A weighty issue

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-27-2005
A weighty issue
25
Sun, 04-17-2005 - 1:07am

hey guys,

LBF's thread made me wonder something.. Since the new "average" size for american women is a size 14, why are men on non-speciality sites so picky? (I am sure the same goes for men, but im not sure if the size issue is the same) It seems a little unrealistic, I know for a fact in NYC, men seem to be on a crusade to only date someone that is in single digit sizes (specifically size six and under), including men that are much larger then the women's equivalent of a size 14. What do you guys think?

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average U.S. woman is 5' 3.7 (162 centimeters) tall and weighs 152 pounds (69 kilograms). This corresponds to a Body Mass Index of 26.3 kilograms/meters², which is slightly less than the average man's.




Edited 4/17/2005 1:36 am ET ET by gal_moonlight
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2003
Mon, 04-18-2005 - 10:17am

Yes, but once again I have to agree with NG.

Genetics may PREDISPOSE you to being overweight, but you have to FEED those fat cells to get them to grow.

Both my folks are overweight - my dad close to 300 pounds, and yet somehow I managed to lose 55 pounds and reach a size 6. Hmmm. So I'm genetically predisposed to being heavy, but I bypass that by keeping my calorie intake somewhere around 1,200 a day and exercise vigorously 4 to 5 times a week for about an hour.

The women in my office have put me on a pedestal and come to me to ask what I have done. Simple, I say. Eat less, exercise more. It's not rocket science. Take in 200 calories less a day and burn an extra 200 a day and you'll lose weight.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-17-2005
Mon, 04-18-2005 - 11:29am
Did you watch the CelebFit Club on VH1? I think Kim Porter is curvy and Mia is fat. Nowadays I do think she's getting curvier. I think she's cool as heck though. She has a hot husband and the best attitude about herself.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-15-2005
Mon, 04-18-2005 - 12:09pm
No, I didn't catch that. I haven't been watching tv much at all since Spring really started. I'm at the barn until 9:00 or so every night, and still have to squeeze in gardening, laundry, housework, oh yeah, and my job. LOL


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-17-2005
Mon, 04-18-2005 - 12:19pm

It was on during the winter but I only caught it every once in awhile. She started out huger than I had ever seen her but now I think she's back down to her normal.

I agree with ya - I'd rather be outside than inside now.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-10-2004
Tue, 04-19-2005 - 3:17am

>>The number of fat cells a person has is inherited from their parents regardless of height. I think we are talking about two different things.<<

The number of fat cells is indeed controlled by genetics.

The point that I was making is that for the vast majority, what determines whether a person is overweight/obese isn't their genetics. It's how much they eat and move. The # of fat cells stays the same, but the size OF those fat cells changes a lot over time.

That's why those immigrants referred to in the study got overweight; their genetics didn't change when they came to the USA. What changed is the culture they were living in, how much food they had available, and how much they ate versus how much they exercised/moved.

In any case, America is too fat, and the sooner we accept that it's not genetics and it's not "okay" simply because 2/3rds of us are big, the better off we'll be in moving towards a solution.

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