To be surprised I'm overweight?

[overweightcat]

I don't know why but it's really knocked me for six.
I went on the NHS BMI calculator and found out I'm classed as overweight.

I'm 26 and weigh 74kg at 169cm height. Looking at it writing it down I realise it's quite a big number (weight) and before even going on the calculator I knew I'm carrying some extra weight and wanted to loose some to feel a bit better about myself but didn't realise I'm overweight.

I don't hate my current body, my stomach isn't flat but not huge, I've got some stretch marks and a bit of looser skin from 2 pregnancies, my thighs and arms are a bit bigger but I didn't think it was excessive, I've got a good bum and ok boobs all things considered and I'm curvy(ish).
I'm also quite strong and I know some of it will be muscle but definitely not all I'm not silly enough to think that.

AIBU to be really surprised I'm classed as overweight?

For some reason it's really shocked me and I'm feeling very self conscious since finding out.

My BMI is 17. That's made me upset. I've been trying hard to gain weight but I guess I haven't done enough. I feel like being underweight is worse than being a little over.

I’m considered obese as a size 18. Bmi is crap.

18 is one of the largest sizes you can buy in many high street shops - it’s not an average size and certainly not a healthy one for most people, unless you’re exceptionally tall with a much larger than average skeletal frame. Being outraged by the fact that a size 18 is on the far end of the BMI scale or thinking that a size 18 is simply ‘considered obese’ rather than being obese is just plain delusional.

Honestly, even at my smallest (I looked anorexic), I had a BMI of 24. My current BMI is 27 and I'm so happy with my body. Don't let BMI worry you.

You looked anorexic with a BMI of 24?

Have you ever actually seen an anorexic woman??

@awkwardbuttons

Both in current cigarette smokers and in lifelong non-smokers, overall mortality was lowest at about 22·5–25 kg/m2, but the excess mortality below this range was both relatively and absolutely much greater in smokers

Yes, smoking is bad for you. Doesn't change that the ideal weight range mortality wise for non smokers was 22.5 to 25. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make?

You don't sound overweight to me, and I implore you to think twice before getting too caught up in weight and food. You could well end up in the dieting yo yo cycle so many women do, wishing they'd never started and looking wistfully at their earlier 'fat' bodies.
You are young and strong and don't hate your body, which means you are already doing better than most (there are statistics on this)!
Try to resist the dieting madness, read up on body positivity and the dangers of restricting your food intake (most notably binge eating disorder). If anything, do more walking or whatever exercise brings you joy, and don't eat junk food daily.

@Shiningbright9729 but a size 18 is obese is it not? You might be very happy as you are or you might hate being that size, but the reality is a size 18 is very overweight and medically recognised as being obese.

I’m quite baffled by all the BMI denial, when the healthy BMI range is so vast. People seem very quick to knock professional health advice rather than looking at perhaps a more obvious potential problem - check your scales are working correctly, they’re more likely to be wrong than science.

Honestly, even at my smallest (I looked anorexic), I had a BMI of 24. My current BMI is 27 and I'm so happy with my body. Don't let BMI worry you.

You looked anorexic with a BMI of 24?

Have you ever actually seen an anorexic woman??*

this ^^. And actually quite offensive to suggest people genuinely struggling with anorexia*

Seriously taking her to 8.5 to 9 stone? What rubbish my 15 year old is a size 6/8 is 169cm and weighs 8.5 stone - she's tiny and I don't expect her to be that weight or size when she's 26.

I don't see why not. It's not compulsory to put on weight as you get older

You don't sound overweight to me, and I implore you to think twice before getting too caught up in weight and food.

Oh that's ok then. Never mind what the NHS say...

Surely if you’re a little bit overweight it’s better to get into the healthy weight category, before you start worrying about being in the lower end of the healthy weight category?

They wouldn’t call it healthy weight if it was an unhealthy weight.

Most calculators will say along the lines of;
you’re at the top end of bmi, so you’re more likely to creep into the overweight category.
In the same way they say;
You’re in the very lowest end of the bmi, so are more likely to creep into the underweight category

Another more recent one
www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(18)30288-2/fulltext

"Findings
3 632 674 people were included in the full study population; the following results are from the analysis of never-smokers, which comprised 1 969 648 people and 188 057 deaths. BMI had a J-shaped association with overall mortality; the estimated hazard ratio per 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI was 0·81 (95% CI 0·80–0·82) below 25 kg/m2 and 1·21 (1·20–1·22) above this point. BMI was associated with all cause of death categories except for transport-related accidents, but the shape of the association varied. Most causes, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases, had a J-shaped association with BMI, with lowest risk occurring in the range 21–25 kg/m2."

My posts are responding to the specific point that it is best to be at the low end of the healthy range. I can only find evidence stating the opposite.

I'm 5'5 and losing weight from 12st 4. But I have a sturdy build (yes really I'm not in denial about my size) and being too light doesn't look good on me. I got down to 7st 8 without trying 20 years ago due to domestic abuse and stress and people assumed I was anorexic - my bones were visible all over and my cheeks were sunken. My GP advised me to gain at least a stone as my body fat was too low. Yet there are people on here who would no doubt say 7st 8 is a good weight. I still looked extremely thin after gaining an extra stone. It depends on build. I'm aiming for 10.5 stone now because it's an ok BMI and looks right on me.

But @awkwardbuttons did those studies also exclude those who had a low weight due to a (possibly undiagnosed) illness? This study suggests the best BMI is 20-21 if you do so.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4032609/

But I agree with those who say best to take small steps. I am obese and aiming for being overweight by the end of May, then I will aim for a normal weight which I will hopefully achieve some time later this year and then I will see if I can take further steps to optimise. It seems pointless to argue about where the ideal BMI sits within the healthy range when so many people are just struggling to get into that healthy range.

My bmi says I am obese, yet to look at me you'd think overweight at best, and I'm quite fit. I'm a size 14

In the nicest way: this and other posts similar “I’m supposedly overweight but I look thin” type thing is UNRELIABLE. You cannot see your own weight, most of the time! I’m not trying to be unpleasant but everyone posting saying their BMI says they are fat but they aren’t...you’re in denial! If you posted a photo of yourself here people would not agree with you.

People can con themselves as much as they like but about 8 - 10.7 stone is a fairly healthy weight for an average height (5 foot 5) British woman. The NHS gives you about 2.5 stones within that margin to be on the thin or heavier end of that. I f you are happy being a lot happier than that that is fine but it may not go so well for you if you get coronavirus , never mind risks of diabetes including losing a leg, an eye etc.

Yes, smoking is bad for you. Doesn't change that the ideal weight range mortality wise for non smokers was 22.5 to 25. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make?

The point was that having a BMI of lower than 22.5 doesn't significantly reduce life expectancy, as long as you don't smoke.

Incidentally, non-smokers with a BMI of 18 have a lower mortality rate than smokers with a BMI of 22.5 (8.5 deaths per 1000 vs 15.4)

You don't sound overweight to me, and I implore you to think twice before getting too caught up in weight and food. You could well end up in the dieting yo yo cycle so many women do, wishing they'd never started and looking wistfully at their earlier 'fat' bodies

What....what?!?!

BMI is a good general tool to use on populations, but doesn’t account for body composition at an individual level - particularly if you are taller than average. Measurements are probably a better individual indicator of health.

At 5ft9, my ideal weight (personal aesthetic taste and feeling good-wise) is around 12 stone. That’s hovering around 25 BMI. At that weight, my waist is around 27-28 inches and my waist to height ratio is very healthy (I’m also a pear, so most of the weight I carry is not around the abdomen). At that weight I’m 10-12 tops / dresses and a healthy 12 on the bottom. When I get to around 11 stone or under, I struggle to maintain that weight - and I look very slender indeed. If I got to the bottom of my BMI range I would look like skin and bones (apart from, probably, my hip area!). It just isn’t in sync with my body type and I’d have to fight hard all the time (and I don’t think it looks better).

It is not like that for everyone! But at an individual level, BMI can really look and feel different depending on lots of factors (height, bone structure, fat distribution).

The point was that having a BMI of lower than 22.5 doesn't significantly reduce life expectancy, as long as you don't smoke.

Noone said it did

@crispysausagerolls I am happy to post a picture- I am not thin by any means (and am trying to lose a little) but I wouldn't say I look obese. I work out at least 4 times a week. Everyone's body is different, everyone carries weight differently!

Also I realised that I really don't have many full length pictures of me, it's always me taking the pictures 😆 So may not be the best example.

OP, threads like this will make you feel crap.

The majority (and I mean majority) of women have messed up relationships with food and their bodies. Relying on low calorie diets, excessive exercise or the complete other end of the scale, with no concept of healthy eating, exercise and a lot of the time binge eating. Although the many of them don’t admit there is an issue. You read time and time again on here, I can’t eat a calorie over 1000 a day or I gain weight. I have maintained my 8 stone 2.5 lb figure for many years.

It’s not hard to eat a sensible diet, without counting every calorie and banging on about it constantly. It’s not hard to be active (I understand there are some people who can’t be active but for most it’s the getting started that is holding them back.)

I’m a eating disorder veteran, although it didn’t start until my twenties. I have a quite stocky build (very pear shaped which I believe makes you heavier, it’s touted as being much healthier than apple shaped as it’s not visceral fat). I was anorexic with a BMI of 20. 9stone at 5.7. I had no period for 5 years and still have long term health effects. I had medical intervention and everything if folk want to doubt me. Some people of 5.7 can be perfectly healthy at that weight but not me. I had to get my BMI up to 23 to start menstruating again. Now I don’t weigh myself at all but go by how I feel. I’m very active and I eat healthy food on the whole.

After many years in treatment I’m in a good place now and if I had one bit of advice it’s to not start counting/measuring anything. If you feel unhealthy then improve your diet and start moving more, you’ll find it much more sustainable than anything else.

@TippledPink

Fair play Tippled Pink - is this photo is an accurate representation (eg not taken from an absurdly flattering angle...) then you certainly do NOT look obese!