High School vs. Now

ESSKT
ESSKT Posts: 1 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am currently in my third year of university.
When I was in high school I generally had pretty good body self esteem (pretty average I would say).
I was 5'8 and a half and 145 pounds.
Despite a little bit of a set back in the summer, I have been feeling really great lately.
Yesterday I weighed myself and I am about 163.
I just wonder if its normal for bodies to change in the years after high school?
I know that most people gain weight in university- but I am a pretty healthy and active person and seeing this number was a bit discouraging.
Just looking for some comments about what other people have experienced...
Anything will help. thanks :)
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Replies

  • spingirl605
    spingirl605 Posts: 181 Member
    Yes, our bodies change after highschool, and after university, and after children...It's called getting old...lol...I am more active now, and after I had my baby and doing MFP I lost a lot of weight and was down to the same weight I was in college, but my body did NOT look anything like it did back then...It totally sucks. I have to work a lot harder now, than I did back then...
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    It's just a number. If you don't feel too heavy then don't worry about it.

    But I was chubby in high school, so I actually weigh less now. I even weigh less now than I did before having children.
  • sherbear702
    sherbear702 Posts: 649 Member
    It's normal. I grew another inch after I got out of high school. Our bodies aren't really done developing until we're about 21 or so.

    If you're content with your weight and your happy good for you!
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
    edited December 2014
    I was a skinny thing in HS. Now I am around 20lbs heavier. Doesn't look bad on me, but I am not a fan! So I am doing something about it.

    Do what YOU like and make yourself happy at whatever weight/size you are. And if you're not happy, then do something to change it :)

    ETA: I am 5'9 and around 156lbs now, and was easily high 120's low 130's in HS.
  • court_alacarte
    court_alacarte Posts: 219 Member
    oh yes bodies change, as habits change. when i was in high school, i maintained a 125 lb weight consistently throughout without any thought. now i struggle to go below 146 (i'm currently 157 right now). however, back then i owe that to not drinking alcohol, being a pickier eater and not being seated for 8 straight hours all day.

    have you changed your eating habits in any way, like say you eat more foods now more frequently? once i got to college i started drinking and i gained that freshman 15 in no time. and of course drinking leads to getting greasy food munchies and it all snowballs from there.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    I gained 15 pounds in college, and then I gained 20 more in the military after that. Gaining a few pounds isn't a big deal, especially if you're still in a healthy range. But at some point you have to step back and decide if it's something you don't mind or if it's something that's going out of control.

    If you're fine with your body, there's nothing wrong with focusing on making healthy choices with your food and activity. If nothing more, look at it as a preventative measure.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    ESSKT wrote: »
    I am currently in my third year of university.
    When I was in high school I generally had pretty good body self esteem (pretty average I would say).
    I was 5'8 and a half and 145 pounds.
    Despite a little bit of a set back in the summer, I have been feeling really great lately.
    Yesterday I weighed myself and I am about 163.
    I just wonder if its normal for bodies to change in the years after high school?
    I know that most people gain weight in university- but I am a pretty healthy and active person and seeing this number was a bit discouraging.
    Just looking for some comments about what other people have experienced...
    Anything will help. thanks :)

    Well, when I was in high school I weighed less than 100 pounds at 5' 4". I had always been a skinny kid. In college I finally got to slightly over 100 pounds and I probably had a lot healthier eating habits than high school. I never really felt great at that weight or below though. I did a lot of walking but didn't really workout.
    After college was when I started really gaining weight. I felt pretty awesome about myself when I weighed 125 pounds even though it was much more than I had ever weighed in high school. I felt comfortable/energetic, clothes fit better and I felt like I looked pretty good.
    I gradually had a much more sedentary lifestyle. It wasn't until after my dd was born that my weight was really a problem. I continued to gain and lose over 14 years. I was at 179 pounds when I started with MFP. My goal is to get to 149 and then see how I feel. I don't expect- nor do I ever want- to weigh the same as I did in high school. I think 100 pounds would look and feel even worse now that I am 40 years old. I may eventually try for around 125 again though.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited December 2014
    Absolutely, your body can change in your very late teens and early 20s. I was very thin when I graduated high school (115 at 5'6".) It wasn't through effort but I was just very skinny and when I look at pictures now I think I looked like a middle school boy. My body changed and developed more curves when I was in college. I was somewhere around 127 when I graduated from college, I believe. More fit, as I walked quite a bit around campus, but still thin and not very muscular at all.
  • drewmmm
    drewmmm Posts: 130 Member
    After highschool I gained 20 lbs, then lost 15, then gained 30! And all of that happened in less than 4 years! So, yeah I guess your body changes as your habits do too.. I'm now 12-15 lbs lighter then I was in HS so I guess that's good :D
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    While some of us have a different experience (like me personally I was obese even as a teen and am thinner now), I think that is considered pretty much "the norm" for most adults to be thinner as teens and gain weight in college, after college, after having kids, during their 20's and 30's or even later.

    I'm sure you have heard of the "Freshman 15", I think it's generally attributed to the whole change of lifestyle involved in going to college and having a different schedule and eating habits than you probably had during high school.

    I know a girl who started college 2 years ago and has easily gained 80-100 lb because of the stress and freedom that came with college - what I suspect is some serious binge eating due to her job as a suicide hotline operator. VERY sad in my opinion. OP, I know your gain is nothing like that but you are smart to keep an eye on it since weight gain during a relatively short time can have its own host of issues.
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
    When i graduated highschool i weighed 185 and felt good about myself, though i didn't lift i just ran. Now i am the most confident i've ever felt about my body and my bodyfat % is less now at 208lbs than it was when i was at 185lbs.

    I really wish i could go back to highschool and have developed a lifting consciousness back then, i just wasn't exposed to it until i got to college.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    ESSKT wrote: »
    I am currently in my third year of university.
    When I was in high school I generally had pretty good body self esteem (pretty average I would say).
    I was 5'8 and a half and 145 pounds.
    Despite a little bit of a set back in the summer, I have been feeling really great lately.
    Yesterday I weighed myself and I am about 163.
    I just wonder if its normal for bodies to change in the years after high school?
    I know that most people gain weight in university- but I am a pretty healthy and active person and seeing this number was a bit discouraging.
    Just looking for some comments about what other people have experienced...
    Anything will help. thanks :)

    Of course...you're still developing after high school. That's not to say that people don't pack on a little extra with the parties and typically not so great food options...but most people still have some developing to do when they get out of high school.

    I was skinny as a rail and looked frail at about 140 Lbs coming out of high school...I went to boot camp and they put me on double rations to help me gain some weight. Over the subsequent years, I filled out a bit as well...going from boy to man and all. I eventually settled in around 170 Lbs in my mid 20s...not fat...I was still around 12% BF...I had just developed into a man instead of a little boy.

  • Jennifer_Lynn_1982
    Jennifer_Lynn_1982 Posts: 567 Member
    I'm 5'4.5 and 145 lbs currently. My body shape definitely changed after high school. I hold weight differently now. I find I'm able to hold onto muscle more now and I look better at a higher weight. I was always a bit chubby in middle/high school so when I graduated and actually started lifting weights and being more purposely active rather just in sports, my body followed suit.

    I find the same holds true today. I'm about the same weight as I was when I graduated and I look wayyyy better because of my curves and because of how I've held onto some muscle mass.
  • LaurenCheek
    LaurenCheek Posts: 34 Member
    I was 240 pounds when I graduated from high school. By sophomore year of college, I had ballooned up to 280 (my highest weight). Now, just one semester away from graduate school matriculation, I sit at about 182 pounds, nearly 100 pounds lighter than I was 4 years ago in undergrad.

    Time and MyFitnessPal have been kind to my post-high school image. :smile:
  • xcalygrl
    xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
    I am a lighter now than I was in my freshman, sophomore, and junior years in HS. I am a little bit heavier now than I was at senior prom and graduation. Even if I weighed the same now as I did then, my body would be completely different. I'm much healthier, stronger, faster, and leaner than I was then, even if I weigh more.

    I've noticed that my body has matured in the past 10 years, so even if my weight and body composition stayed the same, I'm pretty sure things would have changed (the way my clothes fit/what I'm able to wear).
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,740 Member
    LaurenCheek wrote: »
    I was 240 pounds when I graduated from high school. By sophomore year of college, I had ballooned up to 280 (my highest weight). Now, just one semester away from graduate school matriculation, I sit at about 182 pounds, nearly 100 pounds lighter than I was 4 years ago in undergrad.

    Time and MyFitnessPal have been kind to my post-high school image. :smile:

    Wow, that's an amazing accomplishment! Good for you.
  • KGRebelRanch
    KGRebelRanch Posts: 109 Member
    I was 82lbs when I walked across the stage and received my diploma. Size 00 and needed a belt.
    Today, seven years later, I am 135 and a size 9

    If your body HASN'T changed since high school, please know we all probably hate you.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Of course...you're still developing after high school. That's not to say that people don't pack on a little extra with the parties and typically not so great food options...but most people still have some developing to do when they get out of high school.

    Quoted for truth. I teach at a university, and I can assure you that many 18-22 year olds continue their physical development at that age. It's most obvious to me when I have a class of juniors and seniors, but the photo roster on our registration website shows me their photos based on the IDs they got as first-year students. They're sometimes barely recognizable, not because they've gotten fat but because their facial structure has matured.

    If you're active, happy, and satisfied with your fitness and energy level, I wouldn't worry about what the scale says.
  • caracrawford1
    caracrawford1 Posts: 657 Member
    ESSKT wrote: »
    I am currently in my third year of university.
    When I was in high school I generally had pretty good body self esteem (pretty average I would say).
    I was 5'8 and a half and 145 pounds.
    Despite a little bit of a set back in the summer, I have been feeling really great lately.
    Yesterday I weighed myself and I am about 163.
    I just wonder if its normal for bodies to change in the years after high school?
    I know that most people gain weight in university- but I am a pretty healthy and active person and seeing this number was a bit discouraging.
    Just looking for some comments about what other people have experienced...
    Anything will help. thanks :)

    I lost weight. God help me I hope I never go back to my high school weight.
    Back then: 5'2 188 couldn't run a mile
    Now: 5'2 135 have run 8 marathons, 36 yrs old
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    It's normal. You're not done developing when you leave high school, plus, your lifestyle changes quite a bit.

    I grew an inch and lost 10 lbs my freshman year of college. The growth was going to happen anyway, but it was the running frantically all over campus and eating little prepackaged single-serving snacks as most of my meals that stripped the weight off of me. Oh, and I think that might have been the year I took fencing.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    I weigh now what I weighed when I was about 16 (more than half my life ago!). I was always horribly shy and insecure (still am, actually), and the classes I took for our gym requirements (tennis, basketball, volleyball) still wore me out. I think I actually lost weight my freshman year of college because I was depressed/barely eating, but then it started coming back on.
  • JazzFischer1989
    JazzFischer1989 Posts: 531 Member
    I think it's normal. I weigh about the same as I did as a teenager but I'm more "filled out".
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    My body definitely changed. Went from about 300 lbs in high school, to about 400 lbs 4 years later. Down to roughly 175 now.
  • TopazCutie
    TopazCutie Posts: 386 Member
    I weigh the exact same weight as in high school - 143 lbs and 5'6. My body composition changed though, i have more fat now I think...
  • kk1084
    kk1084 Posts: 51 Member
    I'm so backwards....
    I am 5'4" and currently 108-110 lbs.
    In high school, I was 5'3" and 120-130 lbs.
    (In college I was 95 lbs, eeeekk!!)

    I've always done things a little differently =P
  • hummingbirdhope
    hummingbirdhope Posts: 101 Member
    In high school I weighed 108 lb at 5'4 and had so much self confidence. I felt so skinny. I ate wtv the f*** I wanted!

    Now I'm 24, was 106 lb before my period started, and binge ate about 5,000 calories over maintenance for the week in chocolate. I'm almost scared to weigh even though I know the highest I would be is 108.

    It's crazy how much body composition can change our views though. Same weight, just distributed differently
  • hummingbirdhope
    hummingbirdhope Posts: 101 Member
    kk1084 wrote: »
    I'm so backwards....
    I am 5'4" and currently 108-110 lbs.
    In high school, I was 5'3" and 120-130 lbs.
    (In college I was 95 lbs, eeeekk!!)

    I've always done things a little differently =P

    It sounds like you and I have quite a bit in common...though my weight loss was due to an eating disorder and I had dropped to 80 lb. not cute
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    Being male, my physical peak was 17 while in high school. Back then I could eat damn near anything, had no problems remaining active, had nearly boundless wells of energy I could tap into when needed thus setting up that whole "indestructible" mentality some feel at that age.

    My appetite never went away and I started gaining weight in my 20's. I also did not have boundless wells of energy, and started to occasionally realize I was not so damn indestructible after all once in a great while.

    Wait until your 40's.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,406 Member
    It is this thing we learn about in grade 5 called "Puberty" where the body transforms from a child frame into an adult one. This includes wider hips, longer legs, bigger chest and more muscle, among many other changes.

    This is why it is so dangerous when people want to "be back at their high school weight". Bodies change through out life, some people accept it - some don't (ex - anorexia, bulmia behaviors)
  • MarziPanda95
    MarziPanda95 Posts: 1,326 Member
    Considering that I'm currently in my first year of university and have lost 40lbs since I finished 6th form (uh, I guess that's the same as high school?), I'm the opposite. But I can see why a lot of people gain weight at uni due to having to cook for themselves and make their own food choices when living away from home. I'm only the exception due to being overweight for all of my child and teen life and having awful self-esteem and finally deciding that enough was enough and joining MFP, not wanting to be obese for my 19th birthday. Aim achieved, 30lbs to go! But yes, I realise that my body will change as I get older and I accept this.

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