Looking less than what you weigh?
Replies
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All the overweight people I know think I weigh about 25 pounds less than I really do. They think I wear a size 2 or 4, when I really wear an 8. That's a pretty big difference. And they think I'm scrawny and skinny. Compared to a lot of my peers I guess I am, but I personally wouldn't consider a size 8 scrawny...
I also find that a lot of obese and overweight people seem to underestimate how much they weigh. They know they are carrying excess weight, but they don't seem to realize how much. For example, some obese family members and friends who think they are just a little overweight. And overweight ones who think they're high-normal.3 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
I will be honest. You look your weight there. It's not an insult, you wear it well, but we all have distorted images of what such a number is supposed to look like when your picture is the reality.
I believe I'm a good bit older than you and I can remember how tiny people used to be when I was a little kid.
We have, as a society, embraced a larger norm.
Just watch old game shows on TV and look how much thinner people were 30-40 years ago.0 -
I'm naturally muscular and built very compactly, so I definitely don't look like I weigh what I do. I gauge my progress more by measurements, clothing size and the occasional BodBod scan than by my weight. Because according to every health website, I'm a good 10-15 lbs over what my "ideal" weight for my height should be.1
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nataliecg926 wrote: »Does anyone else feel like they look less than what they weigh? I know people say weight is just a number and doesn't have to mean "all that" but I weighed myself recently and I am 274 lbs at 5'5 and I don't feel like I weigh THAT much. I thought I was 250 lbs and someone said that I looked like I weighed less and turns out I actually weigh MORE. I tell people my goal is to lose 125 pounds and they look at me like I'm crazy..anybody else experience this?
A LOT of people lie about their weight. It makes getting a good handle on reality difficult, both for ourselves and in relation to other people. Can you really say you know what 250 vs 274 looks like, on yourself or other people?
I wouldn't tell folks what my weight loss goal was. It was hard enough for me to get my head around the amount I wanted to lose, needed to lose, I couldn't really expect others to comprehend it. I know my parents tried very hard to talk me out of such an ambitious goal (my initial goal was 90 lbs loss, I started at 270).
Now that I'm down 110 lbs I'm perfectly happy to tell people honestly that I lost that much weight; and they still have a very hard time getting their heads around it.
Best wishes on your weight loss!1 -
nataliecg926 wrote: »Does anyone else feel like they look less than what they weigh? I know people say weight is just a number and doesn't have to mean "all that" but I weighed myself recently and I am 274 lbs at 5'5 and I don't feel like I weigh THAT much. I thought I was 250 lbs and someone said that I looked like I weighed less and turns out I actually weigh MORE. I tell people my goal is to lose 125 pounds and they look at me like I'm crazy..anybody else experience this?
What’s your frame size? http://www.myfooddiary.com/Resources/frame_size_calculator.asp
I have a large frame and the only time I've had a BMI as low as 24 was after 6 weeks of undereating and overexercising during boot camp.
My goal is to get back into my skinny jeans from when I was a full time yoga teacher, which will have me at a Low Overweight BMI, and I'm ok with that.1 -
I actually think I look like I weigh 20-30 lbs more than I actually do...2
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I have heard: "You weigh THAT much?!" my whole life. I have been every size from a 2-20. People have always underestimated my weight no matter my size. I'm short and have always had a "skinny face." I think this is part of why my weight has always been deceptive. I also store most of my fat on my butt and thighs, which is a little easier to conceal with the right jeans.
Currently, I'm at 137lbs and just ditched the size 6 jeans for 4s...thanks to heavy deadlifts.0 -
I've had people tell me I look like I weigh less but I think their perception is off. It is usually overweight people making the comment. In my profile I am 184 and 164, and I still have more weight to lose.2
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Yeah...I think I do. I'm 5'4" and weigh about 143 in my profile pic. I'm flexing but still. I don't really know what it looks like I weigh but I know women who weigh this much and look a bit different.3
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It's true that the vast majority of people are terrible at judging others' weight or size. I know what you mean about people saying there's no way you have that much to lose. They probably just don't know what X number of pounds looks like. Because I have been there, at just over 300 lb at one time, I KNOW a little better what various weights look like especially on women with a similar height/build to me. So I wouldn't be surprised as easily, but I think some people would. I was somewhat evenly proportioned and around 260-270 lb for most of my adult life and if I told someone my weight without them seeing me I KNOW they were imagining someone much heavier-looking especially if that man or woman was a person of lower to average weight themselves. They just don't have a good frame of reference for it.
Same with sizes for clothing, too. I knew a very well-meaning older lady who was a really petite person, probably size 0-2, and she was always suggesting that I buy clothes from regular stores when they were having sales. I told her they didn't have my size and she was confused (genuinely) because they carried up to a 12 or 14. She really imagined I was a 12-14, I guess. I wore size 24 at the time!5 -
I read all these posts....maybe I'm just a terrible judge too.0
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It's funny because when I weighed 212 lbs, I didn't think I looked that fat. Even when I saw pictures of myself, I'd be like ehh I'm overweight but it's not so bad. Now I weigh 125 lbs and I feel more fat than I did before and I notice every fat roll, lol. Except when I see pictures and then I do think I look thin.
I agree that people are either trying to be nice, or our idea of what a healthy weight looks like is warped. I remember telling people who asked about my weight loss that I was still trying to lose 20 more pounds and they were shocked, like I was starving myself or something. When in reality I was still overweight at 145 lbs and 125 pounds was completely a reasonable goal for someone as short as me.4 -
Yeah...I think I do. I'm 5'4" and weigh about 143 in my profile pic. I'm flexing but still. I don't really know what it looks like I weigh but I know women who weigh this much and look a bit different.
You definitely don't look your weight, but you have way more muscle than most
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Totally agree with those who have pointed out that our perception of what is 'normal' has become skewed. This isn't helped by things like vanity sizing. I am what should be considered medium, yet have plenty of clothing items that are size S or even XS (the latter really cracks me up).1 -
VintageFeline wrote: »A female would really really struggle to have so much muscle they were overweight on the BMI scale. Unless steroids.
Men a little more feasible but even then it's not a large percentage of any population because again it's hard work to build so much appreciable muscle mass.
I mostly agree - but more because of the height issue. The taller someone is, the more likely it is that their "best" weight will be above the "normal" region of the BMI scale (or the "less unlikely", if you prefer). On average, men are taller than women. A woman who was over 6 feet tall might wind up in that category if she also had a larger frame (especially if she has a longer torso) and was muscular.1 -
jodietownsend03 wrote: »
At my current weight on the right I weight 145lbs size 10 uk 5,6 in height.
I still weight a lot for my size I think. Everybody Carey's it different
You are my height and look much leaner than me, yet I weigh 135 lbs. Must be muscle! You look great in any case!1 -
nataliecg926 wrote: »Does anyone else feel like they look less than what they weigh? I know people say weight is just a number and doesn't have to mean "all that" but I weighed myself recently and I am 274 lbs at 5'5 and I don't feel like I weigh THAT much. I thought I was 250 lbs and someone said that I looked like I weighed less and turns out I actually weigh MORE. I tell people my goal is to lose 125 pounds and they look at me like I'm crazy..anybody else experience this?
Yeah, that's the kind of c**p people say. Ignore it.
Maybe they're right, maybe their perception is distorted by the fact that most people are overweight (and many lie about their weight), maybe they're in denial about their own weight . . . who knows, who cares?
I'm your height, started out at 183 with people saying "you're not obese" (I was, per BMI), "you're not fat" (I was, there were *rolls* -LOL), etc.
I do now weigh literally about half your current weight. It's a good weight for me. Not gonna lie, it'd be too light for some people at 5'5: I'm built like a 14-year-old boy, broader shoulders, big head, but no hips, no booty, no breasts (literally, I'm post-mastectomy).
Other people's perceptions are useless, by and large. Just be honest with yourself.
You probably do carry your weight well, but that's not the same as not having weight. I can conceive that someone at my height, but of a different build from me, with more muscle than me (though I have more than average for my age), that person could weigh . . . I dunno, 150, 160? Maybe a bit more? . . . And still be fairly lean. I know some high-level athletes who are in that range, and they're very muscular. But above 200? Man, that's a stretch: I think there'd have to be some more-than-optimally-healthy fat involved.
I'm sorry. It's JMO. But fat loss is pretty straightforward, if that's your goal.4 -
What’s your frame size? http://www.myfooddiary.com/Resources/frame_size_calculator.asp
oh my G!!! how nice to know that there is a way to quantify this. Just as suspected, I'm fat, losing weight...but also broad boned too. The broad boned thing isn't just an euphemism. Thank you for posting!0 -
Clothes can make you appear lighter. You can have more muscle (which is denser) and therefore be heavier but lot look bigger.
But mostly, people just are poor judges of size.1 -
Personally, I don't think you look your weight, you carry it well. But that's also probably because of my issues and opinions of my own weight. And I think people are often trying to be nice, if someone told me their weight and it was quite high I'd probably say "oh really? you definitely don't look it", knowing full well I have absolutely no idea what a certain weight looks like on anyone. Especially if we're different heights or I haven't been that weight myself.
I'm between 5'3 and 5'4 and weigh 158lbs at the moment and I've probably got around another 37lbs to put me in the middle of a healthy BMI and I don't like my body at all, I feel fat and "puffy". I don't allow many full body pictures to be taken of me but this one is from around a year ago when I first joined MFP, I weighed 163lbs. At the time I didn't think I looked super overweight (I was on the upper end of overweight, not that far off obese) and was a little shocked when I first weighed myself. I've since gained over a stone and lost it and looking at that picture now I can see I was overweight, I'm only 5lbs lighter that I was in that picture but my perception of it has changed a lot. I was probably in denial at the time as I had been around 130lbs in high school, then went to uni and gained over 30lbs and that surprised me.
My boyfriend is around 270lbs and always says he doesn't feel that weight because he gained it so slowly. And I'm always shocked when I see older pictures of him when he was 5 stone lighter because I still see him as that size in my head.
Also, clothes sizes are way off, on average I wear a UK12 but I still fit into some old UK10 tops and skirts then other times I'm a UK14, it doesn't help. I do think some people lie about their weight too, I've seen people say they're 130lbs, and I don't mean to cause offence, but they look like they wear a UK18. Then you gain a picture in your head of what different weights look like and its way off to what you are and that can really distort your perception. One day you'll look back and be shocked at how much weight you've lost.
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RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
I'm guessing that @GottaBurnEmAll can read. It says you're 47.
Nope that's just a number0 -
jodietownsend03 wrote: »
At my current weight on the right I weight 145lbs size 10 uk 5,6 in height.
I still weight a lot for my size I think. Everybody Carey's it different
Wow, you certainly look very different but if you'd asked me to guess how much weight is between these two pictures I would have never said 5 stone and I would have never guessed you weighed 145lbs either. You look great, well done 0 -
No not at all I got a warning for saying you should weigh your food in here !!!!
Looking at how 2,people have belittled me in here in this post is worse than saying you should weigh your foods !
I'm not hungry or angry just don't think some people need to pick holes in others on here
If I look my weight fair enough but does that need to be pointed out to embarrass posters and I got a measurement wrong
I think those having ago at me are hangry like you having to pull me up on a reply
I won't be back to read your reply as I see you do this many times
Thanks
No one has had a go at you.
This is a discussion about people looking their size or not, you posted a picture in to that discussion and someone gave a civil opinion based on the topic of discussion.
What did you expect to happen when entering into the discussion with a picture and associated opinion regarding the topic at hand?
Or is the fact you aren't hearing what you want?6 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Agreed. And a us 10 is a UK 14
I'm not a US 10 I'm not American I'm a UK 12 so what ever that using the US a 8 ?0 -
size102b, everyone has different perceptions on what they look like and remember people have seen one blurry picture of you, they haven't seen you in person so try not to get disheartened by what strangers on the internet think of your weight. From your profile picture, it looks like you've lost a lot of weight and you look great, well done 0
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nataliecg926 wrote: »I guess I'm just daunted by how far my journey is when previously I didn't think I had this far to go, although I mostly just want to get under 200 and go from there
Don't look at it this way. It does look daunting when you look at it this way. If you zoom out to the bigger picture, watching your weight will hopefully be a lifelong commitment. What does it matter if you only have 20 pounds or 200 to lose (I was closer to the second when I first started), this is only phase 1 of the process. Hopefully if you are going to be doing this in a sustainable way, there will be very little difference between now and phase 2, except you have a longer time to experiment and learn about the things that work for you. This experience will come in handy in the future.
Don't look at the number, look at the process.
As for looking less, yeah, people are horrible at knowing that. Almost every person who finds out how much I weigh is shocked although I effectively have a higher than average body fat for a person my weight, so I can't attribute that to "muscle weighing more than fat". I also look at myself sometimes and I see something smaller than I expect, but that's only because I am smaller than what I'm used to seeing. Often, the picture that's in my mind is at least 50 pounds fatter. I took a picture of myself last week and I was taken aback because my mind is able to distort a mirror, but not so much a picture.3 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I was 173lbs here i
was a US size 10 uk 12 and I looked a lot lighter than 173lbs but I exercised a lot
I find that when I just do weightloss no exercise I look bigger than when using exercise as toning etc
I will be honest. You look your weight there. It's not an insult, you wear it well, but we all have distorted images of what such a number is supposed to look like when your picture is the reality.
I believe I'm a good bit older than you and I can remember how tiny people used to be when I was a little kid.
We have, as a society, embraced a larger norm.
You are the first person to say that and how do you know how old I am ?
I'm guessing that @GottaBurnEmAll can read. It says you're 47.
Nope that's just a number
Then posters aren't to know that. @GottaBurnEmAll was just saying that she thought she was older than you.
I too remember how sizings of people and clothes have changed. In my wardrobe I have UK4 and UK8s that both fit me the same. Difference been they were bought 20 years a part.
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No not at all I got a warning for saying you should weigh your food in here !!!!
Looking at how 2,people have belittled me in here in this post is worse than saying you should weigh your foods !
If I look my weight fair enough but does that need to be pointed out to embarrass posters and I got a measurement wrong
I think those having ago at me are hangry like you having to pull me up on a reply
I won't be back to read your reply as I see you do this many times
Thanks
i didn't have a go at you, just pointed out that there are 2 sizes difference between uk and US sizes.. not sure why you took that personally, but i then surmised that it could be because you're hangry... it happens a lot on MFP! i'm often rungry!1
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