Numbers on the scale

[Deir]

i am just looking to find other people who weigh alot but don't look really overweight. I am 5 2 and yesterday I weighed myself and I was 135. I am currently wearing a pair of size 4 shorts. I am very active and I know I have a lot of muscle and certainly I could lose about 10 lbs and still be healthy but I would still be 125 and 5' 2". Seriously at my peak top condition I weighed 127. My friends who are the same height weigh like 105 or 115 at most. I have big boobs and I know that adds a little but still... I try not to weigh myself because upsets me so much. I have issues with looking in the mirror and seeing fat no matter what like most women but especially because I have been a dancer my whole life and always paranoid because of that extreme environment. Anyway- is there anyone out there who weighs alot more than other people that are their basic same size? Is it bone mass or something?

edit- i have no idea why this Elmo ad is attached to my post!!! My kids are totally tv free. I hate that it looks like I am advertising Elmo!

[sunnysandiegan]

I hear you on the Elmo ad. Ads in general were easier to ignore when they were at the top of each thread.

Back on topic:
I'm not sure I completely understand where you are coming from/expressing. However, I always weigh more than people think I do based on my size, usually about a ten pound difference. I don't have a lot of muscle and do not dance. I'm totally guessing, but it seems like my fat is more dense or something? I have a medium bone structure, but perhaps my bones are denser/heavier? For me, it also seems like I retain water. Perhaps that has something to do with it?

I haven't given it much thought lately. The number itself on the scale doesn't bother me much. What does bother me is the upward trend when I am actively working to "downsize". :

[NewDirections]

Muscle weighs more than fat, but it sounds like you both know that. I think it's a good idea to pay less attention to the scale and more to how your clothes fit.

I don't think it's fair to yourself to compare your weight to another person. They may have a different frame or body composition than your do so they may weight less but be the same size wise. Not comparing ourselves to others is easier said than done though

[roomformore]

I'm 5'2 and my body is very happy at 137 pounds. I was a solid 126 in high school and no one would have called me fat. I know that after 3 babies it's taken me a while to get used to the new shape of my body. There's no way I could wear a size 4 pants right now, and probably never will again. I'm more like an 8-10 and that's just the way I'm built.

Just try to remember that what's important is that you are healthy (and healthy for one person can mean something totally different from the next person).

[Deir]

Thanks! I thinnk what i was trying to say is probably pretty complicated. I always feel like I am too fat but then I try on clothes and I am in a 4 or 6 but then I weigh myself and I am 135. I tend to always tell other people not to worry about the number on the scale but then I can't do it myself. I don't know if I am healthy weight or not. According to most charts I am verging on overweight. I think I might not care f I wasn't in the performing arts where appearance and even weight is so important. On my resume I put 125 because I think 135 sounds like I would be really fat for my height. Ugh. I don't know. I will probably always think I'm fat like my 89 year old grandmother- who's still talks about watching what she eats!!
Thanks for the responses~!

[sapphire_chan]

You're healthy and look good in your clothes?

Why do you own a scale?

And for your resume, could you give measurements instead? Aren't they just wanting to know if you'd fit the costumes? Height/weight would be misleading in your case even after you adjust downward. I suppose if you had to be lifted it'd matter how much they were lifting, but otherwise...

[Deir]

The scale was at my mom's. I tend not to weigh myself- don't know what came over me!! I don't know if I look good in clothes- that's what I mean. sometimes I think I do and then I think 135!! I must be huge. Anyway- I was really asking if there were any other people who weigh alot while still wearing a relatively small size. Just curious since I seem to be the only one I know.

[vegmom]

I am 5ft3 and I used to weigh 138-140. I also hated myself at that size. The weight was mostly in my belly. I even had a friend who I had not seen in a long time comment to me if I was pregnant : I was not pregnant.


Lets just say it made me feel like *#@! and I will never in my life comment on how someone looks.

I was able to drop to 115lbs by regulating my insulin. This was done almost effortlessly. The big belly disappeared and no more bloating and food cravings are gone.

Previously I did not see myself as overweight. I just thought that I needed to tone my belly.

I do realize now how much fat I did lose. Twenty three pounds of it.

[cafechi]

i am 5'2 and weight 105lb throughout high school. i was skinny but i didn't fit in a size 4. i was mostly a size 5 or 7. i have a few friends who weight in at about 115 or 120 and are over weight and i wouldn't call myself active.

sometimes i just ignored the numbers on the scale if my smaller clothes fit perfect.

[GuavaGirl]

I have always weighed more than people think I do. Friends have been surprised and even not believed me when I tell them how much I weigh. I'm now 5' 4" and weight 150. I think with me it's the fact that my weight is really evenly proportioned, my bone structure is bigger (ie. my fingers just barely touch around my wrist bone, but my sister's is a lot smaller), and I am a little curvy. Even when I was at my thinnest in highschool and played 3 sports/year (8 years ago) I weighed 140, and didn't really have boobs then.

So, yeah, you're totally normal, but I can understand how it could be frustrating!

If you don't have one already, I would get a scale that measure body fat percentage and muscle percentage. That could be really helpful.

[avantgauze]

my moms scale always says i am 8 pounds lighter than my real weight. the lesson is to never trust the scales at your moms house.

[Elecampane]

I'm the same way--I'm 5'8 and weigh probably close to 160 these days (I'm avoiding the scale but that's another story!). Last year I weighed 135 but my friends say they can't tell the difference and don't believe I've gained so much. I've gone from a size 6 to an 8 in pants.

I honestly think--though I can't relate to your professional situation, of course--that's it's more about your comfort level with your body, how you look and feel, and the way your clothes fit. I wouldn't let the number on the scale get you down if you're otherwise happy in your skin.

[wendyland]

I think that people also carry their weight differently. Wow, sizes must have really changed since I was last 135 lbs. I was 5'4 and 135 in highschool and wore a size 10 or 12. Or maybe I just had a big butt.

[astromama]

I hear you. It's the boobs. I am 5'6'' and weigh around 140 pounds but fit into size 3,4,5,6... depending on the brand. Mostly 4. I have really large, lactating boobs and I think that is why, despite the fact that I can wear the same size as pre-pregnancy, I am a good 15 pounds heavier. It IS frustrating, isn't it? I mean, I always had big boobs on a small frame, but since having my son I just can't seem to get the weight off and I am the only one who notices much of a difference. No advice here, but I feel like I understand what it's like to feel 'fat' even when you're pulling up a size 3.

[momtoalexsarah]

I weight 120-124 and I'm 5ft 2.5 inches and wear a size 2-4 but I have BIG boobs. My youngest has been weaned 9 months now and I'm still a solid 36DD.
When my oldest was born a little over 5 years about I scaled in at a whopping 235lb. Last March/April when I weaned my youngest I was 110-115 and I looked like skin, bones and boobs. Even my face was hollow looking and my size 2 pants where falling off. Personally I like the way I look at about 118lb but my body likes the 120-125 better (depending on the time of the month of course LOL).
We live on a farm and when I was at my lowest I was finding that I had lost so much muscle mass that I was having trouble doing a number of the chores - even feeding the animals. All our feed is fed from pails - each wieghting 35lb - normally you carry 2 at a time. I was having trouble with carrying 2 at a time. After I weaned I stayed on a little higher cal diet untill I was at about 120 then cut it back a little to maintain.
I think that if YOU are happy with you body and what you can DO with your body that is what counts.
Before I had kids I had a job where I was lifting 100lb bags of feed all day, it was far easier to do that at 170lb then at the 120 that I am now but I certainly couldn't have run and played with my kids the way i do now I was far to heavy and out of shape.