Shit! I'm actually obese.

[pigmcpigface]

I know IABU to register shock at this, but I just got on the scales for the first time in nine months. My BMI is 30.5! That makes me officially obese for the first time in my life.

Shit, shit, shit.

I'm so ashamed! I can't actually believe it's got this out of control. Or rather, I had deliberately avoided confronting this issue until today.

I need to get my act together and make some positive changes to my lifestyle.

@SerenDippitty I spoke to my HV and midwife about it and they agreed that in my parent's home country it would be different.

None of my health professionals were ever worried because they were aware of my ethnic background. My sister is shorter and smaller than me but older.

Honestly we are function fine.

And when we travel back to my parent's birth place we look huge in comparison.

6lb lost in 10 days

2 stone in 3 months

Some of these weight losses sound faster than is healthy.

Well, BadLad, I've just checked because I kept a diary last year to record my progress. It took me 14 weeks and a couple of days to lose 2 stones, so averaging 2lbs a week? I don't think that's harmful.

I guess it shows how much chocolate, cake, and other rubbish I was eating. I've always eaten well in that I like good food and I cook - I just didn't need the rubbish on top. I got myself off the sofa, did the 10k steps a day, went cold turkey on the sugary stuff and reduced my portions generally.

I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the weight came off and I got more determined to stick to it as time passed, because it made me feel so much better.

Not everyone will want to do it my way. I just hoped it might motivate others who fear they're too sedentary, too set in their ways (or too old!).

I have Chinese friends and the pressure they are under to be very tiny indeed by our standards is huge. One of my friends is absolutely stunning, and slim as hell, and she still thinks she is fat. When we take a picture together, it looks like a whale and a gazelle! She is so slender and slight of frame that I suspect Western BMI calculations are pretty meaningless for her.

"When I began I literally couldn't run for a minute (no exaggeration) and now I regularly run 5K!"

This is really inspiring. There is a big block in my head that says I can't run now. Even though I've run a lot in the past. I need to get over it!

All those who are in the same boat as me - if you fancy doing this together, please don't feel this is "my" thread and that you are derailing by posting about your own experience. Because you're not, and I'm finding the company comforting. And all those sharing their weight loss stories, too - you are helping me feel like this is not impossible.

Yesterday I ate 1090 calories and did 266 calories of exercise (walking, 3mph). I was on the phone to my friend for most of the walk, so I reckon I burned at least another 10 calories with all the jaw exercising I was doing . I'm aware that this kind of intake will be difficult to sustain, but I'm determined to use my first flush of enthusiasm (and the fact my system is pretty full of food at the moment) to kick start things.

I think 2lb a week is healthy, isn't it - provided you're eating a balanced diet and all that? It's just REALLY hard to sustain. You've done so very well to keep it up babyboomer.

Yes 2 pounds a week is fine. As I have always veered just about between 9 and 11 stone I never lose more than a pound a week if I try to lose any but the heavier people are (and the fewer calories they eat or more they expend of course) the more they tend to lose.

Love the thought of burning calories by chatting on the phone!!!!!

Can do that endlessly......!

Oh and my weight loss was fast at 5-6LB a week and it was almost all sugar, cake, chocolate and biscuits...the actual food was hardly changed just a tweak of portion size...shocking that the processed crap could make such a huge difference.

Hi @op! I’ll join you. Love a weight loss thread.

I also found that post re C25K inspiring!

I was going to ask this earlier, but didn’t want to hijack. But since the op has said it’s ok... could anyone recommend an app for C25K please?

I’ve just had a baby, (well he’s 3mo now actually- has flown by), and need to lose a bit of weight. I’d love to lose a stone in two months, but expect it will come off slower than that. I’m trying to reduce carbs and massively reduce or cut out processed food (aka crap).

Interesting thread. I feel that I am seeing evidence, from some posters, of the reported "blindness" to what overweight is and to what a healthy weight actually is.

The OP is right to be concerned about her weight - and good for her for resolving to do something about it.

To the posters who are saying that 12 stone at 5'4" is "fine", you are mistaken. What's happening is that so many people are now overweight or obese that you have lost sight of what a normal weight should look like.

I am 5ft 2in and 9st 6lb (so am a healthy weight) and am losing very very slowly - 10lb since the beginning of the year. I only want to get down to 9st or so - I'm a large frame and quite muscular build and when I went down to 8.5st a few years back it didn't really suit me.

BMI is not a fully agreed or understood measure, and it's not as simple as "you are healthy", "you are not". And it is most certainly NOT the case that people at the lower end of the BMI are healthier.

In fact, a recent piece of research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests quite the opposite. The below quotes from an article about the research, not the research itself:

"Firstly, they found that obesity isn't as dangerous as it used to be. The risk of premature death as well as the overall mortality rate for obese individuals (with a BMI of 30 or above) is no longer higher than it is for normal weight (those with a BMI between 18.5 and 25) individuals...Secondly, they found the BMI that is currently associated with the lowest risk of death has increased from 23.7 in the 1970s to 27, which falls in the overweight category."

It is clarified that they're not trying to make people gain weight, and that obesity is not a healthy place to be, but they also say
"Overall, we should shift away from crude numbers as the sole measure of health but take into account dynamic measures like exercise tolerance, total body fat percentage, and other bio markers collectively to assess health," says Sonpal. "BMI is just one component of the overall global health index."

Shape also plays a part in it - with the classic pear shape able to carry a lot more weight without affecting health than the apple, which could imply greater levels of visceral fat.

Weight loss is also not as simple as calories in, calories out, and if you've been naturally thin all your life, you may not be very healthy at all and you don't necessarily deserve any credit for that achievement. Some of my skinniest friends eat horrendously because they don't need to worry about their weight.

OP - please don't starve yourself - you're more likely to fall off the wagon if you do. If you're thinking about keeping to that low level of daily calories (virtually a Very Low Calorie Diet - VLCD), you may be better off doing something like Exante meal replacements, which provides all the nutrients you need, plus protein to keep you feeling full. Slimming World is a slower approach, but it's an effective healthy eating plan for life that encourages lots of fruit and veg, lean meats and complex carbs as well as exercise. (I have no affiliation with either). Be safe and look after yourself.

Source:
www.shape.com/weight-loss/management/healthiest-bmi-actually-overweight-says-new-study

OP
One tip that really helps me is to not start full on with your diet straight away as it's too much of a shock! Have 5 days (?) of easing yourself into it. Cut back and be careful what you eat but give your larks a few days to acclimatise.

My other tip is to keep reminding yourself that dieting is probably the nicest thing you can do for yourself and something that you have full control over. Losing weight isn't easy but it's a fantastic pick-me-up.

No one is saying that Op's weight is fine. They are just reassuring her that it's not that bad and not insurmountable. What it means is that op has about 2 or 3 stone to lose. She's not needing to book two seats on the plane ffs! I imagine reassurance and encouragement that she can do something about her stats is one hell of a lot more useful to the op than all the self righteous self congratulatory posts from people who are not overweight.

If someone posted on Mumsnet "help, I've managed to get myself £5000 in debt and I need to pay it back in 6 months" you wouldn't go on their thread and say "well I've never been in debt. I always have 3 months salary saved as a back up like they tell you to. And so does my husband." Oh wait, this is Mumsnet so probably there would be people queuing up to respond like that !

Great post @YellWat and It's true what you say about BMI but unfortunately I fear it will fall on deaf ears here.....

I'm sat here watching that Hugh Fearnly Whitingstall programme from last night and that's giving me a push. I know I'm on drugs that have caused weight gain, I've shrunk because of spinal arthritis, I have inflammatory arthritis. BUT at some point I have to take personal responsibility and not blame my:
Arthritis
Hypothyroidism
Fibromyalgia

I need to do so I'll join you in taking stock. My mil swears by the 5:2 diet (she's 70, extremely fit, slim blah blah blah) so I think I'll read up on that. I've joined parkrun because people on here have said it's fine to work it.

I'll shut up now

19 months ago I did the same as you joined slimming world and got the guts to stand on the scales there. I am 5ft 6 and weight 12st 10. I was devastated. But I new the time was right to sort it no more excuses. Followed slimming world (not religiously but I needed the discipline of weekly weigh ins), got back to running (used to be a competitive athlete in my teens early 20's). One year later I reached my goal 9st 6. I have maintained that weight ever since and I am chuffed. I didn't find it very hard my weight loss was slow but sustainable. Good luck it is very very doable

Pigmcpigface I'm of Chinese descent I'm not sure about pressure to be small, I just have a small frame. Culturally there is not a lot of booze consumed, nor sweet stuff, cheese or bread. my Father followed quite a traditional diet so steamed rice, loads of veg and fruit and some fish and meat. If you are brought up on a traditional diet it's what your used to. Plus lots of Asians can't enjoy a drink because of Asian blush. I am really very drunk on just two small drinks! It makes some of my friends go bright red and become very ill so they can't drink alcohol even if they want to. It's because of a missing enzyme.

There was a Facebook trend among Chinese women a few years back of posing with a sheet of A4 paper in front of their bodies to show how small they were.

Isn't it interesting that many of the responses to my post here are nasty? That people are trying to accuse me of having an eating disorder and there is something not quite right with me. No one (I've not read every post) has had anything good to say about the fact that I've worked hard to maintain a healthy weight.

I said right from the start that it was great the OP was doing something about her weight. I wasn't asking for compliments on my size. I was pointing out that being overweight and obese has become the norm (as anyone watching Hugh last night would see.) And especially, that normalising a BMI of 30.5 was 'okay'.

There is controversy over BMI but it's a start for most people. Unless you re a muscly athlete, it's a reasonable guide. Some people have large frames, I have a small frame. If you saw me you would not think I was skinny.

But I'm not that unusual; Kylie Minogue and Madonna are almost the same height and weight and I don't see anyone saying they have an eating disorder!

Historically, our family has a history of heart disease, so I am doing my best to avoid that by staying slim but not skinny.

Funny how the tables have turned- we don't have 'fat shaming' now- we have 'slim shaming'!

Lolls, although the point you made about normalising obesity was a valid one, I think what got people's backs up was you posted how you were super slim and had been all your life. It read as gloating to a woman struggling with her weight. There was no need.

You could easily have made the same point without referencing your own weight in thr manner you did. Gloating is never received well.

Equally LollaRossa I'm near the top of my BMI range at 5 2 and 9st 6 and that means fat to many MNers but you wouldn't think I was fat if you saw me, I have a big frame. I think describing size 10 as big is just as nasty. The vast majority of size 10s will be a healthy weight even if they don't fit everyone's idea of what slim and normal is.

I've lost nearly 3 stone since November. At first I was doing a form of intermittent fasting, but it just enabled me to binge when it was time to eat and it was messing with my head. I've since been counting calories with an app called MyNetDiary and I restarted c25k. Yesterday I ran 7.4km and am planning to crack 10k before June.

I still have 2 more stone to get to my goal, but knowing I'm more than halfway there is galvanising, even when I want to give up and binge on sweets. I'm learning to have a more balanced approach to my eating choices and a healthier relationship with food. I can't guarantee good health for the rest of my life, but I can take control over what I put into my body and how much I move it around!

LollaRossa. What you said about people normalizing obesity is correct but unfortunately your post came across a sanctimonious. It makes you look like you are trying to boast rather than get a message across.

The problem Lolla is that you proved you don’t know what you’re talking about when you mentioned needing to know your age to calculate your BMI.

The fact that you disapprove of someone else’s BMI when yours is questionable also didn’t help.

Have you ever had an eating disorder?

Have you ever had an eating disorder?

I wondered about that too. The need to point out your low body weight in the manner you did, to someone who is struggling, indicates a wider issue. Either you're simply someone who likes to point out to others how much"better" you think you are than them, or you are also struggling with weight yourself and it's a major control point in your life.

And no you don't understand bmi either, so all in it was a curious post to make, hence the reaction you've got.