How big to be considered fat?

[Iamhappytobehappy]

On the tails of the many threads on fatness / obesity and how bad it’s perceived I have started to wonder how people see me.

I consider myself big-boned (yes I know but I swear I am!) 5.7 tall and a size 14/16.

I don’t think I look fat. I am not slim or skinny but not fat.

I have been a size 12 and people seemed more attracted to me but I was also 20 years younger so not sure being bigger is the only factor to take into account.

AIBU to feel those threads are not for me or Am I self deluded and everybody pities me and finds me ugly, hopeless and fat because I am over what is a healthy weight for my height?
I am very active and so quite muscly. Eat healthyly but would need to starve to be the same weight of 20 years ago!

Tell me when do you start considering someone fat?

[WrongKindOfFace]

I'm similar to you OP and icannystandit I'm 5 ft 8 and wear a 14 in most bottoms and a 16 in some tops. I weigh 13 stone. I know I'm on the chubby side and not slim but eat a balanced diet and walk around 8 miles a week so that will do for me. I've painted this weight since my mid 30s so reasonably happy

Did you really mean just 8 miles a week That’s just over a mile a day. It’s really not very much exercise.

[Iamhappytobehappy]

Haverhill!
Exactly- I feel I am on a different scale so I should try to fit into something that it’s hard for me extremely hard to maintain to be within somebody’s norm

[sizzledrizz]

Frame sizes do vary but not by enough to be two or three sizes bigger than you should be. I'm considered small framed, my wrists are 6 inches, I am 5 ft 5, size 6 (usually) and weigh 9 stones. I have a body fat percentage of 17.5% and a BMI of around 20.
It is body fat levels that will have the biggest impact on your health. If you are concerned about your health, then add some weight training and clean up your diet if it's unhealthy, join a gym and get a personal trainer if you can, or just take up some home workouts. Fitness Blender is good.
It doesn't matter how others see you, whether they think you're fat or not, what matters is how you feel and how you see yourself

[Iamhappytobehappy]

Autocorrect gone wrong.

Corrected message:
Haverhill!
Exactly- I feel I am on a different scale than normal ladies so I shouldn’t try to fit into something that it’s extremely hard for me to maintain just to be within somebody’s norm

[haverhill]

Agreed, Sizzle. ‘ Large framed ‘ people can add only about 5 pounds onto the maximum healthy weight for their height. At my height I can weigh 12 stone and still be in the healthy range. For some women, this would seem enormous.

[totallywired]

I found this which is supposed to help determine your frame size
medlineplus.gov/ency/imagepages/17182.htm

[cheesemongery]

I'm 5'8 and 14 stone - I consider myself fat - because I am, I'm a size 16 in mose shops.

I used to be 9 stone before kids, but I was incredibly thin then, I think I'd be happy at about 11.

With regards to big boned, I know what you are saying - no matter how much weight I lost, it wouldn't get past the fact that at my skinniest my hips were 38 inches! My stomach was 24 so I had a huge curve difference there, it's just a shame I didn't have any boobs to compliment the top half.

I probably wouldn't look at you and think you were fat though, just average (which sounds worse)

[sizzledrizz]

I am actually heavier than at least 3 of my friends that have bigger wrists than me, yet weigh the same as me but are visually bigger. Frame size doesn't account for obesity, not saying that you're obese OP

[Iamhappytobehappy]

sizzledrizz
At my last health check up I was told I have the test results of a healthy 20 something.

Probably down to genetics and also because I lead a very boring life and excercise 4 times a week, only drink water, never smoked and meditate to counteract stress.

Food intake isn’t the only factor when trying to keep healthy.

And food is my only vice...

[haverhill]

and yes, Iamhappy, I remember feeling like a giantess as a teenager next to my 5 foot 6 stone best friend!

[Lovemusic33]

I’m 5”3 and a size 10/12, I don’t know my weight, I go by if my clothes fit or not and at the moment my size 10’s are tight so to me I am fatter than I would like to be.

[universe00]

I would go by your BMI and your body fat. I'm also 5.7 and size 10-12 weigh around 10 1/2 and I think that's average for my height. When I was a size 14-16 I defiantly considered myself over weight

[sizzledrizz]

OP, if you know that you're healthy, and feel fit, then don't worry about how others see you. I get called skinny and weak by much bigger people, even though I know I'm stronger than them, I can dead lift 95kg. I won't pretend that it doesn't get to me sometimes, but I have to remember than I'm strong and healthy and that is all that matters

[LizzieBennettDarcy]

I take what people say on here with a pinch of salt to be honest.

One thread had a poster who was my height and weight and she insisted she was a size 14. I'm a 18/20

And one weird thread today had a poster claiming she was a size 16 and having NHS bariatric surgery as her BMI was 40.

Utter horse shit.

[Polkapjs]

I’m overweight and 5’2 and nearly 11 stone. I’m visibly bigger than I could/ should be and even 10 years ago would have been considered chubby but today my friends (maybe because they’re friends) say I look fine. I don’t. I look pregnant. So that to me is the line. Looking pregnant when not
That’s my line. Back fat is my other. They’re my markers to rein it in

[bluetongue]

I’m 1.5 kilos overweight and being an apple shape have a podgy tummy. I consider myself fat. Being short with largish breasts doesn’t help either

[hiddeneverything]

I'm only a few pounds more than pre baby weight, and have lost three stone since giving birth, but I genuinely can't see a difference in myself in photos from January compared to now. I see all the other mums and see that they are all slim and fit, and I just feel really fat. I've previously been this weight and felt slim?

[Iamhappytobehappy]

Thank you cheese!

[SemperIdem]

I’m conidered to be slim but am really about a stone over the weight I look my best at. So I’m 5.6 and a bit, weigh 10 stone.

Stood next to my very petite grandmother I look enormous. Her heaviest weight was 8.7 stone...when she was full term pregnant. Neither of her babies were small either!

I have noticed (I work with a diverse age range, am not a teacher though) that younger people are bigger, as in chubbier, more often than they were when I was the same age, and I’m only just 30.

[Iamhappytobehappy]

shaggedthruahedgebackwards
Totally agree with you.
I go by the way I look and if I perceice/ feel or see any ‘overhang’
then I cut down on food

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

I’m 5ft 6 and weigh ten and a half stone. This time last year I was a stone lighter due to terrible health problems, so now I feel fat, despite having been happy at my current weight for years and years. I am a healthy BMI and wear a 10, sometimes 12, so I don’t think most people would call me fat. I walk about 25 miles a week, which helps counteract my greed.

[SerenDippitty]

One thread had a poster who was my height and weight and she insisted she was a size 14. I'm a 18/20 shock

Two people of the same height and weight won’t necessarily be the same dress size. Fat distribution and body proportions (long legs/short body or vice versa) can make a big difference.

[Iamhappytobehappy]

Semperdelm
I am with you on this one. Next to my childhood friend I look good to normal. Next to my mum I am huge!
With some of the threads on mumsnet I feel big too!

[EK36]

I suppose people are considered fat if they have big rolls of fat. Dress size and weight is irrelevant.

[shesabloodywitch]

We were chatting about this today. 3 friends are all 5ft 4. I weigh under 8st one weighs 9st and one 10 yet there isn't a massive difference between us (maybe one dress size) . I look bigger at 9 st than my friend looks and I would look twice the size at 10st than my friend does. And this thread is a prime example as there is already someone who weighs a stone more than me saying they are a size 6 - I'm a size 10 (maybe an 8 in some stores) but never a 6 and I am very small framed. It depends on the person