Hi there people! I'm Sarah Juliet...I love life and learning new things everyday is just totally awesome. I'm 5'3" and 108 pounds, 16 years old. Some of you might be wondering "what on earth is she doing here?!" For one thing, I'm not obsessed about being skinny, nor is it my dream to be a bikini model on the front of some magazine. I love athletic activities purely because I think they are fun and I love to be challenged. I've been training in martial arts for about 18 months and that too is because I love the training, working with people, learning coordination of mind and body and a good workout gives me more energy and makes me happy like watching TV does not!

I'm sure if I wanted to, I could find things about my body to complain about...but I'm not going to. Instead, I would like to know what any of you think about being fit, strong and still attractive.

I, for one, do not think female body builders are very attractive. (Sexy isn't a popular word in my vocabulary - there's more to a person than just being sexy or not.) So I don't want to train so hard that I get rock hard abs and huge biceps. But then on the other hand, I would love to be able to wear a miniskirt without looking like a fat 5 year old.

Seems like I'm being picky, right? I'm not trying to be, just trying to find a good balance between fitness, strength and .... looking terrible in the latest fashion or whatever.

Okay, almost done here. My main thing is though I am around the right weight for my age, I feel slightly unproportioned...since I am already shorter than most girls my age, yet my friend Rebecca who is 11 and 1 inch shorter than me doesn't look bad at all in a mini skirt, whereas I go from skinny to wider and wider as we reach the hips and then back to skinny again. And it's not stomach fat! Just....erm...below there...and if ladies are reading this, I'm sure you'll know exactly what I mean.

So....if anyone has ideas, please feel free to comment or let me know!
Thanks a ton! =D

--Sarah Juliet

You want my idea? You're 5' 3" and you barely weigh 100 lbs. I don't think you should be concerning yourself with weight loss forums, because you hardly weigh anything as it is.

Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a 16 year old girl. A lot of 16 year old girls feel fat, even though they are perfectly healthy and skinny. You're pressured by society and it makes you think that you never look good enough. Well, that isn't true. I'm sure you look perfectly fine.

I have a friend who is about your height and she has never weighed more than 110 lbs. She is one of the skinniest people I have ever seen, so I find it hard to believe that you can truly be fat, anywhere on your body. I'm 5' 7" and I weigh around 250 lbs. THAT is fat. 108 lbs is not.

Oh, and the reason that your body goes from wider to skinnier (etc) is because you're 16 years old. I know you probably feel old (I know I did when I was 16), but, like it or not, you still have a lot of growing up to do and your body is going to go through a lot of changes.

Your BMI is 19.1, and norm is from 18 to 24, so congrats. You're actually in the lower range for body mass.

Whether you're still growing or not depends on the start of menstruation. Most girls reach their full height about two years after. In my opinion... you have curves, something which makes you more attractive to others than those without. I really wouldn't worry.

Hey!

I'd say you really don't have anything to worry about, you are healthy and at a good weight. But if as you say, you want to look good in a miniskirt, then you need to put on some muscle. Weight training is not going to make you have bulging biceps or rock hard abs like a female body builder. They have to work very very hard for very very long to look like that. And most of the time they take "supplements". Most females just don't have the testosterone to look like that. When women do weights, we get beautiful sexy tone and curves that look great in a mini skirt. Now, since you are only 16 and still growing, I would absolutely NOT advise you to just get a workout online or out of a magazine and start lifting weights. There are some important things to consider when training as a teenager, and I would definitely recommend getting a personal trainer for a few sessions to make sure you are on an appropriate program. Be sure to ask the trainer if they are qualified to work with teens. If they say no or seem unsure or (at worse) say that it's the same as adults, stay far far away! If you can't afford a trainer, talk to your gym coach or do some very extensive research online or at the library. Good luck!

ChefChiTown - thanks for your comment, and giving me the advice you had. I know what you mean, that I don't really belong in a weight loss forum even though many teenage girls feel fat. I do understand what you are getting at and respect that, but honestly I don't feel fat or insecure about my body...I was just wondering if others had tips on how to be the healthy kind of muscular while still looking good in a miniskirt. Sorry if I wasn't very clear on that.
(Oh, and also, thanks for the encouragement about body changing and stuff...I'll give it more time then....but as Amiwry mentioned...I started something or other when I was 11...and haven't grown at all in the last two years.)

Thank you also Amiwry for your comments - you are older than me and have more knowledge on this stuff, so taking the time to share it with me was kind of you. Thanks

Last but not least I really appreciated your ideas Keepitsimple.
I agree with you about the weight training, I guess I knew it but never really thought about it that way before. My brother does a lot of weight lifting and I have some equipment and my dad has a pass for the gym next to our martial art dojo so I could work out there some.
Being strong and in good shape all over is great, but I'm pretty good from the waist up, shoulders, biceps, triceps etc and I run a lot so below the knee is strong too...my main thing is what about thighs and hips? Besides low horse stances at martial arts and tons of squats I don't really know what I could do for that....

But anyways, thank you all again! Maybe I said that too many times already but I really do appreciate the time you took to advise me.

Goodnight!!

16 year old girls wear mini-skirts now? Where the fuck was this when I was in high school?

Menstr...EWWWWWW!!!

GIRL THINGS, GIRL THINGS GIRL THINGS, GIRL THINGS

ChefChiTown, I have actually never worn a miniskirt but if I was to I would want to look as respectable in it as I do when in uniform for martial arts. Oh, and I would also not wear it any shorter than 2 inches above the knee....though I'm really more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl...like really, who's going to be doing horseback riding or roundhouse kicks in a miniskirt?

By the way, I edited my post just for you...even though I am a girl I will be respectful of all on the forum. No problem

HAHAHAHA, you didn't have to edit anything. You didn't say anything wrong. I'm just the class clown.

Umm, personally, I wouldn't call a skirt that only goes 2 inches above the knees a MINI-skirt. But, that's just me. It's nice to know that there are some girls out there with a little bit of respect for themselves.

PS - Stick with the jeans and t-shirt look. Most guys are pigs and won't tell you the truth, but there is nothing sexier than a woman who wears comfortable clothes.

Oh, okay. Well I did anyways.

Yeah you're right, that's not really what's considered a miniskirt, but I said miniskirt just kinda to make a point about what I was trying to do with weight training whatever. (Incase I *do* ever wear one, I'd not like to look like....who know's what). Y'know?

But yeah, I do prefer jeans

Thanks for the information on pigs....

Haha, respect yeah totally. I really can't see myself in a true miniskirt. Like, what's the point? I train in martial arts for fitness and self defense, then some guy sees me in a silly miniskirt and insults me or does something so I have to use martial arts....and that's not really what I wanted in the first place.

Man you are so lucky you're not a girl!! They can never seem to make up their minds :P (joking)