"big boned"

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  • vypeters
    vypeters Posts: 475 Member
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    I was hugely obese, no doubt. But I'm also big boned - it's a frame thing. I have wide hips, bigger than average hands, feet, wrists...There are such a thing as frame differences.

    I'm 5'8" tall and not extremely muscular, but when I weighed 146 lbs (BMI 22) a BodPod said I had 18.6% body fat. I look scrawny at 143 (trying to regain about 5 lbs). My ribs stick out, my shoulder bones stick out, my spine sticks out. I have a friend an inch taller than me who weighs 15 lbs less and none of her bones stick out. She has a small frame, I have a big frame.

    Just because many obese people say they're big boned doesn't mean smaller or larger frames aren't real.
  • doug4018
    doug4018 Posts: 130
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    I suppose it's a definition thing. As someone who is large, I am 6'5" and even when I was a teenager and not obese, I was not skinny.

    With that being said, saying your big boned can be used as an excuse to be fat. Part of the mind game people play with themselves is having any excuse to justify their current condition. At least that's the way it was with me. I never used i'm big boned, but some people would say that. Some people will still say when I give them my goal weight, "that's too small, I think you'd be too thin."

    If you want to call yourself big boned fine, but don't let it be an excuse to be over weight. Be big boned and a normal weight range.
  • sweet_basil
    sweet_basil Posts: 25
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    some people do have thicker bones than others. Just like people have brittle thin bones.

    Agreed. It's actually a proven genetic condition in my family. Nearly everyone on my mom's side has dense bones. No one in that family has ever had osteoporosis (we're kind of lucky in that sense). We're not quite sure why it's like that, it just is.

    I mean, I know I'm fat, too. I look at the scale and I don't do that whole "I'm just big boned" thing. I can't, not at my size.

    If I was all odd-shaped at 110 pounds? Maybe. Then I'd be just skin and bones.

    Some use it as a crutch, others don't.
  • nickiog
    nickiog Posts: 187 Member
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    yeah i think two people can be the same height and weight and if one has very broad shoulder or wide hips they will look very different so in that sense " big boned " WOULD be a legit thing..but in the sense of " i weigh 500 pounds cause im big boned " is just a stupid excuse "
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Frame size is a factor. My niece is a good 3 inches taller than me, but she has the tiniest little dainty hands and wrists. I have giant man hands next to her.
  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
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    It doesn't bother me if other people say it about themselves - only when they suggest I am big-boned and therefore don't need to lose weight. A friend of mine says this to me if i bring up the topic. Whatever "big-boned" means, it coudn't possible account for 217 pounds on a 5',6" female/

    I have been very slim in the past and the only real difference I noted between myself and other women was I have fairly broad shoulders for a woman, compared to most. My mom and I are the same height but she has very narrow shoulders. When I was wearing a US size 4-6 in the past, I would have to buy a 10-12 in a long sleeved blouse or blazer to accomodate my shoulders; otherwise, the sleeves were way too short. I think of big bones as meaning a wider frame in general.
  • invictus8
    invictus8 Posts: 258 Member
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    Weird... every since I started reducing my caloric intake my bones have gotten smaller. Either that or I've lost fat.
  • chicpeach
    chicpeach Posts: 302 Member
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    Funny, cos I've always claimed the opposite: "I'm fatter than I look cos I'm small boned!" People tell me I look so skinny but the truth is, I could lose another 20 pounds and still be in the acceptable weight range for my height and bone structure.
  • goldfinger88
    goldfinger88 Posts: 686 Member
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    While I'm not sure anyone has said that to me, I am a big frame. To me, that's a good thing. I'm not fragile with small arms and legs like some people of both sexes. I don't know if you consider it a putdown or not. But I would consider it a compliment if I were you. Big boned people can handle more weight. Indeed, should have more weight. It's not a bad thing at all.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    I AM large framed, have a decent amount of muscle mass and might have denser than average bones. I have broad shoulders, big hips, a big rib cage. I'm 5'9" and 158lbs. I wear a size 8 and my bra strap is a 36. I'm a "big" woman. I stand next to smaller frame women, even my own height and there's a definite difference.
  • Miss_dannii
    Miss_dannii Posts: 1,351 Member
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    I hate when people say this. I really am big boned lol. It's nothing to do with weight. I'm really tall and broad and have a big build for a girl
  • CrystalDreams
    CrystalDreams Posts: 418 Member
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    I have a large frame covered in large muscle mass. Used to use the excuse that I am a "big girl" as an excuse for why i was heavy. People don't have big bones, but they can have large frames which is completely different, in my opinion. Still is no excuse to be covered in pounds of excess fat.
  • flobeedoodle
    flobeedoodle Posts: 176 Member
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    I just don't let it bother me. It's their life and you should focus on getting yourself healthy.

    This is a great response.

    (It's also what I ought to do when people post judgmental threads wherein they broadly attack people for behaviors they disagree with. It's just so hard, though, when people are being busy bodies and jerks. What does it matter to you if someone has a different frame, or just uses it as an excuse in the face of CONSTANT SOCIETAL JUDGMENT which drives them to feel like they need to make excuses for themselves when, in fact, their body is their business and staying fat is as much their right as getting fit.)
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Yeah, it's a silly thing for someone with too much fat on their body to say. I don't care how big or heavy your bones are, those bones do not look like fat.

    I only see this as being a reasonable remark if it were someone that weighed a lot but had little fat and <= average muscle mass, but since this person wouldn't look overweight it's unlikely they'd need to explain.
  • MdmAcolyte
    MdmAcolyte Posts: 382 Member
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    I happen to be fat and big-boned, however being big-boned, has nothing to do with me being fat.

    ^^^ This!! Me too!!
  • Aleluya17
    Aleluya17 Posts: 205 Member
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    I am very surprised how different the response are regarding this. A lot of emotional charge behind this one.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    I get annoyed when people use it as an excuse to be overweight since I'm literally big-boned. But not overweight.
  • MemphisKitten
    MemphisKitten Posts: 878 Member
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    If being overweight means that we are just "big-boned," then I must have a HUGE bone in my *kitten*!! :drinker:
  • AngelaKoder
    AngelaKoder Posts: 24
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    I totally agree with you. I do have to say though, that some peoples skeletons are bigger than others. My friend weighs 135 and looks fat. She wears only size 6 shoe, and has size 4 fingers (rings). I am same height, weigh 156 and look the same in clothes (I know I need to looser weight) but my finger size is 8 (even when I was 120 pounds) and my shoe size is 11!
    If I ever get back down to 135 I will look bone thin, where she looks chubby. I DO have bigger bones.
    I don't blame my big bones on being fat though haha. : )
  • korygilliam
    korygilliam Posts: 594 Member
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    There are differences in frame sizes (otherwise, why would they need a 'petite' clothing line?). Some women have more of a 'manly' frame and some men have more of a 'girly' frame, but too many times people use the excuse 'I just have big bones' as the reason that they are morbidly obese on the scale.

    I have broad hips (eta) which I wouldn't trade for anything (just look at my pictures) and I never thought I would get below a 12 again because of them, but now I am in a 10 and I know I can get to an 8...it is amazing how much fat is actually over those 'big bones':blushing:

    Frame size does make a difference, but people do need to quit using it as the excuse on why they can't see their toes :glasses:

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