To think I shouldn't be THIS heavy??

[Lotsofsausage]

So to start, I know I am no supermodel. Fairly tall at 5'8, size 14, smaller waist, medium bust. Fairly curvy arse/ thighs but toned. I am fit and strong and exercise 4-5x per week, including strength training.

Now I know measurements and photos are a better gauge than the scales, and muscle is meant to weigh more than fat (but I thought that was bullshit).....I am 14.5 stone! I have a friend with the same body measurements as me and same height and she is TWO STONE lighter.
Can some people just be 'heavy'???

My wife is 5'6" and around 8 stone 7. Deadlifts 100kg. Spends an hour in the gym most days pulling funny faces. Small frame. Small waist. Size 6.

I don't understand either OP. I'm 5'8" and at 15 stone I'm a size 18-20! (it is all fat though!)

Comparing you and me, I can't imagine that half a stone is 2 clothing sizes!

I'm 6 foot and at 14 stone I'm around size 16 so yes I think you might be magically heavier somehow because otherwise it doesn't make sense.

BMI isn't supposed to be a measurement for health

What it is is a tool that allows us to calculate a figure for body mass. We then use that body mass figure and apply it to the countless scientific studies completed that have made links to particular body mass and certain health conditions.

Short hand BMI shows if you have a healthy weight or not

The body mass index (BMI) is a measure that uses your height and weight to work out if your weight is healthy.

'I went up to 21st. I'm now down into the high 16st range, working my way back to that level. I might go down as far as 13st7, but can't really see myself going futher, and frankly don't care what the armchair doctors on this thread think. I know my body, I know how it looks and performs, and will be very happy to reach that'

We aren't 'armchair doctors'. It is scientifically proven that obesity massively increases the risk of a myriad of health conditions.

Many, many obese people are deluded.

Prequelle dunno why my GP said this in that case... Maybe they just say you're fine until you're morbidly obese!?!?

I raised my weight cos doctors never mentioned it, including during pregnancy, so I expected to be advised I must lose weight.

I'm the same. I can be 11 stone and fit a size 10. And can be 15 stone and be a 14-16 when others the seem weight are around an 18 -22

Some people carry extra weight really well, evenly spread out over their entire body. I can see how this could lead to not thinking you're overweight because everything is in proportion to everything else.

I'm 5' 9" and when I was 14 st 4 lb I was a size 18 (and looked it!).

I am 5ft 9" and 11st 12 and a size 12 which is a bit snugger than I would like just now.

I am slowly working towards getting to around 10st 10 / 10st 13 as I feel good at that weight and everything fits well.

I have some clothes in my wardrobe that I cannot wear at the moment.

I would feel and look big at 14st 5lbs and I definitely think I would be larger than a 14. It's funny how we all carry weight so differently.

I am trying to watch mine as I am inclined towards being apple shaped and carry the weight around my middle. I have slim arms and legs (34"!) and of course the middle is the worst place as well as being very hard to dress for.

I would like it if my weight distributed evenly around my body, some people are really lucky with that and they look great. Mine sticks in a horrible spare tyre and looks awful

Prequelle, have you never heard of TOFI? They are the ones at risk lulling themselves into false security they are a ‘healthy’ weight. It is not the weight!!! It is how much fat you have got and where it is situated that matters. I would very much doubt OP could run as fast as she does if she was in poor health.

I stood on the scales the other day and discovered I have gone from 80kg this time last year to 87kg now, but I look slimmer and feel better in myself: tighter torso, hardly any rolls of fat left on my back, pert butt. I was genuinely surprised I put on weight and not lost it going by my mirror image transformation. People tell me I look fit. Yes, there is still some softness around my body, GG cup boobs, flabby inner thigh and still a cushion of fat on my belly. I could probably lose 10kg if I try really hard, but that’s pretty much it. Which will still put me in the overweight range.

I am not fussed, it’s work in progress and I can see things are moving in the right direction. I go by how well I feel rather than the figure on the scales, do I get out of breath, the weight I am lifting, endurance, I can now actually do a proper push up, down to the floor and up. I can hold a plunk for 90 seconds comfortably.

My TOFI ‘healthy weight’ DH can’t do any of the above. And he is starting to feel the effects of his lifestyle now in his forties, I.e sleep apnea, sugar cravings, easily tired etc. I have to almost force him into the gym. And there is a long way still with his diet. But he has never had to worry about his ‘weight’, even with a junk diet and zero exercise.

And please stop this nonsense about people are big because they eat too much, it is the other way round. Being fat makes them overeat. Hunger is hormonally regulated, not a result of one’s virtue or otherwise.

I haven’t suddenly become saintly as I eat less than I used to, I just educated myself about metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance and changed my diet to low carb. My will power has grown so much since I did that!!

Apple shape people, check out insulin resistance. It is a syndrome associated with that particular type of fat deposition. Indeed, it can take grotesque forms with stick thin legs and big fat gut on top of them. The body would even break down muscle in the leg in order to put more fat tissue in the middle section of the body. Linked to cortisol which encourages fat deposits in the belly to protect the organs (as we are stressed/underslept) and higher insulin levels/ insulin resistance. So one’s waist measurement is THE most indicative of one’s health risk. Not good news for apple shapes (which I am one).

Sounds like you have a lot of muscle and are very dense, OP! If you wanted you could get your body fat measured ... Caliper method is apparently most accurate.

Of course skinny-fats aren't healthy, but your risk of certain conditions is drastically lower if you are of a healthy weight. Bringing up skinny-fats is just a 'but what about themmmm' diversion. It's like saying 'but them non smokers also have issues too!!!'

You can be fit, you can run, that's awesome. Doesn't mean you're not at risk of obesity related conditions still. Your risk of the cardiovascular ones may be somewhat negated by the fact you're fit- brilliant. Doesn't mean being obese is a-okay. An obese person doing exercise is going to be healthier than an obese person being sedentary. Both still have risks of obesity albeit not equally. I can't believe it's 2019 and people are debating this.

And please stop this nonsense about people are big because they eat too much, it is the other way round. Being fat makes them overeat

I simply cannot take anything you say seriously after this.

your risk of certain conditions is drastically lower if you are of a healthy weight

Most people are heavy because they have too much fat, and that is known to be associated with health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease etc. This does not apply to people with a healthy body fat percentage who are heavy because they are fit and muscular.

Obese people who exercise regularly are 30 per cent more likely to die prematurely than healthy-weight people who do little exercise, according toa study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Researchers from Umea University, Sweden, monitored 1.3 million men of various body types over a 30-year period. They found the top fifth in terms of fitness when they were 18 were 51 per cent less likely to die prematurely; however, the benefits of exercise were cancelled out when the men were significantly overweight. The study found there was an increased risk ofheart diseasein obese men, even if they exercised, and even bigger increases in some other causes of death, including alcohol or drug abuse, and suicide

Professor Peter Nordstrom, who led the study, said: “These results suggest low Body Mass Index (BMI) early in life is more important than high physical fitness with regard to reducing the risk of early death.”

I think it's possible. Friend of mine is taller than me and about a 16-18. I am at least 4 inches shorter and a size 14. I found out a mere 5lbs separates us weight-wise the other day. I was really surprised.

When I decided to slim right down ahead of my wedding I got down to a BMI around 20/21. I was mid range on weight. And yet I got so much abuse for being too skinny and unwell I've kind of taken from that I am better at the higher end of my weight threshold. I seem to be able to carry a lot of weight before I look fat.

barbara I thought it was obviously that's what I meant but thankyou for expanding if it wasn't clear.

It is very rare that people are above BMI because of their muscle ratio.

Vanity sizing has totally screwed how we view ourselves. Especially Next and M&S who seem to be two sizes out.
A bit of consistency around clothes sizes would help. BMI and waist to hip ratio are pretty accurate for everyone.

And like I said before about BMI, it's been thought (and with some study to support) that it underestimates obesity not the other way round
^
A cross-sectional study of 13,601 subjects in the US[6]compared BMI against BIA (Bioelectrical Impedence Analysis). BMI defined 21% of men and 31% of women as obese, and BIA indicated 50% of men and 61% of women. Results from this study should be taken with a bit of scrutiny, as BIA is a measure of body fat with high variability based on hydration status.^

A smaller scale study (1,691 persons) using DEXA scans (seen as a valid body fat measuring device) found that there was a 34.7% discrepancy between BMI and DEXA for women and 35.2% for men.[7]However, BMI appeared to misclassify women as less fat as they were by DEXA; notable misclassifications include 20.3% of women being obese via BMI while DEXA showed 37.1%, 24.8% of men being obese via BMI compared with 38.4% of men being obese via DEXA. These results have been replicated in which persons in the normal BMI range were actually obese according to body fat percentage (20% of men, 9.2% of females) and more persons in the overweight BMI range were actually obese by body fat percentage (67.2% of men, 84.2% of females).

One meta-analysis on the subject suggests that BMI fails to classify half of persons with excess body fat, reporting them as normal or overweight despite having a body fat percentage classifying them as obese

No it wasn't clear, you said that body mass was linked to certain health conditions without qualifying that it didn't apply to people who are heavy due to muscle and frame not excess body fat.

It is very rare that people are above BMI because of their muscle ratio

I disagree. Many men are, it's partly why a larger percentage of men are technically overweight or obese, it doesn't take into account their higher muscle percentage. Plenty of men are technically overweight or obese despite having healthy body fat percentages due to this.

My own DP weighs 3 stone more than me, but is the same height and this is entirely due to his very muscular heavy boned physique. Even if he had unhealthily low levels of body fat, he would still have a BMI of over 25.

And please stop this nonsense about people are big because they eat too much, it is the other way round. Being fat makes them overeat

How do they get fat in the first place?

I’m 5’7 and weigh about 11.5 stone and I am overweight for my height according to Bmi. Saying that some people are heavier than others but I would say 14.5 stone at 5’8 is quite big. I’d be very overweight at that weight.

See, i'm just 5ft7 and same size as OP but i also weigh 14.5st right now. Yes, i am a bit pudgy, but peopke never ever guess i weigh anywhere near that and i just got tokd yesterday for the millionth time 'oh, i would never have guessed you weight that, i wouldnt say you need to lose weight'.

I do need to lose a bit of weight, but i'd be fucking ill if i ever got to the 'healthy' bmi the nhs wants, and indeed made myself so with an eating disorder for many years!

I think some people are just heavier.

I think BMI is a good guideline, but doesn't work for everyone. It's much better to measure body fat, as well as using weight to height ratio to estimate belly fat levels.

My DH could get to an athletic level of body fat and still be classed as 'Overweight' by BMI. I can be within the healthy BMI range at 35% body fat, which would be considered obese.

It's not easy to measure body fat though, and the scales that measure it aren't that accurate, but the US Navy body fat calculator gives a good guideline.