WRT to the 'troll' comments, I don't really care if people believe me or not. Thank you to those who have responded otherwise.
I've lost 1.5 stone over the last 18 months. I was about a size 16 before. But it doesn't seem to make much difference.
I am quite an hourglass shape and have found that wrap dresses suit me best but they do accentuate everything. I sometimes wear straight legged linen trousers and they are ok due to the 'give' in the fabric. Anything else is really unflattering and makes my hips look huge and my chest look like an overstuffed sofa. Because my waist is smaller relatively, things either fit on my chest, waist or hips but never all three. My boobs are promiment, my bum is prominent so I have to be careful not to wear things that 'hang' off my chest otherwise I look a lot bigger than I am. I did the bra intervention thing a few years ago so that's already sorted.
I've just taken my measurements, I'm 41-31-42 which I know technically puts me in a bigger dress size but all my clothes are 12/14 and the 12s fit best unless the clothes are very fitted.
No, not work colleagues. I don't discuss things like this with them.
I know that when I've been in a group of female friends, the usual "ooh I've put on half a stone" comments come up. I mentioned I'd lost weight and one said she could really tell. That's fine - you can tell. Which is why I think it's a clumsy way to reassure me that my size isn't going to be offputting to the right person. Because then someone said that they really didn't think I should worry about being bigger (I hadn't said I was worried about it) because big bums are fashionable at the moment. I hadn't passed any comment about my body.
The one who was into athletics told me she'd seen a "big girl" running earlier that day. She then looked me up and down and said, "yeah, probably your size. A big girl". There was a point to the story, I can't remember it but that was the bit that stuck. She's about a size 8 - not an ounce of fat on her. She has also previously suggested that my size is the cause of my single status but that there is 'probably' someone out there who won't mind.
I'm just trying to think of any men I've met who hasn't eventually had a problem with the way I look. And I don't think there is. Last year, one said a lot of men would probably have a problem with dating a woman my size but that he wasn't shallow and so it didn't bother him. Obviously, that was the end of that. They all claim to like women with a bit more flesh on them to begin with but then they're suddenly "not used to it" or whatever. I've had men who 'tolerate' it but no one who has ever actively found my body attractive. I've read posts before on here where women have said that men actively find larger women attractive and I find it baffling.
I'm not suggesting that I get shouted at and abused in the street by complete strangers but the people I'm closest to do seem to 'helpfully' suggest that I'd be more attractive to men if I lost weight or that I shouldn't be too worried because some men don't mind.
Which makes me think that other people must be thinking it too and that maybe it really is an issue for men in general.
ATrampsVest 11 stone.