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Do you gain your weight most where you are shortest?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Maya brought this up yesterday because I *think* Imogen posted about it on her site at one point. Interesting. I guess for many people this is true. But for just as many people it isn’t.

I don’t actually know WHERE I am shortest or longest. I know I have a long neck and long arms, but I think I’m just average everywhere else. Perhaps this is why I gain and lose weight evenly all over my body. Don’t know!

Anyway, just want to road test the theory. Thoughts, lasses?

General

34 replies

Latest reply was from Sihaya

Ana

(website)

Veteran

Yeah, I don't know about this as a "general" rule. My legs are my shortest part, and I tend not to gain weight in them at all (not even my hips, really). My waist/torso is my longest part, and that's where I tend gain weight. Also under my chin/face. Does that mean I have a short face?

I don't know, maybe I'm misunderstanding what is meant by "shortest."

Chris

I do - around torso. I will be curious if other short waisted women are the same.

Anonymous

I am like you Angie, long arms and everything else is sort of average length on my body. I gain weight in my face and under the chin the most noticably. Everywhere else it is just spread out evenly.

Maya

Veteran

Err, well, I do not want to be held to this statement. I think it is generally true, but we're talking about body types, and nothing about body types is ever 100%.

For me and most people I know, it is true. I want to reiterate what I wrote yesterday: Even at my thinnest, which was under 100 pounds, my waist was not as thin as you would expect it to be. 25" is of course small, but at my weight, and with a hip measurement that would go as small as 33", you would probably expect it to be at least an inch or even 2 inches smaller. I'm sure it would have been if I had the space for a waist, but I don't. I was fairly straight up and down even then. A racy rectangle for sure. Even then I had a small pooch. Nothing that made me self conscious or worried, but it was there even when I was "skinny."

Looking at my mother, who for sure gains weight in her short torso, it seems I am headed in the same direction.

There are no doubt lots of factors that have contributed to this. I don't live in NYC anymore. I'm a lot less active. I have tried committing to an exercise routine to make up for it, but I just don't have the discipline for it. I would rather get my exercise from my daily activities, which simply isn't possible here. So there is no question in my mind that this lifestyle has caused me to gain weight, especially when I lost my job and now have nothing better to do than eat. I think if I were back in NYC, I'll probably shrink back down, but the point is that no matter how small I get, I will never have a "tiny" and defined waist.

My best friend is a pear through and through. She has a long torso and short legs. My mother I mentioned. My cousin who is staying with me at the moment is built like Angie and San--proportionate all around, and very slim. Even if she gains weight, she is never going to gain too much in one spot.

Angie, you are blessed with normal proportions and the ability to maintain a slim weight, but that is a very lucky exception and not the rule. Most women are not so lucky to be so balanced and naturally slim. I am sure if you weren't so active and ate differently you would probably gain a few pounds, but it would still probably just distribute all over the place rather than one spot...and I'd be shocked if you even gained enough to make it over a size 2.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks for the comments ladies. San, seems that we are samies. Ana, you crack me up.

I think Chris may have a point. Perhaps short-waisted women gain weight around their torso first? Maya, this is to your point too. Hopefully more lasses will chime in.

And don’t worry, Maya! I shan’t hold you to any rule! I’m merely exploring the theory with the countless body types, ages and sizes we have on this forum. I’m also extending the theory to blokes. I don’t think that this theory generally holds true for men. I know far too many blokes with long torsos who gain weight in the gut first.

Maya

Veteran

I think male body types are an entirely different animal. Men really have no reason to gain weight in their hips as far as I know. Not that it doesn't happen, but with women there are lots of hormonal reasons and lots of studies showing that weight in the hips is actually healthy for women. I would not extend the question to men, as they have different issues at play.

Short waisted women are never going to be true hourglasses and seldom pears. If you are short-waisted, you do not have room for the defined waist of an hourglass. It's possible to be a pear, but I don't find it to be very common. When I saw Lena, I noticed she had wide-set hips but was otherwise very slim all over, so for her it just seemed like bone structure rather than weight gain (correct me if I'm wrong Lena).

Laura

(website)

Veteran

It seems to me that in addition to body type, your age plays a factor. Does anyone else agree?

For example, when I was younger, I gained weight first in my lower abdomen, hips and thighs. Now when I gain weight, I notice it in my stomach area/torso. I chalk it up to changing hormones. For me, hormones seem to play a big role in where I store fat.

Maya

Veteran

That's what I meant to say above Laura, but not as eloquently. When I say "gain weight," I mean "hormones notwithstanding." That is a whole other issue. I mean gaining "fat" strictly from diet and exercise.

I did not mention gaining weight in my hips because that was a hormonal thing for me. But long before I gained weight in my tummy, it went to my hips. This was not because I was eating differently or any less active. Gaining weight in my tummy is a diet thing. I won't go into detail on HOW I know this, but I know it!

marianne

Hmm, it makes sense in theory, but it's not quite true for me. I gain weight pretty evenly, but the first place I notice it is in my thighs, and that area is not short. It's possible that if I did gain a whole lot, it would be most noticeable through my midsection. I also thought I might be short-waisted, but according to yesterday's exercise I am average - I just have a big rib cage
Age and hormones are a big factor in weight distribution, I agree.

shiny

Veteran

Well, I'm short all over. LOL. I think I am fairly proportionate, but a little short in:

- neck
- shoulder to bra band (this is my biggest fit issue, even with petites sometimes)
- bra band to natural waist (I measured one hand three fingers)

I definitely have apple proportions with waist/hip ratio of 0.8 at the barest minimum - like Maya, my hips can be 33 inches but my waist has never ever gone below 25 inches, even before kids. It's more like 27-28 now - with 27 being a good day.

While it's obvious I gain weight in my mid-section, I have to say I gain it FIRST in the shoulder-to-bra band region! Front and back. I get back flab and that flab under the armpit. My breasts also get fuller, but I really do think it's more my back, yuck. I have never liked my back - it's kinda blobby.

For example, with this recent weight gain that is where I am noticing it the most. Tops and dresses with side zips, don't zip up all the way. It's that last inch that is the problem. I also have a little pad of fat at the base of my neck in the back.

I do easily get double chins. Heck, I have been known to have a triple chin! I chew a lot of gum to try to keep the saggy chin at bay, but I think it is a lost cause. I'm destined to be a sagger vs a wrinkler (I've read people are either/or!)

Waist - my waist is still around 27-28 inches but I can still zip my pants; however, if I continue gaining, yes, the fat will go here next. But my upper body will proportionately also grow more too.

The last place I gain is in my hips/thighs. But, I am not long in this area by any stretch of the imagination! I have real trouble sitting in a lot of chairs, because I'm pretty short here.

You would think I would not have any apple tendencies or belly issues, because if anything I am longest from natural waist to crotch!! But, I am high hipped, with just an inch between belly button and hip bone. I have to gain a lot of weight, to have much padding on my hip bone. They tend to continue to stick out.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I can't really say where I gain weight "first". I can tell you about how it comes off, though. The very first place that I lost weight was my upper body- chest, upper arms, boobs. Then I would loose it on my lower body- hips, thighs, behind. It would go back and forth like that. I find that I loose weight mostly in one certain area at a time, rather than all over. Once my hips straightened out, and I was no longer pear shaped, I started losing from my torso more- first upper, then lower.

merry77

I am short waisted with a long torso. My upper legs are proportionally short, and I gain the majority of my weight in my thighs and butt.

Bone structure wise, my hips and shoulders are about even and I do have a defined waist, albeit right under my ribcage.

Technically my hips would be in the torso section which is long, but accompanied with the short thighs, I think I do gain weight mostly in my shorter area. After the first few pounds, I gain it all over, and with the first few pounds of loss, I always lose it on top before anything happens to my butt and thighs.

Anonymous

I'm short waisted and my middle is the first place that I gain weight, at least since I turned about 45. Before that I was more likely to gain in my hips but before 45 I was always very slim, even after childbirth.

carissa

(website)

I gain weight proportionally - all over equally.

However, I do have a 'gushy-gushy' belly, and I am very short waisted. The gushy is directly related to having large babies that carried super high, b/c of my short waist proportion.

I'm so glad you're exploring length proportions. I think its huge in how clothing fits & flatters (or lack thereof) our bodies.

I noticed on yesterday's blog that lots of ladies who are short waisted are also well-endowed. I used to think that was *normally* the case, however, after being in this business (full busts shirt & bras) for a while now, truly, all body lengths can have large breasts.

Melody

I am a rectangle ... thanks to my dad's genes, I have some height (5'9) on my side and and a pretty decent metabolism. I have long, very slim limbs (chicken legs if you like) that do not change much when my weight fluctuates. I gain weight first in my lower abdomen & hips and last in my chest ... so if I didn't work out regularly, run, and avoid carbs, I'd be a pretty pear. I can tell if I'm up or down by just a pound or two without even weighing by how my tummy is looking.

shiny

Veteran

(Sorry, I rambled on that last post - I've been sitting around bored waiting for my DD to finally wake up! Teens can sure sleep long...)

I just did the hand-test with DD16, and she only got one hand. So, at 4 inches taller than me, she is more short-waisted than me. She is also very short from shoulder to bra band. From waist to crotch she is very very long; she has lots of trouble finding tops that are long enough. Meanwhile, her legs are a lot longer than mine too. I do know she is long from knee to toe because she needs higher boots. She looks long in the upper leg to me too, but as a pretty pear, this is where she gains weight.

She gained weight last year from a med she was on (has since lost it all) - and the only place she really gained it was in her hips and thighs. Her waist remained tiny as can be. Her chest did get a bit fuller but her shoulders were still fat-free, and she still had a flat stomach.

So, she flies in the face of this theory. If this theory was correct, she'd gain weight from the waist up, where she is very short, and she does not. She gains in the hips, thighs, butt.

crwilson

Veteran

I definitely gain weight in my waist first, and I am very short-waisted. By the test yesterday, I can barely fit one hand between the bottom of my bust and the narrowest part of my waist. No doubt I gain weight in my shortest place first. After that initial gain, weight goes to my chest and face.

CK

This is true for me. I am short-waisted, and I gain weight in my stomach/abdomen first. And like Maya and Shiny, even when I weighed 98 pounds, my waist measurement was never as small as you'd think it would be.

The difference now is, I used to be able to lose it very quickly if I noticed my waist band getting tight. Since I turned 40 it is so much more difficult. Very frustrating.

Vani

Veteran

Using Imogen's quick trick, I was able to fit 1 hand and 3/4 fingers. Until I hit 30 I never accumulated weight/fat in the lower torso area. The first few pounds always hit the hips and the bust and arms next. In the last year or so though, the tum has been going first. And it has been getting harder to lose from the tum too

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

Hmm. I am long waisted, and like Khris, I'm not sure where I gained first, but the last bastion of my weight now is in my belly and thighs. I am also well-endowed although it's much less than it used to be.

Lena

I'm short waisted with long arms and legs and I gain weight where I'm the longest: in my upper leg and bum. I have long arms, but don't gain weight there. After my legs, the weight goes into my tummy. Also I easily get double chins, and it's probably due to my face bone structure (wide jaw and triangular chin). When I gain or lose weight, it's most apparent in my face.

Shiny, I also chew a lot of gum, and I wonder if our gum chewing is not actually contributing to our chin problems

Maya, you're right on about my bone structure. Angie confirmed I'm a leggy short waisted pear. It would take a lot for me to gain weight in my upper half (except my chin). Sometimes I feel my body is made up from two different people: I have relatively small bones above my waist and relatively big bones below my waist. I have very small wrists, but big calves and wide set hips (bones, not the amount of padding ).

taylor

Veteran

I have always heard that women loose weight from the TOP down. But I know that is not how all women gain...that may explaine why women have a hard time spot reducing.

We may gain weight first random to our body type, (back, waist, hips tushie,etc.) but always loose the same, starting with the face first, tushie, tummy, and thighs last.

rute

Veteran

When I gain (or lose) weight I gain all over my body, its always well distributed, but i'm petite all over.. so maybe it confirms your theory..

Ele

(website)

I'm shortest in my lower half for sure, and I gain pretty much evenly over my whole body, except for my waist. I was blessed with a flat stomach and a visible 6-pack, though I can't remember the last time I did any crunches (grade 9 gym class?) My mum and sister have the same body- we're all pretty pears with toned tummies.

The last place I lose weight is definitely my thighs. I used to be much skinnier in high school, but my thighs have always been curvy. I'm pretty active but have come to the conclusion that it wouldn't matter what I ate/how much I exercised, I would simply waste away until I was NOTHING BUT a pair of thighs. I guess that's just how it is, LOL!

greenglove

(website)

Veteran

I am shortest in my waist and do not gain weight there first. I think it is pretty much evenly but slightly more in my thighs. That theory does not work for me.

shiny

Veteran

Taylor, I've always understood that we lose weight first where we gained it last. So for instance I gain first in the upper body, then the midsection, then very lastly, the lower body. When I lose weight, I lose it first in the lower body, then the midsection, then the upper body.

Sarah

(website)

Veteran

That is true, Shiny. You lose first what you gained last, and lose last what you gain first. I gain weight most (first) in my tummy and thighs, because that's where I'm losing it last. I'm not sure if I'm short between my waist and thighs, though.

sinead

I am shortest in my legs- and tend to gain in my bottom and thighs. Lately, though, I've noticed more weight around my midsection. Definitely a hormonal thing, and I'll have to watch it.

anne

Veteran

The generalisation is mostly true of me - I am very long waisted and have very little fat at all on my torso from the rib cage up (only A/AA cup bust too)
And I am short in the thigh/bottom region and have more weight there.

I am always sensitive to putting on weight in my face and waist, but I don't know if it goes there first, or if that is just what I notice. Since having kids I have had more weight in the midsection, but my measurements are still supportive of the general theory.

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