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Female, 38 yo, 2 small children
168 lbs
5'7" height
Body fat: last time I checked with a relatively unreliable method: about 33%, maybe a bit less.
Pear shaped, narrow shoulders, most of the fat goes on hips and thighs, the waist is relatively small for my weight/size, about 31 inches.
Muscle tone: somewhat poor. My triceps: inexistent.
Having fat on your hips and thighs is much healthier than when it goes to the belly. I don't think your other stats are that bad at all. Loosing 20 pounds might help you feel better about your body. It gets tougher after 40. Ugh!
I'm 5'7", but 20 years older and a bit heavier. I think my boobs must weigh at least 10 lbs. lol
It's one of those catch 22s for women.. we get to spend thousands of dollars later this year to fix what my wife's weight loss eliminated from her chest...
Thanks a lot for your input. I was simply curious.
I had never considered body fat before, though I had heard about it; I just never bothered. All I knew growing up was "weight"; and then one day I finally calculated it with a not-so-reliable online tool (not caliper) and it came out at 33% (now, with my recent weight loss it might be a bit less).
I googled and someone said somewhere that 33% body fat is "horribly bad".
I kind of shrugged knowing that I am clearly not the fattest creature around.
As for losing 20 more pounds, this is exactly what I am trying to do now though at this point, my weight loss has stalled. Had I not had "health and longevity" incentives (it strikes you when you have kids later in life), I would certainly not bother for "looks", "body image", "self-esteem" or what have you.
At 38, I've done it all: had my share of compliments in my early youth (my body has never been stellar but it used to be OK in my late 20's, early 30's, plus I was blessed with above decent facial features); got married to a man who could not be bothered to look at other women if I somehow turned into an elephant over night (sometimes I think he is just romantically lazy, generally speaking ); made a career out of debunking social norms and society's artificial pressures ; and had my kids - who significantly contributed to a progressive piling up of weight over the past 5 years.
At this point I wish I cared more about looks so I can have that truly energizing incentive; but I don't.
However, a few months ago I found my "motivation" when I started to wake up with seriously swollen face and fingers in the morning. I also have Candida overgrowth in my digestive tract (from years of love affairs with processed carbs) and I realized my health had started to slowly deteriorate over the past couple of years (stress, lack of sleep, horrific diet - try heavy doses of Nutella on white Italian bread), etc.
So I said enough is enough and decided to get back the relatively decent body I had in my late 20's/early 30's.
It is certainly not easy because I basically have no time to exercise with two kids in my care, cooking from scratch and a part-time job.
Plus I HATE the high-protein, low-carb diets that seem to be able to get you out of the woods. I had to give up fruit for the Candida diet and I realized this is akin to abuse for me.
Finally, Beth56 - are you saying that it might still be relatively easier in my (very) late 30's to shed the excess weight and that I should do it before I hit 40?
That's kind of my goal, but sometimes I think there can't be that much of a difference between 38 and 41. :-). Or is it?
It's one of those catch 22s for women.. we get to spend thousands of dollars later this year to fix what my wife's weight loss eliminated from her chest...
Funny. I myself tend to lose a lot of weight in the chest area when I slim down - but I don't care about big breasts anyway.
I could surely use a lift but I will surely not bother, regardless of how much weight I lose.
I'm 41 and oddly I have found it easier to maintain my weight now compared to a couple years ago. I think it's because I am more aware of what I put into my body now. I firmly believe in "everything in moderation", but pretty much everything I eat is a real food, very little processed. I try to balance what I eat, for instance I made a killer birthday cake this past weekend and knew I wanted a massive piece, so I had a salad for dinner and a huge hunk of cake for dessert. My husband laughed at me but I think that my priorities were straight.
The weight/height ratio, without any other factors, sounds just about normal. So instead of trying to lose weight, why not focus more on getting more fit? Burn fat, gain muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you wouldn't see any loss in weight. But you'd see more tone and definition for the same amount of weight. Stomach crunches, lifting - real simple stuff - grab two cans of veggies from the cupboard of the same size. Hold one in each hand. Lift them in various ways while you watch TV waiting for the laundry to finish drying. Do sets of 10 for each type of lift you decide to do, slowly lowering your arms so you feel the burn by the end of the 15-minute period.
Then fold the clothes, put them away, and do another set of 15-minute veggie-can lifts. You won't burn hardly any calories at all but you'll put your arms through a nice little workout, with almost no effort.
I agree with AnonChick. Get fit and forget about the scales. You can tell when you're feeling good and looking good and that's all that really matters. It also helps to have others around you helping. I used to be awful at bringing junk into the house and cooking huge awful for you meals. Now nobody cooks and most everything in the house is good for you. There's still some sweets and chips, but it's mostly in those portion control bags. I used to think they were the biggest rip-off, and they are, but they do help maintain portion size. Opening a big bag of cookies or chips is just asking for trouble..
How bad are these stats? Female, 38 yo, 2 small children
168 lbs
5'7" height
Body fat: last time I checked with a relatively unreliable method: about 33%, maybe a bit less.
I dont think those stats are bad. I kinda use my wife as the barometer for comparison for women (5' 2" 122 lbs 34-?-35). Since you are just starting out, I say DO NOT GET ON ANY SCALE!! Dont worry about what the scale says and just concentrate on YOUR FITNESS LEVEL.
Jump on a treadmill and do 3 miles. Take note of the time you run three miles and aim for the next time to do it in faster time. Do this for ALL of your workouts. Think farther, faster, heavier, more. This method is inspirational because you are challenging yourself each time out and NOT worrying about weight or measurements which really are not as important unless you are more vain than anything else.
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); made a career out of debunking social norms and society's artificial pressures 
; and had my kids - who significantly contributed to a progressive piling up of weight over the past 5 years. 
