As skinny as before but higher weight?

  • Am curious if anyone else has noticed something like this.

    Right now, I am in the high 180s but I seem to fit into clothes the way I used to fit when I was in my twenties and weighed in the 170s.....I have a few old items from back then, and they fit now.

    I feel like I'm as slim or slimmer than I used to be back then, at what I consider to be my "normal" weight of somewhere in the 160s to 170s... but the only difference is that I have this roll of fat/loose skin over my belly....

    I'm sure I can still lose more weight, but I feel like my body now is the same size it used to be, only it weighs more now. It just makes me wonder if all of the loose skin I have now could weigh ten or fifteen pounds, which is the difference between my weight now and how much I used to weigh back then.
  • As we get older our weight kind of redistributes itself. I wear the smaller tops now than I did in HS when I was in the 190's but my jeans are a bit larger! It's crazy.
  • I'm definitely in the same boat, uber. It's kind of hard to explain, but I know what you're talking about; I haven't weighed this little, relatively speaking, since my mid-teens, but wow, I LOOK so much thinner than I did then, and I occasionally wonder if I'm actually "thinner" than I think, and it's just that loose skin and residual surplus fat that's keeping my actual weight somewhat higher than I think it should be, relative to how thin I appear to be.
  • It happened to me too. For me it seemed to be a combination of things... loose skin, more muscle and a redistribution of the weight. It happened to me when I gained some of the weight back too, when I lost it some of my clothes were looser, but I still had a couple more pounds to shed to get to my previous weight...
  • I noticed that as well. I have since gotten lower than my lowest prior to getting so heavy, but on the way down - I noticed it. I was smaller at a higher weight.

    I do think the body changes as we get older, it HAD been over 20 years since I was that size. And for me, my weight did not come off in the weigh that it came on. I also had not been exercising way back.

    As far as the loose skin, I've heard from reading around, from those that have had skin removal, that the excess skin doesn't way all that much, so I'm not sure if that's the reason here.

    Whatever the reason is - enjoy it.
  • I've noticed the same thing, and I agree that things like muscle/different weight distributions are a part of it, but I think some of it may be the simple unreliability of memory. When I remember "what I weighed back then", I suspect I am remembering the best number I ever saw, but when I remember "what I looked like", I am remembering more of an average.
  • My weight distribution changed, and I'm much more muscular/toned. I too have a few items left from my twenties that I can still wear now but they fit differently. I always had very small waist and now the only pudge I have left is at the waist. However hips and thighs much smaller than they were at the same weight 20+ years ago.
  • I'm convinced it's muscle gain for me. At 165 I'm the same size as I was at 145 just 12 years ago. That's a twenty pound difference! (And I've adjusted for vanity sizing). I'm not so worried about the number on the scale now and am really wondering just how close to 135 I can get. I want to try.
  • I've had this happen to me too. I've gained and lost a lot of weight over the years and every time I lose it seems I weigh more but can fit into clothes I wore at a lower weight. I notice in pictures I look like I did before at a smaller weight. For me, I think it's redistribution and loose skin from gaining and losing so much. Glad to know I'm not alone with this.
  • I can't say I've noticed this, uber - but that's because I've never been this low a weight as an adult.

    In your case, I would say it's probably due to muscle toning. Even if you weigh more, you probably have less body fat than you did back then.

    And this is the first time I've seen your posts since I've been back - the 180s! You go, girl!
  • Quote: And this is the first time I've seen your posts since I've been back - the 180s! You go, girl!
    Well... you must have been gone for a LONG TIME... because I've been in the 180s forever.

    It's true my weight has shifted around-- I'm broader through the mid-section and the periphery-- shoulders, arms, and thighs, especially are thinner. I used to have substantial very muscular arms and shoulders-- now, not so much. I was very athletic as a young person so I don't think the difference is in muscle mass-- I'm sure I had more then.

    I really don't know what to attribute it to but I'm glad that others have noticed the same thing. I've looked at pictures of myself and I SWEAR that in the high 180s I look how I used to look in the 160s. Odd.

    Plus Lit Chick, we are close to the same height and I would have guessed your weight at 160...