To ask if you naturally sit at *your* preferred weight

[Weighthate]

I just want to start off saying this isn't a thread to have a dig at people's sizes at all.

I was watching re-runs of Friends and Monica, Rachel and Phoebe are so skinny (to me) I wonder if people naturally sit at that slim level or if it has to be maintained with a lot of hard work and willpower.

When I was at my slimmest it became hard work for me to maintain. I gained some extra lbs and it was easy again. I now have (a lot of!) baby weight to shift before returning to work in 4 months. I'm just thinking how difficult it is going to be and will I now find it hard to maintain that weight once there (if ever there!)

I am a size 8 and eat a lot of chocolate and sugar. I also fidget quite a lot. I don’t drive any will walk miles happily rather than get over my fear of driving.

I lost a lot of weight after DC1 due to breastfeeding I think (kept on BFing and have done for years but it’s effect on me doesn’t seem to have stayed) but it’s mostly back on now. So there was a six month period when I was Hollywood thin, even size 6 clothes were a bit big. I couldn’t find any waist sizes on jeans to fit tightly even in TopShop (!).

I have to say, I quite liked that period in a way. I don’t think it was necessarily good for my body (I’m naturally slim but not skinny) but I was quite proud of being so skinny, even though it wasn’t anything I should have been proud of. It looked much better on me than I thought it would.
I have no idea how I’d get to that weight through diet and exercise. Even though I’m probably 5kg off it now I think it would be a very hard 5kg to shift. I’m not sure cutting down on the biscuits I eat would do oh somehow.

Normal weight is 8.5 stone. I usually maintain that by eating very sensibly during the week (3 meals, no snacks, sometimes lunch is a smoothie or something instead of a meal) and then at weekend going a bit more wild. Walk the dog minimum 1 hour a day. Running around after toddler. I don’t have time to work out and I really hate salad!

Due number 2 in a couple of weeks/ not looking forward to the climb back down to 8.5 stone though. Took 6 months with DS even with BF - much harder but doable.

@zigaziga

Your biscuits sound essential to me! Yum

I don't think many people are naturally skinny but my dh is slim and it's because he doesn't eat a lot . He probably eats about 1800 cals at most a day and maintains around 13 stone ( he is 6 foor) . He just has a natural well informed off switch!

My body is happy to settle at around 11st and I'd be able to maintain that easily. I like to be 10st and that takes conscious effort.

No. If I eat whatever I like I hover at around 135-140lbs which isn’t big but I feel great when I’m skinny like Monica and Rachel so I prefer to be around 120lbs. Currently breastfeeding a 3 month old and 135lbs again - darent try to diet too hard because I don’t want to interfere with my supply. I’m still a size 8 and am happy-ish with how I look with clothes on but am very wobbly underneath!!

Where do all these 5'8" 8-9 stone people buy clothes?. I'm around 10 stone at 5'7" and find some size 8s are too big!

The women in Friends are simply too thin. It is also true that the camera can make you look bigger at certain angles, so no wonder. If you met them in real life at that time, you would remark upon how thin they really were and probably think it wasn’t healthy. I think I read somewhere that the Friends cast ate the same lunch every day for 10 years on that set - a kind of Cobb salad - which is so “ordered” it’s a kind of disordered eating.

Jel of Aniston’s amazingly toned arms though. I have mum guns now but I just look like a linebacker because the rest of my arms aren’t toned enough.

@crispysausagerolls I have seen you on other threads and often wondered about your name....do you also like the odd crispy sausage roll?!

I’m tall and big of frame and look my best at 11st.
It’s REALLY hard to stay there because I’m menopausal. It’s been creeping back on for the last 2 years and lockdown has blown it all- too much chocolate and crisps- I’m currently at 13st 🙁

The women in Friends are simply too thin.

I agree. I remember Lisa Kudrow said she was k own as the "fat one" when she was in Friends when she obviously wasn't.

I was the same size as the women in Friends with no effort in my early 20s. Not any more though ! I would have to live a monks life to be 8.5 stone at 45 after 2 kids. Amazed I reached 9.5 Very happy with that. Wouldn’t want to be any thinner as you age you risk looking gaunt.

I’m 5’5 & size 8. Fluctuate a little, if I’ve been overeating, but a couple of days of restrictions sorts it out. Absolutely not a clue what I weigh, as I tend to get a bit obsessive. I think it’s much healthier to just go by how you feel, look and how your clothes fit. I’ve noticed my shape changing though - more apple, less hourglass. Trying to fight it by exercising, but think it could be a losing battle...I’m 52.

I have lost 2 stone through intermittent fasting and hope to lose 2 more. I am currently 5ft 7 and 11st 10. It takes counting every single calorie I eat, plus a walk every day whether I feel like it or not.

@Piglet89

Yes! Yes I do! Name came from pregnancy with DS1 - there was this incredible bakery round the corner from the hospital and whenever we had a scan or appt I would stop off there and cram crispy sausage rolls in like there was no tomorrow 😂 mmmm

@WowLucky
Wear a lot of seraphine clothes because I think even after preganncy they look ok/are convenient for BF. But jeans etc from Massimo Dutti because they fit so well/high up the hips etc, dresses from reiss - these brands I think size 8 is quite true to size.

Until mid 30s I could eat what I liked (and yes I took full advantage) and was still U.K. size 6/8 (I’m 5”7).

After turning 36 & having a baby I have to watch what I eat.

I was always super skinny growing up but being an adult and having a baby I'm now 12 stone and want to lose about 2 of that.
I'm 5ft 6.

I need to find a good exercise that isn't running. I have vertigo and fallen arches. Running for me is just a ticking time bomb of falling over.

Also my diet isn't great because I have a lot of allergies and intolerances, some of which I've grown out of but it made me a fussy eater, so a lot of the stuff I can eat is crap.

If you thought the Friends crew were thin, remember Callista Flockheart from Ally McBeal?

Probably within a few pounds of 9 st for me.

It’s a very good point about age! I’m in late twenties so sounds like it’s going to get harder and harder to maintain 😭

@OneRingToRuleThemAll

That’s incredible; well done!

I’m 5’6 and currently about 10lbs over my “happy weight” of 9st7.

I’ve been doing Couch to 5k for 6 weeks to help me get fitter and started doing 16:8 3 weeks ago. In that time I’ve lost 6lbs (started at 10’9) and about 1.5 inches each off my waist, hips and bum. It’s amazing the difference that changing the way I eat has made in such a short space of time. The key to 16:8 is drinking plenty of water and learning to accept that feeling hungry (and I mean a rumbling tummy, not lightheaded and about to pass out) is not a bad thing.

There’s a building body of evidence that intermittent fasting is extremely beneficial to the body, and especially for women. While I was doing my research on it I found two TEDx talks by an American woman’s health practitioner that really struck a chord with me, Cynthia Thurlow.

Her talks are on YouTube and about 15 mins long each. The first is purely about IF and the second is about the menopause and steps women can take to improve their health during this time, which includes IF.

If you’re interested in IF there are lots of ways to do it, 16:8 is just one of them - you can start with 12:12 and slowly build up. There’s a IF section in the Weight Loss threads here on MN so you can find more info there.

I don't even naturally sit at way above my preferred weight, I have to be very careful with calories and exercise

I tried leaving it to nature and my own appetite once and gained about 4 dress sizes

Sadly, I sit at two stone above it.

I used to sit naturally at 50 kg no matter what I ate. I'm now 62 kg and no matter what I do it's just not shifting. I've gained the weight in less than a year and as I'm short don't carry it well.
I'm calorie counting. In a deficit. Trying to aim for the right macros but haven't lost even a tiny bit in 2 weeks of trying recently.

Naturally I think I'd sit at 10 stone but I want to be 9. I'm 5ft5 and somewhere inbetween weight wise, I dont actually weigh myself any more. I do 16:8, I still eat 3 meals a day and I run for 30mins 3 times a week and walk 2/3 miles on the days I dont run. I think a lot of people aren't willing to incorporate exercise into their lives permanently, so will take up something to lose the weight rather than to be healthy and then once they lose weight want to stop exercising and be sedentary again and wonder why the weight creeps back on.

I'm naturally slim and spent my 20s eating whatever I wanted, 30s was less concerned with weight but was still a size 8/10. Now I'm in my 40s and yes I could sit at a comfortable weight but don't rely on scales. I like to measure body fat % as a more helpful way of determining fitness. I'm naturally at 26% body fat but it takes a lot of exercise and clean eating to get below the 26% mark.