Star...I often wonder the same thing on being hung up on sizes or even weight.

I do have a goal weight on my ticker but to be honest I am more or less wanting my body to look a certain way and to be healthy. :s: I dont really care what size pants I wear I just want a flatter stomach. :lol:

I do agree that people do tend to "fib" quite a bit on sizes that they wear! I know muscle takes up less room than fat but when I am looking at someone who "appears" to be my height and my body shape (I am not toned anywhere :( ) and they arent either, but they are telling me they are a size 8! No way, like I said in a previous post, I am a comfortable size 12 and chances are...they are to but dont want to admit it :o !

In my opinion...if someone isnt comfortable with what size clothing they wear...they should avoid conversations about it instead of lying because most everyone looking at them knows they are not being honest! :lol: Its personal anyway so just avoid the conversation or change the subject! :s:

Hey 3 Girls,
We are about the same distance from our goals, I'm just 1 inch taller and my goal is ten pounds more than yours. Aren't these last pounds stinker-cling-ons?
For me I picked my goal weight becuz I haven't weighed that in a long time. I use to weigh less, but that was many years ago. At where I am now 165 - I know for certain I feel better at 160 (becuz I was there last Christmas). Then I feel like all the BMI's calculators say I should weigh under 159 anyhow, so 150 sounded right.
Also, I live in Michigan ..in Washington and work in Clinton Twp - where are you abouts?

Yup - and I'm 5'7' and 156 lbs and am still too big for a size 12 !! Granted, my 14's are hanging on me, but the 12's are too tight...My sister is the same height as me and weighs about 10 lbs less and has lost about the same amount of weight in lbs (25), but I have not budged from the 14's and she has gone from a 14 to a 10.....NOT FAIR :dizzy: I have not been working out too much (too busy going to soccer games every night) but as soon as soccer season is over, plan on stepping up the exercising adn hopefully I will go down in sizes!

One of the problems IMHO is that when we are overweight we have no idea what it's going to be like 'down there'. As someone has already said sizes have changed, styles have changed, our musculature has changed ...
I didn't buy 'sized clothing' when I was 162. I wore scrubs and sweats or a loose dress for the odd wedding. I have no idea what size I was. And so had no idea what size I'd be. I wasn't sure what shape I'd be.

I did, too, want to mention that I watched the Biggest Looser last night and was surprised at the various shapes and sizes a 200 lb woman can be. They are all very different.

This thread cracked me up this morning. I think it's interestnig about it taking fewer pounds to lose a size the smaller you get. I'm 5'7" and wear and 18 or 20 pants depending on the brand. It takes me about 20 lbs to lose a full pant size. It's frustrating sometimes. My top sizes seem to stay the same. I wear anywhere from a medium to XL in tops but as I lose weight fewer of the tops at the larger end of the sizes fit me.

I agree that it's not the size it's how you look that matters. With all the size distortion nowadays who can really rely on it anyway? I say just find a pair of jeans that make your butt look smokin' and wear 'em no matter what the tag says :D .

Well I am 5'7" and at 165 I am a size 12 and some 10's. I do workout alot and have my entire life (or for the last 35 years).
I too watched Biggest Loser. At 216 I had the shape and the hairdoo of Ryan...and to look at the changes I have made, makes me very proud.....
I did find it strange that Jillian would have those guys race her 'full speed' at their sizes and heavy loads to carry. No wonder there was a bad injury...

Maybe this one should go into the FAQ! What a long thread!

:) Hey Star...we are like neighbors...I am in the Royal Oak area, funny thing is...I used to live in Washington about 6-7 years ago for a short time, I grew up in Rochester Hills!

The last pounds are SLOW to come off for me too but I have always been told that the slower they come off...the slower they are to reappear!!! :lol:

Pearshape... :lol: I agree about the "butt" statement :s:

Go for it Ruth...I think it is something we all wonder about. Thanks for such an enlightening thread girls!!

I was going to say something rebelious ... Ruth you can delete it if you want, OK?

So, lets do battle. Let's fight the societal image that says beauty is size 0. The next time someone says "Lulubelle! You've lost so much weight! You look great! How much have you lost and what size is that fabulous dress?" Tell 'em ... I don't care if it's a flippin' size 72 wide ...Tell 'em. Take a stand! Beauty come in all shapes and sizes, as does good health and fitness.

Dead on, SusanB! Forget the frigging dress size - if you feel good in it, that's what counts.
I have two pics from the MOD meet that I should post - I am 200 pounds in both but one looks great IMHO and one doesn't. Guess which outfit is now in the recycle?

Height, fat vs muscle mass, bone mass, and variations in manufacturer's sizes can all contribute to this confusion. At my weight, I generally wear a size 20 bottoms and size 22 tops. I know there are women who weigh less than me who wear these sizes. I have very large bones (almost off the chart for my height), so that contributes to my weight. That is why I selected a goal weight at the high end of my "ideal" weight range for my height - to allow for the bone mass.

This reminded me that back in High School, I would take a nail file and some sandpaper to my Levi's tag - the leather-like one on the back that the whole world could see? I would mark out the waist size.
Even today, one reason I like Lane Bryant is I can wear a smaller size there! And nobody can see those tags!
It's all a mind game, I swear.

Psst...Ruth looked FABULOUS during the entire MOD meetup, including when wearing her robe! She's one of those women who just carries everything with style and panache. :cool:

Nonetheless, I get what you're saying, Ruth. Some outfits can make people look bigger than they are, some make you look smaller. I have a friend that I always thought was overweight because she wore baggy clothes and has big cheeks (on her face...keep it a family show, chickies! :lol: ). When I finally got her to wear something form fitting, it looked like she'd lost 40 pounds! :yikes:

I just finished listening to the Second Summer of the Sisterhood (of the traveling pants, that is). In one section, Lena mentions that people who come into the clothing store where she works invariably get clothes to try on that are two sizes too small. For instance, they'll try on a 10, ask for a 12 and squeeze themselves in. Then they'll ask, "How do these look?" When the salesperson says, "They look a little tight, let me get you a 14", the person doesn't want them and walks out without buying anything. :lol3: I thought that was pretty funny.

I've never done that, but I don't share my size with anyone. I'm more likely to take in a bigger size than I need because I have trouble believing that I'm smaller. :o

It depends on a lot more factors than just height. :)

*Bone size/frame-My SIL and I are around the same weight. Her shoulders are 2-3" wider than mine, and her neck, wrists, ring sizes are all larger-as she has a larger frame than I.

*Body type-There are many different variations, but the most common are the apple, the hourglass, the pear, and the cylindar.
The apples tend to carry their fat in their upper body from their necks to their bellies, and usually have small butts and great legs.
Hourglasses tend to look curvy and womanly, and carry their extra fat in their hips and thighs, as well as their upper arms. They usually have fuller chests, smaller waists, and fuller hips/thighs.
Pears usually have a larger lower body-hips, buns, and legs, but are thinner from the waist up.
Cylindars are usually taller (my stepmother is a classic cylindar) and gain through the middle of the body-bust, waist, and hips-but have thinner, leaner arms and legs. (A lot of models are this body type. It would not be uncommon to have two women of the same height and weight wearing different jeans sizes-since one woman may carry her fat in her upper body, and the other in hwer lower body-resulting in a different pants size.

*Muscle mass and body fat percentage-If you have two women of the same frame, height, body type, and weight-it is possible that one can be a size smaller or larger if one exercises and is much more fit, muscle is more dense than fat.

*Clothing manufacturers-there is some differences in clothing sizes. Also, there is some difference in clothing STYLE as well. For instance, low rise style and boot cut jeans are cut slimmer through the hips, while classic fit and relaxed fit jeans are cut easier through the hips-so you may wear an 8 in relaxed fit Levis, but youhave to buy a 10 in Old Navy low rise boot cut. At Old Navy, the jeans are actually marked on the labeling how they fit. My SIL #2 wears a 7 in the popular "stretch" flare leg jeans with the lycra in them, but wears an 8 or 9 in regular denim.