To try to remain the same size throughout life?

[JollieJullie]

I used to be a size 8 from puberty until a couple of years ago. Now I am in my early-mid 30s and I am a size 10, but I am trying to go back to an 8.

However, I wonder if my efforts are pointless as maybe my body is maybe just not meant to stay the same size as I get older?

Do you think it is reasonable to remain roughly the same size throughout life? Or should we accept the fact that later in life we will get a bit softer?

I’m 46 and a size 8. I’ve always been a size 8 and I’m 5’7.5.

I’ve actually tried to bulk up, going through intense phases of upping the protein and squatting about 150 pounds at the gym. Does bugger all, though. Some of us indeed do stay thin our entire lives.

Yep - and apparently we're ancient-looking and unattractive!

I’m thinner post menopause than I was, as a slim size 12, 20-something year old. I crept up to a large 14 for a couple of years but that’s because I was drinking too much alcohol and eating too much.
Once I got a grip and watched what I was eating I soon dropped down to my old weight but I didn’t like my shape. Middle age spread is real, it just stuck to my middle. I dropped a bit more weight and am now a happy size 10.

Omg I totally feel you.

how women store fat changes over their lifetime which is why ideal/acceptable body fat % increases with age.

it is harder to stay as slim as you age and totally normal. Just exercise eat right but accept nature for what it is or face making yourself miserable!

x

Same as me.

Menopause is the killer. I was an 8/10 all my life & could eat anything I wanted., now I'm nudging a 16 & have to be super careful what I eat.

I’m nearly 50 and weigh the same all my adult life - but it’s getting harder to maintain! I want to stay this weight as I age as it’s healthier in general and I have a couple of medical conditions including arthritis that makes it even more important to be a healthy weight. But I do worry a bit about how much less I’m going to have to eat over time as my metabolism slows …

Ha. Well, I think I look okay for 46. Knackered some days, but hopefully not crypt keeper status.

I think it's natural to get bigger, if you're comfortable and healthy then I wouldn't worry about it

I’ve been the same size since I was 17. We’re almost 30 years on now! I can still fit into the odd 25 year old student outfit I still have 🤣

I found the thing that made the most difference to me was a HIIT bootcamp. I am actually slightly bigger as a result but so much more toned and sporty looking. For the first time in my life, at 45, I am proud of my body.

I got ID'd the other day. The guy on the checkout didn't believe in my 1988 DOB or that the 9 year old child I had in tow was mine. So my body also hasn't yet got the memo about looking ancient 😅

Same here. I have gained 50lb in the last 2' years starting to come off now my hrt is kicking in

I think it's a bit of both in that the teenage through to early 20s are probably smaller for most people.

I was a size 8 and over 40 there's no way that I'll ever be as skinny as I was then. My body is just different.

But I have been roughly the same size for a lot of years. My shape has changed after kids and my hips remain a bit wider but I can still get into clothes that I bought 15 plus years ago (10 on bottom 10/12 on top as have boobs and wide shoulders).

Ideally I'd be about half a stone lighter. Once new year is done I'll make an effort to eat better to even out Christmas but I've never dieted and would avoid doing so as I fear that getting back down to that kind of size could actually lead to more weight gain in the long term when I currently retain a reasonable figure without much effort suggesting this is my natural size.

Totally possible. I’ve been size 8 for 30 years. I have to be more careful now since perimenopause now I’m 52. But if you have a healthy diet and do some exercise there’s no reason to put on weight.

I also think your stress response is a lot to do with it.

I tend to lose appetite and not eat in bad times, others find comfort in it so it is probably these periods that account for a lot of the changes

I am post menopausal and definitely “softer” but am still a size 10-12 like I have always been

I've stayed around the same weight since my teens, except during my pregnancies. I eat what I want but I'm active. It's mostly luck.

I suppose it depends on the individual. I was an active teenager and consistently fed hearty and healthy meals by my mum (along with plenty of rubbish I ate when I was out of the house). I was slim without thinking about it. About a decade after I had left home, I realised I’d become overweight. I was simply less active and ate much more than I should have.

Now (mid thirties)I’m very active again and back to being slim. I eat very nutritiously and limit the rubbish. It’s hard in the sense that I do love eating and would happily eat everything in sight, so I do have to restrict myself. I love cardio now that I’m fitter, but I still have to force myself to exercise on the days that I can’t be bothered. Overall, it’s worth it to me because I enjoy feeling fit and healthy and full of energy.

I'm 53 and the same weight I was at 23. My mother is 93 and the same weight she's always been, but was disheartened when trying on her usual size 10 just before Christmas as she's developed a stomach that even a year ago, she didn't have. So maybe some changes are inevitable. She still looked great, but a skirt and jumper rather than than the dress she'd been eying up.

I've always had a sweet tooth.
As a child/teen I didn't have access to sweets or cake unless my parents had bought it. I also did a lot of exercise through school and lifestyle
As a student, I could buy my own biscuits and cake but preferred to spend my money on alcohol! I also walked a lot as had no other means of getting around. There was a bus but that was less money for alcohol!
In my 20s, I could afford to eat what I wanted and drink and working hours meant I no longer did organised sport. I lived in central London so still walked a lot. Gained a stone though. Still comfortably within my BMI healthy weight.
In my 30s, I moved out of London and started to drive everywhere rather than walk and that led to another stone. Nudging the very top of a healthy BMI.
In my 40s, peri and a seeming complete loss on control of food intake means I have gained another stone. I'm now overweight and need to lose it.

I put on weight at 600 calories a day. Yup. That’s thyroid disease for you.

I was ok till it hit aged just over 40 and i
put on four sizes in four months. The disease makes it unbelievably difficult to lose weight.

So no, I’m not the same size I was as a teen but Im very fit considering how fat I am. I’ll never get my body back - it’s too sick.

It's natural for the body to change to some degree as we age. Partly through lifestyle factors (older people are more likely to be in sedentary jobs, have a car and so walk less etc), partly through hormone changes that can impact how your body stores fat, if you've been pregnant your hips will widen due to that, getting fitter and putting on muscle could affect your body proportions enough to shift a size.

Also as you get older your may also be buying your clothes from shops with different sizing systems, the shops you buy from may have adjusted the measurements associated with a specific size, the style of clothes you wear might give you more/less leeway in sizing if your dress sense/fashion has got more structured etc.

One clothes size is not a big deal, it's far better to focus on your general health and a lifestyle you're happy with than trying to maintain the exact body proportions you had at puberty.

I'm absolutely dreading menopause and getting older even more now. 🤣

I'm 61 and the same weight as I was at 21 (8 stone, 5ft 5in), but after 3 children the weight is definitely distributed in different places - more around the waist and hips. I'm fairly active, eat 3 good meals a day but don't snack and I drink a lot less alcohol than I used to.