How much does your size/weight bother you?

[AllAboutJazz]

I'd say I'm healthy, fairly fit and active.

I make a lot of effort to cook healthy meals, drink green tea (blugh), avoid processed food etc. I'm not thin, but not exactly fat either, just...plump? BMI 22.5 but I'm short, so I could stand to lose a stone.

I own my house and have a business, really love my job, have a few friends who are lovely, a great partner and freedom to more or less do as I please - a very lucky life.

Why then am I so unhappy not being thin? It's like I can't let myself be happy, because I should be smaller.

How often do you think about your size/weight? How much does it affect your happiness?

I'd like to not think about my weight. I'd like to be totally relaxed about food. I'd like to be naturally slim. I love cooking and would like to get into baking but would worry about my willpower.

I'm 14 -16 uk size and overweight but not obese. I have to care about my weight because I don't want to get to pre diabetes levels because it's in the female line of my family. I know if I gain , say 1/2 a stone it might be close.

Just recently I had a virus and lost 4 pounds. The virus knocked me out of action for a few days but I felt pleased about the weight loss 😬🤷🏻‍♀️

Constantly.

I'm very overweight. Could lose 10 stone and still not be skinny.

I barely ever think about it really. Maybe a couple of times a year? Most people don't comment directly to me though I'm sure they do talk behind my back.

I've just never really cared much about what people think of my appearance. I dress in clothes that I like without worrying about what's in style. I don't wear makeup as I don't like it but I do like playing around with hairstyles so I do that.

I might try and lose weight if it starts affecting my health, but outside of health concerns I'm happy with how I am.

I'm a size 4 - 6.

I envy women who have boobs, hips, shape In general. I think about cosmetic surgery all the time.
I feel like I look like a 12 year old boy. I've been told that too!
I'm not sure anyone is truly happy with their body.

I'm obsessed. It's very weird. I have a conventionally good figure (size 8-10) and I love my body shape. I workout 4 times a week and eat relatively healthy. Generally my weight doesn't even fluctuate but I still weigh myself once a week (it's 55kg atm). In my early 20s, I was really thin and had an exercise addiction so I think this is where it comes from.

It's very important to me.

I'm a perfectionist and I like to look perfect (to myself). I have a typical model-body shape. Very tall, very lean, long legged, small-boobed hourglass. I like how absolutely everything fits, I can wear whatever I want, most fitted or see-through dresses if I choose to (I don't wear see through) and there's no lump, no bump, no flab, no need for control underwear, everything lies perfectly. I can be caught in photos or walk past mirrors and there's never any bulge anywhere. I love that feeling and no food tastes better that that. To me.

I come from a country where a lot of women are like me. Tall and very slim. I'd feel very out of place being fat there. Fat there and fat in the UK are not the same thing. Anything above size 10-ish (for a tall person) is fat there. And no one would be shy telling you that.

I don't think Bridget Jones is 'fat-fat', but she's not slim either in my book. Podgy, overweight somewhat, soft. I wouldn't want to look like her.

All the above are about me and my body. I don't comment on other people's bodies and their weight is of no concern of mine.

I recently started going to the gym on a regular basis. I'm still a size 16 because I haven't reduced my food or alcohol intake but feeling so much better from being more active.
Also, as I get older I realise how self indulgent and navel gazing this bullshit self criticism is - what is the fucking point? Does it make me happy - no, does anyone else in the world give a fuck bout the size of my stomach - no, are men ruling the world while women worry about our waist measurements and do I want better for my childrens generation - fuck yes!
We need to expect more of ourselves and that is about our priorities not about our weight measurements - VST majority of women I know make a massive contribution to our families, our employers, our friends and our communities- we need to value ourselves as much as we value others and others value us!
Rant over- sorry

I lost a significant amount of weight several years ago, and now my BMI hovers at about 24. Size 14-ish. I’m not happy, I have a lot of tissue hanging off my abdomen, but I just can’t seem to lose any more. I try to be very careful with my diet because I absolutely don’t want to gain weight again. I’m sure I think about my weight too much, and then I feel bad about being unhappy with my body (since we’re supposed to love ourselves whatever and not care about our weight!).

I think about my size/weight constantly.
I have gone from a very slim person to very overweight.
I hate how I look and feel.

I've battled with my weight for about 25 years. People would be shocked if they saw me as most people say I'm slim, but that's due to being constantly stressed about not putting on weight. I associated being happy with being slim, I was a chubby child and didn't slim out until my early 20s. Being brought up in the 90s era with the Kate Moss, supermodel waif look had a great impact on me. It's only in the last year I've given up on it and just want to enjoy life and eating. Of course, I appreciate it's different if someone has health issues but it sounds like you are very healthy and happy and this is the only thing bringing you down. Life really is too short and I wish I realised that a long time ago.

With a BMI of 22.5, you definitely aren't plump!
You are comfortably within healthy weight range.
I'm overweight and it does bother me when I look in a mirror or see a photo of myself or buy new clothes but for majority of the time its not the most pressing thought in my mind.

Same as many posters, unfortunately.

I'm a size 12, 5'4, BMI of 25 and could do with losing a stone. I think about my weight all day everyday.

If I catch sight of my reflection, I am looking to see if my face looks bloated. Or what my tummy looks like in the jeans.

I think I'd have more friends or a better job if I was slimmer and I always have done.

Absolutely no idea how to help myself and change the mindset, as it's exhausting and I'm kind of over it now I'm in my 40s!

@AllAboutJazz if your bmi is 22.5 and you think you are fat then you probably have body dysmorphia.

(I have been very screwed up about my weight in the past and I am still a bit, so I get it). But really, the problem here is not your body, it's your mind.

I agree with pp suggestion work hard on being toned, it will possibly make you feel better.

My bmi is 18.2. I don’t think I will ever look in a mirror and not see a huge, ugly person. I like nothing about my looks. I suffer with bloating so I particularly hate my stomach. I don’t see this ever changing. It’s been with me a long time.

😢 @Happiestathome

That doesn't sound healthy

Have you tried to pin down what causes the bloating? (Eg bread, for me)

Not helpful.

@Aria999 the gp just says likely IBS. I’m not convinced. You’ve reminded I really should do a food diary to try and see what helps and doesn’t - thank you. I suspect bread doesn’t help which is very sad as I do love my food 🥪.

I hope it was ok with the OP for me to reply to you.

BMI takes height into account that's the whole point, you're smack bang in the middle of the scale for a healthy weight. I'm teetering on the edge of overweight and I feel uncomfortable physically. Doesn't help I put it all on round my middle. I was slim a couple years ago, almost underweight-a bereavement meant I lost a bit of weight and then the weight came back on with a vengeance when my appetite came back. It sucks because I didn't think I'd ever let myself get this big again (I was the same size as a teen), but it happened really quick. Having to buy 2 sizes bigger clothes isn't fun either. I'm no happier being slimmer at all but it's disappointing to put on the weight it took you ages to lose the first time round!

I'm a size 16, and in the main generally happy with my body.

I've not been able to get my flat stomach back since having my last DC 7 years ago, so losing that would good.

Think I'd need to drop around 4 stones 😱😱😱

Wow big head

My bmi is 29. I was happy when it was 26 so I'm looking to lose weight. I have decent muscle tone, am quite strong and don't look wobbly so I tend to look ok with a bit of weight on me. I wouldn't want my bmi any lower than 23 as I start looking gaunt in the face. I'm 40 and 5 foot 1. I think it depends where your fat is distributed and if you're toned.

It doesn't bother me much as I still think I look ok.

My size and weight were bothering me and I became prediabetic. I've just lost almost 2 stone. Gone from a larger size 14/occasionally 16 to a 12. I'm almost at the top end of healthy BMI range now and am more or less happy with my weight and size. Ideally I want to lose maybe 3-5 more kilos, which would put me at a size 10-12, but at this weight can wear the clothes I want again, I don't feel as heavy and lumbering. My fitness has improved a lot, despite a lot of hard work in the gym, my cardiovascular fitness didn't improve much until I dropped the excess weight, although I've always been strong.

I have a larger frame and build, I can build muscle easily, so I look a bit shapeless if my weight drops into the lower half of the BMI range. Thin isn't attainable for me, or desirable. I like being strong, I'm a gym rat, it's more important to me to be fit than thin.

Depending on where I shop I’m anywhere from an 8 to a size 12 and I’m tall. My BMI is 19. My weight has never affected my happiness, however I did have to work hard to keep the pounds off during menopause and I eat clean as well as do a lot of exercise to maintain it.

I don’t think @QuintessentialDragon was being big headed at all and it’s pretty mean to quote them simply because they have a different view to others and the confidence to say how they feel about their size. I totally understand their point of view.

Yep. I'm only 10 weeks post partum and a size 14 (height 5'7") instead of my usual size 10. I'm a binge eater and had to work extremely hard every day to keep to a size 10.

Pregnancy complications threw all that out the window. I am now sleep deprived as fuck, breastfeeding and still suffering from pregnancy complications that have not gone away. I'm in pain daily. And instead of being kind to myself, I am disgusted with myself. And breastfeeding makes me too hungry to diet.

DH has booked a gorgeous stay in a 5* hotel in the Caribbean for us. And all I can think of is how fat I'll be 🙁I have a baby, 2 uni degrees, a successful career and I'm actually the main breadwinner. Yet somehow my weight has this enormous hold over me. Fml.

I blame those horrible teen magazines we grew up with in the early 00s.