'Size Zero'

[Miss Z]

I've not been on PT very much for the past few weeks due to schoolwork, so it seems like ages since I've been involved in a good, friendly PT debate. Everyone around me at the moment seems to be talking 'size zero', so I thought it would be interesting to see what PT has got to say on the topic.

So, here's my initial thoughts:

In short, I think the media entirely overrates the horrors of this clothing size and I'm getting quite sick of it. Size zero does not equal anorexia as many people seem to think, although I can give credit to the fact that people trying to slim to size zero can be engulfed by eating disorders. Yes, to be such a small size, one HAS to be very thin, but dangerously thin is debateable in my honest opinion.

Size zero here in the UK is a size 4. I am, in body, a size 6, although sometimes have to wear a size 8 in order to fit my broad lancastrian shoulders . I have a BMI of 16. Technically, I can be classified underweight and many would immediately assume 'anorexic', and yet I eat a relatively balanced diet and certainly never eat less than I want. What I suppose I'm trying to get at is the term anorexia is being to greatly overused.

For example, I like to go out wearing tight tops and short skirts as most 15 year olds do, always tasteful of course. Usually at least once, I'll get a few girls catching sight of me, and evidently leaning closer together to utter the words 'Well there's an anorexic'.

Size 4 clothing is banned in most shops here, and size 6, for me, is often hard to find. I am most definitely not anorexic, and yet it's often hard to find clothes that do fit me. Sometimes I ask myself, 'why am I missing out simply because I am a couple of inches too thin?' I do actually know someone who is, perfectly naturally, a size 4, and she hates the fact that her choice of clothes is so limited. Now I hear that size 'zero' models are going to be banned from catwalks, and there are even talks of banning my size 6 in some places, I can't help but wonder how much we are trying to standardise the population. For example, here at least, private schools are bad because we should all have the same standard teaching, and now it seems we must all be the same size and weight too.

I understand fully eating disorders are hell and, being one myself, pressure on young girls to be beautiful is pretty strong. But I do not believe getting the collywobbles about dinky sizes is going to solve very much. We can all be beautiful in our own way, size 4 to size 20, and I think that is what should be emphasised.

So, what do you say, PT?

[smokey the elder]

I think there are a lot of natural variances in human body types, and people who are naturally thin should be decoupled from people with eating problems. I think it's safe to say that I could tell a thin person from a starving person!

[buttercup132]

Ugh I hate it everyone always says I am anorexic and what not. I hate how people automatically assume that your anorexic. To me its just like people assuming fat people eat fast food for every meal and never exersice. It took me until I was in grade 8 to fit into a size 0 cause I was so small and it took me till the summer of grade 9 to start fattening up. But I can still fit into a size 0 it depends on the brand. I range from size 0-5 but I'm usually a 3. I honestly eat like a pig too, when I go to Mc Donalds I order a double big mac , a double cheese burger, med fries and a lrg coke and I dont go and puke it all up. I can eat more then my parents and enjoy it so I'm deff not anorexic. Everyone always underestimates my strength and weight too. I weigh 125 lbs and can lift the same amount of weight as the normal fit people at my work (like Golden Retrivers and other large breeds). People are just dumb
We will just kick their butts Zara.

[sumbirdy]

My sister-in-law wears a double zero and I don't think she looks anorexic. What I don't like is when some smaller girls walk around and say "Oh, I'm so skinny" or whatever. That just makes them look sick to me. (It's the attitude that matters really) You girls are lucky though. I wish I was smaller than I am. (I'm not going to say my size but lets just say it ranges in the teens)

[Catlady711]

I don't know about other parts of the globe, but here anyways it seems sizes are getting larger despite the number on the tag.

For example, my mom finally lost quite a bit of weight and had to go clothes shopping, which she hates with a passion and does very rarely. She started out in what should have been only a size or two smaller than what she was wearing, which should have been sufficient. However ended up going down 4 sizes to find ones that actually fit. These jeans were the same name brand as the ones she'd bought a number of years ago. She didn't lose THAT much weight, but had to drop down the size more than was actually necessary because of the sizing.

I've also had similar problems, even within the same name brands of jeans. I've both lost and gained alot of weight (I normally have to keep 4 sizes of jeans in my closet at any given time).

What I'm noticing is that say a person wears what was a size 10 from six years ago, they don't lose or gain any weight, go clothes shopping, and suddenly they are wearing a size 8. Ego trip? definately!

Sizes are relative depending on the manufacturer and how much they percieve the public wants to have smaller sizes on the tags. So in fact a size 0 could actually have been a size 6 ten years ago, but because of the trends it has changed.

As for banning the very small sizes I think that's just nuts! I have a cousin that is very very tiny naturally as well as very short, and she's always complaining because she can't find any adult looking clothing in her size. She ends up having to shop in the childrens section because there are no adult clothes her size. The problem is she works in a very professional office and can't exactly dress for the job if all her clothes have winnie the poo on them and little frilly lace decor!

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

The most popular question I'm asked...

"Do you ever eat?"

I currently weigh 107 pounds and am 5' 6 ¾". During my first pregnancy, I only gained 11 pounds (Pre-pregnancy I was 109 pounds). My second pregnancy was pretty much the same. I walked out of the hospital weighing 111 pounds. My "normal" weight is 109, but after the fire, I couldn't eat or sleep - hence the 4 pounds I lost. I wear a size 1-3 jean, it just depends on the style. I have a fast metabolism, and I go for walks everyday (we don't drive).

I also wrestle a lot with my Hubby, I get an awesome workout!

[Miss Z]

Thanks everyone for the replies so far, seems like I'm not alone in my thoughts. I have the problem of being very tall (verging on 6'!) and very slim and finding clothes, especially trousers, that are both tight enough and long enough is often difficult.

We will just kick their butts Zara.

Heh heh, I like the sound of that!

[Freedom]

I have a fast metabolism, .

Both a blessing and a curse.

I have a s- l - o - w _ m - e - t - a - b - o - l - i - s - m. I don't have ANY of the problems you are discussing in this thread.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

I don't see how banning small clothing sizes will make anyone with a legitimate eating disorder want to stop losing weight...that's just silly. Everyone is different, but we all need clothes that fit!

Not to mention, I think it's a great deal likelier that more people are at risk from obesity-related illnesses than from anorexia. Obviously, banning a certain size for large people wouldn't cause them to lose weight anymore than banning a size zero would cause people to stop losing it.

[buttercup132]

My sister-in-law wears a double zero and I don't think she looks anorexic. What I don't like is when some smaller girls walk around and say "Oh, I'm so skinny" or whatever. That just makes them look sick to me. (It's the attitude that matters really) You girls are lucky though. I wish I was smaller than I am. (I'm not going to say my size but lets just say it ranges in the teens)

Isn't it usually the other way around? At least those skinny people KNOW they are skinny. They arent going around saying they are fat and need to diet when they are tiny. Those are the type of girls that make us naturally skinnny girls cringe and get made fun of for.

[Karen]

So much has to do with genetics - my cousin could "diet down" to a size zero, (she was usually a 2) where I, who obviously swam to the other side of the gene pool, probably wouldn't fit in a size zero even if I was just a skeleton! I am currently overweight, but am working on that part. But she would get "carded" when she was 24 (legal drinking age was 21) and on dates asked if her date was her father - both of which embarrassed her terribly. I, on the other hand, rarely got carded when I was 18 even, 3 years too young to legally drink!

It was hard as a teenager not to wanna smack my dear friend Wendy who was, like some of you, skinny, and ate junk food to try to gain weight but still didn't! But she was also so fidgety that we swore she fidgeted off every calorie she ever consumed!

[crow_noir]

That's the size of the Havahart live trap we bought this week!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

If it is your natural body shape to be slim then fine but if you put yourself on ridiculous diets to achieve the look then it is wrong, wrong, wrong! Mrs Beckham - please take note and eat something woman!

[JenBKR]

Personally, I think it's so sad how pressured girls are to be skinny. I don't see how banning any clothing size would help though, and I never assume that someone thin is anorexic. However, I do think that there should be models of all sizes, and they should appear in fashion shows, magazines, etc.

On a side note, and no offense to anyone, but I really can't stand it to see girls, especially teenagers, dressed in short skirts/shorts and tight little shirts. I know I am probably going to sound old..... .......but I just don't think it looks right. I was a teenager not that long ago, but my father would have NEVER let me leave the house wearing what I see so many young girls wearing out. Much of it (not all by any means) looks so trashy (not to mention all of the perverts out there that like to prey on young girls.......maybe I have too much of a background in psychology and working with sexual assualt victims......)

[Lobodeb]

I have a s- l - o - w _ m - e - t - a - b - o - l - i - s - m. I don't have ANY of the problems you are discussing in this thread.

I don't think I have a metabolisim at all! j/k

And I feel as if clothes are getting smaller. Granted I've gained weight, but I see an extra large now and I wonder what I'm supposed to cover my other half with?