To think size 12 is not "heavy"

[CruCru]

I keep seeing comments on here from people who are size 10/12 who think they are heavy. I would never think this is even remotely heavy, just a healthy slim size.

Indulge. Bloody iPad.

I think it's worth remembering that weight becomes harder to maintain as we get older...particularly post menopause.

So those people who are not bothered about maintaining or losing weight right now, may be very bothered in the future.

I personally wouldn't take the risk of weighing too much, no matter how healthy I am...because I'd worry about storing up problems for the future.

So many overweight people say it doesn't happen overnight, it just creeps on over the years...until it actually does take a toll on their bodies and then it's even harder to shift.

My 49yr old neighbour is proof of that. He's just had two knee replacements due to his weight.

I control my weight to control pain.
I damaged my knees very badly as a teenager.
For every half stone I put on I get a day in the month of crippling pain.
At my current weight I get no pain.
At the weight in the earlier picture (dd is now 15) I was in agony 6 days a month.

OK I'm mean, I was size 12 in the month before they resized, its what is now a 14/16

I stay light to be fit and look forward to a long life without medication.
I do not own a set of scales - never have

BUT
Having recently spent two weeks in France,
the people at Motorway services in France have a noticably lower average BMI than those in the UK
those who think that being fat is OK long term are in denial - same as their American counterparts

I only ever put on about a stone and a half when preg, maybe two stone with ds4 and had big babies, but as I am only 5 2 I really notice the difference. I a, quite Happy at 9 stone to 9 5 anything under that and I look odd because of my boobs. I dotn obsess, same as worra I eat what I like but if I notice I have put on a bit then I cut down and exercise more. I am only 34 and know it can be harder as you get older to maintain a health weight and I have seen my mum battle with her weight for years. Hence I keep an eye on myself as I dotn want to get in the position where my weight creeps up without me noticing.

I just have a healthy attitude to food and exercise and want my children too see that example.

"I think it's worth remembering that weight becomes harder to maintain as we get older...particularly post menopause.
So those people who are not bothered about maintaining or losing weight right now, may be very bothered in the future."

So true. I have always been very slim. I am now 54 and have developed a jelly belly. I don't wish it to develop into all over fat so I have decided to deal with it now.

Yes exactly worra I want to keep my weight in check now rather than have it gradually creep up and then be a problem when I am older.

As I said there is a family history of diabetes and heart issues and arthritis, weight gain would make all of those more likely. Its easy to keep ,my weight in check now ish! But would be much harder if I thought fuck it and then ended up with two/three stone to lose.

I've seen it in my mum's circle of friends - women who ever bothered about their weight in their 30s, 40s then as they progressed through their 50s the weight crept on, harder to shift, now most of them (in their 60s now) suffering type 2 diabetes, knee replacements, heart and breathing problems, obesity... Yes, all confident women throughout but now leading physically diminished lives - my mum included.

It spurred me on to keep on top of any weight gain as it's one if my goals in life to live a long and healthy life.

*never bothered

That's the point I was making earlier BsshBossh

It's all very well saying people shouldn't obsess (of course they shouldn't) and that self esteem is a great thing (of course it is).

But it's not all about vanity or what 'men prefer'...or whether 'most black people find extra weight attractive'.

It boils down to health and future health for me.

Sadly true Bssh, and then as they go through their 60s and into their 70s their risk of breast cancer and dementia is considerably increased.

yy to getting harder to maintain weight as you get older. i ate a pretty normal 3 meals a day plus snacks 25 years ago when I was just above 7 stone. I eat a pretty normal 3 meals a day plus snacks now I'm just above 10 stone. I'm also an inch shorter than I was then

Exactly. As I touched on earlier, I was a happy, confident size 20, a happy confident size 16... I had a lot of energy too, even though I have even more at size 10 nowadays. But I'm in my early 40s. Size 20 in my 50s? I think my experience would be very different...

AS part of trying to understand weight gain, I put my height and weight into a pretty reliable site ...
between the age of 20 and 80, the number of calories you need to stay the same weight drops by a third.
How many older people remember to eat 2/3 of what the younger members of their families do ?

I agree with Russians - Pinupgirl, you have a very blinkered way of looking at this.

It's great that you're happy with your body and that you eat what you like to eat, so I don't understand why you feel you had to vociferously defend it so much, nor dismiss other people's preferences.

I like chocolate well enough, but, meh, I don't love it. And don't feel the need or desire to eat and/or resist it all the time.

Some people like to eat whatever they want, whenever they want, and not deprive themselves. And the end result is that they probably aren't all that slim. They usually carry a little bit of extra weight. That is just fine, if that is how they like to live their lives.

Other people prioritise other things. I don't like to deprive myself ( at the very notion), but I like clothes and I like to look good in them. So I do tend to prioritise that over eating whatever I want, whenever I want. And I am perfectly confident, thanks. :) I am 5'10" and a size 10/12; if I'm brutally honest, that infers a great deal of confidence!

Neither of us are right or wrong or better or worse, so long as we're doing what we want for ourselves.

I am not defending anything-as I said I am happy and confident at the size I am. I am not pining to be a size 10 and I find women who witter on about diets,calories and being a size 10 tedious in the extreme.

I also look good in my clothes-at a size 16! As I said its all about the confidence and being slim doesn't mean you have it as proved by the number of posters on this thread who would be classed as slim but are still whinging on about their weight.

There is nothing more dull than anyone who drones on about anything, and diet-talk is dull as shite.

But you can't extrapolate anything from this thread alone. People have been invited to discuss the topic and so they are. It doesn't necessarily follow that they bang on about it to all and sundry outside of this thread. They might, of corse, in which case they need to cop onto themselves and find something more interesting to talk about.

My normal topic of conversation is auditing so diets are light relief

I think we may have a case of the honest Iagos here.

I also look good in my clothes-at a size 16! As I said its all about the confidence and being slim doesn't mean you have it as proved by the number of posters on this thread who would be classed as slim but are still whinging on about their weight.

No-one is whinging about their weight on this thread

It's a thread about size/weight etc and so people are discussing it.

Just the same as you discussed your height, the fact you have no idea what you weigh and that you're a size 16.

That's just discussion...not whinging.

I'm 5' 9", my BMI is in the middle of the healthy range and I'm usually a size 12 - occasionally a size 10 and sometimes a size 14. I used to be a size 20 so am delighted with this!

"waist to hip ratio is a far better indicator of what is healthy." (than BMI)

Bull. Sorry, but that really IS down to build and natural shape. BMI ignores build as it is irrelevant to healthy weight.

Pinupgirl

Nobody is whining about their weight here. And nobody has said being over a size 10 is unattractive. I see beautiful women all the time, it's their faces and the way they present themselves (and confidence) that is attractive not their size.

Slobathome
BMI is not irrelevant or (as others have said) rubbish.
If your waist is more than half your height, there is a strong chance that you have excess fat around your vital organs - which is a health risk.
BMI in fine scale is indeed dependent on body shape : but if your BMI is over 26, you are overweight, no matter what your build.
With my build I'm overweight at BMI 23.

The British are (on average) overweight.
Chronic health problems linked to excess weight are costing huge amounts of taxpayers money in the NHS.
Eating less saves money.

Goodness pinup how on earth do you think the posters on this thread are whinging about weight?! It reads, overall, like an interesting discussion based on a variety of personal experiences and opinions.

I've made it my personal goal these past two years to get healthy and fit and drop from BMI 36 to 23 and have used Mumsnet almost exclusively to "witter on" about my weightloss journey. But my weight doesn't constitute the entirety of my life and life goals; so I never presume the same for other posters on this thread and on the weight loss boards.

Well of course you can be a bloody fat size 12.

I'm barely 5', weigh 10st 10lbs and am a large size 10 - 12. I am not thin. I buy a small in clothes in most shops for lycra tops, tights etc. but I am still not thin.

I work out a hell of a lot and have good muscle mass, which is why I'm tubby at this weight rather than looking obese, but no-one is going to walk past me and think I'm anything other than overweight.

Everyone's different. I have high muscle mass. My mother is 5' 3" but at the same weight she'll be 'fatter' because she doesn't work out. I'm still fat though...