Do you have “big bones”?

[SippeeCup]

I’m very depressed about my body. I’m not fat, I actually have a very low body fat percentage but I have a huge skeleton. I’m 5ft 6 so not overly tall but I struggle with fitting into women’s things and it’s making me so depressed. Watches are so tight o have to buy men’s straps. Rings and bracelets I have made on Etsy because shop ones don’t fit me. The wide fit shoe section never have shoes that are actually wide enough for my feet. Hats are always too small. I have to size up in clothes to fit my shoulders and rib cage and pelvis but they hang off my everywhere else. It makes me feel very ugly. I was wondering if anyone else has this issue and can maybe share where they buys things like shoes and jewellery etc?

Yeah I'm broad. I found putting on some muscle made me feel better about my body. Not body builder level, just toned.

I do, yes. I'm only 5 ft 2 but am very pear shaped - even when I was size 8/10 I had a very obviously disproportionately large bum and wide hips. I have size seven feet despite being so short, and my fingers are stumpy podgy things with broad knuckles that make ring fittings difficult regardless of my overall size. I also have a larger than average head/hat size.

All of the above makes me sound like some kind of circus freak 😆. I'm actually usually pretty slim overall with a low body fat % (have put on a bit over the last few COVID years)

May I suggest a trip to the catacombs of Paris 😀

Glad I saw this thread now!! I've always said I was built like a brick shithouse and now Google says it's true 🤣 8" wrists at the smallest point, size 10.5 (in men's sizes) feet and 5'9 tall

I've always been big and spent my teens and twenties overweight - lost a lot of weight at 29 and had a slim figure but was still 12.5st at my absolute slimmest (pic to demonstrate!) I then had a baby and have put a bit back on so no longer have that figure but luckily nowhere near where I used to be!

Tbf I'd spent my whole life wanting to be slim and then once I was I realised it actually wasn't what it was cracked up to be and slimness doesn't = happiness!

I'm only 5' 2" was often told that I had child bearing hips by midwives too 40 years ago. They were right pushed out three . Whereas DIL same size had to have two emergency c sections.

This is an excellent example- no one would ever believe you weigh 12.5 stone in that pic, me included, as you look extremely slim - but I’m exactly the same! People are always shocked when I tell them my weight. I never got below 9 stone even when I had an ED and I couldn’t get out of bed I was so weak! I’m a size 10-12, 5”8” and weigh 12 stone - people always describe me as slim but 12 stone sounds a lot - I remember reading a Jenny eclair book where one of the female characters was described as a “12 stone heifer”!

This has been an eye-opening and uplifting thread for me OP!
I genuinely had no idea there were quantitative measures of big bonedness and have spent pretty much all of my 54 years hating my body. Pretty sure my mum always referred to 'big boned' in the snarky way some posters up thread have - she herself was tiny...
Like others, even when thin I can't get bracelets/watches to fit and have to wear clothes two sizes too big as my shoulders and rib cage are so large.
Seems maybe I wasn't just a greedy fat cow after all 😕

@Yeahrightthen that's why I put the pic up...thought it demonstrates my point well.

I know exactly what you mean, I actually no longer weigh myself because it can become so toxic so quickly! Especially when at that size my BMI was still saying I was overweight!

As someone who has always struggled with their weight and appearance I no longer bother with scales but go with how I feel and what size I am......works better and is far safer lol

I've got a really wide rib cage, disproportionate to the rest of my body so that even when I was a size 8 every where else I was wearing a 38 bra band and all my tops had to be stretchy in order to fit (non stretchy things had to be sized up and therefore looked odd as they were too big everywhere except my ribs.

I'm now more like a 12/14 and actually look more in proportion with my big old ribs!

@Wine4whine, I was coming to say the same as@Yeahrightthen - you look great in that photo and I wouldn’t have thought you were 12.5 stone!

I have the same issue, although I am a lot shorter than you. The lightest I have been in adulthood was 8.5 stone which in theory is the optimum weight for a woman of 5ft 3. But I looked gaunt, with that ‘lollipop head’ appearance, and friends and family constantly asking if I was ok (I wasn’t ok- I was under eating and over exercising!) Have since gained a stone and given up weighing myself as it’s meaningless to me. I can tell if I’m gaining too much fat from looking at my body shape, and how my clothes feel so I have no need to weigh myself.

I cannot see from this photograph how I or anyone else could use this as confirmation of the “big boned” assertion.

at all.

There's nothing wrong with you op. I get that it's annoying if you're struggling with clothes and stuff like that.

We are all different shapes and sizes. Dh and ds have massive hands and long arms. Other ds is long legged so trousers are always too short.

@Wilkolampshade, I’m glad these type of discussions are so affirming for so many of us. It’s a shame you’ve spent so many years carrying all that negativity about your body, but I hope that will change.

@SavoirFlair, I should have picked a different photo. You’ll have to take it from me that I’m big boned but not overweight 😬

And really- that’s kind of the point. Big boned is not always a euphemism for large or overweight. Sometimes it is a just a statement of fact.

You are most definitely not overweight!

Some people are just really petite. I have a friend who is 40 but fits into size 11-12 kids clothes.
Some are just built bigger despite being slim. All you can do is be a low bmi and tone up as much as you can.
OP I think you look lovely for what it’s worth- really healthy and you look young. Don’t waste another week worrying about this. Reframe your thinking - your body looks great (you notice the flaws but others won’t!) You are healthy and young. Be grateful - in 10 years time you will wish you could rewind back to today!

@SavoirFlair, I’m not overweight, no, but I’m towards the top end of healthy BMI for my height (see screenshot). I eat far too much sugar but I’m very active and gain muscle mass fairly easily.

huge respect to your awesome hard work and your fitness! 💪🏼 looking great!

That’s very kind, thank you @SavoirFlair. I do need to address the sugar issue because it doesn’t go well with perimenopause and mood swings, plus I worry about my gut health.

But probably not today. Maybe tomorrow… 😬

I think I do, I’m 5 feet one, eight stone 4 pounds but have size five feet and really big wrists and hands. My waist is 24 inches and my hips are 37 inches.

@waterlego thanks yes, it IS a shame, I first remember crying in the shower about my body when I was 7 fgs. I dress to obscure my body at all times and havent looked in a full length mirror for years.
Maybe this year things could change, let's hope so. X

I'm 5ft 4" and have size 8 feet. My friend is the same height and weight as me but she has size 4 feet. So the people who think there's no such thing as big-bones, how do you explain the difference in our shoe size?

Thankyou. Im 30 this year 😳 I want to go I to my 30’s feeling positive and not full of the insecurities that have ruined my 20’s!