to think that women who are a size 6/8/10 are permanently on a diet?

[SabineUndine]

I don't mean diet as in counting every calorie, but diet as in they hardly eat any carbs and don't eat cakes, biscuits etc more than a couple of times a year? I am not a thin person (you guessed?) and I look at what my really slim female colleagues eat and it's salads with no carbs and just a tiny bit of protein, or soup or smoothies. Is that what it takes to be a thin person?

Enjoying - nope not me!

Only just seen this thread. I'm a 4-6 and I live on toast because I bloody love toast. I eat protein because I feel like I should. I eat toast because it's the food of the gods.

I definitely need more protein and I am making a converted effort on that score I don't eat a huge amount of saturated fat but I use butter for everything. The only thing I suffer from that you have mentioned is the energy dips so any advice on that would be appreciated (as in more protein etc) Apologies for the thread high jack.
I was appallingly unhealthy and I've overhauled mylifestyle - just the diet to improve now!
but I guess the overall point is relevant to the thread! I am most definitely not on a diet

Really interesting thread.

I'm a size 10. Just as well, as I have very little willpower and the only diet I can stick to is 5:2. I eat porridge for breakfast (quick, easy, cheap, filling), meat/fish/chicken and a salad for lunch, and usually a light supper of smoked salmon with a few crackers and a yoghurt, with a small packet of crisps after. These are the things that I naturally want to buy, make and eat. Once or twice a week I'll eat at McDonald's or similar for lunch. No alcohol, don't smoke - again, thank God I'm not interested in either, because it's unlikely I could rely on willpower to stop.

The only time I went down significantly in weight was when I was training 6x a week for 2-3 hours a time ahead of my karate black belt grading, which really isn't sustainable or enjoyable long-term.

Dona I think you might be double counting - your daily calories looks like it's for a 'very active' lifestyle (which takes into account cleaning, exercise etc) AND you are adding back activity calories on top.

This is a pretty good calculator for TDEE and the calories gained for activity.

thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/

here is definitely a genetic element to weight as my sister has PCOS and is very large (20+ dress size) - she stayed with me recently and I was floored at the amount of sugary foods she ate. Not obviously "bad" foods like sweets but sugary instant porridge and lots of dried fruit. We had the same upbringing but our eating habits are worlds apart

does she know she is more pre disposed to diabetes and is she on metformin for the PCOS> she needs help.

She's on Metformin as she is thinking about TTC but is a bit head in sand with respect to lifestyle changes. I've tried to gently encourage her to read about the link between carbohydrates and insulin sensitivity but it's viewed as bloody rude when it's coming from your older sister :)

Was v curious about the wrist measurement so dug out the tape measure from the sewing kit out of curiosity!

Wrist 14cm
5’7”
Size 8
9 st

The bra size chat was also v v interesting. For years I wore a 34B cos that’s what M&S said I was. Back then of course, the smallest back size they did was a 32, with a very few 30s (that were only available in AA/A/B).

Friend dragged me off to Bravissimo - I insisted they’d laugh me out of the door, as I was known at school as ‘treasure’ for my sunken chest!

Went in a 34B, came out a 28DD. That was 2 years ago, when I was a size 6 and weighed 7’10”, so I’m more like a 30D now

Thankfully now M&S have wised up and do loads more bras with smaller back / larger cup sizes, as do Debenhams etc, so I’m well catered for on the high st

Until that point, I didn’t realise that a larger cup size in and of itself didn’t necessarily indicate larger boobs - and now understand the concept of sister sizes (i.e. a 28DD, 30D, 32C, 34B etc are roughly the same actual volume of boobage, just relative to back size). Revelation!!

My wrists are 13.5 cm. Guess that means I am small boned?

Helena Dove, when did you loose the weight..

Thanks for the link ruby according to that I need to be on around 2243 calories but MFP today is showing something different!
All very interesting! I do class myself as very active as I train/run and clean every day at least 4hrs per day of heavy physical activity (includes my work which is end of tenancy house cleaning and an hour of other exercise)

The whole wrist thing I think is a farce.

Take anorexics as an example. I behave first year of university with a size 14/16?friend. Two years, having practically starved jeref to death, only children's clothing could fit her. She wasn't a size. She was emancipated. She was hospitalised and survived thank goodness.

My point is, two previous to that she had always told me that could never be as slim as me because she silly was bigger boned,

Well, it turned out that when her bones were on very evident display, her wrists were as emancipated and tiny as the rest of her

Emancipated should read emancipated. Sorry typos new phone

link to a frame size calculator

link to ideal weight calculator

On the ideal weight calculator, for a 5'2" female:

Small Frame: 108 - 121 lbs
Medium Frame: 118 - 132 lbs
Large Frame: 128 - 143 lbs

Small: 7 st 10 lbs - 8 st 9 lbs
Medium: 8 st 6 lbs - 9 st 6 lbs
Large: 9 st 2 lbs - 10 st 3 lbs

Obviously it's a very rough and subjective thing, but it would explain why some women feel/look 'fat' at a much lower weight than another woman of the same height.

Ah, that calculator says I'm at the lower end of my ideal weight calculator. Which is expected.
Although a calculator based on abdominal circumference might will say I'm carrying a bit too much there.

interesting i am 5'3 and very happy at 9 stone.

i am currenlty about 13

Mint i originally lost it between 2002 and 2004 Kept it off for a few years Slowly gained 4 stone back between 2006 and 2013 and its taken 3 years to lose the last 4 stone again, (DH had a heart attack in 2006 and became disabled ) the weight regain was caused by stress and poverty.

#talktalk areuseless

"unless you are some freak of nature your health will suffer (if it isn't already... noticeable signs may be dry or greasy skin and hair, headaches, digestive problems, poor nails, low immunity, big energy dips....)"

These are very common problems. It would be difficult to be able to accurately attribute any of those problems to a diet that's not as healthy as it could be. Is Dona's diet that unhealthy anyway? It didn't look that bad to me.

an obese person would also have larger wrist span than they would have if a normal weight. Lots of obese people have wrist creases from excess weight.

My mum is and always has been very slim
She has never dieted but does not snack and does not have a sweet tooth at all
She could never eat a cake again and it wouldn't bother her
I am about to try the no s diet as that send to be how slim people eat all the time
(No snacks, no seconds and no sweets except on a special day)

an obese person would also have larger wrist span than they would have if a normal weight.

Good point. I suppose the best measure would be around the bony part that sticks out, as that's less covered. Or not?

thakns helena as I was sure I saw a thread where you said you were heavier! brilliant you have able to loose it again.

For years, and even after 2 kids, I was on the skinny side - not because I was ever dieting but because I had never been a big eater and genuinely was not keen on many sweet things. I still don't like anything like e.g. cream cakes - I loathe cream.

I was staggered once to find out that a friend (a bit of a chub who was permanently on a diet she never stuck to) started a rumour that I 'must be anorexic'. The reason? I had one day turned down biscuits with coffee at her house. To her, who could not get enough sweet things, anyone who turned down biscuits had something seriously wrong with them. So I found out months after she started this rumour that 'everyone' was thinking I was anorexic. It wasn't as if I was ever anything like painfully thin, either - I was 5 foot 7 and a small size 10.

I think that there's a tendency for people who are chubby or are always dieting, to think that everyone slimmer must be starving themselves, or else that they can eat whatever they want and not put weight on. Neither is necessarily true - some people are just naturally small eaters who fill up very quickly.

Should add that I no longer have this 'problem' - I'm a lot older and 2 sizes bigger - largely because I do now have a bigger appetite than I used to.

1000 comment. Have i won a prize?

an obese person would also have larger wrist span than they would have if a normal weight.

I am officially obese at the moment - I posted a picture of my wrist earlier in the thread to show no fat bracelets, my wrist measured 17.5 cm (pulled snug) at the bony part.

That part of my wrist is unaffected by any fat that I carry elsewhere.
(See the photo evidence!)