Haha, I'm with you! My own (possibly unreasonable) peeve is when girls looking otherwise amazingly hot in their underwear or a bikini have still got their socks on. Not lovely, fluffy, I'm-at-home-all-snuggly cashmere ones, but inside-your-trainers not-meant-for-glamour ones. Take em off!!

Yeah, I hate my FANKLES!!!

I get swollen ankles by the end of the day regularly, even though I don't stand for a living, and have noticed that three things make it worse: hot weather; drinking alcohol the night before; and inactivity. So if I sit motionless at my desk all day in August with a hangover, I have fankles by evening. Such a sexy look.

I was advised by a sports massage therapist to avoid heat, booze and inactivity (obviously) and also try:

1. Plunging your feet/ankles into a bucket of ice cubes & cold water, for as long as you can bear it;
2. Body brushing with something like an Elancyl massage tool or other knobbly massage mitt, in upward strokes from foot to knee (do it sitting down with your legs horizontal out in front of you - has little effect whilst standing, or sitting with your legs down below you);
3. Lying with your legs above heart level (eg lie on the floor with your legs up the wall) to give the capillaries a fighting chance to return the fluid to ... um, wherever it belongs.

I also heard someone advise reducing salt intake as this can be a cause of water retention.

Is it just me, or is it impossible to take George (UK version) seriously though? Whenever I look at him I want to laugh. He looks like Pob for heaven's sake (in a good way, natch). He was great in comedy roles like History Boys & Gavin & Stacey. But mean werewolf slash Serious Guy who's in love with Nina? Nah.

I'm fairly certain most people who are not egomaniacs or delusional about their godlike status have been through what you describe. Unfortunately there's no quick fix to make it vanish in a puff of pink sparkles. Look at other people - how many of them are truly amazing? I don't imagine you want to be like them anyway. Some of your characteristics you listed are positive anyway - who wants to fit the trends? Yawn! My only advice is to focus on what you enjoy in life rather than obsessing about finding a great relationship. Cos one thing I know is that whether you're with or without someone, you're still essentially on your own. That might sound depressing but it's not - you know there's one person you can always rely on to get you through, and that's yourself. Go & have fun & forget about what you feel you should be doing or how other people might want you to be.

I think I have a reasonable idea of how much you like the curvier girl . So you have to start from there and assess how important that is to you, whether it's a deal breaker or whether it's just the "icing on the cake" if a girl who fits with you in other ways is also a bit of a stunner in the curves department.

I don't think it's shallow. You are attracted to what you're attracted to. We can't help that. But only you know whether your preference for fatter girls means you're never going to be attracted (or sufficiently attracted) to this girl if she keeps losing weight, or even if she stops right now and stays as she is.

But I would second what other members said above about telling her how you feel. Not necessarily come out of the FA closet or anything dramatic. Just that you liked her figure as it was when you met her and that if she's losing weight because she feels you might like her more that way, then she should rest assured she doesn't need to do that.

Because if I remember rightly, you're quite a fitness fan and she might well think that you admire the same qualities in a girl as you prefer to maintain in yourself. It would after all be the obvious conclusion for her to reach.

Don't get annoyed by her weight loss though - she's not to know that you would rather she didn't until you tell her. But avoid, if you can, telling her in a way which means she starts altering what she wants for herself in order to please you, as that wouldn't be fair - or at least, not this early on in the relationship.

Good luck!

F

Wait, this thread is about the concept of getting married! How has it got hijacked into something as incidental as the ring? (Ok, I agree the ring is important, but... we're talking about the rest of your life here!!).

Focus people. Should this lovely girl be getting married at 18, and should she be the one to get down on bended knee?

You're so young and you have the whole of your adulthood ahead of you. Is there a pressing need to get married right away? I'm by far not the best person to be giving marital advice, but you don't mention if you've discussed the possibilty together. Does he see his life panning out in the same way that you do? Does he see himself growing old with you?

You say you asked him out in the first place. Wouldn't it be good to know that he didn't just go along with that, capitulate and take the easy route? Wouldn't you feel more secure later knowing that he had demonstrated that he actively wanted to make his future with you?

The only advice that I genuinely feel I'm qualified to give is: don't marry a man who can't be arsed to ask you himself.

Having said that, if you do decide to ask him, I REALLY hope it goes well and you two end up happy for the rest of your lives!

Good luck!

Fx

PS. don't listen to me. I'm old and unmarried... not that I'd have it any other way

Ultimately only you can answer that! You might want to think about what drew you to joining this site or what you enjoy looking at/reading about/chatting to others about most. It's a voyage of discovery - don't assume you have to fall neatly into one pigeon hole. Perhaps you're a bit of several things - feedee, encourager, FA... or maybe you'll develop other interests where you didn't realise you had tendencies before. Don't feel you have to label yourself and see where it goes. Oh and it seems conflicted emotions are common, so what you might love one day you could be sceptical about the next. Have fun!

That's the most compelling advert I've ever seen for the aesthetic benefits of a soft round tummy...

That Fawkesey, she knows how to rock a corset. Without doubt the BEST lingerie on the site.

*sneaks into Fawkesling's fancy underwear drawer and runs off with half the contents*

I'm still reading!

The problem with an arrangement whereby you're her "first choice" as and when she's ready is that it leaves you both with the sense that it's not yet packed away with the ends tied up neatly. Unfinished business. There might be more to come. Doesn't that result in neither of you being truly emotionally free to move on?

Maybe you don't want to be. It was just a thought.