Looking smaller than you weigh.

closet_fatty
closet_fatty Posts: 109
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm constantly getting these comments about how I look like I'm 120 and while it is flattering it leads me to ask a question. How is it possible? I weigh around 140-147, depending on how much water I've drunken that day, and people still seem to think I'm at least a dozen pounds lighter. Why? I have a medium frame, I'm only 5.7''. Does anyone have any ideas for me? Does anyone else have this problem?
«13

Replies

  • amykathleen2005
    amykathleen2005 Posts: 79 Member
    Is it a problem, lol?
  • brighteyesxluv
    brighteyesxluv Posts: 334 Member
    people think im lighter than i am too, but i know i'm not and i know whats healthy so i dont let it discourage me. bf thought i weighed 120 when i weighed 150. now im 142. not stopping til im about 120-118. maybe they'll think i'm invisible by then?? rofl
  • WhitneyAnnabelle
    WhitneyAnnabelle Posts: 724 Member
    People think I'm heavier than I actually am, and that's because I'm 5'2 3/4''. But I only weigh 105-107. I believe it's more difficult for short people to look thin, to be honest. I also think it has to do with your fat composition. You probably look a lot more muscular than you think you do. I probably look a lot more fat than I think I do. Haha.
  • missfancy1980
    missfancy1980 Posts: 326
    "Skinny Fat" - It's a known phenomenon lol. You still retain a good shape and look balanced, but you store higher body fat in some areas than you should. It's a blessing and a curse gah!
  • TopazCarey
    TopazCarey Posts: 263
    I don't have an answer but this happens to me all the time. When I tell people how much I weigh (or that I was considered obese at the start of my journey), they never believe me. I guess I carry my weight well or whatever.
  • wender125
    wender125 Posts: 93 Member
    I've gotten that very occasionally. I smile and say, "really? thanks"!
  • hailzp
    hailzp Posts: 903 Member
    People think I am a lot less too. It is just because of body shape. It isn't a problem. I am still going to keep on losing. We shall see what they say when I reach my goal!
  • sprinkies
    sprinkies Posts: 309 Member
    i'm 5'7 and 128 and people can't believe i weigh that much, they just assume around 105-110. i've been at that weight before, and it was sick. ew. but yeah, definitely not a problem, taller girls carry their weight better than smaller girls i think. a 5'0 girl at 125 will look heavier than a girl at 5'7 and 125.
  • YMTaylor
    YMTaylor Posts: 230 Member
    I get that alot too. People honestly guess I'm around 175 when that's my goal weight...I'm 213 right now. My profile pic I'm more like 220. I think it's just your build and your muscle mass. While I've always been heavy, no one has ever guess how high I was on the scale...it's just the way I'm built. That's why I'm going to be happy at 175 being 5'7" even though that's 'overweight' technically.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    People might think they are being nice when they say a number lower, they may think they would offend you if they said what they really thought, it's like when a middle aged woman asks you to guess her age lol:flowerforyou:
  • bluberrygoo
    bluberrygoo Posts: 222 Member
    I look bigger than I am, because of my height and lack of a waist. When I was 105, I was being weighed in class, and everybody thought I was around 120-115 lbs. It sucks.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    i dont see this as being a problem, it's not like you walk around with a scale attached to you. this happens to me as well since people have always thought me to be a good 25-30 pounds lighter than what i actually am.

    it has to do with body type and body build. im also small-medium framed, but i'm an hourglass and have lots of muscle.

    i dont know if this is necessarily skinny fat, at least it isnt for me. when i was "skinny" i looked pretty solid and muscular, people just thought there was less of me. i thought skinny fat was when you were small but still flabby
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    I'm 5'10" and I weigh 160 pounds. I've actually had people ARGUE with me about it because they were *sure* I must weigh less than I claim to - by 20 pounds or more (since my LBM is around 130 pounds, that wouldn't even really be possible for me).

    It's called muscle mass, and it takes up less space than fat. I have a fairly low body fat % so I'm relatively compact. I actually have a large frame, but it doesn't look like it because I also have an hourglass figure.

    Bottom line - I'd rather be fit and healthy than worry about whatever number the scale tells me or whatever weight other people assume I must be.

    Plus, I'd rather look like I weigh less than I do than more... that would stink.
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
    the more muscle you have, the more you're going to look smaller or better... while weighing "more" then you would expect.
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,446 Member
    Everyone carries things differently. I think it is way more important to pay attention to how you look than what the scale says. Let's say your goal is a size 4. Let's say you reach your goal, and you weigh 150 pounds. Are you going to say, hmm....well I still don't weigh 110 pounds so I need to lose more weight, or go with it, because you feel like you look great.

    For me, I'd much rather look great than have a small number on the scale.
  • Leiki
    Leiki Posts: 526 Member
    Some fat is more dense than other fat. However, it is also harder to lose, and a sign of certain health risks.

    Muscle is more dense than fat. If you have a lot of muscle, it would take up less space than fat. You may look as thin as someone who weighs less, but does not have much muscle.

    Clothes. I know I look like I weigh more when I wear certain things.
  • _Bob_
    _Bob_ Posts: 1,487 Member
    people are usually off by 50 to 100lbs when guessing my weight. people think I weigh between 250 and 290ish but I'm a whopping 342 right now. I think it has a lot to do with your body type and muscle mass. it's not always about how much you weigh, it's how healthy you are :)
  • fiberartist219
    fiberartist219 Posts: 1,865 Member
    I have experienced this myself, and here's my theories on it:

    1. People want to tell women they are small, because it gets a happy response.

    2. Women are so good at lying or hiding their real weight and no one is really able to guess anymore, because they have no frame of reference.

    3. It depends on how you carry your weight. There are some muscular women on my friends list that weigh about the same as I do, but they are way smaller. I also think some folks think I am smaller than I really am because I'm proportional. Since I carry the fat in all the right places, no one seems to notice what else is going on with my body. The places that are supposed to stick out the farthest are still doing so... eh.
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
    I wish I looked lighter than I am until I get to a lighter weight!
  • littlemili
    littlemili Posts: 625 Member
    1. Muscles
    2. Dressing well
    3. Body type

    I get this all the time and it's so tiresome. People always telling me how I must be really underweight. Even my eating disorder therapist told me I look like I have a BMI of about 16 when in fact it's about 20. But I hide the 2 areas where I carry fat with clothing, expose my best areas, I have a figure which makes me look skinny (wide bony shoulders, flat chest, no hips) and I lift heavy stuff so I have lots of muscles and not much fat.
  • dennydifferent
    dennydifferent Posts: 135 Member
    I agree with jadedone. A number of people have said I look "normal" now and asked if I really need to lose anymore. They don't believe me when I say I'm still obese! I too have had people argue with me about that.

    It's nice to know that I look good, but I want to fit into nice clothes! I will keep losing until that happens!
  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
    I get that a lot. People say I weigh about 115 and I'm actually 135. I wear a pretty small pants size (0-4 depending on brand) so that's why. Its hard to feel like I weigh "too much" when people think I weigh less, but I try to take it as a compliment and move on. The best goal is to be healthy I guess. I'd still like to be 125 though:)
  • nicolasara
    nicolasara Posts: 25
    I get the same. Sometimes it's flattering but I also feel like I have to constantly justify why I want to lose weight. When my clothes feel tight and my hips start spreading I have "fat" days just like everyone else. Just because I look slim doesn't mean the scales say the same and my clothes fit. I'm 5ft 6 and went up to 11st 4. I've worked really hard to lose some of this weight, and was up against everyone who kept saying I wasn't that heavy because I didn't look it. I know what the scales tell me.
    Suppose we should be flattered that we look so slim though :wink:
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
    you're pretty darn tall, no wonder people think you look smaller. the only people who can guess my weight right are my family members, only because i tell them, and tell them when i lose
  • strawberrie_milk
    strawberrie_milk Posts: 381 Member
    Maybe you just carry your weight well or have low body fat? Haha idk, people told me I looked 90~100 lbs back when I weighed 120ish (and I'm 5'1). I just take it as a compliment though :)
  • closet_fatty
    closet_fatty Posts: 109
    Well, I guess the main problem is because I can't see what they see, and therefore don't know what is right for me. If I get down to my goal weight, will I look healthy? If people think I look 125 now, what happens when I lose the 25 pounds? Will I look like solid muscle? Will I look too thin?

    I have a hourglass figure as well, which I think is one of the only things saving me from looking bigger, however I also have a fairly small torso, which shows the truth of my weight I think.

    I agree with the justifying your weight thing, only I feel I have to justify it to myself more than anyone else. With everyone thinking I'm smaller it gives me pause, and pushes me more towards the lazy side of things. So I have to justify it, every day when someone compliments me. That this is why I'm losing weight, that it's for me.

    I do carry a lot of muscle around with me. I work an active job, and was in multiple sports most of my life, I also have a killer metabolism when I'm not accidently starving myself by eating under 1400. However I haven't been able to find a proper way to measure my body fat %.
  • EbbySoo
    EbbySoo Posts: 267 Member
    I usually get guesses of 130 and I'm 143 right now, muscle density is a beautiful thing. :D
  • ClaytonRosa
    ClaytonRosa Posts: 19
    Some fat is more dense than other fat. However, it is also harder to lose, and a sign of certain health risks.

    Muscle is more dense than fat. If you have a lot of muscle, it would take up less space than fat. You may look as thin as someone who weighs less, but does not have much muscle.

    Clothes. I know I look like I weigh more when I wear certain things.

    Agreed. Because muscle is denser than fat, this means you'll weigh heavier but be leaner, leading people to think you are lighter. People normally think I am 175-180 lbs, when I'm closer to 200 lbs.
  • ericalynn104
    ericalynn104 Posts: 382 Member
    I've had the same issue. I've had people tell me to stop losing weight.. Even though I am still considered overweight for my height. Maybe we just hide it well? lol
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    The only people who guess even close for me are people used to dealing with tall, muscular women.

    Even the guess-your-weight booth was off by 40 lbs (I love prizes!)
This discussion has been closed.

Categories