Women lie about their weight. Shocking, I know. Anyone who has ever been a woman for five minutes knows that it's the not-so-secret little "secret" of womankind. When a woman says her weight, we can typically add about 10-12 pounds to get to the real weight and call it a day.
A 2011 survey shows that, in fact, 70 percent of women lie about their weight in some way. They lie to their doctors, they lie to men, and they even lie to the DMV. I know it's true because I have done it, too. The reasons are varied, but the reality is they contribute to the problem and only lead to more lies.
For many, we lie because men have no idea what women weigh. Seriously. My husband thinks Kelly Brook, a very curvy woman who is 5'8," weighs 120. Online, some claim 118. As a woman who knows body types, I would say she is closer to 130, maybe even more.
Guess what: She is still super hot. We ladies have lied ourselves into a corner. We have now said we weigh so little, so often that men don't understand that women of a certain height and body type (read: larger breasts and curves) can weigh 150+ and still appear "hot." Shocking, I know.
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The reality is that weight is arbitrary in many cases. Muscle is more dense than fat and, as someone with a muscular build who also wears a size 4, I know most people think I weigh far less than I do. This is why I lie.
The fact is, we ladies who lie only make it worse. Once we lie, we perpetuate the myth of how much it's "normal" to weigh and it goes on and on and then more people lie. How about if we make a deal, ladies? Let's stop the lying.
It may seem like 120 is the "ideal," but the fact is, not many people weigh that. In fact, healthy, small-sized women who work out and eat right may weigh up to 135 pounds and not be fat. If we were all honest, we would be a lot happier and have a much better sense of what it is "normal" to weigh.
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A curvier woman like Kelly Brook or Jessica Simpson or even Jessica Biel doesn't weigh 120 pounds. Jennifer Aniston might. But not one of those women is "fat." Like size, weight is dependent on many factors, and by lying, we only continue to feed the myth that 120 is a plausible weight for anyone but the absolute thinnest, most waifish among us.
Let's try to be honest, ladies. I'll tell if you will!
Do you lie about your weight?
Image via Gene Hunt/Flickr
