Reality or skewed perception?

Vain_Witch
Vain_Witch Posts: 476 Member
edited January 28 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm curious...have any of you found that you feel like you need to weigh less as an adult than you needed to to look better at a younger age?

I weigh less now than I did in my early 20's. I'm a smaller size now than I was in my early 20's. And yet, I feel like I have so much further to go...I have this horrible pooch of a belly that won't go away that I don't remember being there (to the same extent) before.

I understand that I've had a child, but wouldn't it make sense that my stomach would be smaller now than it was then if I'm in a smaller size than I was then?

So...my question stands...Is this reality, and I really DO need to weigh less now than I did then to look the same, or is it my own skewed perception and distorted memory? Has anyone else experienced this?

Replies

  • momzeeee
    momzeeee Posts: 475 Member
    For me personally, I think I look way better now than what I did in my 20s. I've had three kids, but I'm also 10lbs less than my previous lowest weight (which was on my wedding day 11 years ago). I'm also much more toned, thanks to walking and strength training, and I no longer have the bloat I always had, because I recently had a 'duh' moment and cut out wheat :) I'm also much more comfortable in my skin now, that I'm older :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,368 Member
    The other way around here. I was at my goal weight when I was 18, but I felt fat. And I probably was, because I had no muscles.
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,779 Member
    yes. but my rationalization may be different. i never considered myself good looking anyway, but as i have gotten older I feel like any looks i did have eroded significantly, if not completely. So, the thing i can make more attractive is my body, so i may be trying to compensate that way.

    that said, i still weigh about 15 lbs more than i did in high school and have a ways to go.
  • stephaniemejia1671
    stephaniemejia1671 Posts: 482 Member
    I think I better understand what it means to be healthy and how to go about having a better lifestyle. Of course I weight less and look better because I am making better decisions about things than I did when I was younger.
  • conniemaxwell5
    conniemaxwell5 Posts: 943 Member
    In my opinion we (women) worry too much about flat stomachs, big boobs, etc. If we are at a healthy weight and body fat%, what does it matter if we have a little extra skin, a stomach 'pooch' or our breasts have shrunk a little? My husband and I are the only ones who ever see that much of me and I look good in clothes so I'm not going to kill myself to try to achieve the world's perception of beauty that has been airbrushed into our minds.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    I don't feel the need to weigh less than I did in my late teens/20s, but I do feel the need to be in better shape by maintaining a good BF % and regularly exercising. I actually weigh about what I did back then, but have better muscle definition and most likely a better BF% (I never measured that back when I was 20).
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    Ive become comfortable with the truth that I look and feel better...weighing about 20 lbs more than the "be a model size!" people would have me think I should weigh. I would be far too thin at that weight. I have about 4 to go yo get to my goal...and I'm in no hurry ..I am fine. Right here.
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
    So...my question stands...Is this reality, and I really DO need to weigh less now than I did then to look the same, or is it my own skewed perception and distorted memory? Has anyone else experienced this?

    100% agree with the OP.

    When I was 25 years old and 150 lbs, I felt great. I wasn't skinny, but I was in great shape and still curvy in all the right places. When I got back to 150 lbs at 39 years old... well, I am now in pretty good shape, fitness-wise, but I am now curvy in all the *wrong* places. I have all kinds of weird poochy areas that weren't there before. I need to be at least 10 lbs lower, maybe more - I'll see whan I get there. I just carry my weight differently now, and it ain't pretty.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    I understand that I've had a child, but wouldn't it make sense that my stomach would be smaller now than it was then if I'm in a smaller size than I was then?

    Well, no. Because as we age and have kids, everything redistributes. You're smaller overall, but your stomach could be the same size. Or, it may be somewhat smaller, but the rest of you is much smaller so you don't see the difference.

    I think all of us have this problem to some degree.
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