Am I unusually heavy for my size or do I have reverse body dysmorphia?

[SaltySeaWitch]

Name change as this is incredibly obviously outing if you know me at all.

I’m often seeing threads with women saying they weigh X amount and are Y size, or have a low BMI and wear a larger size than me or think they need to lose weight. I can’t tell if I am unusually dense (yes I’m aware that muscle is ‘heavier’ but I’m not an elite athlete by any stretch!), or just think I look much slimmer than I actually do 😂

I’m about 166cm. What do I weigh and what clothing size do I wear?

Do just into overweight category with heavier one further along

I think cropped images can be difficult, plus camera adds pounds. I would have said overweight but I think this type of thread is hard to gauge

So..

@HelenHywater

I think that all depends on your build.

I am very pear shaped with a flat stomach and bigger bum and thighs. At a BMI of 20 (9 stone at 5ft 7) my periods actually stop. Which to me indicates that I am healthier at a higher BMI. As much as I’ve been conditioned to think that BMI 20 is the ideal.

My friend and I are the same height and I weigh just under 11 stone (BMI 24/25 I think) and she weighs 9.5 stone. She has skinny arms and legs and a fat belly. I have a slim top half and wide hips and chunkier thighs. I am much healthier than she is.

So while it’s a useful tool in general, the specifics are different for every person.

The most important part of all of this is not to have a large waist measurement.

BTW I don't take offence - they are right on this - UK are heavier than Poles - under 40 anyway

Oh absolutely, we are bigger than the most of Europe. I was just surprised they made the connection with McDonalds to getting fat like us rather than say the Americans.

I agree @Lioupin having a low weight doesn't necessarily mean healthy .There are plenty of people who having eating disorders who are objectively slim. And I think there are plenty of different shapes that are attractive . But generally speaking having a BMI of above 25 means that do you look overweight and you're less healthy too. Like you, I don't look brilliant under a BMI of 20. Although I'm a size 8 then. But when I got there once, my friends were seriously concerned!

I would say Kelly Brook is of course attractive, but she isn't toned and althletic (which is my idea of a good figure - no matter what the proportions are).

Looking at you, you carry the weight all over. Your arms for example are wider than mine as I carry my weight on my tummy (more dangerous) and I have naturally wide hips. (So adding weight on them really does not look good) You look great.

Big stomach doesn't automatically mean unhealthy. i have a 31 inch waist at 10 stone (even at 7 stone 12 and nearly 5ft 9, I had a 28 inch waist - still a large waist) and i have had my 40 + check up done, healthy blood sugar, healthy cholesterol, good blood pressure and no pre-diabetes risk.

@RichardOsmansXraySpecs

This is just a guess - Polish people are more likely to be exposed to British people than Americans / Canadians.

In my mind when I think of countries with heavier people I think USA / Canada / some south American countries before I get to the UK.
If I'm only thinking Europe I think of only UK.
This is just my opinion of countries with a majority of large people and I have travelled extensively for both work and leisure and family holidays since I was 10. I'm in my 40's now.
On beaches, work environments, local supermarkets you just don't see large people like you do in the US etc & UK.

Polish people like to smoke and drink - the ones I met anyway - but that doesn't make them fat.
Their food is really healthy and varied - so I guess it makes sense they think junk food is what causes weight gain.

OP, your lean muscle is definitely why you might feel you weigh heavier than you should, esp with that V02 max score...nurses used to tell me I was overweight at your height & 72kgs and I'd explain I was a competitive athlete because my body fat % was below average for a woman, and then they'd be amazed when my bloods came back and would exclaim over whatever results were in there that showed I exercised a ton.

You look great, and you are super fit and healthy, good on you!

You look fabulous OP! Stunning figure, and I'm not going to guess because it doesn't matter what you weigh or the size of your clothes - you look healthy and I hope you're happy with you!

I have a lifetime of disordered eating (bingeing and restricting) and the slimmest I've ever been is BMI 27-something.

I was a size 12 (at 5' 4.5) and really fit and active. I lost the weight quite quickly and I looked so dramatically different, DH walked past me in the street because he didn't recognise me! People were shocked when they heard how much I still weighed.

You have an incredible figure OP you are slim yet curvy which is the best combo!

My friend is 5ft and size 10-12 and is 14 stone which is heavier than me when I was 5’ 6” and a size 12-14.

I had to witness her going on a couple of different scales just to prove it as I was so shocked.

Since then I stopped weighing myself and just started going by measurements.

I used to find weight loss difficult as I’d be dieting and exercising but my weight wouldn’t budge, so I would think screw it and eat junk.

It’s only when I stopped looking at the scale and learnt that weight loss doesn’t always = fat loss, did I start loosing weight properly and was able to keep it off.

McDonalds was already in Poland when I was there in the mid 90s…

I think there is probably more than one Mc Donalds 😂The poster did not say she was witness to the first ever Mc Donalds in Poland!

Why are you so irritated by her (interesting and relevant) experience?

No, but the quote suggests that the people thought that:

”So many people once hearing I could speak English (I'm not white) commented that now their women will be like British women.”

... yes, and?

Psychic are you?
How do you know what year and what area I'm talking about?!!
🙄

Well they've obviously resisted as they are still slimmer.

I'm a bit taller than you at about 171cm and weigh about 10st 8lbs. I'm a size 12, can sometimes get into a 10
You look much slimmer than I do!

This won't make me popular but If I had to swear under Oath I'd have to say " I think you're fishing for compliments and wanting smoke blown up your arse". The only people I pick up are those who are down. There's nothing wrong your self-esteem op. There are people out there whose confidence is so dire they can't even go out the door must less post a picture on a world wide public site.

@Awwlookatmybabyspider

Agree.
This is desperate.

My friend is 5ft and size 10-12 and is 14 stone

This just cannot be true.

I'm 5ft and at 14 stone I was a size 22.

I'm 8.5 stone now, and size 10. I have 17% body fat with 80% muscle mass, (approx) I have decent muscles, especially my quads. There's no way I could put on 4.5 stone and still be a size 10, no matter how I carried the weight.

5ft and 14 stone is a BMI of 38.
I agree, I simply cannot see how that could be a size 10-12 - that would be quite some vanity sizing!

Yep this.

My friend is 5ft and size 10-12 and is 14 stone

No she isn't.

She wouldn't even fit into the very largest size 12 at 14 stone.

My friend is 5ft and size 10-12 and is 14 stone

No way!

Im 5ft 8, just under 14 stone and am a size 16.