what counts as thin???

[moonshadow]

i'm nowhere near as thin as i was before my thyroid cut out on me 6 years ago, but my weight has finally started coming down. i have no idea what i weigh, but i'm wearing a size 10 (uk) skirt/pants again. i would say that i'm getting slim, now i'm certainly not dieting, or trying to lose pounds. though, if a few more drop off, i wouldn't complain. this is a new point for me. i used to have trouble gaining weight (i got down to 115 when i was 18, which looked very strange, as i've got a large chest- my best friend said i looked like i was going to tip over. ha ha. very funny. that was a few months before my thyroid quit) then for the past few years i had trouble losing weight. now i'm at a point where it doesn't matter much.

so, i'm not underweight, i'm not overweight...

where do i belong?

[Chrissy]

I think you belong here! In my opinion the thin cyster threads are visited most by those who don't fit the obese catergory and maintain a fairly stable weight range. Most of us here have not been treated as if weight loss would solve our issues. We are in a fairly normal weight range and have not had much luck using diet to help our symptoms. This flies in the face of old fashioned views about PCOS and many doctors don't know how to help us if they can't blame it on weight.

Welcome, there have been many interesting and helpful threads here that have helped me personally and I don't consider myself all that thin.

[lissadell]

Hi moonshadow,

I agree with Chrissy. I think the true definition of a “thin cyster” is someone who does not have the option of weight loss as a treatment strategy. And, I also agree, based on my personal experience, doctors don’t quite know what to do with us since we don’t tend to fit the typical PCOS model!

To provide a reference point, you may want to determine your body mass index (BMI), which is calculated based on your height and weight. Click here to visit a site that includes a BMI calculator, along with more information on what BMI is (you’ll note it gives options for pounds/kilograms and inches/centimeters). It also provides an age-based adjustment so that you can see where you compare to others in your age group. Here is what the BMI ranges are:

Underweight: Less than 18.5
Recommended: 18.6 to 24.9
Overweight: 25.0 to 29.9
Obese: 30 or greater

I suspect the majority of us “thin cysters” fall in the “recommended” category (not to say that you need to fall into the "recommended" BMI category to belong in this forum). This site suggests that women feel they look their best when there BMI is between 20 and 22, so you may feel like you have weight to lose, but still be in a recommended range.

FYI...my BMI is 20.6.

Good luck!
Lissa

[moonshadow]

hmm.. according to that i'm borderline overweight at about 25.6 bmi. but i went in and altered weight and stuff to see how low the weight could get and still be within a recommended range. it stopped at 104lbs... hmm... when i was 115, people were saying i looked underweight. i have more 'up top' than i think they're taking into account

anyhow, i'm fairly happy with my weight, though as i said in my first post, i wouldn't complain if i dropped a few more pounds. i'm not about diets though. ugh.

about a year and a half ago i was told by an endocronologist that if i lost weight then af would probably regulate. she didn't seem to hear me when i said that i've never been regular, and that i'd only been overweight for a few years. even when i was skinny i rarely got af. i'm now in a fairly normal range and i'm still waiting for af. hmf.

ah well. i think i'll probably hang out in here.

[lissadell]

Don't worry too much about the BMI thing. It's not perfect...just a gauge. I think there are different interpretations of what the ranges mean out there too. And, since it only factors in weight and height, you can actually be a healthy weight, but still be in the "overweight" BMI range. For example, I've read that Michael Jordan had a BMI of 26.0 when he was at the top of his game; obviously because he had more lean muscle mass, not becuase he was overweight! You probably do have more 'up top' weight than average (lucky you)

I didn't calcuate how low my weight would need to be to still fit into the recommended range...but prob like 95 pounds...way too low! Actually, I did the adjustment for age, and I am "underweight" for my age group.

Definitely hang out here more! Good luck with TTC your moon baby

[moonshadow]

Originally posted by lissadell
You probably do have more 'up top' weight than average (lucky you)

Definitely hang out here more! Good luck with TTC your moon baby

i wouldn't be too jealous of well endowed women-- i know i for one wear two different sized clothes- one for tops, and one for bottoms. dresses are usually out of the question, unless i get a larger size that can be altered down. or if they are meant to be baggy like loose summer dresses.

not that i'm jealous of anyone else, though. i'm sure that women of all shapes and sizes have complaints about how clothes fit. my mummee is tiny-- she wears a petite size 2 or 4, depending on who makes the clothes, and long armed tops usually don't reach her wrists (i have her long arms, too ). winter coats seem to be especially hard for her to find. my sister is pretty average sized all over-- slim and well proportioned. she can wear clothes right off the rack. sometimes i think about how nice that would be, but i'm not really much of a clothes horse (where does that phrase come from???). the *only* thing she has to deal with is double stuffing one bra cup due to cancer surgery. much less of a hassle than having to deal with the actual surgery!

ah. that reads more whiney that it sounds coming out of my fingers. it isn't supposed to be. i've just been so rambly recently. don't read my post in the bra rant on the rants room. this'll be redundant if you do.

sorry about my ramble.

thanks for the moonbaby luck!

[lissadell]

Hi moonshadow,

I never thought of it that way...guess I would be pretty oddly proportioned if I had more up top. I'm about your mum's size And, yes, finding reasonable looking petite clothes that don't need altering can be a challenge. I end up shopping in the "junior's" department a lot; the clothes are fun, but everyone tends to think I'm 10 years younger than I am (which has it's pluses and minuses, of course). So I can definitely sympathize with the your clothes finding difficulties!

Are you from the UK originally? I lived there briefly (was an exchange student in high school) - in Cheshire.

No worries about your little ramble...hope to talk to you more soon!

[moonshadow]

yup, i'm from the uk originally, but we moved to california when i was 3. my husband and i moved back (okay, i moved back-- he was born in california) last august (and to be totally fair, he had to go back to ca. in early september, then moved here in october-- we had a couple months apart while he was getting his visa.).

it must have been fun doing a high school exchange program!

gotta go, i'm about to get booted off due to library time limits!

hannah

[hobbitcutie]

I'm happy with my proportions...i'm fairly small, but i have a lot up top (34D and wear a size 5 juniors pants), but i'm not worried about it...and i usually wear separates anyway, so i can get different sizes.