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’ve never thought much about my weight as such, but I’ve always eaten healthily and exercised as I want to be fit and strong. I wouldn’t want to be fat mainly for health reasons, but it doesn’t look great either so I think if I was fat, then not looking good would bother me and impact my happiness. I’ve never wanted to be thin though, I like being a healthy weight and toned.

Unhappy. It's the first thing I think of in the morning and last thing when I go to sleep, sad I know. The irony is that I've had a severe condition in the past and was unable to walk for a while so I should really just be grateful now.

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.

It's pretty mean to brag about how amazing you look in the context of this OP.

Fine to say yes it matters to me a lot and I'm happy with how I look, but the level of detail is just unnecessary bragging.

Especially the bit about how everyone from their country would find most Uk people fat. Probably true but we don't need to hear it.

No need to be nasty to other women.

It’s really depressing that we live in a world where women are expected to hate themselves and it’s something other women uphold.

Your comment is actually pretty horrible.
If your daughter doesn’t call herself disgusting and fat like so many of these posters would you be calling her “big head”?

I lost 6lbs last month, gained 2 back but intend to try and lose 3-4lbs before Christmas. I am not fat, but my stomach is flabby and I am at the top end of normal. Now i’m in my late 40’s I am more aware that losing weight isn’t just for vanity but also health. I am short so can’t eat much at all without gaining and I feel thoroughly miserable when I creep into the overweight category.

@noodlercanoodler
Snap.

I expect it helped them. If genuine then the level of body obsession that would drive someone to come onto a thread and describe their own perfection in such detail means she is coming from the same place as everyone else. She is simply fortunate at this stage in her life to not feel negativity about her appearance. She is still obsessed with her body and part of that is the need for everyone else, even anonymous strangers to know it is perfect. Its the same stable, just a different horse.

I think about my size and weigh myself every day and have since I was in my teens.

I'm short ( 5'2.5) so a half a stone makes an enormous difference to my appearance ( in my eyes) and the fit of my clothes- even within a healthy BMI.

My weight used to vary by a stone depending on holidays/xmas/bingeing etc. I've been more stable for the last ten years and (mostly) stopped bingeing ( low carb eating) but my weight can still go up and down and it definitely affects by confidence when I'm half a stone up.

Just had a vomiting bug and lost a few pounds and was thinking about the benefits while feeling grim. Not happy about the obsession, but in my late 50s and I fear it's hardwired in.

I'm not fussed about my weight, but I hate my stomach sticking out like I am pregnant. Which is linked to weight and muscle tone I guess. I am in the middle of bmi and a size 12. I think there is a lot of pressure to have a flat stomach. All the bouncing back after pregnancy and shapewear stuff put there..

Yes I'm termed obese by all those horrible charts my GP uses.

It bothers me a lot. I'm a lazy person and prefer reading (or MNing!) than going out for a walk. I hate sport or even solo exercise.

I eat mostly healthy but I am partial to some very unhealthy snacking.

Yet even though my knees and hips hurt, and my weight has increased pressure on an old liwer limb injury, it hasn't increased my motivation for change, because everything from the waist down hurts, myscle and bone-wise. It's a perpetual circle of bollox.

@QuintessentialDragon i am the same. Tall, slim and work hard in the gym / running and I eat really well. I’m 5’10 and weigh 62kg I think. I love the fact I can order clothes in a size 6-8 and they’ll always fit and look good. Nothing wrong with that. It does take effort when you’re nearly 50 but I’d rather do that than be miserable and feel fat.
I got fatter in covid and I absolutely hated it - I feel much much better when I’m thinner. I have more energy and I don’t worry about how I look. Photos are always fine, no rolls, no chins! It’s worth not eating cakes to feel good.

Daily, I have a wardrobe full of clothes that don’t fit, thanks hormones! Size 12 (sometimes 10 on tops) but at the top of my BMI range and would like to be back to a 10.

That's how we stay thin. I got angry at my husband because he said "why do you care your weight, you're slim."

I replied "that's why I'm slim - I'm caring it but tired

I seem to have been blessed with a sadly rare ability to not think about my body and to be happy with it. Not because its perfect, it's not at all but it's just never been a big part of my self worth. Maybe easy for me as I have been slim most of my life, even if oddly proportioned (small boobs, large waist etc).

As I've hit middle age I'm definitely putting on weight and I think every year now I'll just have to spend some time doing 5:2 to lose a stone as I have last few years. I don't do this for aesthetic reasons, just I have a hip condition that would be exacerbated if I get more than slightly overweight. But I accept I will just probably put more weight on over time and I'm OK with that.

I’m a size 20/22 and 5’7 and believe it or not, I’m not sad about it. I know many would want me to be, but I’m not.
I don’t think I’m unattractive, I have great boobs and a bum, I enjoy buying clothes from vinted that I think are fun and interesting, also snag tights and my DMs!
My DP enjoys sex with me.
I know I could probably do with losing a stone or even two according to this thread! But it’s really not a priority for me right now.
I do plenty of walking and that’s good enough for me.

I wish I hadn’t clicked onto this thread.

Women who are size 10 are NOT fat.

Go weight training; climb a mountain; run; swim… learn to love what your bodies are capable of.

The problem with @QuintessentialDragons post isn’t that they are happy and confident in their body- that is great and other posters have said the same and been a light in amongst all this self revulsion

the problem with the post was that it actually fed into the same societal crap about what denotes a perfect and acceptable body as the rest of the shit we get presented with endlessly. By stating she loves the fact she has smooth lines and is slim etc she actually confirms you can only be happy if you have that ideal either by lucky genetics or self sacrifice.

so it was cruel to post on here as it was more of the same bollocks that puts other women in misery (and I suspect she knew that)

the amazing posters are the ones who confirm their self love, healthy attitude to food and love of their own bodies without needing to double down on the negative messages whilst doing so.

Size 12. Doesn’t bother me.

I never had anyone (parents, partners etc) tell me I was fat when I was younger. Not that I would of believed them really - a 90s size 10 was not fat!

Mind you anyone remember that song “She’s a perfect 10 (but she wears a 12)” ? Maybe I was closer to the brink than I realised 🙄

I'm 4'11 and feel disgusting above bmi 19 because it all goes on my stomach. I'm bulimic and have been since I was 14 so it takes up a lot of my thoughts. I do weight training and occasional cardio but that's also for health reasons.

But almost every other post feeds into that and not a single one has been called out like that poster.
That poster has achieved the body she wants however she feels a daily pressure to maintain it, why is that worthy of attack compared to someone who wants that body and thinks about it all day every day, as many comments have said, but doesn’t currently have it?
It’s very interesting that post has got some posters backs up.

This is exactly it - a great life, but still the desire to be thinner is what makes or breaks having a good day.

Stepping on the scale and losing a pound or two = GREAT day, no matter what's going on.

But feeling heavier/bigger = feeling shit, no matter the good in my life.

It's ridiculous.

I was a skinny child and teenager. When I hit my late 20s my weight started to go up.

I put on 4 stone in pregnancy - eating was the only thing that stopped the nausea. And that was it...

I have forever been trying to lose my baby weight. I hate my body. My belly is huge. I look pregnant. BMI is 29.9. I lost 3 stones of baby weight but then I gained 2 stone and I'm continuously losing and gaining those 2 stones.

I weigh myself everyday. I feel shit about my weight. I eat really healthily. Cook from scratch. No takeaways but do little exercise as I'm exhausted after work. Menopause has been very unkind to my mental health. I've been single for 12 years. Too embarrassed to put myself out there at this size/weight. Clothes look terrible on me. I think that's the hardest part... I love clothes and fashion but can't wear anything nice as nothing fits or flatters my belly.

I've been late for work as I've got changed several times... desperately trying to find something to wear that makes me look ok.

I've pretended to be ill to get out of going to social events because I can't find anything to wear. I've lost touch with people because I'm too embarrassed for them to see how big I am.

My weight rules my life. I wish it didn't but I can't get it out of head that I'm fat and ugly.

I feel exactly like this. I'm not fat but I'm not thin either - however, I feel my weight is the least interesting thing about me. I'm at peace with my body while recognising that society says I'm not attractive at my size. Getting older has made me not give two fukks quite frankly.

It's always about how you feel about yourself isn't it, it's funny I have no judgement on others and only see positives!

Would you say you have to work hard to maintain your (amazing) figure?

I think I could lose weight, tone up more, but it would mean daily dedication working out and measuring every calorie! And I don't know how healthy that would be, for me.