Hi Everyone!

My name is Barb. (42 years old) I am a pretty confident person overall, in a wonderful marriage with a loving supportive wife/partner and we are co-raising our 4 children together, sort of a modern day Brady Bunch But even with being a self-employed small business owner, and my having confidence in other areas of my life (personality, intelligence, sense of humor, values) I still have little confidence with my body/body image. So, I am here, and willing to admit I am "trying yet again" to get in shape.
One of the problems is I am 5'10" and as my mother always said "built like a brick sh**house"..... I am not exactly sure what that means, but I can look in the mirror and get a pretty good idea. So, I have decided THIS time to try a new approach. I am calling it the "mirror" way. Which means I am NOT going to get on a scale, but I am going to ONLY look in the mirror and let the mirror tell me what areas still "need work".. not hard right now, as they ALL do LOL Has anyone else ever done this too?
Is there anyone ELSE out there that is 5'10" and has a large build?? I would love to hear what my "ideal" weight SHOULD be and how you felt at various weights. Right now I am roughly 230 and as blubbery as a butterball turkey. Because I am so tall I can carry it better but there is only so much a person can "hide" even with the height! I have the backend of two women and I now have changed what I call my stomach, to being called a "gut" if you know what I mean....
That's all for now... time to take the kiddies swimming!

Barb

Hi Barb I'm 5'10" to and feel like I have shoulders like a linebacker I just love being tall and always walk w/a strong stride w/my head held high. I was down to 185 about 2 years ago and comfortably fit into size 12/14. I have a pear shaped body and so I've always had to get bigger pants to accomodate my jiggly belly. I know I'll never be a size 0 so I'm shooting for what's right for me. When I was a size 14 my sister in law told me how "skinny" I was and that compliment was good enough for me! I think your idea to look in the mirror is a good one rather than obsessing over the numbers. I tried squeezing myself into some clothes yesterday that no longer fit and I put them aside so I can try them again in a few weeks and HOPEFULLY will get into them--I think that's no greater motivation!

Hey there!

I'm tall also at 5'11". I too have broad shoulders and with an hour glass shape I'll never look 'skinny', which is fine so long as I'm the best or near the best I can be.

Three years ago I was 177, size 10/12; I looked good, but there was still room for improvement, especially in 'summer' clothes. Never the less, it will be nice to see those numbers again.

I think for most people there is an absolute leeway of 10 or 15 pounds where we can still look and feel great.

Hi Barb,

I'm 5'10 as well. I always weigh much more than my smaller friends and even when I'm slim and the weight the doctors say I should be (which my skinny friends almost faint over!) i still wear bigger clothes than them. I think the thinnest I can ever be is a UK size 12/14.

I've been told I'm built like a sh** house too. Many times! It's said as a joke but I don't find it so funny any more, lol.

I may try the mirror thing too... I'll always be heavy so maybe the scales need to go!

Sooz

I think UK 12/14 is a US 10/12. Does anyone know??

I am 5'11". At my lowest weight (somewhere between 160-165) I was wearing 10's and 12's. I always thought I was "large-framed" and "big-boned" until I lost all that weight. They I realized I really wasn't large framed. I had small wrists and my shoulders were narrow without all the fat across my back. I distinctly remember having a difficult time keeping my purse from sliding off my shoulder when I carried it there.

I am 5'8 but Im taller than most girls I know. I too have broad shoulders. I remember a time when I was in 14's and everyone was always telling me how skinny I was. Im gonna try my best to get to that size again. Its not America's perfect size but its mine. I have LONG way to go.

I am almost 5'10" and also have a broader build. I felt my best around 160-155 when I dieted in college. Then I was probably a size 10 and looked pretty good and felt good in my clothes. In High School I took Diet Fuel and got down to 135 and people thought I had an eating disorder so thats a little too thin! I was a size 6 but when people start asking you on a daily basis if everything's ok, you've got a bit too far

I'm 5'10" with a Medium frame and I think I look my best at around 155-160. I've always been an athlete, so I like the tall muscular look. I wasn't overweight most of my life, just the opposite, actually (lowest was 125). (My theory is: do you know what the difference between a wife and a girlfriend are? About 45 pounds! LOL!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Anyway, sorry, I digress....)

Luckily, there are healthy ranges for different frames. Maybe check on-line and see where you come up. I've seen 20 lb differences before in some of the ranges at one time.

Good Luck! And don't give up!

Hi Everyone!

Thank you! You have all confirmed what I thought, that my goal of "around" 160 pounds would be about right. I sure do hate it that I love food SO much. I should have been born in the south (of the USA) as I have a love of fried chicken, good "home-cooking" with lots of meat and potatoes, and overall "stick to the ribs" type filling meals. It seems ALL the food that I am NOT supposed to have for being healthy is what I love, and all the food that doesn't fill me up and isn't that satisfying is what I am supposed to have. I can only stand so many cans of asparagus before I want to dive into some BBQ Wings. Also, no one else here is overweight, so my partner can eat anything she wants and still has a great figure. It's maddening! Okay ranting over with....
Xena> That was cool about the purse, but I don't ever carry one, so that won't be a problem. I do however look forward to SEEING my collar bone again! At least for now, I do believe I really AM big boned, my hands and feet are huge, and nothing on me is "petite". But, I will keep everyone posted as to what is underneath all this insulation, and I will also try to find a way to post a picture soon too.
Sooz> It's still amazing to me that I can "talk" to people from all over the world. I will fight everything in me not to pummel with you with questions about ways of living over there that may differ from my own!
Oh and BaileysMomma: YOU have Dunkin Donuts down there in KY, we have not ONE in Indiana, so up until this last week I would have envied you, now I am grateful we have none near!! So YUMMY!!

Thank you all again!! I am learning a lot here from ALL of you! I spent a few days reading old posts from this site, and even printed out several quotes and now have them taped to the wall above my desk for inspiration.

Barb

Thankfully I dont have a DD near me. LOL.

Well, I'm not tall by any means, but I still wanted to say welcome and that we're glad you've joined us! I think your mirror method should be a good judge of whether you're making progress. The scale can fluctuate so much that it often makes us more frustrated than not!

Good luck!

Kara

hi, I'm NOT tall! But I can still understand where you'e coming from. I don't think many of us have a very good body image. And, I think scales should be outlawed! For some of us, even the mirror don't tell us the truth! It's hard to see ourselves as we really are. I find that if I see a picture of myself I get the best indication of how I look. And I use my clothes to see how I am losing.

All of us have eating problems or we wouldn't be here! We all love food. And I AM from the South, and you know we fry everything, even dessert! and the vegetables are cooked into mush, loaded with grease, and delecious!!! You just have to find things that you do enjoy that are low fat/calorie.

Welcome! Im almost 5'9, like 5'8.5 because Im taller than my bf and hes 5'8 lol I too love food, and I now call it a GUT and not a stomach lol >_> I would love to get it back to a stomach, and then maybe someday a tummy!
I weigh 195 pounds but no one believes me when I tell them that.. I can hide it pretty well but I still feel like crap and I think I look horrible in pictures! Good luck!

I'm 5'9", and I'd like to be in the 160's again.... the goal in my ticker would put me there. Really, I'd like to be in the 140's, to come close to the weight on my work ID... but, hey, that was twelve years and two kids ago! I figure once I make it to the 60's I see how I feel then.