To feel depressed by this DM article re size 16

[Rachtoteach]

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2342207/Is-size-16-normal--danger-These-women-Britains-common-dress-size-youd-expect-healthy-battery-medical-tests-came-surprising-worrying-results.html

After 37 years on this planet I have finally developed something I wish more women could have - an acceptance of who I am and the ability of being happy in my own body..... even though - shock, horror - I am 5ft2, size 16, 11 something stone. Anyway, I don't cry in the changing rooms anymore . I exercise 3 x week, eat a balanced-ish diet, don't smoke, blah blah blah.

It just makes me sad and mad that the DM have taken 4 size 16 women who each turn out to have some health issues, and declare (effectively) all us size 16 women a picture of ill-health! On the results of four women?!! And implying, or least leaving the reader with the impression, that any other (smaller sized) women would conversely be in tip-top health - all of them, simply based on their size!

AIBU to think that there must be some healthy size 16 women out there and probably some not so healthy smaller women? If I am BU then I may as well give up now as I know I am unlikely to ever be much smaller than I am now.

I am an overweight size 10 (size 8 in some shops). I can't jog for more than a minute but can swim 1.5km without a rest. I was an obese size 16 but there are size 16s within the normal BMI range in the article. I don't really understand what their point is.

It wasn't really aimed at anyone. 'I walk loads' is the generic unhealthy-weight excuse that is massively overused in general.

"big bones" or rather differences in our skeletal structure needs to be taken into account but all too often it is used as an excuse for being fat.

elite athletes are a good example to explain this as they excel in a sport for their body type.

take chis hoy and Bradley wiggins. Both elite cyclists but completely different in bone structure. If for example they were the same height (i don't know if they are or not) and Bradley weighed the same as Chris he would most likely be overweight for his body type.

that said, for most people, a size 16 is overweight with a lot of people normalizing this size.

I am certainly not disgusted by overweight people.

I was a size 16 and 5 stone overweight three years ago and work really hard to maintain my weight loss. I was there once too and know how bloody easy it to gain and how hard it is to lose and maintain. I work hard every day at it.

But we have lost sight of what a healthy weight is and I do think it is concerning that a size 16 is now average, especially when you take vanity sizing into account.

Of course being a size 10 doesn't automatically mean you are healthy but if you are an average sized women wearing a size 16 you are upping your risks and carrying too much fat is unhealthy full stop.

Its not the weight I'm "judging" so much as the eating one packet of biscuits in one sitting and thinking its normal, or the thinking of walking as exercise Lovelygoldboots. tbh I think this whole thing probably over-estimates how interested people are in size 16s or above anyway, other than the medical profession. For me, my interest is sort of a shock at the way some people live their lives and consider it normal and then try to justify it by making everyone else feel bad. Even in my office, there is only one person who falls into that size category, everyone else is slim. Note slim. Not skinny. And the majority are over 45.

I would hope I would consider my life more important than a packet of biscuits.

"Don't read the DM, you'll be much happier"

Exactly! According to the DM someone somewhere is always doing something wrong.

Shenanigans actually coming from a triathlon background, I've often seen Chris Hoy and Brad Wiggins training. Brad has completely changed his body shape from when he was a track sprinter to now. He is almost unrecognisable, and he worked with British Cycling to do it. He was always considered too heavy to be a successful stage racer but he succeeded and retained his strength, which is an amazing achievement, and warm weather training camp gossip was often about how he was too heavy at the start of the season, etc..

Conversely, Chris Hoy used to be smaller and spent years building up his physique for the power to provide the acceleration needed in track sprint cycling.

It always, always comes down to power to weight ratio in the endurance sports.

I am currently 13 weeks PG and (just) gone up to a size 16.

I was a 12/14 before getting PG. I also have a huge bust (36e/f) and my weight at 5ft 5in was 11 stone on a very good day, 11 st 10lbs on a bad day. Its been an issue for me for about 5 years.

A change of job, complacency, more alcohol, less excercise (had a car instead of walking) etc etc etc have all contributed to me gaining weight. I just hope that the baby when it comes is a hungry little bugger and strips away all this excess weight BFing.

A size 16 in most cases is overweight. And we all know it. A size 16 in some countries and maybe 30/40 years ago would have been unusual rather than the norm.

At my bigger size 14 I felt worse than my size 8 smoking like a chimmney, running around like a loon and working in a physically demanding job. I have put on about 6lbs so far in the Pgy and can feel every lb when I walk or try and do something that would normally leave me slightly out of breath.

Shops are partly to blame I think. Before I crash dieted, worked out and smoked myself to a size 8 there were very few 'young' high street stores that catered to a size 16. And the size 14s were a bit unforgiving as well. A friend at the time was a size 16/18 and we were limited to Oasis and Warehouse if I remember to find her nice 'clubbing' gear. And even then it was only available in a few ranges.

However it is a lot easier and cheaper to eat badly. I for one would welcome the 'fat' tax that keeps getting banded around. If more people had to buy fresh fruit and veg, leaner meats and less bloody ready meals and takeaways as a nation we'd be a lot fitter and healthier. I agree with the PP re portion control too. I picked up a couple of ready meal pasta's for me and DD on the way home on saturday teatime reasoning it was healthier than a takeaway. Wish I had gone for fish and chips instead. Huge portion of pasta and cheesy sauce, over 1200 cals per portion. And it was for 1 person.

I am also shocked at how many very young women I see that are blatantly obese. 17/18/19 year olds at a size 20+. And flaunting it in strappy tops, hotpants and saggy tummys hanging over too small jeans in crop tops. Like some sort of perverse badge of honour.

With regards to size 16 people being more unhealthy than a size 8/10/12 person they probably are in the majority. There will always be a few exceptions to the rule. And always some reason why a very healthy person would be a size 16, as there are for a size 10 person being very unhealthy

When I want to slim down I use MyFitnessPal which is very good as it helps you understand the portion size and calorie and fat content of everything you eat, plus the calories you 'earn' from excercise. I was very shocked when I first started using it just how many calories I was eating 'in secret' from myself. I didn't class myself as a 'big' eater and blamed a slower metabolism on the weight that had crept on. It wasn't my metabolism that was at fault. It was me not giving it the right foods and enough excercise to keep it going.

The problem with today is there are so many labour saving devices, so much easy/quick/fast foods, too many desk/sitting down jobs and half the country is in denial about their health. We all need to take responsibilty for it. At a size 8/10 I look too thin, but at a size 14 I am too big. But its hard work to maintain my weight at a size 12, or a 20 BMI. But I need to be there if I want to remain as fit and healthy as I possibly can for as long as I can.

Its everybodies own choice how they look and feel about themselves. And whilst people may be happy and confident at a size 16+ I was happy and confident as a smoker. Stopped and feel much better. Despite denying otherwise whilst I puffed away, and coughed and spluttered every morning lol.

What I do find fascinating is weight and size ratios.

One of the women in the article was size 16 and 11 stone something.

At 13 stone, I was undoubtedly overweight but still only a size 14. At 11 stone something I am now a size 12. My lowest ever weight, 10 stone, saw me at a 8/10 with a v. Low body fat ratio. Yet my friend is an undoubtedly chubby size 14 at 10 stone (we are more or less the same height).

Different builds/bone density etc must make some difference...just not as much as some people try to make out.

Walking is a form of exercise or have a missed something? You don't need to be in a gym to be doing exercise! A good vigorous walk with the dog is a form if exercise! Stop trying to make people feel bad about their lifestyles! You must be 'super fit' to warrant this!!

Lesmis, i used those two as the most recognisable examples of the point i was making in relation to "big bones."

the point is that for some a size 16 is fine for their body type but conversely for most it isn't.

Pretty kitty same here! Around 11 stone sees me at 10-12. Around 10 half a small 10 weird isn't it!! How tall are you??

Apart from anything else, I can't see how all these woman are a 16 without some very carefull shopping. I am 5' 10", i've been losing weight since January - I am currently 12 stone 13. I am taller than all the woman and lighter than two of them. Whist I do have a couple of 14s I fit into and I also have a few 16s that are too big. I mostly take a 16.

I undersatnd what the article is trying to say, in that we are normalising being heavier than we should be, I also think they need to do something similar for men as it's not only woman who are carrying a bit too much weight.

I believe it is perfectly possible to be a 16 and healthy but tbf that is not likely to be the norm.....people of all sizes and weights are unhealthy but if you can reduce your health risks but moving a bit more and eating a bit less then that shouldn't be a huge issue should it? and I can see the irony as I am and clearly was overweight (i'm like a reformed smoker at the moment!) :o

I think walking is just that,walking!! we all do it,some more than others. then there is power walking.

I find the entire weight to clothes size differences really interesting too. I've slimmed back into a 16 and I am most definitely overweight still, and this is a combination of my bad habits and illnesses and pregnancies - but I've worked my way out of the obese category. I'm 12st 10 now. However I know people of very similar heights with very similar weights who wear completely different sizes both higher and lower. My mum has had to go into 16s recently though and weighs a lot more than me currently, shes also shorter than me.

Is far prefer something like this aimed at people in obese bmi category than a particular clothes size. There's far more variation in how we way clothes than there are for those that bmi doesn't work for.

for some a size 16 is fine for their body type but conversely for most it isn't

bambi - please can you explain more about what you mean by that? do you mean if someone is very tall (5 foot 11) or do you mean something other than height when you say body type?

*wear clothes

I think there's a very good case for revamping cookery classes in school to combat this.

The cost of ingredients for one meal is far higher than the cost an average family will spend. So children learn to cook 'special' meals but haven't the first idea about providing ordinary, healthy family meals on a limited budget.

People always trot out the line that it's cheaper to buy processed food than wholesome ingredients, but it's not true. If you give someone £4 and tell them to provide a meal for a family of four, then yes they will get a cheaper solution from frozen ready meals or processed stuff and probably have change left over. However, spend the whole £4 on ingredients and if you know how to cook you will not only have a meal for tonight, but you'll have leftovers and/or enough ingredients remaining to make another meal.

I'm 5'7.

Three months ago i had a BMI of 26. I was 12stone and a size 14-16.

I was overweight and felt horrible.

Now i have a BMI of 21. I weight 9stone 13lbs, and my goal is to get toned and weigh 9.7 stone, bringing my BMI down to 20.

I have worked hard at losing this weight and feel wonderful.

However...

My 5'2 friend is a size 16-18. We were supposed to be in this 'diet and exercise overhaul' together. She gave up after a few weeks and has been criticising my weight loss ever since.

"You look terrible."
"Exercising every day is obsessive - it's not normal"
"A size 10 is unattractive"
"Men prefer curves"
"I'd much rather be curvy if it meant i was happy and could eat how i liked rather than calorie count everyday."

Blah blah blah.

The other day we were looking through photos of our visit to the beach last weekend, and i said something along the lines of "I'm so happy i can see my collar bone again - it's been years!"

My friend made a face and said bones aren't attractive. I look like i'm starving.

I am a healthy weight! I feel wonderful. She is the one who is overweight. Yet when i said "I'm much happier seeing a collar bone there than the fold of fat i used to have", she took it as if I'd said something personal against her.

Anyway, to summarise this rant...

i hate how we are slowly becoming accustomed to accepting being overweight as normal, and must not say anything against this lest we want flamed.

But overweight people can criticise slimmer people without the same consequences.

It's not fair. Every time i meet up with my group of friends (two are obese, one overweight), i have to sit there and listen to their criticism and celebration of curves, and am quickly put in my place when i dare say i'm happier now that i'm slimmer.

Walking is a form of exercise in the sense that cleaning the house is a form of exercise - yes, bodily movement is involved, but your heart rate doesn't rise into the required band and stay there for a minimum of 45 minutes. That is the level of cardio you need to aim for if you intend to significantly change your body shape through exercise, rather than walking the dog for a bit, stopping while he takes a dump, then walking some more, then home in half an hour etc.

Shenanigans Lesmis, i used those two as the most recognisable examples of the point i was making in relation to "big bones." the point is that for some a size 16 is fine for their body type but conversely for most it isn't

I see what you are trying to do but unfortunately in Brad Wiggins you picked the example who most disproves your theory. He is so well known in cycling circles for having changed his body type to become a TDF contender, and it took him years. He is completely different to when he was a track cyclist.

I think theres a lot of confusion on here about how to train and stay slim, or even what slim constitutes. While in the UK, there might be some Amazonian types, I don't think genetically there is much explanation in bone size to cause someone to need to be a size 16 for optimal health, unless they are very, very tall. You would be verging into the realms of gigantism, hormonal disorder, for that to occur. Its not as if huge Amazonian skeletons are found, and its not a recognised British phenomenon to explain the changing size of the average British woman in the past 60 or 70 years.

I would think it more likely that some people are more able to develop muscle easily, but there is still a huge difference between muscle lying on top of lean tissue and muscle lying on top of adipose tissue (fat).

That is not true Cote.

Tabata/HIIT/Metafit/Insanity, even Jillian Bloody Michaels get results from shorter bursts of intense cardio.

I just wanted to add that we should all be walking at least 5 miles (8km) each day anyway.

This should be considered normal and should be integrated into our daily routine.

I walked 8 miles on Saturday. Does that count as excercise I wonder? I used to run. I did about 22 miles a week over 3 runs. But I got too many injuries which came back time and time again, so now I walk. It burns caloies, it gets the heart and lungs working. It's bloody exercise. Exercise doesn't have to tone and sculpt you to do you good.

According to every build-size calculator I can find on 'tinternet I am a large build. if I was a man I would be a medium build. I have 7.5 inch wrist and I am 5'11 tall. I can apparently go up to 176lbs before I am overweight. So yes, bone-size is relevant to how heavy one is, and what dress size I 'should' wear.