To feel unhappy with being a uk size 12?

[lazysloth]

First of all this is not intended to be 'fat shaming' in any way. I know lots of ladies who look fabulous (and most importantly feel it) in larger sizes.
In my late teens and early-mid twenties I was always a slight size ten (not small enough to feel comfortable in an 8 but more like a size 9). I feel comfortable, happy, confident and healthy at this size.
I am now late 20s and seemingly out of nowhere I am a size 12, bordering on a 14. I tried on some size 12 jeans today in River Island and whilst they fit they really did not look any good!
I am not eating any more or doing any less excercise. Do you have to try harder at this stuff once you hit late twenties/ early 30's? I am really not happy with my body and feel like I need to cover up .
Everyone else says I look fine and this is a normal and healthy size.I am wondering if I shouldn't be so worried about it and it's all in my head? But I'm feeling like I need to go on some sort of diet. I've never been able to diet properly ever and I really hate the gym.

We can easily sleep walk to a larger size

A wine here
A second helping there
A snack here
A lazy day there

Being slim is not easy and requires hard work and discipline

Which is why so many few people are

OneStep would you mind outlining what you do for those twenty minutes? Is it just resistance exercises at home, or do you lift weights?

It isn't clothing size we should all be talking about, it's frame and fat %. I'm 5'6 with a tiny frame and my natural weight for years was about 8-8.5 stone, which translated as a 6-8. That was my frame with a healthy amount of fat on it.

My friend is about 5'11 and very broad. even when she's a bag of bones she takes a 12 because that's her frame with basically no fat on it.

So when I, through overindulgence and laziness, started to pile on the weight, I ended up being a small frame encased in 20-25lbs of flab. The fact that I that put me at a size 10 and I wasn't medically "overweight" is not really the point!

Age 38 was a marker for me, when I had my biggest metabolism shift. Not before.

I'm slimmer now at 50 that I was at 17. But heavier than 5 yrs ago . Nothing happening now I can call (peri)menopause, either. We don't all follow the same path.

I am 5ft 1.5 and a medium frame hourglass. Even at 8.5st which I know is not that slim by MN standards, I was size 6-8. Don't want to be that weight again my face can't take it any more. slowly losing again but aiming for 8st 12- 9st this time.

I’m in the same boat, I’m an inch and a bit shorter and mid thirties and have got so used to a lifetime of eating whatever I want.

However now all the biscuits, cake and other junk are sticking on where I just used to burn through it all. I’m not huge but more at the top end of a 10 now with some lumpy looking bits rather than a sleek size 8

I know exactly what I need to do but I love eating so much, I do a lot of exercise and I’m on my feet all day but I must consume about 3000 calories a day so no wonder my weight is creeping up!!

A close friend of mine has gone from a 20-22 down to a size 16 over the course of 9 months, and she's delighted to be that new size.
I've crept from a 10 to a 14 over this last year, and I hate it.
I'm still a smaller than my friend, but she's far far happier than I am. I'm delighted for her, she's earned it.

The actual number of your dress size is irrelevant, how you feel is directly related to what you're used to with yourself.

A former size 22 who has lost 5st to become a size 16, will feel far better about themselves than a former size 10 that's gone up to the size 14 they have never been. Even though visually, the 14 is a smaller size than the 16 is.
Is that really so fucking hard to understand?

Being slim is not easy and requires hard work and discipline

Hardly. I've never put any thought into it at all, I just eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full.

I don't do any exercise really besides the nursery drop off and pick up.

It's a combination of genes and metabolism for me. But I'm not going to sit here being all smug about it like I put the work in - I just ate a mini roll for breakfast fgs.

I'm 35 and an 8-10.
It takes hard work and discipline, certainly for me 5 out of 7 days a week.

If I eat what I want even for a few days or a week, I pile on the weight.

It's worth it for me though, I love the feel and look of wearing size 8 jeans.

Size 12 at your height isn't large, but you could drop to a 10 with small changes

DD is a very, very slim looking 11 year old. She fits a size 8. I think size 12 is a perfect size for grown adults.

Size 12 at your height isn't large

Size 12 at any height isn't large.

It would be for me Lynda

I'm only 5ft 3 and a size 12 would mean my bmi would be 25 or more, i.e. Overweight.
Trust me, I know, because I used to be in the obese category (size 16)

Hardly - I'm 5ft2 and I've been a size 12 without my BMI being 25.

Body shape plays a massive part - I have huge boobs and hips (thank you latin american genes!)

I'm a 10-12 now and I'm only 8st.

I think it's something to do with muscle.
When I was a UK size 12 I was overweight, according to my bmi

BMI is fairly meaningless though, if I was a size 12 I'd feel and look overweight because I'm 5 ft 2 and petite. If you're smaller you notice the difference after even just a couple of pounds

I'm also 5ft2 and petite. I did not look or feel overweight at a size 12.

I dunno, I just can’t figure the size thing out. I’m nearly 6 foot, and I’m a size 10-12 and not skinny - I have broad shoulders and hips, for sure!

Just shows the difference body shape makes then. I'm under 8 stone and if I put on enough weight to be a size 12, it'd all be on my stomach and look awful. Sounds like you have more of an hourshape - lucky you :)

This is my point though - we shouldn't just be making blanket statements like "I don't want to be a size 12" or whatever because it's totally meaningless - a H&M size 12 is tiny compared to an M&S size 12.

People don't believe me when I tell them I don't exercise or "eat clean". I know that sounds like a stealth boast but it genuinely isn't. The whole thing baffles me. If you're 5ft2 with a petite build the amount you can eat is going to be limited anyway - for my height I shouldn't be eating more than about 1700 calories which is LOADS when you think about it.

shrugs, I don't want to be a size 12 but that has no bearing on what other people want to be. I'm size 6 to 10 in different shops, and if my existing clothes don't fit I cut down.

But there is no such thing as "size 12", that's my point. It differs depending on the shop.

I agree, OP. I gradually went from a UK 8 or 10 to a 12 over the course of my late 30s,-early 40s. I'm now back at an 8 and I feel so much better - clothes are a joy again.

If you want to look really good in clothes, a 12 is a bit big. There's no way around this.

But there is no such thing as "size 12", that's my point. It differs depending on the shop.

It's not perfect, but it's the best objective measure we have.

I'm also 5'8 and a size 12.

I'm not fat, in the slightest.

Boo you.

I feel fat which is a completely different thing but I know I'm not.

But there is no such thing as "size 12", that's my point. It differs depending on the shop.

Maybe it’s where I live/shop, but they’ve seem pretty uniform to me. I shop online a fair bit, and 90% of the time, a 12 is about right (or a bit big).

I live in Aus, though, and we don’t have the range of brands the UK does. We also don’t have supermarket brand clothes, which I gather tend to be bigger (?).