UK size 12 to size 6 - feasibility and effect on wardrobe

[carrots555]

Has anyone managed to go from a UK 12 to 6?

Two questions:

1. How long did it take you?

1. And the second question is not specific to 12 to 6 but for anyone who has lost more than one dress size. If one assumes that if you just go down by one dress size you can probably get away with wearing the same stuff, but I assume two or more and you really need to buy new stuff.

So did you donate to charity/bin/eBay whatever all your stuff and buy absolutely everything all over again? Whilst that could be fun, I also feel that I might feel a bit/bad wasteful. I've got so many clothes in my current size and whilst I know I could easily find the same jeans/plain t-shirts, some things, such as dresses with particular patterns on, I'd not be able to replace as they'd no longer be available in-store.

I'm tempted to give myself a weight loss project to distract myself from a pretty crappy time and just pondering the ramifications.

12 to 6?

Kindly, give your head a wobble.

Why do you want to be a size 6? That’s absolutely tiny.

I would imagine you could probably do it by not eating anything. Ever. But it would never be sustainable unless it was your natural size.

Bofster37

Why do you say that?
You think it is not possible?

I know it would not be a quick task but I don't see it would be impossible.

Distracting yourself by emaciating yourself? Why? What?

Why not get fit instead? Or stronger? Just some ideas

Why don't you start and see how you feel as you lose weight?
A size 6 is tiny...but different people and body shapes look different so there's nothing saying it wouldn't suit you.
From the clothes I have in my wardrobe, they may all be labelled a certain size, but all fit differently. So decide what to do with your clothes as you lose the weight.

Purple

Honest answer...

I don't like my body as a 12, I have too much tummy and I hate the way my hips go so out as it were.

Secondly, I am single again - I am not blessed with beauty but at least if I was slim I'd be more attractive and hopefully increase my chances of finding someone nice by a few %.

Of course it’s possible but probably not healthy. If I go below a size 10 I look ill, my face looks thin and I look old. I often get carried away and lose too much mainly through exercise but I look healthier at a size 10-12.
I think it depends hugely on your body shape, height and age. Most people look ill at a size 6.

Carrot please don’t for one minute think that men will prefer you at a size 6, I’ve been there . I’ve been single on and off for 5 years and dated a lot of men, most prefer something to grab hold of. I have scared guys away by being obsessed with my size. I hated my body, I still hate the wobbly bits and cellulite but no man has over complained. Take a look around.... there’s loads of good looking guys dating larger women, do you think they really care about how skinny you look? Would you really want to be with a man that that vein?

In your case I would work on the far you are unhappy about by tweaking diet and upping exercise

As to wardrobe, buy some very warm jumpers, I have a few very skinny friends who seem to always be very cold.

I am 5ft5 or thereabouts.
Sorry, perhaps I should have mentioned that in my first post.

Chickeny - I am in reasonable physical shape. I know my blood pressure is what you'd expect of someone ten years younger - as per my consultant after a 24 hour monitor.

Score!

Don't be daft!
Aim for a size 10 which is achievable and sustainable. You'll be a lot more fun if you aren't starving yourself and therefore a more attractive date. People don't actually get dates because they are skinny, but because they are fun. Focus on your self esteem, not your dress size.

Please don’t diet OP, size 12 is just fine. 💐

Distracting yourself from a crappy time by trying to get to a size 6 sounds like the path to an eating disorder.

Couldn’t you say more about the crappiness, OP? I’m sure we could collectively offer better distractions, if not possible routes to solutions/resolutions.

FWIW I dropped two dress sizes involuntarily through intense stress a few years ago. Yes, I did have to buy new clothes. Also gave away some lovely things - which I now feel a slight regret over. But I don’t think I looked any more or less attractive, just thinner. And stressed.

12 is fine - if you have spots you don't like, by all means work on them a bit (I basically consider myself slim at size 10-12 at 5ft1, but my stomach takes over the world if I don't exercise!), but please don't feel you 'should' be size 6.

No one had even heard of size 6 20 years ago and in the last decade I hear women talking about how they need to be size 6. Very few people (barring perhaps petite Asian women) are naturally size 6, it's not always a healthy size for an average-height woman, and blokes don't even bloody know what size 6 is, if you're worried about what men think!

I am at the upper end of the BMI scale (about 23) and comfortably fit into an H&M size 8. A size 6 would be a)completely achievable and b) entirely within the healthy BMI scale.

Many years ago I crept up to (what was then) a UK 14. Lost it all through Weightwatchers and mostly kept it off. Clothes were ebayed if they were good quality or binned if not. It was gradual so not like I went out and bought a whole new wardrobe all at once. It also took a few iterations to get used to what actually suited me but that’s life. Don’t go mad for new clothes, give it a few months and build up a new wardrobe.

I've gone from a size 14 to an 8 in 8 months. Had to re buy a lot but it was a pretty fast weight gain so most my clothes were already a 10/12. They either fit way more comfortably or I've just left them in the wardrobe. I've had to buy a load more but it's great!

I went from a 20 to a 10. Have completely overhauled my wardrobe and love my stuff!

This is really sad. The way you're talking isn't healthy. You don't want to fall down this rabbit hole.

Your body will still be pretty much the same shape, just a smaller version of it. So your tummy will still stick out in the same shape, just a bit smaller. Your proportions won't suddenly change.

If a 6 is not your natural size you would also have to starve yourself to maintain it. It will consume all your mental energy and make you boring to be around. You will end up obsessed with food. And be expensive if you got rid of your old clothes then gradually put weight back on.

I've experienced this scale of weight loss a few times due to serious illness. I didn't notice I was losing weight because my body was still identical looking to me, just gradually smaller. Obviously I noticed when my clothes stopped fitting and it's hard not to notice being able to see bones protruding when it reaches that point, but the proportions are the same.

Why do you want to see your own bones through your skin, by the way?

You might get a high and sense of exhilaration from seeing the weight go down, but I doubt you will from being skinny - you probably won't feel skinny, so you'll get sucked into a spiral of chasing an ever skinnier version of yourself where you'll find happiness.

Oh, and size 6 clothes tend to be cut for women with next to no hips, so it will be even more disappointing if you've psyched yourself up for your perfect self as a size 6 and you still don't properly fit into clothes with that label. Which is where you could find yourself chasing size 4 ...

Nothing wrong with altering your lifestyle generally and some weight loss being part of that.

Quater

Thank you for your kind suggestion but no-one can help me with my problems.

Day 1 and 2 ok so far. Long road ahead.

My bro is always on the look out for ‘the one’, he’s quite fussy but one thing that really puts him off is women who don’t enjoy their food - it’s not good company and not fun! Men don’t like skinny minnies - they like boobs and fun!

Men don’t like skinny minnies - they like boobs and fun!

This is really rude and inaccurate. Some men prefer “skinny minnies”. Some men prefer big boobs. They’re not one hive mind.

Can you imagine the outcry if people said that men didn’t fancy fat heifers (or insert other insult of choice)?

It would be a shame for this nice thread to descend into skinny vs fat bashing.

Don’t start dieting because you are having a shit time or want to be more attractive to men.

You could end up ill and single. Periods stopped. Feeling faint. Permanent internal damage done. Not the desired outcome at all.

The desire for control is very strong when everything around is in tatters. It makes us feel safe. That’s why we look for it on one aspect of our life or another. But it can go too far.

Men don’t mind a bit of body fat. To be honest I think what’s attractive is confidence. Some women need to be very very thin to feel confident because that’s what glossy magazines tell us. (Magazines that men don’t read incidentally) Others are confident at size 12 or size 20. It comes from within.

You’d be better improving your mind, cutting out eating crap, taking more exercise but not to extreme, and doing stuff that makes you happy.

To quote Ru Paul “if you don’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love someone else”.

To love yourself would be a better goal. Acceptance of faults is part of love. Be the best version of you that you can be. That doesn’t mean the thinnest!

This is really rude and inaccurate. Some men prefer “skinny minnies”.
Yes, I hate the skinny shaming that people seem to think is okay. Many men prefer slimmer women.