I am wondering if there are other people like me who after many years have realised that the weight they were once aiming for was totally ridiculous and are sad about all the years wasted trying to get to some unachievable figure?

I am 153cm tall( approx 5'). I currently weigh 55.5kg(122lb).My final goal is about 52kg(115lb). My body is not perfect - I have small hips, adequate bust and a bit of a stomach. But I feel fantastic.

Yet I spent most of my teens,twenties and thirties at a lower weight than this and was permanently on a diet.I would go to programs such as Weight Watchers, Weigh less, Sure Slim and the goal I was given was normally around 45 - 48kg. I always felt fat and yes some ex boyfriends didn't help.

I probably managed to get to 47kg a couple of times but I never managed to stay there for long. I probably permanently messed up my metabolism with the constant yoyo dieting.

Maybe its because I'm older and "wiser" that i have now come to the realisation that the weight i was aiming for was not the correct weight for me. I just wish that at the time I had appreciated my body and not spent so much time, money and energy aiming for something that was not realistic.

Definitely.

I went to the Emirates Stakes Day at the races on saturday, all dressed up. I met a girl there who was our host (IBM corporate enclosure) who was as tall as me (I was wearing 4 inch stilletos and felt like a giant on the train, lol). She was model thin though, but looking at her, you know, her body was just totally different to mine. Yes, I could lose another 8kg to be "as thin" as her, but I wouldnt look the same. I am already verging on skeletal around the neck, shoulders and chest, so much so that I took back a dress with spaghetti straps becuase I felt it made me look gaunt.

I would just get even worse up top and I would STILL have hips and thighs. She wasnt anywhere near as bony as me up top, but she was probably a size 10 to my 12 (Australian sizes here). Just different all over.

It did make me think, we just have to learn to accept, and even love, what we are.