To just not FEEL that overweight??

[TheHouseOnBellSt]

I'm one stone overweight. That's quite a lot...but I look in the mirror and think "I don't look fat!"

But I must be!

I'm a size 14 on the bottom and a 12 on top..5.7 and 13 stones.

[SunnyBaudelaire]

you might have a really good mirror....
or you might not actually look that fat....it is not enormous after all and you are quite tall.

[HollyHut]

I'm the exact same height and weight, size 14 all over but still feel I look fine when the scales tell me otherwise. I think I have reverse body dysmorphia!

[helenahandbag]

I'm 5' 5" and definitely look fat at 13st and size 14 but everyone carries their weight differently. Five people who weigh the same can look wildly different, it depends on the amount of muscle they have, etc.

If you like how you look then don't worry about it!

[Mrsderekshepard]

I'm also 5,7 and weigh 11st 6 I feel fat and to me I look fat. I aim to loose 1.5 stone.
Can I have your mirror?

[SnapesCapes]

I'm the same height as you and a size 14 top and bottom. I don't think a size 14 is massively overweight is it?

Fat is subjective; next to someone size 6 I'd look like the Hulk. Next to someone size 24 I'd look positively slender. If you're happy, healthy and comfortable as you are I don't think weight and dress size are huge indicators or health. I'd gauge it by how far you can run, how strong your core is, how often you get ill.

[TheHouseOnBellSt]

Snapes well it's a stone over isn't it...which is quite a lot really.

[QueenofallIsee]

Ah, I feel you OP .....then the bastard camera comes out and spoils my delusion!

You probably don't look overweight if it goes on evenly, but as excess poundage goes straight on my ass and face I am dooooomed I tell you, dooooomed

[TheHouseOnBellSt]

I have nicely shaped legs and a good upper body....my fat is all hips really....bit of tummy but not much.

[SnapesCapes]

Holly I think I have the same, went swimming with the DCs last week and put on my swimming costume and felt great while the other Mums in there were bitching that they'd gained a pound, I was like "Look at me, 34 and I can still wear spandex!" It's not normal.

[JackShit]

5' 6" and 10 stone 7 here and I do look like I need to lose weight.

[SnapesCapes]

It does depend on where it is; mine's mostly hips and boobs so it's evenly balanced and I've got nice arms and legs, no arse though.

DS2 did say to me a while ago "Mummy, you have two smiles" and when I asked where he pointed to my actual smile, and then to the smile under my double chin. I think perhaps a size 14 is a bit sturdy, I'm just in denial!

[ladymariner]

I have just read your post and thought, good for you, op!! Too often we get hung up on all the bits of our bodies we don't like instead of embracing the bits that we do, and your outlook is really refreshing.

[Sophieelmer]

Most people are even more overweight so it skews what we perceive as a normal body weight

[Wellytapper]

5'3" and 16 stone here, when I go down to 15 stone I feel thin.

[TheHouseOnBellSt]

I am working on it...I've upped my exercise and reduced my calories. But lordy....I'll fade away!

[LibrariesGaveUsPower]

I feel like this too. I don't do stone, but I know I still have about 6 kg of baby weight to lose (he's one. But in my defence I spent 6 months on medication which affected my weight). Day to day I don't feel overweight, though I know it's only last week that I squeaked back into healthy weight. I think in my mind I still see my body from 6 years ago pre Dc.

Then I look at photos

[Offler]

At 5'7" and 13 stones I looked overweight, and now nearer 10 stones after 7 months of using My Fitness Pal. My BMI was 28, and is now a much more comfortable 22.

But it does depend on how you feel, and I felt awful, I was starting to look jowly, huge stomach and backside (tight 14, but couldn't face a 16) etc.

Now I feel so much better, I even bought my first bikini in about 15 years at the weekend

Mine was all fat though, you could have more muscle mass than me.

[GilbertBlytheWouldGetIt]

As my FIL once said, "Think Thin. I think I'm thin!"

[JaneFonda]

OP I'm just saying this as an observation, certainly not as a dig at you!

I think that as a society our concept of what is 'normal' has been so skewed - we've got the extremely underweight skinny models/celebrities etc. that are portrayed as having the 'right' body, and at the other end of the spectrum we've got people who are morbidly obese, and a growing number of them.

For that reason I think that it's much more difficult for those who float in the middle of the two extremes to know exactly how they ought to look (to be healthy) and what is truly a healthy weight.

My perception of how you look would probably be very different to the next person's, and theirs would be different to the next person's, so base it in how you feel about yourself - do you feel healthy? Can you move about easily and without struggling? Are you happy with yourself? Those are the real questions to ask yourself. :)

[Lucked]

I do this... And then I see holiday photos. How do you look in candid photos? I am 5'9 and my heaviest was 13.2 and look awful in photos but I always left the house looking great (in my head).

[lougle]

It's odd. I'm 5'8 and after 3 children, weigh 10st and see 'podgy' when I look in the mirror. I think it's because I used to hover at 9 st after DD2 and before being pregnant with DD2 was underweight (despite attempts to put it on).

It's probably because I'm small busted so the weight goes on my abdomen.

[MyGastIsFlabbered]

I'm about 1 1/2 stone overweight according to BMI and I'm a size 10-12 but only 5ft. I recently lost 2 stone but am really struggling to lose any more. I still see the same shape I was before I lost the weight so think I'm huge and flabby.

[GizzyTiedToATree]

I am 5'7 and around 12st. I am a size 12 top, 14 bottom and I do look fat. I need to lose about 2st.

[ungratefulfecker]

Something I'd suggest is taking a picture of yourself in your underwear, without including your face. I think this will help you to be more objective as you don't be focusing on how 'you' look, you'll just be looking at 'a body', IYKWIM?

[Mistigri]

I agree that we have lost sight of what "normal" is, but it's true that people carry their weight differently, and for a small minority BMI might not be a good guide. My daughter and I are the same height, both size 6-8, yet she weighs a good 6-8kg (more than a stone!) less than me. I am naturally a lot broader across the shoulders and carry more muscle.