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.

5'8'' I got to 11st4lb and was fat.
Absolutely no denying it.

I'm now about 10st, much more muscular /toned and about a size 10. Eat less, move more, lift weights.
But I wouldn't describe myself as skinny I'd need to loose at lease another stone.

"I am amazed at some of the weights and heights that can fit into a size 10"

So am I.

Glittery At 5'8" wouldn't you look rather gaunt at 9 stone?

Noef do you run marathons daily too? HOW can you eat 2000 cals and be that small! I have to eat 1600 or less to lose some weight apparently.

I'm 5'7 and I definitely would look fat at 13 stone. In fact I looked fat at nearly 11 stone.

"I'm 5'7 and I definitely would look fat at 13 stone. In fact I looked fat at nearly 11 stone."

I was just under 11 stone for a while a few years ago (partly due to illness-induced weight loss) and I was a size 10 at the same height - actually looked a bit too thin! I probably look my best around 11.5-12 stone.

Am beginning to think that I am made out of neutron star material, or similar.

fiorentina, me too.

I think a lot of people just don't "feel" fat unless they are morbidly obese, or have spent a lot of their life time at a previously healthy weight. As other pp have pointed out, a huge portion of the population is overweight/obese and that skews perceptions. I don't think many adult women compare themselves to celebrities. There's a lot of "oh but I could do that too if I had a personal trainer and a nanny and a chef, etc etc", but they are just too far removed from a "normal" life. Comparing yourself to colleagues, others in the street, people around you, family members etc is much more pervasive.

Alot of people just don't "feel old" either, but it doesn't change the date on their birth certificate!

OP - To be brutally honest, if you aren't lying about how much you eat/exercise a day, then you should see a doctor about checking your thyroid. Unless you are going through the menopause, the food you list translates as approximately 1325 calories a day. Assuming you burn off a very very conservative estimate of 200 calories with your cycling, that's just over a thousand a day.

Assuming an age of 40, then a rough daily intake to sustain your weight would be 1570 calories a day.

There is of course the possibility that the chocolate and crisps you were eating up until a few weeks ago were adding another 1000 calories a day, but it seems substantial.

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

You are actually in the top end of a healthy weght for your height.

I'm 5ft 5, 40 weeks pregnant and 11 stone. Safe to say I look fat at 11 stone!

Bunbaker
Have a look at the pictures I linked up thread - different frames carry different weight well.

I have a friend who starts to look lardy if her BMI reaches 20 because she is incredibly petite - tiny hips, tiny shoulders etc

On the other hand, if someone doesn't feel fat, or look fat, or have any health issues (eg normal BP, normal cholesterol, normal blood sugar, engaging in an active lifestyle etc.), is there any point in going AHA! BUT YOU ARE DELUDED: YOUR BMI SAYS YOU'RE FAT AND I THINK YOU'RE FAT, SO YOU NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT!? I mean, what does the person gain from the loss, as it were?

5'7 12st and a size 14 bottom 14-16 top. Can wear 14 dresses mostly depending on style, more fitted ones I get the 16 and have tailored. Not fair all these 12st size 12 people! I have big boobs, wide hips and a broad back, but slender limbs and face. I dress well for my shape, (friend was going to order me a size 12 bridesmaid dress untill I set her straight!) but in front of the mirror in underwear I do look tubby.

I was 9 and a half st on my wedding day and my dress was a size 12. Thats the smallest I've ever been and a result of seriously low calorie (silly starvation)diet for a year previously, impossible to maintain.
Im disabled so can't exercise much.

leedy
Yes, they do.

Michael Moseley (the man who brought us 5:2) was not overweight when he started
but he was what they call FITO (fat inside, thin outside)
his visceral fat was going to cause him diabetes and an early death, as it had his father.

Getting his fat levels down has significantly increased the number of years of healthy life he has ahead of him.

I'm 5ft 6 and weigh 9st 9lbs with a BMI of 22.5. I'm a 12 on top and bottom. I've got an hour glass figure--30G boobs, with a clearly defined waistline and flat stomach. I can sometimes find it hard to get tops that fit my boobs without swamping the rest of me. I'm very happy with my body & like my curves (at 39 and after 2 kids, I'm more or less the same size I was At 18). However, I remember seeing a doc who considered size 8 'normal' and thought I might want to lose weight .

I only need to gain a few pounds and I can really noticed the difference. I allow myself to go up to 9st 11lb and then I go to 'code red' and make sure I lose the weight. I feel very miserable and and fat when I go above 9st 11.

"Yes, they do."

But if, as I said, they didn't have any other health issues? It's quite possible to weigh into the overweight territory without having dangerous levels of visceral fat, particularly if you don't put on weight around your middle. It's also possible to lose fat/build muscle without getting noticeably lighter.

Your story about Michael Moseley also illustrates why BMI in itself isn't a great measure of health - presumably his BMI was normal while he was in fact quite unhealthy?

Goodness yes....the choc and crisp binging only stopped a couple of weeks ago so it's early days. I think my weight loss will be slow....I have in fact lost a couple since I first found out I was 13 stone.

leedy
BMI is a proxy for fat - it is ALWAYS worth getting other health checks done - he had sky high blood cholesterol for example.
I've had a full body fat scan done - once you have a picture of the lard around our vital organs its a great incentive to reduce it.

People with excess body fat are storing up problems for later in life.
Get lean and mean when you are young and you are more likely to be healthy when you are old.

BellSt Slow and steady and retraining your brain is the way to go.

Don't think weighing 14st is healthy for a woman of any height to weigh tbh. 6ft dp weighs this and seems healthy on him but he did weigh 22st at one point.

Im 5ft 7 and weigh 10st 6. I wear a 12 comfortably but in pics I look fatter than I feel as well. I look my best at 9st - 9st 5lb. It's just getting longer to shift after dc3 but I have lost a stone so far. Breast feeding seemed to keep my weight up this time .

"Don't think weighing 14st is healthy for a woman of any height to weigh tbh."

Really depends on their height and their muscle mass. I have a friend who's shorter than me and around my weight (13 stone). She's also a champion powerlifter and could probably bench-press me. It's all muscle.

UglyJellyShoes90

Is your DP a driving instructor by any chance? My instructor told me last week that he used to be 22st and now weighs 14st.

The chances of it being him are tiny but I'm nosy

I've found that if you lose weight but think face looks gaunt, if you wait a month at that weight it can look better, as if the weight redistributes once it is stable?

I'm the heaviest I've ever been. Due to a combination of lack of organisation as far as food is concerned, too many temptations and lack of willpower I've put on weight steadily for a year. Part of it was last year when I was diagnosed with a pain condition that put me on medication that made it hard to lose weight (listed officially in the side effects) as well as this year having had an operation that put me on crutches and seriously affected my activitiy rates.

I'm 5'6" and nearly 14 stone. I hate it. I'm changing it. I have dithered with weightwatchers and thought about slimming world. I don't like being told I can't really eat this or that so slimming world is out. And I don't mind counting, but not something where I have to work out points and fork out a fortune for meetings. So I'm off to log into MFP for the first time in ages and start counting my calories again until I lose at least 2 stone or even 3 which would be great for me.