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?

Obviouslymarvellous
You hit the nail on the head! I will never ever look skinny because if my wide frame too. My aim is to look and feel good in my skin.

There is lots of self loathing from some posters which is never healthy. I guess that self loathing spreads to others when these people manage to lose some weight and do the cycle continues. You are always fixated on weight/BMI shape either yours or somebody’s else. For some becomes an obsession and they never feel truly happy.

I am with those that are happy the way they are. If bad health creeps up on me I will deal with it, however there are downsides at being too slim too .
On the positive side for us with perceived higher than normal BMI:

The interesting thing that is substantiated on this quest is heavy people with a BMI over 33 never get Osteoporosis. They have greater bone density. Bone density is increased when you do activities that put stress on the bone structure like weight lifting or in this case carrying more Weight.

*Can you honestly say that a grown woman would look healthy at 6lbs 5? That's what the BMI scale says my range should start from. I weighed more than that when I was 11 and I wasn't a fat kid.

6st 5lbs is the bottom range for a someone who is 4ft10. That is very short for a grown woman. The average 11 year old girl is 4ft 10 apparently. So I don't think it's that ridiculous?*

Can you really compare a mature fully developed adult woman albeit a short one with an 11 year old child though?

Sorry bold fail.

Can you really compare a mature fully developed adult woman albeit a short one with an 11 year old child though?

I'm not doing a direct comparison, just saying that 4ft10 is very short, so 6st5lbs isn't a that low a weight for the very bottom end of a BMI scale.

"Big boned" makes me think of these memes

When your waist measurement is more than half your height measurement

Gosh @starrynitelight looking at those memes it's no wonder access weight causes us so many health problems.

I would say it mostly goes off BMI. That said my BMI is currently around 23 and I look overweight. For me I look healthy when I weigh less than 8 stone. I do think as a society we've become conditioned to not recognise overweight and obese as much because so many people are in that region. It's become somewhat normalised.

I think unless you're over about 5 foot 8ish, anything above a size 14 looks and feels a bit fat (I'm not judging, I'm usually above this size myself). I would consider anything over a size 18 seriously obese / uncomfortable (from personal experience).

You seem to attach a lot of importance to size though OP. Just because someone is big it certainly doesn't mean that they are ugly or hopeless. Or that everyone feels sorry for them! There are lots of beautiful bigger women. Personally I would just assume that their figure isn't their topmost priority at the moment - that they have other (more fun or more important) things to work on in their lives right now.

I can wear anything from a 14 pant to 18 depending on make as for tops def a 16 sometimes an 18 but again I am very broad backed nothing is going to change that. It seems a lot of you would call me obese? I could exercise all day every day and still have a broad back as long as I feel healthy and good inside I don't give a rats ass what a scale or some bmi chart is telling me.

We’re the same height but you weigh double what I do do you have a very wide frame? I would be absolutely huge at that weight!
To be fair if you are 5'6" and 7 stone you are more than a stone underweight

I think a lot of the problem with the whole weight thing is that when you’re in your 20s and 30s, even 40s most people can get away with being overweight without it causing any obvious health difficulties. It’s this age group that is so vocal about fattism- they’re the ones posting all over social media about body acceptance and how you can be fat and fab etc etc. It’s when people get to 50 plus and have lived a lifetime of being overweight and health issues start creeping in that people begin to realise being overweight puts an immense strain on your body, not just your bones and joints but your internal organs too. As a younger person it’s not something people think about or worry about. But it is like a ticking time bomb.

I say that as someone who struggles with their weight and has a health condition with means I need to rely on daily steroids for life (Addison’s disease).

I have no idea what I weigh but I have a pair of skinny jeans that I bought when they were still quite a newish thing so probably about ten years ago, they still fit me and are a size 10. I'm around 5ft 5.

I'm not convinced about big boned being able to make such a big difference overall. I'm seeing my friend who is a retired pathologist later so I'm going to probe his brain on the issue.

Perception of what is considered “fat” has changed over the past few years as being overweight/obese has become the norm. I am a normal weight and very healthy, my mother who has always been overweight/obese or morbidly obese has always commented on me being too skinny. The reality is I’m not skinny, her perception of what is a normal weight is skewed by what she sees.

I think it’s hard to say whether someone is “fat” going off a size, weight or even BMI. My housemate at uni was over 6ft and a size 14, she looked quite slim and I was very surprised when I tried to borrow her clothes that she was a 14. Then again I know people who are only a 12 and look quite plump. I guess body shape and height has a lot to do with it.

Generally speaking though I’d say a size 14 is probably going to be overweight if you are average height. I personally wouldn’t describe someone as “fat” it’s not nice.

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

Yeah, dressing sizing is fucked nowadays.

I am getting into size XS or S and I am three stones heavier than I was in the 80s when I was an M!!!!

Lots more give and stretch in clothes now too and loose styles. Fashion has adapted to the bodies of today. I don't feel thin because I am getting into XS and S sizes. I know I'm still fat

I'm 5'7 and weighed 14 stone and a size 16/18 depending on where I shop....I'm down to 13 stone 4lb but the last 4lb is being a bastard to lose! Would love to get down to 12 stone...I don't consider myself fat...I do consider myself overweight.

I'm late 50's, 5ft 4, broad framed, and have never really been thin, even in my 20s when I cycled everywhere and didn't eat that much! When I put on weight it sits around my middle in a classic apple shape, but also around my back.

I recently lost about 2 1/2 stone and would say I've taken myself out of being "really fat" to "much less fat", but still not entirely satisfactory. My BMI is still just within the obese category, but I seem to have reversed the pre-diabetic state I was in a couple of years ago. I'm using BMI as a useful measurement, partly because I've been doing this primarily for health reasons, and my aim is to get out of the "obese" category. I suspect that will be it for me - not convinced that at my age and general body type I'll ever be able to get much lower. I do think you need to take age and body type into account with some of this.

The shorter you are, the less leeway you get because your aspect ratio is smaller (or bigger?!) so someone who is a 12 at 5ft looks much fatter than someone who is a 12 at 6ft. And there is less surface area for the fat to be distributed so you get bigger measurement wise more quickly.

That's my excuse anyway, I always think if I was a few inches taller how much better I would look!

Agree that the perception of 'fat' has changed as well, with vanity sizing and man made stretchy materials. I would be huge by 1950s standards!

Not falling for this thread and following accusations of 'fat shaming' when the OP clearly thinks she is fine.

Too busy trying to convince my poor, slim and healthy 10 year old DD that the majority of fat/obese children calling her 'a stick' and 'underweight' in her class (of 16) are wrong. The boys all have breasts.

Sick of it, utterly sick 'don't fat shame' but 'thin shame' all you like.

To me, yes a UK 16 is definitely large, fat? I don't know, depends on your weight. I would not be happy with 'current UK size 16' at your height OP, no.

But what about osteoarthritis?

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3954747/

"Increased BMI is associated with increased diurnal strains in the articular cartilage of both the medial and lateral compartments of the knee. The increased cartilage strains measured in high BMI individuals may, in part, explain the elevated OA risk associated with obesity or may reflect altered cartilage mechanical properties in subjects with high BMI."

The fact is that the word 'fat' is now a loaded word in a way that 'thin' is not, though in fact they're both terms used to describe people who are not a healthy weight. It's a word that we're not allowed to use because of the way it's been used to bully people in the past.

If your BMI is outside the healthy range of 20-25, it is a fact that you're overweight, and could be described as 'fat', I'm overweight myself btw so I'm not being unkind here.

People forget that muscles weigh more than fat.
So you might be 5.7 a size 10, 9 stones but flabby or a size 14, 12 stones but toned and muscly. If you are inactive and eat rubbish but still keep a low body weight you might have fat around your organs which is not healthy anyway.

Broad shoulders and larger hipbones will distribute the weight differently.

I am shocked at the people judging others as fat and deluded about their health just because of the size. Quite an eye opener. It explains vanity sizing and why it works with people being happy to get into a smaller size to feel they are normal?

Anyway - really appreciate all the views. It’s fascinacting to see how wide the spectrum of impression is on this.

Age is a great factor and genetics, drinking, smoking, drugs and stress play a bigger part on how you fare in later life with your health a lot more than if you are a bit overweight /over what is considered a healthy weight.

I'm 5' 2" and 9 stone 4lb. so a bit overweight but I take size 6 shoes so I'm not a small frame.
My friend is same height and is 8 stone but takes size 3 or 4 shoe. We are very different in build. She has small hands, mine look like shovels.
I'm never going to be same size as my friend. I'm size 10 trousers and 12/14 tops.
If I get down to under 9 stone, my face looks awful and people ask if I'm not well.