Anyone else "carry their weight well"?

It seems like my whole life I've weighed more than people realize, by quite a bit. And that didn't change once I became obese. Now that I'm losing weight, people don't believe me when I tell them that I'm still technically obese. I was talking with the guy I'm dating last night about the weight I've lost and he asked me what my goal was (150 seems realistic, I'm 5'6 and pretty muscular). He said that I must be very close to my goal...I couldn't tell him that I'm still at 185 because he obviously thinks I weigh quite a bit less. Then he says "well I know for a fact you can't weigh more than I do!". Again I kept my mouth shut because he's 180. I'm certainly not complaining about that fact that I obviously look a lot smaller than I really am, but how does this work? Can I be more dense than other people (not just in the head :-) )? I know that muscle is more dense than fat, but I've got quite a bit of fat still....I guess I'm not really sure what I'm asking. Maybe I'm just checking to see if anyone can relate. Sorry for the rambliness.

Tue. Dec 11, 1:32pm

I do. I'm 5'4" and 130 lbs. I know how to dress too, to enhance my figure.

Whenever I tell someone I weigh 130 lbs. they are baffled and think I couldn't possibly weigh over 115! Yay...I am a size 4/6 and pretty muscular in my legs (but they aren't bulky) and my backside is pretty firm too :) I think that's where most of my weight is.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 1:40 PM

My husband never had any idea of how much I weighed until I was in the hospital unconsious and he had to tell the nurse my weight so they could give me meds. He looked at my driver's license and told them I weighed 115. In actuality I had gained a lot and was 165. thank goodness the nurse had some sense about how much women weigh. I think he always just wanted for me to weigh very little so had a self dilusion that his wife was a tiny little thing.
the fact is that you know how much you should weigh and what a healthy BMI is. Unless you are healthy it doesn't matter how good you look.
But way to go! You must be well toned to hide 30 lbs! you go girl!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 1:42 PM

as a person who is 5'6" and 190, yes I can relate :) I went on a date, and we were discussing weight. I told him I'm heavier than I look. Made him take a guess. He said he thinks I look 150, but he'll guess 170 because of what I said. When I said 190, he almost fell out of his chair. Most people guess around 160 for my weight. 155 is my goal weight. (My doc said 145 was ridiculous, but she'd accept 155). I have big bones and a fair bit of muscle. My lean body mass is about 125lbs.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 1:58 PM

I'm another one who has always weighed more than people think I do. I think it has to do with being well proportioned and also dressing well for your figure.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 2:11 PM

I am 5'6 and I weigh 155. People always are shocked when I tell them how much I weigh. I tend to keep the weight on my thighs, hips and butt so my waist is actually tiny. I fools folks by wearing darker colors on the bottom.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 2:29 PM

Sorry to play devil's advocate- but have you considered that they are just being polite?
chances are you look like you weigh what you weigh. Clothing and hygeine can help you to look better, but you still look like you weigh that much

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 2:35 PM

I don't think anyone is polite to the tune of 40lbs. And few people are actually so good of actors with the shock when they find out my weight.

Some of us really do have a high lean body mass. Many of us are athletes.

I've never had a person believe my weight. I've had to get on a scale to prove it to my best friend who is half an inch shorter than me, and the same dress size, but thirty pounds lighter than me.

This is why I care more about my measuring tape than my scale.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 3:15 PM

I've always been a person who aparently looks smaller than I am. How could I not love that!? But, it takes losing a significant amount of weight for anyone to really notice. I'm 5'-6" and 150lbs.

I used to love going up to those scales at the fair (the ones where the people guess your weight or age within a certain range (If they don't guess right, you get a prize). I always won a prize! I could fool them on both weight and age (people usually think I'm a little younger than I am).

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 3:30 PM

2:35 here

absolutely there will be a major difference w/ height and muscle mass.
The other issue is just plain perception. 115 is small and 150 is big. Period. Noone thinks about what frame that weight is on.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 3:30 PM

I think the people who best guage other peoples' weight are those who have "been there". When I was thin, I was shocked to find out peoples' weight (if they were a lot bigger than I); a terrible guess-er if you will, mainly coz I'd never been that weight. Now that I'm overweight, I can guess/guage other people weight almost always right on coz I know what I weigh.. Now, usually the only people who are "shocked" at my weight are people who are smaller than me (much smaller) or members of the opposite sex.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 3:38 PM

Very true- the clueless are going to guess wrong.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 4:37 PM

Yeah-when I was 215 people thought it wasn't possible. Even people close to me (like sister's who are never polite!) found it hard to believe I weighed as much as I did. Now I'm less than 140 lbs and people think I weigh less. But I have a friend who weighs the same as I do now, and people think she weighs more than that. It's all dependent on where you carry your weight (are you proportionate? or do you have large breasts, large belly and smaller limbs? makes a difference.), and how much muscle tone you have. I've always been pretty solidly built regardless of my weight and I think that is why I look like I weigh less than I do.

I personally don't feel like I look like I weigh less (body image issues here!) than I do, but I hear it all the time when it comes up how much I've lost.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 11:29 PM

I think that, rather than "carrying it well", most people's perception of weight is screwed up by all the lies that we tell. I mean, why does every woman say they're 120? And look at Kirsty Alley - there's a good thread in this forum bashing her for propagating this kind of deception.

To sum it up, there's a good chance others think you're 120 when you're 145 because people who weigh 145 say they're 120.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007, 12:20 AM

I have always carried my weight well and people have always been shocked when I tell them what I really weigh, most don't even believe me. I am 5'3 very muscular and big boned for my size, at my smallest I wore a size 3 but weighed 138. At my heaviest I weighed 230. When I met my hubby who is an excellent judge of women weight, he thought I weighed around 150, I actually weighed 170, so he wasn't to far off.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007, 2:52 AM

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