No really... I AM big boned..?

Scrimples · January 2013

I was just lamenting about this today. With my large frame and my goal weight adjusted accordingly due to that I still will sit in the overweight category on the BMI chart. I know logically not to worry about it, but it screws with my mind a bit.

When I was a teen my doctor did some measurements with some pretty neat calipers and discovered that what we thought was a large frame was even larger than we thought. I always felt too big. For instance, I have very broad shoulders. I look like a cartoon character (you know the one in the bugs bunny cartoons of the gangster in the zuit suit) if I wore anything with shoulder pads. I have a broad chest, large and muscular calves and thighs, and even a large skull. I'm structurally built more like a linebacker than a cheerleader iykwim.

All this ended up meaning for me was that we had to disregard the typical weight charts and factor that in. I was at my slimmest when the measurements were done and was told at 145 and 5'7" that I had actually lost 10-15 more pounds than necessary for someone with my frame and muscle tone. I also was not able to maintain that since it was too much, and well, I have struggled with my weight since the onset of hormones.

Someone with a large frame can absolutely look a lot thinner than the scale says and wear much smaller sizes than one would expect for someone that weight. However, if you do have a large frame, you have to let go of the idea of looking petite and small. You can't diet and exercise the structure away. You are stuck with it forever. I know you know that, but it is important to remember. Try and embrace what you have and work at making that the best you can. In the end it isn't the size of frame, the size on the tag of your jeans, or what normal may be if you aren't part of that norm. It is how you feel at that weight both physically and psychologically, how comfortable you are in your body at that weight, and if you can maintain it.

purplecharm · January 2013

People do have different frame sizes. I have a disproportionate rib cage and hand-size for instance. I found this out when I broke a rib when I was younger.

Your hand length will not shrink when you lose weight. I just have very large hands for my height.

I also have big hands for my height and unfortunately my feet are also big for my height.

essaryswife73 · January 2013

Skeletons are all about the same size. No such thing as "big boned". Lol.

I agree!!! Big boned is nothing but bull**** that big people use as an excuse to be big. I know, used that same excuse myself for years!

I'm sorry, but I totally disagree. My grandfather weighed around 350 lbs when he passed and the medical examiner told us his skeleton weighed close to 100 lbs. His bones were huge and really dense. It's true that some people use "big boned" as an excuse, but it's not fair to lump everyone together.

tigersword · January 2013

Skeletons are all about the same size. No such thing as "big boned". Lol.

I agree!!! Big boned is nothing but bull**** that big people use as an excuse to be big. I know, used that same excuse myself for years!

I'm sorry, but I totally disagree. My grandfather weighed around 350 lbs when he passed and the medical examiner told us his skeleton weighed close to 100 lbs. His bones were huge and really dense. It's true that some people use "big boned" as an excuse, but it's not fair to lump everyone together.

His skeleton was so heavy and dense because it had to support 350 pounds. His skeleton would have weighed much less if he had weighed 175 pounds. Just like his tendons, ligaments, and muscle mass would have been more than someone half his weight, for the same reason.

bcattoes · January 2013

Skeletons are all about the same size. No such thing as "big boned". Lol.

Are they? I've never actually researched that, and I suppose it would depend a lot on what you mean by "about" the same size. But there are definitely people that have naturally bigger, or wider, bone structure than others. It doesn't make them look fat though, just wider. Nothing about your bones will make you look overweight.

JBG1987 · January 2013

Skeletons are all about the same size. No such thing as "big boned". Lol.

^I have always heard this.

JBG1987 · January 2013

My doctor and my best friend (a PA) have both told me that frame size is generally small, medium or large for all intents and purposes in determining a healthy BMI. Normally it can be gauged by wrapping your hand around your wrist. If your fingers overlap, you have a small frame. If they touch, you have an average frame and if they don't touch at all, you have a large frame. It is obviously not an exact science, but when your healthy weight range for your hight spans from 108-145, it can help you determine what is a better estimate based on your height and frame.

A 5'4" woman with a medium frame is probably comfortable in the 120-130 range, again, an estimate.

EricaRuns27 · January 2013

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

bcattoes · January 2013

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

Certainly skeletal structure vary, otherwise we'd all be the same height.

hughtwalker · January 2013

My bones are bigger than my 5' 4" 9 stone wife - if/when I lose weight will my bones be smaller?

abberbabber · January 2013

I'm a physical anthropologist, and there IS such thing as big boned. No bones are the same size. Your ancestry play a large part it it. It doesn't make a huge difference, but it's not irrelevant either.

^^^^ See, empirical evidence. Isn't science (actual science) a wonderful thing?

QFT. No, your bones are not going to make you 300 ponds...but two women who are both 5'8" could look completely different based on bone and muscle composition. If there were no such thing as people with larger or smaller frames, everyone at the same height and weight would look just about the same.

concordancia · January 2013

I am small boned. Sometimes I think I am the only obese person in the world who knows this about them self.

EricaRuns27 · January 2013

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

Certainly skeletal structure vary, otherwise we'd all be the same height.

Oh I def agree they are different. I'm 5'3". My skeletal is not the same as someone a foot taller than me, obviously. I'm just saying that a person stating "I'm big boned" as a part of reason/not losing weight is kind of silly.

bcattoes · January 2013

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

Certainly skeletal structure vary, otherwise we'd all be the same height.

Oh I def agree they are different. I'm 5'3". My skeletal is not the same as someone a foot taller than me, obviously. I'm just saying that a person stating "I'm big boned" as a part of reason/not losing weight is kind of silly.

Agreed. I don't care how big or heavy your bones are, bones don't look like fat. If the reason you weigh so much is that you are big boned, you wouldn't have to explain that. They would plainly see that it was not fat.

purplecharm · January 2013

I don't understand why people don't understand that large frames aka big bones exist and that having big bones is not the same as being fat. There are plenty of small framed people that are fat, obese and morbidly obese, just as there are large framed people that are fat, obese, and morbidly obese. i used to work with a morbidly obese lady and I could tell that she had a small frame underneath all her fat because she had small wrist, small feet, very narrow shoulders and a small head.

My 11 year old daughter is already 5'10 and weighs between 125-130 lbs BUT she has a large frame. Her shoulders are broad and she wears a size 12 women's shoe.I measured her wrist and it measured 6.5 inches. I don't know if she has stopped growing yet, but it's obvious that she is not fat but yet she has a large frame which she took after me.

I have a large from and although I am only 5'8 I wear a size 13 women's shoe. My wrist measures 7 inches(no fat on my wrist), I can't wear once size fits all hats because my head is larger than average and I have extremely broad shoulders. I took after my father, who also has a large frame with broad shoulder

My mother on the other hand has a wrist so small that she has to have additional holes added to her watches because her frame is small.

bump

purplecharm · January 2013

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

Certainly skeletal structure vary, otherwise we'd all be the same height.

Oh I def agree they are different. I'm 5'3". My skeletal is not the same as someone a foot taller than me, obviously. I'm just saying that a person stating "I'm big boned" as a part of reason/not losing weight is kind of silly.

Agreed. I don't care how big or heavy your bones are, bones don't look like fat. If the reason you weigh so much is that you are big boned, you wouldn't have to explain that. They would plainly see that it was not fat.

Now one is saying that big bones = fat. They are not one and the same. You can be fat with a small frame. You can be fat with a medium frame. You can be fat with a large frame. Just because some fat people use the "big bones" excuse for why they are fat does not mean that there aren't people that actually have a large frame aka big bones.

I wanted to add that you can be sknny with a large frame.

lowpro1983 · January 2013

I think that when we are larger, we often can't imagine how we would look/feel if we were smaller. I mean, I'm 5'6 and about 195 lbs....size 14 and I still can't imagine what it would be like to be a size 10 or smaller. BUT....IT IS POSSIBLE.

Don't get too caught up on the big boned theory....just know that with consistency, determination, motivation, support - healthier eating habits and exercise habits, etc...you will lose weight!!! Don't get discouraged, keep going!

bcattoes · January 2013

Oh I def agree they are different. I'm 5'3". My skeletal is not the same as someone a foot taller than me, obviously. I'm just saying that a person stating "I'm big boned" as a part of reason/not losing weight is kind of silly.

Agreed. I don't care how big or heavy your bones are, bones don't look like fat. If the reason you weigh so much is that you are big boned, you wouldn't have to explain that. They would plainly see that it was not fat.

Now one is saying that big bones = fat. They are not one and the same. You can be fat with a small frame. You can be fat with a medium frame. You can be fat with a large frame. Just because some fat people use the "big bones" excuse for why they are fat does not mean that there aren't people that actually have a large frame aka big bones.

Um, yeah. That's pretty much what I said.

SoulReckoning · January 2013

OP: I just wanted to tell you my "big boned" side of things. I am German & Native American, I'm bred to be big. my mother is native american mostly, and she is taller than I am but she carries her weight really differently. Based on our legs, you would never know we were related. She has chicken legs (they are small even though she's overweight) her ankles and wrists are tiny. I practically have kankles, thunder thighs, a big butt, and 7.5 inch writsts that aren't fatty, mostly wrist. Obviously they'd get little smaller when I lose some weight. I am only 5' 6.5", and I consider myself "big boned" because at my heaviest (210lbs) everyone would say, "YOU CARRY IT WELL, I wouldn't have thought you weighed that much!" That phrase always annoys me. I was wearing a size 16/18 then on a good day. In High School and college I pretty much stayed about 170-180 pounds and wore a 12 in womens or 13/14 in Juniors. But just a few years ago I got down to a size 6/8 (depending on style and brand of clothes) at just 159lbs. That's a lot to weigh for that size I feel like. It was the smallest I could ever remember being, and I still had about 10-15 pounds to lose to get into the BMIs ideal weight range. Even at your height, I think you will be surprised as to what sizes fit once you start getting closer to your goal weight. I must have been doing sometihng really right back then to lose those inches like I did, it was a great feeling to go shopping for a trip I was going on. I remember thinking, oh I probably lost a size or two...Nope, to go from a 13/14 to a 6 or 8 was AMAZING! Hopefully I can achieive that again, and keep it!

murmt · February 2013

OP: I just wanted to tell you my "big boned" side of things. I am German & Native American, I'm bred to be big. my mother is native american mostly, and she is taller than I am but she carries her weight really differently. Based on our legs, you would never know we were related. She has chicken legs (they are small even though she's overweight) her ankles and wrists are tiny. I practically have kankles, thunder thighs, a big butt, and 7.5 inch writsts that aren't fatty, mostly wrist. Obviously they'd get little smaller when I lose some weight. I am only 5' 6.5", and I consider myself "big boned" because at my heaviest (210lbs) everyone would say, "YOU CARRY IT WELL, I wouldn't have thought you weighed that much!" That phrase always annoys me. I was wearing a size 16/18 then on a good day. In High School and college I pretty much stayed about 170-180 pounds and wore a 12 in womens or 13/14 in Juniors. But just a few years ago I got down to a size 6/8 (depending on style and brand of clothes) at just 159lbs. That's a lot to weigh for that size I feel like. It was the smallest I could ever remember being, and I still had about 10-15 pounds to lose to get into the BMIs ideal weight range. Even at your height, I think you will be surprised as to what sizes fit once you start getting closer to your goal weight. I must have been doing sometihng really right back then to lose those inches like I did, it was a great feeling to go shopping for a trip I was going on. I remember thinking, oh I probably lost a size or two...Nope, to go from a 13/14 to a 6 or 8 was AMAZING! Hopefully I can achieive that again, and keep it!

And did you look/feel good in size 6 or 8? Bonewise, I mean

I have quite a large structure, and my bones are really dense and heavy (my brothers' also - and that's a good thing, since both of us had a LOT of opportunities to break something, and have never even had a fracture). Large hands (very hard to find womens' gloves in my size), large feet. In middle to highschool I weighed a neverchanging 121 lbs, even though I grew a lot (5'3'' to 5'8''), and then at 18 I got +33 lbs in a year. The thing is, when I was 121, looking down I would always see not my boobs but my ribcage sticking out

It really got to me, AND under the clothes it looked like I had a fat roll in a weird place

) And right below the ribcage there was this hollowness, where my abs were supposed to be. So, being 154 lbs and size 12-14 was better, because I didn't look like some emaciated kid in the top half (my hips were pretty wide, and even now with 210 lbs hipbones are near the surface, you can almost see them).

No really... I AM big boned..?

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