To think being slim should be normal for most people.

[DevilishDebbie]

By slim i mean sizes 8 to 12.

Obviously you get a minority who are not in this range naturally but for 80% of people this size should be natural, say they eat a reasonable diet of between 2000-3000 calories.

Im so sick of people at work making out i am abnormally thin for being a size 10. I watch what I eat but dont deprive myself. The same people making me out to be lucky to be slim eat fried chicken or pizza for lunch and seem to be able to demolish a whole pack of biscuits at 3 o clock.

Aibu to think that the normal human man/woman should be a size 8-12 and that to attain or maintain this does not require super human discipline or strength.

Genuinely not trying to be goody or nasty in any way but when people say they eat less than 1,000 calories a day yet are still overweight it does make me wonder if theyre genuinely eating what they think you are.

There are ‘hidden’ calories in many foods/drinks and it’s very easy to under estimate portion sizes.

I've been a size 12-14 overweight, BMI of 30+ and eaten nothing but healthy food, exercised regularly and not smoked or drank at all

And I've been a size 8, BMI of 20ish eaten nothing but crap (and lots of coffee), never exercised, chain smoked and binge drank.

So tbh, my dress size means FA.
I'm in neither place right now, and have some healthy some unhealthy habits and am the middle of my weight and BMI ranges, but OMG I would give anything to go back to being 'fat' happy me. Everything was going well in my life, I was just a little bit overindulgent with the avocados. I can't even afford a freaking avocado now. There's more to life than dress size.

Most babies are not born overweight, apart from in a handful of cases, such as with poorly-controlled diabetic mothers.

It is normal & healthy to be able to see children's ribs - this is not too skinny.

It is normal to be able to see collar bones in teenagers & adults without being too skinny.

It is not normal to assume one will gain excess weight during/after pregnancy & in middle age. Shape changes for sure & also fat distribution, but size/weight need not.

Yes keeping slim can be difficult, but it is not impossible.

People are mostly much too fat nowadays. We haven't evolved in the last 40 years, but the evolution of snacking, larger portions & crap fast food has certainly been a thing.

We are kidding ourselves being overweight is normal - it isn't, it is merely commonplace - it might be "the new normal" but it is not right.

It’s not the norm to be overweight or obese.

I have been overweight and absolutely hated it; I believe most overweight people do hate it but many speak the language of the addict (excuses and lies) because after all they are food addicts. And society/advertisers enable it:

“You deserve it”
“A treat”
“I had a hard day”
“Everything in moderation”
“You need sugar”
“A little pick me up”
“I couldn’t help it”

And all the addictive junk food - it’s designed to be addictive and it is. You try parting an addict from his “crutch”. Impossible. I would like there to be more real help for obese people because “eat less and move more” is a load of old bollocks.

I've read several threads around here that just show that sizing isn't standard. Wasn't there a woman the other day who said she was a size 8/10 (I think!) but all other posters of her height and weight wondered why as they were all 12's?

Well not only is this none of your business, clothes sizes on the whole are nonsense, I’ve got size 6 jeans from one shop that are falling off me and 12s from another digging into me. It’s utterly ridiculous.

Although I guess I see what you mean, I am overwheight, (I’m shorter than average) and people constantly call me slim...

It's easy to be smug about something you don't have a problem with. It's like someone who's never smoked saying smokers are stupid for not quitting, or a high earner saying it's easy to budget.

There are a multitude of complex reasons people overeat. Suggesting it's easy not to just shows your ignorance.

(I'm a size 10 too. It doesn't make me better than my plus size mates)

Sizing isn't standard for sure, but vanity sizing is also a thing.

I have a size 10 pair of jeans from the mid 80s that still fit me perfectly.

Modern size 10 jeans are far too big for me.

Stopmakingafooloutofme. Ah, fair enough, I’m sure it must be really difficult. Not sure what your bowel condition is but as a coeliac I understand the loo dash which combined with your disability must be awful so totally understand your priority re food.

For what it’s worth, the OP wasn’t referring to those with medical conditions etc and did clarify that but I can see how it might come across.

I know thin-shaming exists, and this 'only real women have curves' bullshit annoys me, and the DOVE campaign for 'real women' had all overweight and fat women on it, like thin women are not womanly or feminine or attractive. Very rude.

But it's ludicrous to suggest that thin/slim people get such a hard time in life, and as much bullying and goading and insults, as fat/obese people. They simply do not. Fat people are called (and thought of) as less intelligent, stinky, unhygienic, slow, badly educated, and generally unattractive.

When men are looking for a woman on a dating site, they will very rarely go for a woman who is fat. Most men will be looking for thin, slim, athletic, sporty, and occasionally curvy. No man will get mocked by his mates for having a girlfriend/wife who is on the thin side... They will get mocked and ribbed if their girlfriend/wife is rather fat though.

No way in hell do thin/slim people have the same amount of nasty shit aimed at them as overweight/fat people do.

I agree that we used to be thinner for sure. I have recently been watching FRIENDS, and Monica (in 1994,) looked REALLY thin, like bone thin to me. Can't have been more than 7 stone. Yet, 25 years ago, she looked a normal weight and size to me.

Conversely, the 'fat bloke' in The Full Monty film who had the piss taken out of his weight at every available opportunity, did look and appear fat then. Now, 30 years later, he looks fairly standard, and just has what today is classed as a dad-bod.

So we have definitely got bigger as a nation. But we do evolve and progress as a nation, and I feel a size 6 to 8 (and a weight of 7 to 7.5 stone) is not attainable for many women these days. Indeed, I very rarely meet any women over 21, who are below a size 12/below 10 stone. Very slim women (like size 8 or under and below 8 stone,) are very rare.

I am about 10 stone 10, middle aged, and 5 ft 6, and a size 14, so not toooooo big. And I am happy with how I look. I have been up to 13 stone, and down to 9.

The OP does come across as a bit smug though. It's quite hard to lose weight and keep it off. As a pp said, if it was so easy, how come so many people are fat? Do you think people ENJOY being fat?

As I said, most women I know (over 21,) are on average, between 10 and 11 and a half stone and a size 12 to 14, and they are all slim, fit, sporty, and curvy, and ALL of them are healthy.

Most are NOT a size 6, and they do not weigh 7 stone. Even though many women on mumsnet claim this.

Size 8 now is what size 12 was 20+ years ago.

The amount of fatlogic on this thread is actually hilarious!

Vanity sizing is so annoying. A size ten in some shops is really a 14. It just aids and abets the delusion.

I’m a “true” size 12 but an 8 in many shops.
If I’m an 8 what about actual thin people?! Where do they shop?!

I go in charity shops a lot and there you will see real size 8s/10s/12s because there are old clothes there. And they are teeny.

I know how easy it is to put on weight , let's face it food is bloody lovely. When i was pregnant I went over the top and ate with abandon just for the sake of it . Family bags of Doritos, take away and puddings and I loved every minute of it. I put on 4 stone easily but it took me 3 years to get rid of it!

A size 10 isn't actually that thin these days. It's a 28 inch waist so only a few inches away from being a medical concern. Just saying.

I totally get what you mean op, obviously it’s a very sensitive issue for most people though so not generally something you can talk about ‘out loud’ without causing offence. I’m naturally thin through no effort on my own part, just good genes I guess so I have sympathy for people struggling with their weight, I’m pretty sure there’s no way I’d be able to follow a healthy diet if I wanted to lose weight and I’m far too lazy to excercise regularly. One day my thin luck will run out and that’ll be the end of it. I noticed in my local city yesterday the majority of people seemed to be overweight while thin/not overweight people were very much in the minority. It’s not the way humans ought to be naturally and it’s a poor reflection of our society’s health in my opinion.

Let's say the average woman is 40 years old, 5'4" tall, weighs 130lb (9 stone 4), has a slightly sedentary lifestyle.

If she eats 2000 calories per day instead of the 1711 she is recommended, she is eating 289 calories per day over the ideal. That means she'll gain 1lb in weight every 2 weeks. That means nearly 2 stone per year. If she does that every year from the ages of 40 to 60 she'll end up at 520lb, or 46 stone.

When I was at school (1960/70s) there would be one or maybe two overweight children in the class. We ate less, walked more, had very little processed food. There was much less of a food culture, no fast food at all, you ate only at mealtimes, and then only as much as you needed not to be hungry, rather than to be stuffed full.

For adults, alcohol tended to be for social occasions, there were no casual bottles of wine with dinner.

It would take a major cultural revolution to get us back to those habits, but yes, it's theoretically possible.

Eat less
Move more
don't get overweight
basic physics

@Dorsetdays disbelieving ppl can contribute to eating disorders.

we had a few couples at my slimming world group the man would always lose quicker than the woman and they would be eating exactly the same things.

ppl are telling the truth sometimes you know.

IMO people just aren't designed to spend 9 hours per day sitting at a computer and 2 hours in the car commuting.

A 6am spin class doesn't go far towards negating that, and neither does having a salad for lunch.

That's not to say that it's impossible to have that lifestyle and stay slim. However, I think for a lot of people it is difficult.

@Dorsetdays I know because I count and my food is pretty repetitive (because i count).

No breakfast.
Lunch is 200 cals.
I also have a 250 ml energy drink at 25 cals/100 g and a sugar free red bull(can't remember number of cals per can. 10 I think?)

Then dinner is about 300 cals in bread (3 slices at 84 cals each) and something like half parmetier potatoes with bacon at 299 cals. Sometimes if I'm really hungry I eat the whole thing so go over 1000 but not by much. I also have some slices of pickled peppers or gerkins no ideas on the value of those. The only thing that changes is dinner, so I end up with about 800 spare cals for it. According to my fitbit i burn about 2000 cals a day ,but I dont move much max 10k steps and about 20 active minutes a day. Not losing weight,still fat but at least I'm not gaining either.

@bibbitybobbityyhat

That’s not quite how it works.

Given your stats, she will gain 1lb in weight every 2 weeks until she reaches roughly 10 stone. If she continues to eat 2000 calories a day, she will maintain her weight of 10 stone. She does not continue to gain weight beyond what 2000 calories maintains at her height and age.

Look, i've had the too skinny comments and how I should eat cake etc. But I think that is because people who eat healthily and work out can still find it hard to keep their weight low. It really is often just genetic. Some have broader hips ad shoulders, and would have to shave bits of themselves to fit into smaller sizes.
Also if you're eating a full pack of biscuits at 3, etc., then you need to stop that and find healthier replacements. Your insides must be a mess. You possibly have a lot of fat around your organs if you genuinely eat like an out of control toddler.