Does your body change every 7 years?

[W-D Forties]

When I was a kid my mum (and most women of her era I knew) held the belief that your body changed every 7 years. Now, I scoffed at the time but now I'm starting to think that there's something in that.

If you imagine that at 7 you are not so much a little kid as a young person, at 14 you have gone or are going through puberty (this would have happened later in my mums day), at 21 you are an adult....

And... at 42 (my ballpark age) your body is getting changing again. Well mine is, and not for the better! The hair on my head is now simultaneously greasy, wispy and dry whilst 'other' hair has suddenly turned into barbed wire, my skin is spotty yet dry, the weight seems to go on sooo much easier and to top it all my recent 'white stripe' hairdo has migrated south :eeek:

If feel like I'm falling to bits! I am now convinced my mum had this one dead right.

Can anyone else confirm or refute this 7 year theory?

 

[Grant Fan]

I don't know... I am not saying you are completely off but I am thinking about it and I don't think it's the case with me but then again maybe it is. I am 25 so 7 years ago I would have been 18. Now I am a size smaller an inch taller and a smidge bustier (not enought to change sizes just fill things out better) But to the change from 11 to 18 had less changes, I just grew vertically a bit that's all. Who knows. It may take a few more 7s for me to know for sure.

 

[W-D Forties]

Whoops! I seem to have clicked twice when posting this - please feel free to delete the duplicate one!

Grant Fan - when I mean when I say every 7 years is that roughly you change at 7, 14, 21, 28, 35.... etc. So you are 'inbetween' at 25. Maybe you will notice a change in 3 years or so (I'm making you paranoid here!)

 

[Drappa]

When I was a child a lady once told me she waited 7 years in between having children because our cells change slightly and she wanted kids who were really different from each other, and she said it worked (of course there are twins or children a year apart that are really different from each other). I have never actually looked that up, but have also never forgotten it somehow, so not sure whether there is any truth in it at all. If you google it there's a lot of stuff like that coming up:
http://dreamhawk.com/body-and-mind/every-seven-years-you-change/

http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=6684

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v10/n6/full/oby200269a.html

http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/8n4j9/i_have_heard_that_your_body_changes_completely/

So, I'm not convinced of it really, but maybe it does for some.

 

[Grant Fan]

no not paranoid at all as it is my mother says it's not fair. Most girls hit puberty and gain weight I lost it. Most women get thicker as they get older I have simply gotten leaner. It's odd

 

[Grant Fan]

Drappa... I am not sure it was th 7 years that made the difference for here. My brother who is closest to my age is 8 and 1/2 years older than me and we look very similar infact when I was little people used to say I looked just like Jeff and it would make me cry because I thought they were saying I looked like a boy. His girls all look so much like me that they could be mistaken for my children if I were old enough to have kids the age od the two older ones. SO I think it is just a matter of the genes you pull form you parents in that women's case.

 

[Drappa]

^Probably, but she was a great believer, so if it makes her feel better
To be fair, I am told that I haven't changed much since I was a teenager, apart from changing my hair colour and style. I have gained weight, but only because I injured my foot and exercise much less than I used to and eat more. A few years ago I saw a kid I used to tutor when I was 16, and he told me I hadn't changed at all (that was more than ten years later). I think changes in hair texture etc. are mostly hormonal, women tend to get them during puberty, pregnancy and menopause.

 

[W-D Forties]

I seem to think my mum's theory was that with cell renewal our bodies 'renewed' themselves completely each 7 year cycle! I think your hormones have a little 'kick' every 7 years or so.

I have just looked through some of the links that Drappa put up. I'm surprised just how common this theory is! I have heard that if you ask people to think of a number between 1 and 10 most of them immediately think of the number 7. Coincidence?!

 

[rue]

I'm not sure about anything changing every seven years, but I've always been told that your earlobes and nose keep growing all your life. My mom also said that when you hit 50 everything starts going down hill and that's when the sagging starts happening :eeek:

 

[C-dot]

My mom also said that when you hit 50 everything starts going down hill and that's when the sagging starts happening :eeek:

My mother seems convinced that I'll start sagging before 30 :eeek:

I've never heard the theory of your body changing every 7 years. Mine seems to change every 7 hours, what with weight fluctuations and all.

 

[rue]

30?! That's malarkey!

 

[C-dot]

The females on my mother's side of the family all say it lol I think it's because I take after the women on my dad's side of the family, who have much nicer figures.

They didn't keep well into middle age, though...

 

[rue]

I don't think that'll be the case with you. I just don't see you letting yourself go at all!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Everything changed for me when I hit 34 -- my metabolism, my fat distribution, my center of gravity, you name it -- but everything's been pretty much stable ever since. I've got some scars I wish would go away, but they're well over seven years old and don't show any sign of disappearing.

 

[Louise Anne]

I not saying any one is wrong or I am even right with thes at all and the ages have change today.

If you imagine that at 7 you are not so much a little kid as a young person............... or some form of child employment
14 you have gone or are going through puberty..................... or school leaving age and first proper employment.
21 you are an adult ..............or you got the vote for the first time.

OK I know it's another take on 7

 

[sheeplady]

I wonder how much of this has to do with different phases of a person's life that happen to correlate or even happen to align with changes in your body. I think changes in our bodies are much more gradual, we just tend to notice them astutely from time to time when something else happens. For instance, seeing all your friends have babies (or having one yourself); making a significant career promotion; getting married; etc. they probably all make you sit up and take notice, and they might make you feel different about your life and your body.

I'd imagine that people go through major life events that make them examine their lives and bodies every 7 years or around that time. We are changing all the time and it is sometimes that we take notice of the changes.

 

[Miss Golightly]

I've never heard the theory of your body changing every 7 years. Mine seems to change every 7 hours, what with weight fluctuations and all.

Well apparently a woman's weight can fluctuate by 5 pounds every day due to water retention etc. so I wouldn't pay too much attention to it.

I don't think that your body definitely changes every 7 years - it depends on how well you look after yourself, whether you have children, stress management (the reason a lot of women have a tummy they can't get rid of is down to the release of cortisone when stress levels rise) etc. I'm pretty much the same as I was before I had my daughter (in fact I'm a couple of pounds lighter) but this may be harder to maintain as time goes on - I hope not but I'll do my best!!!!!!!

 

[TheSwingingBee]

I with you on the 7 years thing, as I'm quickly approaching 28 and I think back 7 years a lot is different, my hair is a bit of a different consistency, my skin is much more sensitive, my body has evened out into a form I rather like. Maybe it is just the perception, but I feel like I've gone through a lot of changes in the last 7 years.

 

[W-D Forties]

I definitely feel as though my body has changed since I was 35. It seems to be changing quite dramatically at the moment and I don't think that's just my perception, although I suppose it could be other factors. I suspect my hormones are playing a huge part.

I do agree sheeplady that those timelines can corrolate with pivotal moments in your life. I had four huge berevements and was trying to fall pregnant at 28 (I had my first child at 30), I had my second child at 35.... so it goes.

 

[maristella]

I feel like mine's changed, and that's just from a few years ago, although I was nearing 21 then, so maybe that was it?!
I'm pretty sure from what I recorded of my measurements and how my clothes fitted, that from 18-21 my hips were slightly smaller, waist larger and bust smaller than now. I've become more curvy, even though I'm roughly the same weight, so that's a fat distribution change. I guess I'll have to wait for my next 7 year mark to see if anything else changes!