Why do Women Obsess About their Dress Size?

When trying to lose weight, it helps to have a goal, and for women this often involves aiming towards a specific dress size. In the past, many women would aspire to get down to a UK size 10, but sizing and expectations have changed over the years. Now, women are probably more inclined to aim for a smaller size - either a size six or eight - regardless of how realistic that is. Clearly, there is nothing wrong with setting yourself a goal, but it's important to be realistic. If you're five foot eight with a medium frame, you cannot expect to get down to a size six, at least not without compromising your health. Even if you do lose enough weight to fit into such a small size, it doesn't mean you will look or feel better for it.

The trouble is that when you put so much emphasis on reaching a particular dress size, you stop focusing on what really matters - your health. If you're simply losing weight so you can fit into designer labels or become so skinny you could be a runway model, you may aim for weight loss by any means rather than by focusing on the development of healthy habits. It is possible to lose large quantities of weight if you live on salad, but you will be depriving your body of essential nutrients and the chances are it won't take long to get fed up with such a diet. Plus, you will be lacking in energy and will become more susceptible to illness as your body doesn't have any fat reserves to draw upon.

Besides, what is the point of obsessing about your dress size when shops use different sizing guides? In one shop you may find yourself buying a dress in a size 10 and in another shop a size 14, so it becomes pretty pointless imagining that you're going to reach a particular size, when you may still end up buying clothes in a larger size than you'd like. Of course, it is useful to keep track of your measurements, so that you can see how many inches you have been losing, but, at the end of the day, your dress size doesn't matter as much as taking care of yourself and losing weight sensibly. Ultimately, it is how you feel about yourself that is most important and ensuring you take the right steps to stay healthy.

Unfortunately, there is a great deal of pressure on women to reach a certain size when you read about how various celebrities are able to squeeze themselves into sample sizes, which are the smallest sizes available. It is no longer simply runway models who are extremely svelte and being that skinny seems to have become more normalised in the public eye. You almost expect to see scarily skinny women on magazine covers, despite the fact that women in wider society are actually getting bigger. Clothing sizes seem to have changed to reflect this new reality, often employing 'vanity sizing', so that women believe they are smaller than they really are. Yet again, this means aiming for a specific dress size may not be the most sensible goal to set yourself.