at me now and think I weigh 110-100lbs and I'm perfectly OK with that.. :laugh:

ang3h

I'm 5'3" and 120 lbs and a size 6. I've gotten the snarkiest comments about it. "Oh, you're that big?" Ridiculous.

hailzp

It affects tall people too. When I say I have 50kg to lose they go all cray cray like I will die or something. But I am 6ft and started at 270lb.

Alohathin

I'm not a girl, but I can relate. What Rayman79 said is very true. People hold their weight very differently.

When I was in the Army, I always thought I was overweight, even when I was in the best shape of my life. I am 5'7" and the Army said that my ideal weight was something like 145-159. I could never get below about 163.

So, I would have to go in to the drill sergeant's office, and he would check my body fat percentage by measuring around my neck and waist, plug it into a bodyfat calculation chart, and make sure that I wasn't over the bodyfat limit. Of course I was way below the limit, but that didn't stop the drill sergeant from telling me to lose weight, anyway.

It was basically beaten into my head that I needed to lose weight cause I didn't meet the Army standard, even though I had a 29" waist, I could run 6:00 miles for 5 miles and bench press nearly twice my body weight. It makes no sense to me, now. But at the time I was young and impressionable, and it was a drill seargent telling me to lose weight, so...

And because of that I feel like I got a first hand look at how people with anorexia feel. I look at pictures of myself from that time in my life, and I can't fathom how I ever felt bad about my body. But I did.

I'll never get back to the kind of shape I was in then, but I'm ready to get as close as I can.

Nikkibebe08

I'm 5'2" and the pic on the left is me at 179lbs..I had some belly but I still wore a size 9/10. Current picture on the right is me at 149lbs and a size 5/6. I think it really depends on body type. According to my doctor I should weigh between 105-115lbs which I think would look terrible on me. My goal is to get to 135ish, and I'd like to tone up. I think going by weight charts according to height etc..isn't right for everyone.

BinaryPulsar

I'm 5'2" and I weigh 102. I'm in a size 0 or 2, but when I get a size 2, I need to have the waist made smaller. I think the numbers of my clothing size and an extra small being big on me and the number of my weight sounds small, but I look healthy. When I weighed 110 a lady in a store told me she thought I should wear a size large and was very rude to me. When I said I thought I was a size small she rolled her eyes, laughed in my face and said, "Take the large" (to the dressing room). That was weird. It was just that one experience and my husband agreed it was mean and weird.

Shelgirl001

I am 5' 1 1/2" and not am at a size 10/12 generally. It is mainly in my waist area, though, because I have always had trouble there, but especially after having 2 large babies. The largest being almost 9 1/2 lbs. and when I was 36. When I was 135 lbs. before I got pregnant with my first, I was in a size 6/8 It is something that I am now striving for, but hopefully even lighter. I never was over 100 lbs until I was about 24.

I told my Mom how much I weight now, and she actually couldn't believe it at first, but I do have quite muscular arms and legs. That does case extra weight.

hellosara08

I'm 5'3 and I don't know if I can count as petite (I have a 6" wrist which just put me at medium framed). I've been overweight for pretty much all my teen years. At my highest weight, 173, I was wearing a size 10/12 in women's clothing. I'm really curvy and I've always managed to carry my weight well or so I've been told. The first time I lost over 20 lbs, I made it into my high 140s and everyone kind of freaked out. I was wearing an 8 which I thought was kind of big and I still looked overweight. My mom especially did not want me to lose any more weight and lectured me about it constantly. When I ballooned up again, she was so happy and when I started talking of losing the weight, she flat out told me not to. ><

She hasn't seen me in about four months and I'm back down from 172 to about 151 and she's gonna freak. Especially since I'm going to lose about another 10 lbs before she gets back from out of the country. So I totally get it.

EngineerPrincess

I'm not petite by height but I'm very petite by frame, at 5'8 122 everyone agrees I'm "normal, not too thin" looking, and they're always guessing the wrong clothing sizes. My grandma buys me childrens large clothes (I'm 20) and my mom buys me womans size 8 pants and neither fit-- I think everyone, even family, should refrain from buying other people clothes or commenting on their size.
Also, it has so much to do with variations in sizing from brand to brand, and composition of muscle and fat! (I'm currently all bone and fat.) Don't rely on people's comments, even doctors, rely on what you look/feel like.

amarier21

I'm 4'10" and I weigh 146 right now. I have always been told that I don't need to lose weight because I'm already so small and petite. But I know that my lifestyle and eating habits are unhealthy and I would be much happier about 30 lbs lighter. No one really understands that just because I'm tiny in my height does not mean that I feel comfortable at my weight as well. And most people think it's strange because around my weight now is where they want to be. Everyone is different and needs to find where they are most comfortable! Also, anyone can add me on here! I love making new friends

KuroNyankoSensei

People think size 0 is for people who starve themselves and blah blah, but a lot of petite people that are generally that size still look healthy and fit ;P. I think I look my best at a size 0, personally. Now, if you're 5'10 with a large frame, then no, it's not a good idea. Some people just have their own natural sizes.

Plus, size 0 in Asia is actually a medium or sometimes a large anyway XDDD.

I'm 5'2 with a small frame and come from a small-built family. My sister is the same height as me, and her post-pregnancy weight was 120 lbs, and she was large o_____o . . . weight shows a lot more on her since her frame is slightly smaller than mine. Her happy weight tends to gravitate towards 90-95 lbs.

megleo818

Can totally relate. I'm 5' 3.5" and weigh 128 right now. Size 4-6. Still have around 10 pounds to lose, which will put me down into the size 0-2 range. BUT, I'm also nearly 49 years old and can tell you from experience that 20 years ago sizes were much different than they are today. Stuff is much, much bigger. I still have some old stuff from before I had kids (no, I'd never wear that stuff, but it's there to remind me of what my body was like), and those old 8's are tight on me now. My mother, who was a department store model for a while in the '50's, was shorter than I and weighed less than 100 pounds and was a size 12!! -- Clothing companies continually tweak sizes to make them bigger because some women will buy anything if it's in a small size. And the general public still thinks a size 6 is tiny. Oftentimes it's just not.

bigcity_tinydreams

Same for me!

I'm 5'2" and right now at around 143. I also want/wanted to lose about more 40 lbs. But when I was around 14 I weighed 123 and fit into a size 7 in juniors and now, at 143, I can still fit into those same pants!

So while it's really hard to not focus on the scale, it's really important to remember that it's not the be all and end all of your journey. Set inches and sizes as your goals so as to not get discouraged!

But trust me, I totally feel your pain!

cthmom

Yes. I totally understand. Your 6 foot coworker probably hasn't been a size 6 since she was 12 but our petite frames really shoule be about a size 2. Which could still be about 120-125lbs for us small gals.