Apples - how do you dress? Feeling despondent

[NoveltySlippers]

Evening all

Please help a despondent apple.

This is me:

• All weight collects round my stomach (no waist to speak of)
• Love handles a plenty
• No hips
• Flat bum
• Sizeable boobs
• Chunky arms

Urgh - I just feel so top heavy and unfeminine. I'm 5'3" and a size 12 roughly but not unknown to have size 10 bottoms and size 14 tops.

I constantly have to wear cardigans as I look so shapeless from behind, and a cardigan disguises the fact that I don't really go in at the waist.

I can only wear V necks as anything high necked creates boob-shelf.

I am stuck in a rut and would love to know what other apples wear to make themselves feel good - both work and going out clothes.

My uniform of trousers with cardi is depressing me!

in advance.

I tend to end up in skinnies and a loose shirt or tunic. I have quite narrow shoulders, so try to keep the shoulder line tidy, so I don't look swamped, but a few of my summer tops are a lot more boho than that.

Definitely can't do a cowl neck - it just looks untidy on me and means I can't see my feet. It's a handy alternative to my bra for catching crumbs, though.

I can't wear white, but I've seen this in deep pink and it's pretty much my perfect top. Never found it in my size, though :(
www.marksandspencer.com/cotton-rich-jacquard-yoke-henley-neck-top/p/p22355471

I'd look like a sofa in that, Ginger.

A Henley neckline can work well, btw. I have a few Henley style tops. Well cut ones hang like a shirt. (bad ones look like a crew neck t-shirt with buttons)

I'm an Apple and haven't found a dress in over 10 years which didn't make me look pregnant.

I find the fat face tops a little too short in the body for me. I'm not tall, but I'm long in the body, so need something that reaches my bum properly!

this is great with a slim black top under. Size down though.

Novelty slippers It's one of those things varies with different people. So low carb is good, but not really low for me. I went low carb paleo, lost a lot of weight, thought going even lower would help me shift the last bit and actually ended up putting a bit back on and 2 " on waist. Plus I was totally miserable and snarky all the time. Upped the carbs and weight loss started again.

It's your body interpreting the ultra low carb as famine and getting stressed about it (not unreasonable really when you think about it!). It decreases your fertility too btw.

So it's about finding a sweet spot that works for you (it was just trial and error did it for me).

I hovver between 50g and 100g of carbs a day- vary it according to how much exercise/activity I do that day.

Best that's lovely. Yes, shift dresses are the one type of dress that seem to consistently work for me. (Still need to wear a cardi though!)

Roja that's interesting and good to read. Do you ever read Mark's Daily Apple? (the irony ). He suggests 50-100g and I find I can do that and still have my morning bowl of (gluten free) porridge. Think I'm going to have a more serious go at it now. Do you find you can generally stick to it? Christmas is so hard when I get offered a mince pie every two minutes.

(It's annoying our shape has to watch our weight much more than a comparably sized pear or hourglass!)

Body shape calculator here.
There is a link at the bottom to check your shape too. Might be useful?

Ooh that looks useful 123. Will have a go!

Haven't found a tape measure yet, but looking at the descriptions I'm either a goblet or a brick (lovely!).

For a brick though they suggest tightly belted outfits... I think anyone who suggests that doesn't know what it's like to have a stomach and no hips!

Hello NoveltySlippers Yes, regular reader of MDA! I do find I can stick to it, generally. I left myself have one meal a week I can have anything I want though. Xmas season is trickier, so I have decided that I don't want to lose weight for December, but not gain either. I'm concentrating on getting fitter this month, so I will be in a good place to lose again in January.

I find I get away with being a lot bit slacker one day if I am more careful the next, and I have increased the amount of weights I'm doing a little bit. Also find it easier if I plan my treats...so I will plan to have a couple of truffles after lunch or a pudding after dinner rather than just eat it when I get it. So I'd take the offered treat, but eat it with my lunch rather than right away. Easier to stop at one or two when you've just eaten anyway, and you can scale back the carbs you have as part of the meal to even out the treat a bit.

It's def been worth giving it a good go for me, so I would really say go for it! The other thing Mark emphasises that has paid of for me is getting my sleep into a better pattern.

Planning treats sounds like a good idea - that way you have something to look forward to, and sounds better than imposing a blanket ban, as that just makes you me go nuts when I finally get my hands on the naughty stuff, and then can't stop!

Might go back to Mark's Daily Apple for a refresher. I remember thinking he always seemed to talk sense.