Ladies: how far away are you from your ideal clothing size?

[Phillycat]

This fall has been rough for my weight-maintaining, I'll tell you. The Halloween candy alone has been killing me, heh. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I would REALLY like to get this under control.

Right now I am a 4-6, depending on the manufacturer. My ideal size is a 0-2. So that means I am 2 sizes above my ideal size. Hopefully I will get down to a 2 before Thanksgiving, so I have a little room to grow! :D

So, how far away are you from your ideal size?

[MissMillie]

1. My ideal size according to whom?

I'd like to be 2 sizes smaller.

I'm sure that "they" say I should be a lot smaller than that.

[Phillycat]

2. Well, I would say "ideal" according to YOU!

That's how I determine it for myself, anyway. :shrug:

[BarenakedLady]

3. Depends on who you ask

I like the way I look now, but others think I'm unhealthy.

[Phillycat]

4. Unhealthy skinny?

[BarenakedLady]

6. Yes

I recently lost quite a bit of weight because of depression/anxiety issues.

[Phillycat]

7. That's how I am too, when I'm down

I don't eat. I eat when I'm happy, which is why I've been packing it on lately. :D

[BarenakedLady]

9. That's me exactly!

You can always tell when I'm happy because I pack on the pounds. Hehehe.

My mom can always gauge how my life is going by how full or thin my face is.

[buddhamama]

5. i am good

i have been this size since my late teens, except for when i was pregnant, of course.

[Phillycat]

8. Lucky lady!

You must be one of those amazing people who doesn't really have to worry about their weight! :spank:

[buddhamama]

11. i use to get picked on badly

when i was a kid. seriously. one of my nicknames was 'annie', short for anorexic. i was happy to finally put on a little weight.

[Phillycat]

14. Kids can be cruel.

I know that people who are skinnier than the norm can get just as much grief as people who are heavier than the norm. Thank god we're not in middle school anymore, eh? :D

[Patiod]

10. My ideal size is determine more by my height and shoulders

Even when I was painfully thin in college - six foot tall and 112 lbs (people thought I was anorexic, but it was just genetic skininess) I was a size 12-14. Because of that, size doesn't freak me out the way it does a lot of women. Plus I have to accomodate swimmers shoulders.

Eventually gave up, and started buying men's jackets, which
1) fit a lot better and are therefore more flattering
2) are way better made
3) have all these neato pockets
(so does that make me a cross-dresser?)

[Phillycat]

12. LOL!

No, I think it makes you smart. You found clothes that fit you and were flattering, what more can anyone ask?

I would KILL to be six feet tall. Let me guess, you modeled?

[Patiod]

16. My cousin in NYC was always trying to talk me into it

I probably should have, but he always put me off by adding "....and they could make you look great - it's amazing what you can do with makeup". I look back at photos, and wish I had given it a shot.

Height has lots and lots of advantages, but romantically, it sucks. Men prefer women to be shorter than they are, period. Most of the guys who do go for tall women are rich, arrogant types (think of "The Donald" and his supermodels), which is what I dated after college. Finally found an outlier who isn't arrogant (or rich), but still likes tall girls. But he's rare - an awful lot of guys can't deal with someone their own size (or bigger). They think they can, but when it comes right down to it - they can't. ("you're not going to wear heels with that cocktail dress, are you?")

Oprah got onto the subject once on her show, trying to convince her friend Gayle that height doesn't matter, and Gayle said what I would have said: "Oprah, no offense, but you're not almost 6' - you couldn't possibly understand. Plus you've got that big tall Steadman."

Plus I can tell I make my short male clients nervous -- I make a point to sit down REALLY quickly after being introduced.

So no envy, Janesez -- it's definitely a mixed blessing!!!

[cwydro]

13. Right at it

but I could use a little more "wiggle room".:)

[Phillycat]

15. I hear ya.

I'm wearing the "skinny jeans" today, but the "skinny jeans" are cutting off my circulation JUST a tad. :D

[cwydro]

31. So funny

one day we'll have to ask the guys if they have "fat clothes" and "skinny clothes". Be a great thread..

[Patiod]

17. Here's my complaint - clothes that shrink over the summer

Pants that fit last year become too tight in the waist the following Fall.

I've noticed that dry cleaning shrinks clothes, too. As does storage over the winter (probably from turning up the heat in the house)

It's amazing all the things that make clothes shrink. I think there needs to be an investigation of this.

[Phillycat]

19. Dry cleaning DEFINITELY does.

And I washed some wool sweaters in Woolite in cold water and hung them to dry...and I couldn't even get my arms into one of them afterward! How can it have shrunk THAT much in cold water??

[wildhorses]

18. i am 5'10" with good shoulders and a big ass--

would like to lose about 20 lbs for my ideal size

most people say i look fine, now. i am lucky that i carry extra wieght well.

i, for myself, would like to be in a size 10. right now i am in 12-14 depending on the style and maker

[Phillycat]

20. Big ass over here too.

Doesn't matter how skinny I am, I always have a big butt. Luckily, I've learned that most guys really like that. :D

[wildhorses]

22. and i dress for guys--NOT for other women

not that i am NOT tasteful and discreet. i just don't really care about the latest fad to hit the runway:shrug:

[Phillycat]

25. Same here, lady!

:hi:

[blondeatlast]

60. Find yourselves a guy from overseas. Mr. B is from India and loves

my beautifully rounded butt--as do a lot of men who don't really admit it.

[datasuspect]

47. i want to say something

YOWZA!!!!

i feel like a perv posting in this thread.

[auntAgonist]

21. I'm right where I want to be .. size 8 n/t

[Phillycat]

26. Awesome!

:hi:

[auntAgonist]

29. thanks ..

:hi:

I couldn't have done it on my own though. I did have WLS and I have a very supportive family and Dr.

aA

[Divameow77]

23. Two sizes

I wear an 8 or 10, but would like to get back to a 6 like when I got married 5 years ago. Now that I'm divorced I would like to look good again.

[Phillycat]

27. Depression is usually good for taking off the pounds, heh.

All that crying really burns the calories! :hi: Of course, perhaps you're not depressed because of your divorce, in which case, more power to ya! :D

[miss_american_pie]

24. One above

but I really am too lazy to exercise as much as I'd have to to get back down to that size.

[Phillycat]

28. I hear ya lady.

I can get down to a 2 pretty quickly, but that 0 is TOUGH. I have to really watch everything and NEVER eat junk. Life's too short, I think!

[Ms_Dem_Meanor]

30. I am in the process of getting there now.

I am drinking a weight loss tea every night so it can work while I am asleep. With the affects that it is having on me I should be there in no time at all.:woohoo:

[Phillycat]

33. Does that work?

What is the brand of that tea?

[Ms_Dem_Meanor]

44. So far so good...

The tea is called Herbal Slimming Tea by 21st century vitamins. I have found it at Rite Aid for 2.99. There is a website for it: www.21stcenturyvitamins.com.
24 tea bags come in the box. I have been drinking it at night before I go to bed. But watch out, you will have to go to the bathroom in the morning.

[LostinVA]

32. Lynnesin sent me ten Tastykake Pumpkin pies

They were gone in eight days.

Nothing but good carbs and lean protein for me right now... and cardio.

:cry:

[Phillycat]

35. Oh, dear.

Hee! I have my own trouble with Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets. They are EVIL. :spank:

[LostinVA]

43. They were soooo good though!

[LaraMN]

34. More or less where I want to be. 8-ish.

I just pick at particular areas that I like to improve. I'm 5'10", and ideally about a sz. 6-8. I'm about an 8, right now. I'm not terribly large boned, so I look fluffy in sizes (maybe 10 or 12) alot of women my height look relatively trim in.

[Phillycat]

37. I know exactly what you mean.

I am quite small-boned. I am 5'6" and many women my height look great in an 8. I look chunky. It really is more about body type than height - which is why those height-weight charts are so often wrong!

[LaraMN]

41. Exactly!

My best friend is a couple inches shorter than me, and I bet she can outweigh me by about fifteen pounds, and still look about as trim. And I'm probably more muscular than her! :crazy: :D

[NewWaveChick1981]

36. I wear an 8 or a 10 depending on the garment.

My "ideal" size (i.e. the size I want to be) is an 8. I want to be a solid 8, so with just a little more fine-tuning, I will be. :)

[Phillycat]

38. Sounds like you're very close!

You should knock it out before the holidays, that way you don't have to worry if you pack a few on. :hi:

[NewWaveChick1981]

40. Exactly!

:hi: I started back on Phase I of South Beach last week. (I was on Phase II at the time.) I'd be really happy to lose the last 8 lbs!!!

[AlCzervik]

51. me too, in some pants i can wear an 8 but in jeans it's a 10

i really want to be a size 8 in jeans.

[marzipanni]

39. Other. I've seen these discussions on DU and my 91-year-old mom and I

were just talking about clothing sizes the other day. Since she has been around a long time she has witnessed women's "standard" clothing sizes put more women into the single digit category, probably to stroke their egos so they'd feel better and buy the clothes they tried on in a 12-14 and miraculously had to get a size or two lower to fit! I would say she was always her ideal shape until she got to be an old lady and now she's kinda skinny. She told me she used to wear size 12-14, then 10, and still has some of those skirts, blouses, etc. and they still fit. Around twenty years ago suddenly new clothes in size 6-8 fit her, and she thought that was odd, because at that point she had not lost any weight. I wear size 10 usually, but some 8s fit and some 12s fit. and I think if exercised more I'd be healthier and might go down a size, but I have being healthier as the goal, not the number 8.
I'd like to lose 10 lbs., then take a trip to Italy and France and gain it back!

[Phillycat]

42. Vanity sizing, oh yes.

Even when I am at my ideal weight, I am not THAT skinny, and I can fit in zero's, particularly at certain stores like Ann Taylor. I can remember when size 0's first came out, and they were TINY - like basically to bridge the gap between preteen clothing and ladies' clothing. Now they are well within the range of normal. That's because, as you said, women want to see the smaller sizes in their clothes, so they just make those sizes bigger. Americans are weird. :crazy:

[Pithlet]

50. I witnessed another gimmick recently

I was trying on clothes at a retail chain that specializes in women's jeans (not The Gap), and caters to a twenty-something crowd, and when I went into the dressing room the mirror could have been taken straight from a funhouse. I've suspected that stores sometimes deliberately distort their mirrors slightly to make you look thinner when you try on their clothes, but in this case it was so obvious that I burst out laughing. I'm sure other people must have wondered what the heck I was laughing about. It was hard to tell how the jeans really looked on me; I just looked absurd.

[Raffi Ella]

45. I can SO relate to this post!

You sound like me.I'm constantly gaining and losing the same 5 pounds.I just recently got back down to my ideal size.
I lost a little more than 5lbs this time because I want some "wiggle" room for the inevitable 5 pounds I'm sure to gain over the 6 weeks.

[Phillycat]

48. Hee! Yep, I need the "wiggle room" too.

My relatives are NOT JOKING AROUND with the holiday cooking! :hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

46. I'm two sizes above what I was ages 25 to 45

Then all of a sudden--thwoop!

[Phillycat]

49. Oh, great.

So I have eleven more good years?? :D

[raptor_rider]

52. I was a 9/10 before I got pregnant with my son

and after I had him, I started going down and actually was in a 11/12, the discovered that I am pregnant once again. :wow: Hopefully, after I have this last one (and it will be the last one, the kiddo's will only be 10-1/2 months apart!) I will get back down into my 9/10's once again!

[Phillycat]

53. Holy crap, Fertile Myrtle!!

:D Well, you won't have any trouble taking the weight off, running around after your "Irish twins"! Best to you! :hi:

[raptor_rider]

54. LOL, thanks!

It was a shock to us. We were using protection too. Just thought that the body had not returned to normal after having my son. The first test showed up negative. Had no symptoms at all, just the loss of the monthly. We took another test a few weeks ago to eliminate that out of the equation, and behold it was positive. Had an ultrasound two days later and it showed that I had been pregnant the entire time!
Shock to my employers too. I left work pregnant, and from the calculations, it got pregnant the weekend before I returned after my leave.
My husband is going to see a doctor to prevent this from happening again in February. He is a sweetie, doesn't want me on any birth control that will mess with the hormones.
It will be fun, that I can believe!

[Phillycat]

55. That's awesome of your husband to get the snip.

It really is the healthiest and least invasive (and most reversible!) for both of you. :)

[raptor_rider]

58. He is quite the guy I tell you

He loves me and that's all that matters!

[Pithlet]

56. Similar thing happened to me.

I think I got pregnant the minute I hit my pre-pregnancy weight from the first one. I'm really scared now that I'm back at my pre-pregnancy weight again :scared:

[raptor_rider]

57. So I am not alone!

It is a shocking feeling, that is for sure. I was proud with myself though through my pregnancy with him, only gained 24lbs, and lost over 30lbs after I had him. Just hope that I can do it again this time around. Gain 60lbs with my daughter 9 years ago.

[Pithlet]

59. I gained quite a bit with both of mine.

A lot of it was due to blood pressure issues I had with both. I would swell up like a balloon, especially in the last months. They say another sure fire way to get pregnant again is to get rid of all your maternity clothes. I'm not sure I want to test that one just yet. :)

[liontamer]

61. Ideal clothing size is a loony measure

thanks to vanity sizing I now wear a smaller jeans size than i did in high school! (at the same store i used to buy jeans in school).

I am definitely not really two sizes smaller, but I am only a couple of inches bigger. So I'm at my ideal size inches wise (although i guess i wouldn't mind going back to the size i was when I was 15, except that it would be weird to suddenly have a teenage body)

[Book Lover]

62. I'm right at it, whatever it is

I'm at the place where I don't give a leap what the size number is, as long as I look good. Which is every damn day, baby!

[Ramsey]

63. I said one size larger than ideal

Although I'm not that unhappy with my size. (I'd go from 10 to an 8.) I do generally have to buy a larger size top than bottom, which is annoying when things come in sets. I'm always wanting to lose ten pounds, but I've been the exact same weight for 20 years now, so I don't think it's going to happen. Oh well. I work out regularly and eat healthy, and those are the most important things.

[Nikia]

64. I shouldn't even get involved in this thread

Ideal is rather loaded isn't it.
Even when I was quite ill with anorexia, I did not fit into the size 0's that I tried. I got them physically on, and buttoned them, but they did not fit. I made the mistake of giving them away to a young teenage girl with a tiny bone structure. I was upset because everyone was telling me that I was sick and needed to eat more and regularly and some of those same people said that she was fine. I didn't think that it was fair.
Right now, I wear size 2 and 4 clothes. Everything fits differently though depending on the style and brand. I am low healthy weight medically. I would say that I am too big now, but my husband says that I still could stand to gain some weight.