Does anyone else weigh more than they should?

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Cydnie197
Cydnie197 Posts: 38
in Health and Weight Loss
Let me explain, I don't mean "who else is overweight", I mean "do you fool the guess-your-weight ppl at amusement parks because the scale says a higher number than what ppl see?"

Does that make any sense?
I have always had a higher scale weight than my clothing size would suggest. I'm 5'2" and even when I was 18, wearing a size 3, I weighed 120-125. My daughter is now 18, 5'3", she wears a 1, but she's only 103. I guess I just don't understand how this all works.
Could I simply be more densely packed than everyone else?
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Replies

  • 311Phil
    311Phil Posts: 397
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    I am definitely this way. When i started MFP i weighed 315 lbs. people would put me around 270-280...now I weight 282 and people say like 260. I have a large/stocky frame, and carry all of my extra weight in my stomach/chest/back. my arms and legs are in good shape....but people consistantly guess that i'm about 20 lbs less than i am.
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
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    I tend to shock people when I say that I'm 150 and 5'2.5". I think it's just how my weight is pretty evenly distributed, but I do "carry it well" I suppose. Which is nice, instead of wanting to get down to 120, I'm only shooting for 135-140 because I'll look 120. Right now I'm a size 6 (sometimes an 8 depending on the store) and usually a small or medium on top unless the shirt runs incredibly tight. Once I get down to my goal weight, I'll most likely be a size 4. I don't know how or why, but its just the way my body is built, I"m not complaining! haha
  • jsteras
    jsteras Posts: 344 Member
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    I am 5'9" and I have a friend that is about 5' . I can weigh a good 40-60 pounds more than her and we will be in the same size clothes. I have another friend that wears larger clothes than me , she is about 4inches shorter than me but weighs less. Makes no sense :)
  • daniface
    daniface Posts: 338 Member
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    i'm not sure i get it, your daughter weighs less than you did and wears a smaller size, that seems to make sense to meee
  • Jenni268
    Jenni268 Posts: 202 Member
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    I am there with you. I am currently overweight, but most people will say that I usually look 15-20 lbs lighter than I am. At 5'3" in high school I weight about 138 and wore a size 5. Even at my largest (almost 230) I only wore a size 14. My MIL used to get so mad b/c she said that when she weighed about 200 she wore a 20-22.

    Of course, I think a lot of it is 1) what you wear and 2) how you carry the weight. My MIL carries ALL of her weight around the middle. I have gained it all over. Which makes it harder to see gains and losses because 5 lbs loss all over looks different than 5 lbs off just your stomach.
  • slimdebbiecakes
    slimdebbiecakes Posts: 36
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    I know what you mean. People usually think I weight around 160, but their off like 20 pounds. I'm 5'8 and I wear a size 12.
  • Kirstie_C26
    Kirstie_C26 Posts: 490 Member
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    yep, this is defo me, when i was at my heaviest (14st/196lbs) a few years ago, ppl never believed me when i said i weighed that much lol, but now that im closer to a 'normal' healthy weight for my height (5'3") and medium-large build it seems to have rectified itself lol
  • HeatherShrinking
    HeatherShrinking Posts: 805 Member
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    When I first met my brother in law, he asked me how much I weighed. (He doesn't have sisters and didn't realize this wasn't the best thing to ask a lady...but he was honestly curious) When I told him he was shocked and said "Are you dense?" Me: "What?" Him: "Your body must be really dense to weigh that much!" Me: "No Jason, I think you are dense!" :laugh: It was pretty funny at the time.
  • dlaplume2
    dlaplume2 Posts: 1,658 Member
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    I am like that too. I went to the doctors once and the nurse weighed me and said wow! I would have never guessed you weighed that much.

    I took it as a compliment, but now I wonder if that is a good thing?
  • ukgirly01
    ukgirly01 Posts: 523 Member
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    yup when I started this in January I was 249.9lbs im 5'11 and was bursting out of my 20s, I mentioned this and everyone was shocked, Im now 216.4 lbs and into a size 18 when I reach my goal of 170 ish lbs I'll be really quite thin, my bones are obviously made of lead lol
  • WeatherGurl1129
    WeatherGurl1129 Posts: 36 Member
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    A lot of it is also how you dress for your body type. I am a classic pear-shape, and I have learned to not accentuate my hips in the clothing I wear. One coworker guessed I was 125 lbs but I'm 155 lbs! I've also got a lot of leg muscle so it's heavier than my other flabby areas. I'm hoping when I get to my GW of 140 lbs that it will be a toned, muscular 140 lbs that actually looks like 125-130 lbs. :smile:

    Oh, and when I was 125-130 lbs in high school I wore a size 8, and I'm 5'2". Now I wear a 10, and I'm already noticing that my dress pants feel pretty loose. My size 10 jeans are still snug, especially right out of the dryer. :tongue:
  • amarie36
    amarie36 Posts: 65 Member
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    My mother and I speak on this all the time. We are both 5'1, while I was in high school we were the same weight(125-128) and shared clothes(size 5/6). Although, I would always look heavier then she did. She could even fit in some size 4s. I on the other hand could only get in a 4 if it was a dress. :-(
  • Hopey1994
    Hopey1994 Posts: 307
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    Bone density has a lot to do with this, I think. My sister was a size 4 at her wedding, she was super tiny, but was 150 lbs. She's dense (I think in more ways than one, HAHAHA!). I am built opposite of her, I'm a size 12 and look like a size 16...but when I do lose weight, I'm much more petitely built than she is...does that make sense??
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    I know what you mean. People usually think I weight around 160, but their off like 20 pounds. I'm 5'8 and I wear a size 12.

    I am in a similar boat. Before MFP I was 175 pounds and a size 12 (I am 5'7"). When I told a couple friends I was trying to lose 30 pounds they were all like "You'll waste away to nothing!" They were shocked I weighed as much as I did. Apparently my body hides my fat well, for better or worse.
  • scagneti
    scagneti Posts: 707 Member
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    Yeah, I'm like that. I think I might end up a 140 pound size 2. I'm a comfortable 4 in pants now (no muffin top), and on Friday had trouble finding small shirts that aren't massive on me and I'm still 140 pounds. My workout clothes are all XS (which I think is more vanity sizing than anything because I'm still not "tiny"). I have quite a bit of weight in my arms (12") and my legs are extremely muscular. Because I have smaller hips and my belly is quite flat, pants are easier to get into and look more streamlined. I can feel all the muscles under my belly, so I don't know if I'm building muscle and losing fat at a similar rate (I don't have much of a calorie deficit, and some days I go over, so I can believe I'm building muscle.)

    People peg me for 20-25 pounds lighter than I am. I gave some clothes to a woman at work my exact height that I grew out of months ago and she's 15 pounds lighter than I am.
  • BflSaberfan
    BflSaberfan Posts: 1,272
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    It all depends on lean body mass. You could have 2 people same height, same weight and have drastically different body fat percentages. The one with the most muscle could wear even 2 sizes smaller than the one with the higher percentage.
  • scagneti
    scagneti Posts: 707 Member
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    i'm not sure i get it, your daughter weighs less than you did and wears a smaller size, that seems to make sense to meee

    I think that it's more that someone a size 1 = 103 pounds and someone a size 3 = 120 pounds. You'd think that there wouldn't be a big a difference for only one size up.
  • Temporalia
    Temporalia Posts: 1,151 Member
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    My healthy weight is 170 and I will be able to wear size 9 pants (and i'm 5'8)....When I was in high school, I maintained a 140 lbs average, wore size 8 pants and people thought I weigh around 125, I had barely any fat... Starting age 11, I remember being 5'4 and 125 lbs and my mom had clothes from when she got married and they didn't fit me at all, she was way skinnier than I was.
  • Cydnie197
    Cydnie197 Posts: 38
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    Well GOOD! At least if I'm crazy, I'm not alone!! =D Thanks everyone for sharing your stories!!
  • Cydnie197
    Cydnie197 Posts: 38
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    Sorry, I'm kinda new here, I'll figure out how to reply to a specific reply sooner or later. =P

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