Does anyone else weigh more than they should?

Cydnie197
Cydnie197 Posts: 38
edited September 25 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?

Replies

  • 311Phil
    311Phil Posts: 397
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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: 776 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    Well GOOD! At least if I'm crazy, I'm not alone!! =D Thanks everyone for sharing your stories!!
  • Cydnie197
    Cydnie197 Posts: 38
    Sorry, I'm kinda new here, I'll figure out how to reply to a specific reply sooner or later. =P
  • Cydnie197
    Cydnie197 Posts: 38
    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.

    Yep, That is what I meant, I guess I just didn't explaing it well. Thanks for translating!!
  • tahoemads
    tahoemads Posts: 64 Member
    It's all due to genetics, body build, bone density and lean muscle mass!

    No body is alike, so some people carry their weight more evenly distributed, or don't have has much lean muscle tissue, etc. That's why the scale is not our best measurement tool! Generally yes, but not always! Also, when you build muscle and lean out, you may weigh more but fit into smaller clothes. That's because muscle is more compact, and makes you appear much thinner than the scale may reveal. Every heard of skinny fat? No thank you!
  • kbanzhaf
    kbanzhaf Posts: 601 Member
    Most people think I weigh less than I actually do.....and always have. I've said "I'm built like a brick outhouse." (so to speak). I was visiting with my aunt about a month ago, and she could not believe that I had lost as much weight as I had or that I weighed as much as I did when I began this journey.
    Kaye
  • arwamya
    arwamya Posts: 304
    I do !! i guess my bones are heavier . When i first joined gym even my trainer said you're 153 ?! wow you don't look 153 :P
  • Phoenix_Rising
    Phoenix_Rising Posts: 11,417 Member
    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?"

    I win a prize off the "Guess Your Weight" guy every single time!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT! Such a confidence booster!!!!
  • Bviera
    Bviera Posts: 106 Member
    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

    Same with me! People didn't believe me when I said I was 156. Even at 160, I was wearing US size 8/10 pants. Now I'm 6/8 (6 only if it runs large) at 148 lbs and I still don't look that different anyway. I carry all my weight in my hips and thigh area, so I lose inches around my waist and my hips pretty much stay the same. It takes a lot of pounds before I actually start burning the fat I collect in my hips. At my lightest, 130 lbs about 6 years ago, I was a size 6. I wonder if I go down to 130 now, whether I could fit into size 4 pants. I think I definately have more muscle mass now because I work out a lot more than ever and I've taken up running, which I didn't do before.
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