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.

I am late middle aged and have a long memory. There were many overweight people in the 60s, 70s and 80s. They were usually post 50 and nature caught up with them, no matter how slim they had been in their youth.

UK may have the biggest obesity problem in Europe, but go to any European country on holiday in the summer and observe that it is the norm to tip over into the new obese category in late middle age.

I am obese and weigh in the 11 stones. At my age my grandmother weighed in the 13s (she lived to just shy of her 95th birthday btw). The statistics hide a multitude of nuances.

I think if you look at any 70s programmes like Fawlty Towers etc you do see that the people and especially the women appear much slimmer than the women you see today. This can't be because our genetic make up has changed in 40 years but that the people that we see around us today are bigger. Why they are bigger is complex, obviously. If you look at photos of children in the 60s and 70s they are skinny. The OP is right that being slim is no longer seen as normal.

@trendy. Exactly the point!!!!

Your post is very irritating. I work extremely hard at maintaining my weight. I eat healthily and less than 2000 - 3000 calories per day. I also exercise a lot and walk between 10,000-25,000 steps per day. I am a size 14. I might look better at a 10 or a 12 (although I am not unhappy with how I look) but I don’t see what else I can do to be that size. If I did less exercise and didn’t watch what I ate, I would be much much bigger (and I have been in the past). You make it all sound so easy but it really isn’t for people who are fighting against genetics to stay slim. Both my parents are obese and I literally fight weight gain everyday.

I dont know about a minority, according to current stats, 60% of the UK population are overweight,obese. Recent article in two daily papers recently, and Michael Mosleys recent TV programme on well known faces eating junk food for 3 weeks, Peter Andre delivering food, showing what our portion sizes should be, are pretty much the size of mine, I eat when I am hungry. I couldnt get these huge portions down, have never eaten a 3 course meal in my life. I enjoy food, I was under 8 stone for many years, considered underweight, then after the menoporse, could eat a lot less if I didnt want to put on weight. We usually go to a carvery, have whats clled the "small plate" a bit bigger than a "side" plate, I see people with the standard size dinner plate going back for "seconds", My portion sizes are smaller than my 7 year old DGS, I cant bare to be confronted by these huge plates of food in restaurants, which is why we do the carvery, I can pick what I eat. If I eat crisps,chocolate,ice-creams I put on weight.

I can't believe I said some bully boys at school bullied my DD for boing skinny (when she is a normal weight) has been so criticised. She is developing an eating disorder FFS.

She is normal. NOT a TWIGLET thank you.

Proves a point really.

Samind which post of mine are you referring to.

YY bibitty there is a lot of rewriting of history going on in these threads.

"I can't believe I said some bully boys at school bullied my DD for boing skinny (when she is a normal weight) has been so criticised. She is developing an eating disorder FFS."

That's not really what you said though, is it?

I am really sceptical that people make out you are abnormally thin OP. I have been a size 10 for over 30 years and noone has ever said that to me.

OP, YABU. I say that as a woman who is naturally/genetically slim and tall. My weight hardly fluctuates - it ranges between a size 10 - 12.

I'm often accused by other women of being underweight, not eating, etc. However, what they don't know is, is that I have always been tall and lanky. My Ddad was the same until he retired/became less active.

I eat loads more than these women too, my metabolism is just really fast.

I agree with you, to be honest. I know so many people with weight related health problems that would be resolved with just losing weight. I don't think it should be normal to have fat around the vital organs, which is what happens when people are not lean enough. It's a real problem and sadly life limiting.

You didn't just say bully boys Wendy. You called them horrible names to make you feel better. Your daughter is not a twiglet nor a stick. Why don't you teach her it's ok to be the way she is an never mind what other people look like. The mothers wear tents, can't fit into jeans. They're a size up from me. I can find Plenty of jeans to wear. You're an idiot.

Also @wendycope I didn't actually call your daughter a twiglet if you care to read the post properly, but don't let that stop you frothing at the mouth.

@helenadove. About the girl at your school. It isn't my issue. I was given a hard time too for the same reason but my parents then didn't come online and slag young children and their mothers off with the opposite issue to mine. They taught me to love what I couldn't change. And it worked!!!!

HelenaDove. No rewriting of history going on, the facts are that the average dress size in the UK has increased steadily over the decades (appreciate that dress size isn’t best way of measuring but it’s the standard ‘unit’ that we understand).

There is no escaping the fact that there is an increasing obesity problem in this country, including in our children.

To pretend otherwise is disingenuous.

Pink my ex colleaugue has fat around her vital organs yet is a size 8 You are making yourself look ignorant.

Fully agree

if you look at any 70s programmes like Fawlty Towers etc you do see that the people and especially the women appear much slimmer than the women you see today.

Oddly enough, most people in the acting profession, these days, are slimmer than the average person you'll find on the high Street, too.

Cheers OP. As I sit here spilling out of my size 22 pyjamas with my multipack of Wotsits and a tube of Jaffa Cakes for tea, because I'm disabled and my legs aren't working enough to walk to the kitchen this evening to make myself tea, and this is all I have in my bedside cupboard thanks for making me feel utterly shit.

I agree with the one site epidemic and I do believe within 10 years we are going to be in trouble dealing with bariatic related illnesses and care. However I do not agree with size shaming or body shaming. It is no one else's business what size you are. It shouldn't mean anything. Everyone has insecurities.

Obesity*

I think if you look at any 70s programmes like Fawlty Towers etc you do see that the people and especially the women appear much slimmer than the women you see today.

They aren't thinner than the people you see on television today though are they? Why do you assume that the people on television in the 70s were similar to the rest of the population?

@Samind i havent slagged anyone off on here or body shamed in any way
You are either trying to gaslight me or havent read my posts properly.

If you AS me you will see i have stayed very consistent in this regard.

So i dont know why im being blamed for something i havent done

I used to be 21 stone and lost 10 stone. Ive bloody well been there And you know what ive noticed. Pre weight loss it was men who judged.

post weight loss its been women.

They only employed slim actors in the 1970s, same as now .

@helenadove. The rest of that comment was in relation to @wendycope.