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.

Aeroflotgirl!! Bless you for that!
Everyone on here is obviously teenie tiny!!
I'm just waiting for the size 0 to rock up and claim "a fast metabolism"!

Wow. It all depends on height. If I were a size 6 I wouldn’t be ok.

What is thing with adult women wanting to be size 6?! It didn't even really exist as clothes size 20 years ago!

To be clear, not body shaming - there are obviously some women, usually women around my height (just over 5ft) who are naturally that slim, but it's not a natural or healthy size for most women to be, so I'm rather horrified when I hear women talking about how they 'should' be a size 6, and worried that teenage girls now think that when they get above size 6 (as about 99% of them will) they must be 'fat'.

I'm also sad that size 10 has become 'on the large side' in that time, when I'm sure it was considered slim when I was a kid. I've seen a woman quoted as saying she's self-conscious about eating unhealthy food in public 'Because I'm a size 10'. I'm a size 10 and I know no one would look at me and declare me fat, and that's with being very short as well.

But yes, I think over about 35 even if you were slimmer before, most women will be over a size 10, but as people have said, a lot depends on height. I have definitely put on weight since I was about 38 a few years ago, and I go to the gym to keep it in check but honest to Christ, life is too damn short to give a shit about having the same body I had at 21 and I just accept it's a pretty inevitable part of getting older.

Clionoba, I think this thread is an opportunity for people to compare how slim they are. I was watching the programme recently about busting diet myths, and the Doctor said also, there are many factors influencing weight, not only how much we eat:age, genetics, how much we work out. My 11 year old dd who is 7 stone,eats more than me. I have cut down what I eat, do excercise every weekday:kickboxing, combat bootcamp, walking, cardio, I cannot shift it. I am Mediterranean and the women in the family are curvy, no long lean women here.

In the 90s when I was a teen, 10 was slim, 12 average and 14 large. I dident't know 10 was the new large now!

@EggOfScotland - PCOS and hypothyroid conditions tend to be more common in some Indian races (I have it hence me being a size 12 but it’s rare amongst my race) but the majority of Indian women who are healthy aren’t rounded or big. Most are below a size 10 (with size 0-8 being the norm; most Indian women I know would diet at a 10).

I think most people are a size 10 or above regardless of being over 35 or under. Size 6? Surely that’s just vanity sizing. I’m a size 12 and happy with that. I wouldn’t want to be a size 6.

Clothes sizes mean nothing these days !
I put on my daughter's size 6 coat today. It looked a bit small, but honestly, I shouldn't be able to even fit my arms into the sleeves of a genuine size 6!! I wear clothes which are size 8, 10 or 12. It really depends on the individual item of clothing and means nothing.

I'm not and never will be a size 6 but there are plenty of women who will be a perfectly healthy weight at that size especially if they are shorter than average.
It's o.k. for women to be a whole range of sizes.

I think the comments referring to size 6 women as a skeleton is really unfair. I am a 6 to 8. I eat a healthy diet, I enjoy sweets and cake, I walk lots, have 2 DC, the youngest is always on the go and there is nothing SKELETON about my body, I am petite I have boobs and a bum and look very healthy.
I never ever take a punch at an overweight persons body. I do not care as long as they're happy, not hurting anyone and a decent human who cares.

I'm 35 and a size 8, my body goes up and down a half stone or so but otherwise doesn't change too much. Most of the women in my family are the same. People are different, tell your friend to fuck off.

Agree with others that 'size 10' is meaningless and can look anything from scrawny to chubby depending on your height/frame/fitness

Modern clothes are also huge compared to what they were 25 years ago so what was a size 10 in 1990 is probably a 12/14 now and current size 6 is probably more what an 8/10 was back then

So YANBU to think that the majority of women age 35+ is at least a size 10 but it doesn't necessarily follow that are all women who can fit an M&S or Next size 10 are tiny any have no potential to tone up or slim down

I'm a 10-12 in current sizes and happy enough with that with my height/build. I do find it harder to stay this weight and size now I'm over 40 though!

Yep, but I've never really been a size 10 except on my torso due to my big hips and thighs. Thing is I have big bones and lift weights making my max weight about 70 kg even though I'm 5'2". I need to lose about 4kg to get there. My waist is still less than half my height though.

5’5” , 48 yo & 46 kgs. A size six. Workout 3x a week.

Aeroflotgirl of course your 11 year old can eat more than you and remain slim. All that growing takes a lot of fuel. We need less as we get older, but sadly our appetites and eating habits remain the same!

2/3s of adults in my county are overweight or obese, but that will be localised. Some neighbourhoods are slimmer than others. Mine is slimmer than average. Most of the mums at school are 35+ and there's a good mix of slim to overweight. Obviously obese are a small proportion, but that would be different in neighbouring neighbourhoods.

I'm short and size 8-10. I have consistently been the same size since reaching adult height with the exception of pregnancy/ postnatal period. Size 12 is definitely bordering into overweight for my body. I have some vintage size 10 items from the 70s and 80s and despite being "size 8" on top, my waist is currently too big to contemplate zipping them up and they are more like a current 4/6.

Maintaining a healthy weight was easy in my 20s although I've always had decent diet and exercise habits. As I'm reaching the late stages of my 30s, more effort is required to maintain my size. Without that effort, I will end up with "middle age spread" as I go through my 40s, and I'd rather my joints and organs didn't have that extra burden. It is a fact that muscle mass naturally decreases which contributes to slowing metabolism.

I'm 41 and a size 16 and I look glorious. I do have the advantage of a beautiful face though. I recall that Internet thing comparing scrawny wrinkled Gillian McKeith with bosomy, glowing Nigella Lawson. Your friend sounds like a bit of a wally OP. Remember, fat don't crack

Size 10 is fat now

Fucking hell you all need to give your head a wobble.

She has a point - over 35 you have to make an effort to be slim unlike in your younger years

On some women - me included - size 10 is too big and I'd be carrying too much weight. On some, it's too small and could look positively skeletal. My v Amazonian, stunning SIL is fit as fuck, tall, strong and has size 13 feet. To be size 10, she would have to be seriously unwell.

Ignoring the crazy dress sizes. Here is great gallery of real women at different weights and physiques. I find it helps when the mirror lies! www.mybodygallery.com/search.html?gender=female&height=170&age=40&weight=64&pantSize=any&shirtSize=any&bodytype=

I don't understand sizes any more. I am in my 50s and a fatty but when I was a teen I was slim , about 8 stone and I was a size 10-12. All my friends were slim, but the thinnest of them was a 10. She was petite and about 7 stone. I literally knew no one who was a 6 or an 8, never mind a 0. Have sizes changed so much?

Posters are on here all the time saying how difficult it is for them to lose weight, especially after 40. I believe it's generally true.

On that weight gallery website, I look exactly like all the other women my height-weight-age. So much for "everyone's different & carries the weight differently" myth.

Spending all day in the gym is a dreadful waste of a life.

Have sizes changed so much? Yes, yes they have. They even changed in the last 12 to 18 months. H and M announced they were making their sizes bigger and so everyone should buy a size smaller than previously. Tesco also did it without announcing it, but at least they now do a 6. Sainsbury also did it but didn't introduce a 6, so I can't buy there anymore. The only shop that doesn't seem to have changed their sizing recently is Uniqlo.