I wanna be slender. I don't know what it is, but I love the word "slender" -- maybe it suggests maturity, elegance. I tend to prefer thin to voluptuous in women, generally speaking, so that's what I'm aiming for myself.
I am going for curvy/voluptuous. I have an hourglass figure, and I like my shape, I just want it to be smaller! :lol My goal right now is 170, and I'm going to reassess when I get there. I don't actually care what my weight is in the end, as long as I'm toned, not flabby. I have no idea what weight that is, though. When I was in high school I was 160 (freshman year, anyway), and I liked my size at that point but not the flab. So we'll see. You look great, btw!
I'm 5'8, about 128 and slender but not at all sickly thin. I often gaze in envy and wonder at those who are the same height, 10, 15, 20 pounds heavier and look amazing. I have a pretty small frame so the pounds really do show on me. I often wish I had more wiggle room but alas!
Btw, Cali, you look unbelievable We're the same height and I was about 150a few months ago and looked nowhere near as good as you do in your photos! Aah, aren't our bodies strange and wondrous things?
I'm so glad I came across this thread, I have always had a particular interest in what size everyone is at different weights and heights (I started a thread on it on UK Chickies forum, and the differences in what size two people say they are at approx same weight and height is amazing).
Anyway, reason I am particularly glad is that so many taller girls have posted here, I am 5'9, and 6lbs away from what I originally set as my goal weight, I am a full inch taller than you, but still battling with feeling fat - if I actually though I looked nearly as good as you do in the pics, then I would stop at this weight! Well done!
By the way I am wearing a size 12 (US8) now, but am really hoping that these last 6lbs might take me down to a 10(US6)
s rosa, Tagan47 and Ellie R thank you for the compliments. I really appreciate it.
And I understand, Ellie, about still feeling fat at/near goal. Last night I was having a severe "I feel fat" night. I kept looking at myself in the mirrors thinking I look gross. *sigh* I feel better this morning but I really hate feeling that way.
I even went down to 159 the other day. I haven''t bounced up higher than 161 but last night I felt like I was about 200 lbs. It's unreal how the mind plays tricks. Everyone kept telling me that I look so skinny and I felt like they were teasing me. haha!
...oh, and not to mention the folks who say hi to you and then glance down at your body. It's OK when I'm feeling thin but on an "I feel fat" night, it makes you feel HORRIBLE!
Its terrible isn't it how the mind works...some days i still feel as fat as I was at 286lbs!!!
Oh and by the way, i would like to be 'thin'with the odd skinny day! i'll never be voluptous anyway, as I don't have a curvy shape
Just a little personal victory for me--I said on page 1 that I would like to look slender, and last night I saw my boyfriend's family for the first time since Christmas (almost 20 lbs. ago) and his aunt told me I looked slender! I feel like I've got a ways to go yet before I think I am, but it was such a high to have someone else tell me that.
I know how I felt when I was thinner than I am now. I was never slender by any means. But I was happy and felt healthy. I don't know why I started putting on the lbs, but I gained 30lbs in probably 6-8 months. I want to back where I was February 14, 2007 (mini goal 2). Not skinny, curvy. I think I have 23 lbs to go before I am there, but I had a baby since then, so I may need to lose more than that... not sure.
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Current: 208lbs
Mini Goal 1: 199 - 9lbs to go
Mini Goal 2: 185 - 23lbs to go
Mini Goal 3: 175 - 33lbs to go
Mini Goal 4: 160 - 48lbs to go
Unrealistic Goal?? 155 - 63lbs to go
Cali, you look awesome! I'm also interested in how different people, even those who are the same height, have very different goal weights. What interests me even more are people who are the same height, have vastly different weights, but still wear the same clothing size!
Body frame has a lot to do with it, how toned someone is has a lot to do with it, different brands having different sizing charts has a lot to do with it, and someone on the last page mentioned how people wear looser or tighter clothes, so someone who wears looser clothes might say they're a size 16 when they're really a 14, and someone who wears tight clothes might say they're a size 16 when they're really an 18.
As for my goal shape, I like stella's "slender". I haven't been slender since I was 4 years old, and now that I feel like I've made a sustainable lifestyle change, I think I can finally get to that point. I'm 5'4" and have a small frame, so I figure if I can get myself to around 130lbs, I'll be in the middle of the healthy range for my height and be slender, rather than skinny or voluptuous.
I'm 5'8" and 241 pounds. I am pear-shaped now (47-40-53). When I was thinner, at about 155-160 pounds, I was 38-28-40 and I think a size 12 on top, 10 on bottom. I remember squeezing into a size 10 pair of Calvin Kleins my freshman year in college and thinking WOOHOO, I have arrived!
I loved being curvy, having an hourglass shape. But I have always had 140 as my goal in my head, maybe just to try it on for a week or a month... to see what it is like to be honestly thin.
At 156 (my lowest in 2001), my thighs didn't touch and that seemed like a miracle! I was thrilled with that, and I couldn't get over being able to wear a dress and not worry about chafed thighs in the summer or having to do a "funny walk" to get loose shorts to unbunch from in between my thighs.
My goal is losing weight is to regain my full functionality of my body (more energy and endurance, strength, range of motion) and to soothe that voice in my head saying "You're too fat! TOO FAT!", especially when I contemplate getting out into the dating world again.
Weirdly, I am much more aware of my body fat then thinner, always making sure I am covered up, feeling like people at staring at me... When I'm thin, I just am. I miss that happy freedom.
Last edited by BerkshireGrl; 03-27-2010 at 02:20 PM.
I'm using my past experience as a guide, and my decisions are lifestyle-based, as well as aesthetic.
I mean, I know I can get down really low, but I also know what that costs me, physically & mentally, and I'm all about sustainability & the long term.
I've done superskinny, which for me, meant hovering just over 100 pounds. I believe that was a size 6, with a 4 on top. (That was years ago & sizes have changed since then.) It wore me out mentally & physically trying to keep that scale in line. Also, my ribcage was somewhat frightening when I was naked. In photographs, my face is rather gaunt. And I was crazy.
At 115, I was still bingeing in reaction to the overrestricting required to stay that low. My neck was still kind of stalky-looking, but my butt was tiny. I could make this for a class reunion, maybe, but no way could I live with it for months & months. I was not quite crazy but not, I'd say, a "balanced" person.
About 125 is probably the ideal weight for me as far as my appearance in clothing. But I'm older now & I just don't want to work that hard all the time. This would require tremendous dedication. I would like to relax a bit more. I do not want to do more than 2 hours exercise a day. Even 2 hours makes me feel a bit obsessive-compulsive sometimes.
I'm shooting for a compact, athletic 135-140 range. (I say range because I know a single perfect "forever" weight isn't how my body works.) This is probably the edge of curvy for me. I'd like to see a little less booty when I'm in Warrior II pose & looking at myself head-on in the studio mirror. I'll still have rather muscular calves & thighs, but not quite so thick. My stomach will go down a little more, but it's always going to be rounded rather than flat & defined as an anatomical drawing. But maybe I won't have the menopot when that time comes upon me.
My problem is partly the loose skin on my current weight, which I'm going to guess adds maybe 5 pounds to my appearance. (I do not know what it would actually weigh if I were able to weigh it all separately from the body it's currently upholstering.)
ETA: It's kind of sad when you know your body as well as I seem to know mine. The possibilities are not limitless. I know what I'm capable of & what my range is. There's a lot of settling here. And effort at self-acceptance. And realism. And trade-offs.
We're the same height and I was about 150a few months ago and looked nowhere near as good as you do in your photos! Aah, aren't our bodies strange and wondrous things? 
I feel like I've got a ways to go yet before I think I am, but it was such a high to have someone else tell me that.
