AIBU to think that most women over 35..

[thinkingaboutmyage]

Are a size 10 or above?

My friend has suggested that my new year resolution should be to slim down and tone my body - st first I was offended, but I actually think she was genuinely trying to be helpful or perhaps, motivational?

She’s a size 6 having focused on exercise/diet last year and lost 2 stone! I’m a size 10 and eat whatever I like she thinks that once I’m 40 it’ll be hard to maintain my weight unless I join her as a fitness fanatic

AIBU to think that most of us over-35s are a size 10 or above though. She’s the exception not the norm - her lifestyle seems tedious as she lives at the gym.

leonasa not that many! Usually just the ones complaining about a DH or DP...

But size is irrelevant as we are all different heights. Your friend obviously thinks a size 10 is overweight but if you're tall it's far from it. I'd look too skinny at a 10. A 12 is perfectly slim enough if you're tall.

Ermmm "padding to protect your bones if you fall"???
The only way is to ward off osteoporosis. For that you need to do some weight bearing exercise and eat well, not faddish, but well.
Size 6 now is a size 10 - 12 in the 80s, so not really small. Countless threads discussing that.
Pointless being slim if you're not healthy. Aim for a healthy muscle: fat ratio and build up bone density. That's the best you can do as you head towards middle age

I’m 35 in march I’ve been a size 6 all my adult life, I’m naturally slim, I have a good appetite and I exercise but not through choice the school run involves two steep hills and a 6 year old that likes to run and a three year old that can’t keep up so I end up carrying him! I hope once he’s old enough to keep up or once eldest walks like a normal child I might gain a stone as I won’t have to do this unintentional interval training most mornings!
To be honest I think it’s mainly genetic I’d love to be a size ten but since having my second child and still going back to the same size weight I’m trying to embrace the skinnyness as there’s not anything I can do about it!

You do tend to gain weight with age as your metabolism slows down - I do tend to gain weight although not
much as I am allergic to gluten and do not substitute it with mass produced gluten free products ( which are usually full of fat and sugar).
Still, even if I tend to wear the same size, my body is and feels different as is my face.
I really think that as you age you should drink little or nothing and that you cannot really indulge in desserts - but that is really because you should reduce the amount of sugar you ingest as with menopause it may increase pests like flushes and insomnia ...
The good thing is that as you age you really cannot care less and you start loving yourself for what you are. A real blessing!

I think the majority of women are around size 10/12. But some people don't put on weight easily. But weight doos creep up with age as level of activity and metabolism goes down. So maybe put down the chocolate bar every now and then and join her at the gym. Your 50 years old you will thank you.

I read somewhere that in order to maintain the same weight, at the same level of exercise, you need to decrease calorific intake by 10% each decade to take account for slowing metabolism....

I am 50 and 5'6 and size 12. I was a 10 until last year It is more difficult to keep weight off but that is a combo of 3 children, full time work and little time. don't worry about your friend. if you are happy, then who cares?

Talking as a man, a lot of us like our ladies to have a bit of shape, stick thin doesn’t cut it for me, curves are great and if you are a size 10 I see no reason for slimming down but if you do then do it because YOU want to and don’t bow to pressure

It depends on your height. I'm 40 and a size 8, sometimes a six depending on the shop. I'm 5'3 though, so it's not like I look super thin. I've got quite a few small friends in my age group who are this size.

MarilynSlumroe true, but she's clearly not completely wrong. I live in London, am slim and am surrounded by lots of slim and healthy people and I hardly know anyone who is a size 6, including 20 somethings (unless you're talking in Gap, but that doesn't count :) Yet the proportion of people coming on here just to state that they are...

That's also my point, the OP has asked a full question about her friend, and a lot of posters are just coming on here to post their stats and nothing else about her post, or the issue in general. I guess if you see "arguing with the OP" as the point, or self validation 🤷🏻‍♀️ I don't, personally, and I don't think it's vitriol to point that out. I guess this isn't the thread for me though, so I'll bow out now...

As we age we lose muscle mass. Lean muscle helps you burn more calories, so as it decreases your metabolism drops.

Exercise, especially anything with weights, plus a diet with plenty of protein will help you keep your metabolism going so that you don't get middle aged spread.

Glad oscarsdaddy came on to give us that all important male perspective.. of course if he knew more about it he would know that when it comes to weight, women are wayyy more concerned with impressing/inspiring the jealousy of other women. As this thread attests.

Size 6 !! Might have been that at age 14!! I have struggled to be a size12 most of my adult life I’m 5.10 I exercise 3/4 times a week and eat what ever I fancie. I try and keep off the drink as that seems to put the weight on. I have a friend who is always in the gym doing weights I I really don’t like her shape anymore far to much like a body builder for my taste.

I’m 42, just over 8 stone and a size 8...

But ultimately, that's why a lot of women want to be slim - to look attractive to men.

if you are a size 10 I see no reason for slimming down

ODFOD

38 and size 6/8 - I'm trying to put weight on but it doesn't matter what I eat. People around me are dieting and I feel bad wanting to gain it so don't say anything. It can be just as horrid being too skinny and not being able to put any on. People assume I don't eat.

I've never found that most men give a shit. When I was heavier I had bigger boobs and I think men prefer that, they don't care about being really slim and toned.

I think you're right. Maybe the same with many men's muscle obsession.

I remember a thread ages ago, can't remember where - may have been a comments section. Posters were discussing two photos, one of a really skinny woman and one of a decidedly curvy one (not fat though). A lot of female posters effectively said "I know she's really skinny but truthfully I'd still like her figure" whilst the men liked the one with the bust/hips. I'm generalising but this was overall pretty accurate.

I'm in my thirties as in the wrong side of 35 and a 10 and have been for 4-5 years and I'm 5"1. It all depends whether you've had kids or not or and your body type. I'm sure there are many women over the age of 40 who are smaller than a 10. YABU.
She sounds like a real gym junkie, trying to convert her friends and she does sound dull and she is ill informed and stereotyping.
Gym junkies are better suited to other gym junkies so they can compare notes rather than bore the rest of us.
Body sculpting craze? Yes I know someone into that and she's mid 30s. Her Instagram feed is full of pics of herself in her gym outfits or at the gym. She does look too muscly and thin in them though.
Size 10 is not fat though. I'd be thinking she wasn't being helpful though reading she's size 6. What does she define as fat, I wonder?

I HATE the way that men assume we just want their approval. Why would any of us care that 'Oscarsdaddy' does or doesn't want to fuck us? The arrogance of it.

Attracting a partner is a key concern for moist species. Almost hardwired in.

However, I'd agree with many it seems to be less important with age.

Think, for example, how important losing one's virginity is to most teens.