To think I am not overweight?

[orangegerbil]

According to BMI, I am overweight with a reading over 27. I am 5'3 and weigh almost 11 stone. I haven't weighed myself in years so I am a little shocked.

I could do with losing a bit around my tummy, but I am a size 10 so I can't be that bad surely? I do have quite a big chest but that can't be the only reason for my weight.

The NHS uses BMI calculators so I am slightly concerned about it as it must be a trusted way of measuring things. Is it possible to have a high BMI but not be overweight?

@Brightyellow

I have always been slim but when I did put on weight it was so gradual I didn’t notice and, I know it sounds stupid, but as I had put on weight all over not just in one place, I thought I looked the same.

Yes, I put on weight gradually as well. It's not true that people always realise. I had been using the bigger of my clothes and probably gradually buying bigger ones with vanity sizing without noticing I'd gone up two sizes.

@Gwenhwyfar Fair enough, you may be right, just going on what I'd been told by health professionals!

It's to do with risk factors, though, right? Risk for most conditions starts going up at BMI 30 or waist >35. Waist >31.5 can be a risk for some things. BMI 25-27ish on its own (i.e. with a small waist and reasonable diet and activity levels) is not (as far as I know) a risk factor for anything much.

It sounds to me like OP is in that category, and is one of the reasons BMI is a population-level tool, and only one indication of health in an individual.

Unless her scales are broken!

To be honest the sizing in Next is massive. Im a size 8, and have to buy a size 4 in next.

I'm 5'6" and just under nine stone. I'm still a size 10 - just. If I go up a few pounds then 10 is going to be snug. Earlier in the year I was 8 stone 3 and a fair size 10 but wouldn't have got into an 8. I have a teeny tiny waist and did even when I was 12 stone, weight goes on everywhere else except my waist (my arse was vast).

Size so much depends on build. My DD3 is 5'10" slim and leggy but can't get into size 12 jeans because years of dancing has given her big calf muscles and the current fashion for jeans to be tight all over means she can't get them over her legs!

@formerbabe

How about the comment

Are you a weightlifter?

You don't think that's rude?

I can’t find the comment in context, so I’m not sure what the intention of the comment was.

Weightlifters generally have more muscle mass and less fat, so often have their BMI may be disregarded as an indicator of health. The person asking the question may have just been trying to ascertain if the op had a high BMI because they have a lot of muscle mass. Therefore, not rude.

Of course there are other examples in which asking that question might be rude.

I'm surprised with your height your BMI is 27 at 11 stone. I didn't realise BMI scale was so vast. I'm in the lower healthy at your height though 3.5 stone lighter at a size 8. A size 6 wouldn't fit me in most shops primark h&m, river island, new look all my cheap stores
I wouldn't say you're fat either especially with a GG chest though I can't see you being a 10.

I'm 5 foot 9. 20 years ago I was an M&S size 14, and considered myself reasonably slim but not skinny. Now I'm about half a stone heavier, about an inch bigger around the hips and a couple of inches wider around the waist and I'm an M&S size 10. Vanity sizing has a lot to answer for. I'd go off BMI not dress size.

@Goatinthegarden

Your comment to me was bitchy because I was in response to my comment where I said the op was slightly overweight like me...

I didn't express whether I was happy or not about that

You then said if you're happy looking the way you look at a certain weight, great

Why even say that in response to my comment which essentially said, yes the op is probably slightly overweight but even if she is, it's not the end of the world.

I am not so full of angst that I need your permission to feel happy or not about my weight

I think your scale is broken.

I was thinking I don’t know how the OP could be a 10 at 5’3 and 11st but then I read this ..

I'm 5ft 7in and slightly over 11st. I'm a big blobby mess and struggling to fit into my size 14 clothes.

I’m 5’7, bang on 11st and I wear size 10 jeans (little tight at the moment as I’m normally around 10st 9) and a size 8-10 top. My waist is 28 inches

I thought the weight lifter comment was sarcy...not a genuine question to the op.

[quote ILoveStickers]@Gwenhwyfar Fair enough, you may be right, just going on what I'd been told by health professionals!

It's to do with risk factors, though, right? Risk for most conditions starts going up at BMI 30 or waist >35. Waist >31.5 can be a risk for some things. BMI 25-27ish on its own (i.e. with a small waist and reasonable diet and activity levels) is not (as far as I know) a risk factor for anything much.

It sounds to me like OP is in that category, and is one of the reasons BMI is a population-level tool, and only one indication of health in an individual.

Unless her scales are broken![/quote]
Yes, still relevant of course. Not much of a problem for OP because she's curvaceous/hour glass. More of a problem for us rectangular people. I have a big waist even without being overweight.

OP I believe you - I’m 5ft2 and when I was 11 stone I was a size 10-12. This was 15 years ago and in diesel & Levi jeans, so no squeezing myself into them. They definitely fitted!

I guess everyone is different.

Did you calibrate the scales before you used them OP? If you haven’t weighed yourself in years and just went on a first reading, it may not be accurate.

I think you should probably get your scales checked!

I’m taller than you (5 foot 6) and lighter than you (10 stone 6) but have a 31 inch waist and am somewhere between a 12 and a 14. And I do have quite a lot of muscle so my “muscle less” weight would be even less.

Weighing yourself on a different scales is probably a sensible thing to do.

I'm a generous 14 at 11 stone and 5'2

How does it work for "rectangular" people then may I ask?

Is it a case that if they don't want a thick waist/be heavy in the middle, they have to remain super slim? Genuinely asking as I've never understood it?

I'm your height and your weight and a 14 on a good day.

How are you able to fit in size 10? Where do you carry the weight?

Just to clarify, asking if someone is a weightlifter isn't in any way rude, unless you have something against weightlifting? I've been powerlifting consistently for the last 5 years and have seen big changes in body composition, hence the question FGS!!

For women, the risk around waist size (meaning there is a lot visceral abdominal fat) starts at over 32 inches.

BUT the other guide is waist should not be more than half your height.
So for someone 5 3" their waist should not exceed 31.5.

Obviously this is PART of the guidance.

You can still be too heavy with a smaller waist.

But it's true that where you carry fat is relevant.

Having said that, 11st for someone petite sounds very big indeed as many taller men only weight 11st.

You might get better advice OP if you posted a photo of your body

I'm 5'3" and a touch over 11stone. I definitely look overweight. I have lost a stone recently (woohoo!) and aiming to lose another stone and a half. I currently wear a size 14.

@GinDaddyRedux

How does it work for "rectangular" people then may I ask?

Is it a case that if they don't want a thick waist/be heavy in the middle, they have to remain super slim? Genuinely asking as I've never understood it?

I don't really know. As I said I reached about 31.5 inches while still being a healthy weight so I suppose I shouldn't be at the top of the healthy range. Would need to ask a doctor, but I presume they'd just say keep an eye on things. Waist size recommendations vary by ethnicity as well, for men at least.

[quote formerbabe]@Goatinthegarden

Your comment to me was bitchy because I was in response to my comment where I said the op was slightly overweight like me...

I didn't express whether I was happy or not about that

You then said if you're happy looking the way you look at a certain weight, great

Why even say that in response to my comment which essentially said, yes the op is probably slightly overweight but even if she is, it's not the end of the world.

I am not so full of angst that I need your permission to feel happy or not about my weight[/quote]
Apologies if you were offended, but I actually meant it as a generalised comment and not specifically to you.

Lots of people are giving different advice and I meant very generally, ‘if one is happy with their own weight, then one should own it’. I definitely didn’t mean you specifically and wasn’t even thinking about you when I typed it.

Again, apologies if you were offended, but you are a faceless entity on the internet, I have literally no idea what size you are and was not directing my comment at you.

Why even say that in response to my comment which essentially said, yes the op is probably slightly overweight but even if she is, it's not the end of the world.

@formerbabe It might be the end of her life is she gets Covid.

Have you not been paying attention over the last few months to the health warnings?

Minimising being fat is part of the health crisis.