n00b intro

Hi all,

I just joined the forum.  My name is Khendra.  I'm 24 and female.

This forum is of interest to me since I'm one of the people who has found success with calorie counting and exercise.  For most of my adolescent and adult life, I've been around 5'1½" and 115 lbs.  However, starting in late 2007 and going through summer 2008, I got up to nearly 140 lbs when I started eating poorly in graduate school.  When I found out I had technically reached the overweight stage for my height per BMI standards, I knew I had to do something.  Basically, I reduced portion sizes, which in turn reduced the overabundance of calories I was taking in.  I also started to eat healthier foods, period, and began a new exercise routine.

Well, it's been almost exactly a year since I started those changes, and I am happy to report that I am back to my 115 pound self again.  I didn't have any gaining relapses; I lost the 20+ lbs gradually over the period of a year.

A few other measurements: 33/28/36, 20" thighs, size 8 pants.  The 36 is mostly derriere as I have narrow hips, lol.  I'm happy with all those measurements except the waist one..not sure why it isn't around 26 inches given that I am at a normal BMI now - even when I was down to 105 lbs. at age 17 (my lowest ever post-pubescent weight), I still had a 27" waist.  It seems like most women regardless of size normally have a 10-12 inch difference between the backside and waist, but somehow I am always stuck at merely an 8 inch difference (even half a year ago, when I was halfway through my weight loss stage at about 123 lbs, I was 34/30/38).  So, if there is a way to reduce waist size that I am not aware of, that would help.