petite girls, does this happen to you?

... 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).

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Clothing sizes change over the years, and are different from Brand to Brand. Even on different items within the same Brand! When I was 14, I weighed 115. I wore a size 10. A few years ago I weighed 148 and wore a size 6. I ignore sizes and just wear what fits. When someone asks I say, it depends on the day, the item, the brand, the colour, the temperature, how I slept. They never ask again! In my estimation as you age and gain weight the size goes down! :laugh::laugh: People have no idea what they're seeing when they look at others. i know someone who is 4'10' she is perfectly proportioned. Until I met her, I had no idea size 0 even existed!

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.

OMG I can totally relate. I was almost chaptered out of the Army because I was "overweight" at 5'11" and 185lbs. Army wanted me to weigh closer to 165, but I just couldn't get below about 175-180 because of weight lifting I did in high school and the fact that I am just more muscular. Tape tests were brutal because I have a naturally thin neck.

Never mind that I could throw a a .50cal with barrel on my shoulder and run for a mile or more (that's about 110lbs for those of you that don't know how big a .50cal machine gun is) or walk more than 25miles in a day with an 80lb rucksack, and M60 machine gun (M60 weighs about 24lbs), I was still "fat".

No matter what weight I am people always think I'm smaller. When I told a co-worker the other day I still wanted to loose about 20-25lbs she looked at me like I was insane.

Yes! This is definitely the case for me. I have a very small frame, I am 5'2" and i carry my weight VERY well, thank God. i told my trainer how much i weighed and she could not believe it! I also asked all of my close friends how much they thought i may weigh, & no one said above 200, & i am over 250 now. i've seen ppl my same weight that do NOT look the same, so im not completely sure what my goal weight should be or how i'll look.

I am 5 ft 2" and started off at 297 lbs - I am now at 237, and I had originally thought that I would aim for about 140lbs - but looking at pictures from that website that shows photo's of people at different sizes and body types - I am now thinking that I should be aiming for about 130lbs.

When I have told people what weight I am now - I get told quite often that I don't look it and when I say I am wanting to lose at least 100lbs yet and aiming for 10 stone (140lbs) I get looks of horror or worry and asked "are you sure?" strangely though, people don't seem to realise how short I am.

I am not telling people that I am now thinking of going to less than that, I am just saying that I am aiming for a UK size 12 and the occasional 10 would be nice or I think it would just get too awkward lol.

I don't tell people what I weigh. I really consider it to be intrusive. I mean, would you go up to an obese person and say, "hey, what do you weigh?" Heck no! So why go up to anyone else and ask them that question. And then, what does it really matter. Kindof like your age, its just a number!

What does matter is 1) are you eating the foods that fuel your body, or are you not eating or eating processed foods? 2) Are you exercising in a healthy manner? Not 5hours a day, but you are Active. 3) You are not tired or sleepy all day long. 4) You are not sick a LOT of the time. As long as you are healthy, active and enjoying life, the number on the scale is truely a number.

I use to get a lot of people saying mean things...
...your gonna blow away (um...your not because your fat?)
...you don't eat enough to keep a mouse alive (um...eating fruits and veggies is a crime?)


Focus on what you are doing right, and what you can do. Focus on the positives
...I ate healthy today
...I exercised today
...I can keep up with my kids
...I have a happy positive attitude

Tell the negative voice in your head to *SHUT UP* - Chalene Johnson.