to ask if size 14-16 at almost 5'8 is "fat"?

[CoolToned]

Is it?

KAMbo, I think I looked like you when I was a size 12.

And "dieting" for 2 years is a misguided way of looking at things. To keep weight off, you need to be changing the way you eat for life. 2 years og consuming only "diet" foods would be pretty miserable, but 2 years of eating the food you are going to be eating in order to not get fat again is a different way of looking at things and not such a daunting prospect.

As you get closer to target weight, you need to change your mindset if you're not going to end up back where you started.

adner thanks for response, good to know it's under control of gp. it could be potentially very bad situation other wise.

I want to also eat for enjoyment, not anyalyse everything that goes into my mouth, that sort of thinking is going down a slippery slope. I have the odd bar of chocolate, I have the odd chineese take a away for 1 person which I share with dh, If I have a cooked meal for lunch, I will have a sandwich for dinner. I don't go to fast food outlets, so no I don't anyalyse my food, but try to be careful. Yes I have noticed that some designers/stores have reverted back to the old sizing, a 14 on me, in some shops is really tight, but some not.

I was reading some information and it was talking about dieting, genetics and body shapes. Our body size is not only determined about what we eat, but genetics too, some people like myself carry weight round the stomach, legs and arms are fine, muscular without fat, but the stomach. The same goes for other ladies in my family too. You have the different body types, Ectomorph, Endomorph, Mesomorph, I think the Ectomorph shape is naturally athletic and lean whereas people who are Endomorph, are not, they tend to be more rounded naturally.

I was very slim when young never thought about my shape, ate what I wanted was size 8 happy days! Bigger now but in proportion.

Tbh even if you stay very slim most women change as they age and thicken abit. Staying super slim into your 40s can leave you looking scrawny - friends with abit more weight on them look better IMO. But honestly - it's so so dull, keep healthy do abit of exercise and don't give it headspace.

For those of you with rounded tummies you can't get rid off, I can't recommend cutting out as much sugar as you can highly enough.

I'm mid forties, fattish - although scrub up well enough and getting a podge round my middle that no matter what I did could not shift. My DF has late onset diabetes - although he has never been overweight he has a sweet tooth, as did both my paternal GPs. I was getting some funny symptoms - shaky mid afternoon if I ate too many sweet things, which I'd been having for years but seemed to be getting worse. On holiday as I was mainlining a bag of fudge I suddenly realised that this was not good for me.

So about 3 weeks ago I cut out all obvious sugar products. I didn't buy a diet book or sugar replacements - just simply cut them out. I've not gone extreme about it either so I still eat wholemeal bread and food that might have a small element of sugar, but nothing major and no sugar replacements either like diet coke. My bulgy tummy has completely gone despite having very modest weight loss of around 4 pounds, and more importantly I feel fantastic - no mid afternoon slumps, no dizziness, less tired and I don't feel hungry all the time, which was probably caused by sugar highs and lows.

I had a set back yesterday - had sushi for lunch and something in it - be it sugar in the sauces or too much white rice - set me back and I felt rubbish for the rest of the day. But knowing what I now know, I identified the cause and in a way it's good as it shows me what happens when I do eat too much sugar/refined carbs and I'd rather not feel that way.

Mrsfuzzy - I'd love a glass of wine, but I've cut out alcohol for a few weeks until I go away abroad for a wedding. Maybe a small glass of bubbly after that.

Anyway not entirely pertinent to this thread, but wanted to share.

It depends on your frame and how your body is proportioned. If you naturally have more muscle mass and your weight is all boobs, bum, hips then no. If your belly is the biggest part of you then yes because that's unhealthy. A healthy range for the same height could range from a six to sixteen depending on the person, there is no healthy one size fits all.

I thought "big boned" was just an excuse but there is some truth in it

Definitely. Both my DH and DD are narrow framed, very slight and have tiny wrists. Adult DD can't buy bracelets small enough and has to wear kiddies ones. DH has to have boys wristwatches. They're just born that way and you'd never expect them to weigh the same as someone with an average frame just because they were the same height.

Thanks Rookie I will, I still have to have a teaspoon in my tea or its awful, but the other sources can be eliminated or reduced. Everthing else is fine accept my rounded stomach, I might even feel better too. I have started to home make cakes, so I reduce the sugar in them.

I agree dodo some people are thicker set, some are very bird like and slight in their structure. Its what body type you were born with, nothing can change that, genetics plays a part.

You could try cutting back to half a teaspoon Aeroflotgirl and reduce gradually and see how that goes, also to be hardcore, you'd want to cut out the cakes rather than still eating them. I'll shut up now - apparently I'm getting a bit boring at work about it .

But honestly the difference in how I feel means I can see me doing this for life. I still feel rubbish this morning after eating something wrong yesterday - sort of muzzy and bloated - whereas I'd been feeling absolutely ace, even when I had to do a 15 hr work day involving an early start and a long trip.

Sugar gives us nothing. No nutrients, no vitamins, just empty blood sugar spiking calories. Can't believe I didn't figure all this out years ago.

Anyway sorry derailing again.

Really interesting thread and various responses from people. I'm just over 5ft 8 with size 8 feet. I have very broad shoulders but thin wrists so would no way consider myself 'big boned'. I'm loosing weight at the moment, and am a size 16 now. My target weight is still in the BMI overweight section at 12 stone 7 but I need to be aware that at 46 what will age me.
At the weight I will be a size 14 and look good (I've been there before), so boo sucks to those who say a size 14 is big. It's all relative. Im fitter now than I've been in years, my BP and cholesterol are low. I'd look old and gaunt in anything lower.

Pickachew

Can I ask how old you are, because 1200-1800 calories a day would be a maintenance/weight gain position for me. I have been shocked by how few calories you consume, even with regular exercise, once past middle age.

I take your point about the change in lifestyle and that is all part of what I am working on. Fact remains that to lose the weight at 0.5 of a pound a week, I would have to be taking in fewer calories than I was burning for nearly 2 years. In other words, diet!

rookie realistically I can reduce my sugar intake, but don't want to cut it out altogether. Like I said, I want to have the odd cake, or odd chocolate bar, or when out for a meal with friends have a dessert. I want to enjoy food, not see it in a negative light.

I don't eat sweets or drink fizzy drinks. My biggest down fall is carbs. I think that's why the weight isn't shifting for me. I've never had a sweet tooth really, although when I was pregnant I ate chocolate like there was I tomorrow. Strange that.

no tomorrow not I tomorrow. I swear I'm going to chuck this phone out the window.

For me at 5ft 9 I would feel fat at that size. I found that at a 12-14 and 79kg I felt huge. I've lost 7kg over the past few months and do feel better but still want to lose another 6-7kg. It's actually been really easy to lose the weight with a calorie deficit and moving more. I've eaten McDonalds, pizza, cake, chocolate etc and still consistently lost weight and kept it off.

I'm an hourglass 32GG/H and carry excess weight in my face. Ideally I look best at a 12 top half, 10 bottom - this is a Topshop/Zara 10 rather than a Marks/Next/supermarket 10.

I think the terminology depends on how old you are. Lots of us have grown up saying fat is fat. In recent years people have started to use more polite terminology.

Well, I'd never use the word 'fat' normally - I'd say 'overweight' - but that's the terminology the OP used!

But a bit weird for OP to start a thread canvassing opinion, then everyone kicks off if some of the opinions offend them.

Exactly.

A healthy range for the same height could range from a six to sixteen depending on the person, there is no healthy one size fits all.

I disagree. Not for the same height. There's a range, obviously, but if you're really short then you're not going to be a healthy weight at size 16.

I'd look old and gaunt in anything else

That's the problem isn't it - if you're too slim, your face looks gaunt and haggard and shows up the wrinkles. Much better to have a bit of weight on your bones and it fill out your face a bit more.

It always surprises me how much older celebs look after significant weight loss - ie Dawn French and Lisa Riley - both looked better in the face before

But a bit weird for OP to start a thread canvassing opinion, then everyone kicks off if some of the opinions offend them.

Huh? What do you mean? I hardly posted after the first one!

OP, I think she was saying that other people kicked off, not you

I really think it depends on body shape and composition! I have a wide frame so look skinny at size 12 at 5ft 7. Size 14 I look okay, size 16 I'm starting to look big in the bum, boobs etc. It depends!

KoalaDownUnder

Oh ok. I must have read it wrongly. Thanks! :)