Is a size 14 viewed as overweight?

[Ilovemycatalot]

Just reading online that uk size 16 is the average size of a uk woman right now. Im a size 14 and 5ft 3 so always felt overweight anyway but in reality would you view someone as a size 14 overweight? For me anyone who can fit into a size 10 would be considered slim although I know clothes sizes come up different depending on shop. Just curious what dress size people on here buy and if they consider themselves overweight.

I was in total denial when I was borderline obese. I knew I was 'a bit overweight' and probably needed to lose 'half a stone or so.' When I decided to address that I was overweight and mentioned it to some friends, they all assured me I was not overweight. I get why they felt the need to reassure me that I wasn't overweight but I was actually obese and people were telling me that I really didn't need to lose weight. I got an unbelievable shock when I weighed myself and calculated my BMI.

I've since made sure to buy my own weighing scales and later a measuring tape as the fact is, our perceptions of what's healthy have been warped by what's currently normal. I don't weigh myself obsessively but I do check in with my weight. And I use the measuring tape as I strength train, so my weight can only be a guide now as I'm genuinely muscular and weight gain isn't always fat gain for me now.

I think height has a lot to do with it.
I’m 5”6 and in between a 12-14 now and I’d say I feel overweight. I feel ‘overweight’ if I have excess skin or fat so tbh I feel overweight anything over a size 10.

I don’t look at other people and think they’re overweight though. I think I’m probably extra harsh on myself- i like to feel light/easy to move around! X

I'm 5' 5.5" and just hit 10 stone 10 pounds when on holiday. I've had to buy a few things at 14 recently so, yes, I'm overweight.

As a teenager I was a size 14 for a few years and I'm 1.60m and at that height I looked fat. I think the British nation is pretty much on the fat size all-round now and it is very sad to see.

weight Is such a taboo subject now it’s ingrained to lie through your teeth.

this is the best comment on this thread. It really is.

There’s so much practised self delusion on threads like this.

is it because the processed - food, wine -obsessed folk many people are, means that weight loss feels like a mountain to climb?

I'm a size 14 and I know I need to lose weight, but I still go to the gym 5 times a week, eat healthy food, don't drink alcohol and don't smoke. This country is on its knees with poor health and so many people are unhealthy in some way, particularly in terms of obesity and level of alcohol consumption then it can be really easy to ignore it and hide in a crowd.

I am pretty much resigned to being the weight/size I am, and I feel okay about that for the moment. The way the NHS is run I don't have a particular motivation to stay at my optimum weight and maybe this would change if I did have to pay for weight related illness, but as a person who hasn't went to the GP in over 20 years it's not a problem I see yet.

I know this isn't responsible but I'm not sure I care about that anymore. I agree with the PP who says denial about weight is normal, I remember being devastated when I went from a size 8 to a size 10, but moving from a 12 to a 14 was just an inconvenience. My view of what is slim has changed, and it doesn't suit me atm to change it back, feeling ashamed of myself isn't high on my to-do list! Ironically most of my weight gain was caused when I had a car accident and was in recovery for over a year, and weight loss would help me now, but I have tried so hard to get the weight down, and it seems to be very resistant to change!

I’m 5ft 10 and when I’m a size 14 my bmi is just into the overweight category so yes. I think you have to be over 6ft for it not to be

I’m definitely not in denial but it’s easy to look at others that are big and think well at least I’m not as big as them which still doesn’t mean your not big of course. I see more overweight women than slim where I live so it’s easy to see it as the norm. And definitely see more over weight women than men.

I am 5ft1 and a size 12-14 and my BMI is on the overweight/ obese borderline so in my case definitely overweight.

Even in the best shape of my life and really loving my Kardashian type curves with a tighter body I was still a 12- have wide hips and big bum, sometimes a 10 in tops as smaller waisted.

I am overweight and bigger by almost 3/4 stone since having kids. I am still a 14/16 but fatter in parts yet not noticeably fat but still overweight if that makes sense? I don't ever call myself fat but just hate how out of shape I am more than anything.

Size 14 is not overweight on the average person. But if you have rolls of fat then I suppose you are? Every single body is so vastly different and I don't look at people and judge how overweight they are! BMI is a bit of a weak method of measuring body fat though.

Also I feel uneducated in how to eat healthy I mean yeah we all know eat more fruit and veg but I’m not good with different recipes how to make healthy but fulfilling meals so I don’t feel hungry just need to educate myself.

Someone with a past eating disorder knows what they’re getting into from the thread title, and can take responsibility for managing their own triggers.

Exactly. I don't know why every time there's a thread like this, someone says they hope it doesn't trigger people with EDs. It's quite ridiculous.

Also not a fan of the gym but thinking even if I try a brisk walk for an hour each day would that help? Although I think 90% of weight loss I’d due to the foods you eat.

I'm 43 5ft 2 and I weigh 9st 10lb and west a size 10, I have muffin top
My 16 daughter weighs 9st 5ft 3 and is a size 4

It's hard to generalise a size

I am 6' tall and at my very thinnest I was a size 12. I was unwell and looked absolutely awful. Family were visibly concerned about me. At a size 14 I am slim but healthy. The width of my skeleton, particularly at my shoulders, ribcage and hips, means I could not physically become smaller than a size 12 even if I starved myself 😔

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/255712 . You might find this interesting OP.

For comparison, I'm size 10 (sometimes an 8) and am 5 3" I weigh 7.7st.
I have tiny hands and wrists and have to get all rings made to measure. I am skinny, just small framed.

You say you don't know how to eat healthily @Ilovemycatalot
There is masses of info online and all the supermarkets have good recipes on their sites, usually sorted into 'healthy eating' sections.

You don't need to make complicated meals.

Just work on the basis of real food - basic things like fish, chicken, eggs and pulses, and add lots of veg and fruit.

Cut out sugar, processed and white flour things like pizza, white pasta, white rice, white bread, cake, biscuits, crisps, sugary drinks etc.

Yes I’d consider that very overweight at your height (unless you’re a bodybuilder) . Just because the average is a 16 it doesn’t make it okay. We are walking into an obesity crisis in the UK at the moment and are so used to seeing overweight people it is becoming the norm. Google photos of groups of people from 50-100 years ago and look at the difference in their size. You’d rarely see overweight people back then, it’s a modern crisis.

@Ilovemycatalot If you walk for an hour a day -fast- not strolling- that will definitely help.

I know you may not want to do this, but do you fancy posting what you normally eat in a day and then posters could give you a bit of help?

Well I'm a 10-12 and according to bmi I'm considered to be overweight/on the cusp of obese. In the middle of a cut right now and even a week ago I was considered obese.
But what bmi doesn't take in to account is I lift heavy weights, have a higher than average muscle mass and also have a lot of loose skin from 10stone weightloss.

5ft3 and size 14?of course you are overweight. You are severely overweight
And the fact that you question that tells me that society has come to a point that being overweight has now become normal. It is sad and scary ..

Education on food is needed across the board. I just don't think little pie chart drawings with pictures of bananas and steaks really do it. I started learning how to cook good meals by accident with an old style one-pot recipe book that was actually full of healthy recipes, and that started off my interest in cooking. It wasn't even marketed as healthy. And just little things like learning that pastry is not good for you and should be a treat was kind of surprising to me (I was brought up to finish my pastry!). That kind of thing... I'm not the brightest person in the world so I need things spelled out over and over again!

I do think slimming world can be good for learning basics (although I have too much dairy - really concerned about osteoporosis!)

Not that I can give advice on anything, but I don't want my kids to have my problems (and they don't).

I'm 5 8 and was big at a 14. Not massively fat but definitely chubby.
At 5 3 and a 14, unless you were a weight lifter/fitness instructor etc then I think this would count as overweight, yes

I’m a size 10. 12 would be overweight for me and I’d have a flabby tummy etc. As soon as my size 10 clothes feel snug, I eat a bit more carefully.

I'm 5'9 and a 12. 14 is overweight for me, but I'd be able to hide it easily with clothes. I'm slim at a 12, with some stomach definition, but I'm definitely losing my very defined waist- hip ratio, now that menopause approaches.