Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
"I have not only kept my figure, I have added to it"
I don't know who said it.
At my last real physical, the doctor described me in his notes as a "well nourished female". I looked when he went out of the room.
On a more serious note, I think the food we eat and the amount of it has contributed to the change in the shape of society in general. It use to be unusual to see an overweight person. I didn't grow up eating constantly throughout the day or always having a drink in my hand.
On the subject of girdles, my mother spent two weeks with her mid section bound in strips of an old sheet after I was born so that her organs would go back in place. I was determined to exercise myself back into shape.
I think my mother's generation might have been on to something.
Portions have become huge and people didn't snack all the time in the past. Children never had soda, I think we got soda on birthdays and the Fourth of July. You see kids now who drink it all day.
I was born before WWII. I have a flight suit that I wore in Vietnam. I can zip it up today. I work every day. I have never been to a gym. Genetics have a lot to do with it. I am 100% Scandinavian when it comes to genetics. The only overweight person I ever knew in my family on either side was my grandmother who was blind from botched eye surgery. She could not be as active as he used to be. Wonderful lady and she sure could cook on a wood stove, despite her blindness.
I have a friend who wanted to be he first man in his family ever to live to the age of 50. He wanted to see his children graduate from high school. All of his male ancestors died before the age of 50 from heart attacks. He is a health food fan, exercises normally and does not smoke. He is now 70 and has grandchildren.
His ancestors all smoked and ate high fat, high carb diets. Maybe it isn't just genetics. Maybe it is personal responsibility. By the way, I am the fourth generation in a row to be married over 50 years. Maybe it goes further back than that in Sweden. Yup, personal responsibility has a lot to do with it.
Genetics have a lot to do with things like cancer, but I think people are kidding themselves if they think it is only that when they stuff themselves with garbage and far too many calories on a daily basis.
Either a lot of people simply aren't responding to this thread, or a lot of people are lying to themselves or others, because the vast majority of people do not weigh the same, nor do their bodies look the same, as they did when they were in their twenties, when they are retirement age.
Reading through these comments, you'd think those with larger waistlines or those who can't fit into their cheerleading outfit or fatigues that were issued to them when they were 18 are anomalies - or somehow defective. The reality is that age and gravity do a number on everyone's body, whether they admit it or not. Hey, even if a person CAN fit into that mini skirt they wore in Greenwich Village back in the day, I can assure you they don't look the same in it!
I was doughier then I am now when I was in high school. I didn't start working out and Spinning until my 30's, before that it was Army exercise and aerobic dancing. So you can see what era I am coming from, lol. I still wear my sweatshirt from college. I need to lose about 25 lbs but I think the fact that I have gained so much muscle over the years helped mitigate my period of self indulgence, which has come to an end.
I've been 5'8 since I was 14, and in my high school years, I was really too thin- all arms and legs, and with braces as well.
I think I actually look better now than I did then; I have a better figure, about 10 pounds more- more curves- although slim, as opposed to thin. I do feel that genetics plays a large part in body size, and I probably take a lot after my father, who was 6', and never weighed more than 160, although he could eat ice cream twice a day.
although I was never in the habit of drinking sodas or snacking, since I was diagnosed with diabetes over 20 years ago, these have been totally excluded from my diet. I have to say that I really don't miss them. now bread and potatoes- those are something else.
Well, I tried to keep my shape but it was shifty, it shifted away from me. I tried to keep my height but it shrank back. I did, however, manage to keep most of my sanity. That should count for something I think.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
