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.

But it does depend how muscular you are. I weigh bordering obese but the gym boditrax says i am standard muscular with no visceral stomach fat.
I have done more exercise recently and lost inches but not lost any weight. A dress i bought a few months ago was slightly tight is now a perfect fit.
I am 60 today but a metabolic age of 49!
The egym puts my legs muscles at 37 years old!

Clothes sizes are so different now that you really can't use them as a measure of whether it's overweight or not.

For example, when I was a completely healthy weight (on the lower end of the range, even) I could wear size 8 on the top but size 14 on the bottom due to wide hips - no fat on them though! I was not overweight. But now I AM overweight am size 14 on top 18 on bottom.

But do you also not look at women smaller and understand you’re bigger? You must see slimmer women, both in real,life and in the media. I think it’s a sign of denial if you only look at bigger women and comfort yourself you’re not that large. It would need to be extreme before you didn’t see anyone bigger that you/

I never eat breakfast first meal normally at 12 . I go long periods of not eating and then I will binge eat whatever is at hand. I do eat a lot of cheese (my biggest weakness) and processed food. I have a sweet tooth and get sugar cravings normally about 4pm. Mainly drink fizzy water and cappuccinos. Basically my diet is a mess. I don’t eat big meals as I get bloated easy just snack throughout the day. For example my evening meal could be something random like a tin of soup and a bit of cheese especially if I’ve been at work all day and am tired.

A lot depends on your measurements. So it's not a cert that a size 14 is overweight.

My Mum was a size 14 for years because she has massive boobs- a 34F. But she was slim everywhere else, weighing about 8st 7, at 5 3".

She had to buy 14 tops because of her bust but could get away with a 12 in dresses and skrts.

These are OLD sizes. Now, she wears a 10 partly as she's lost some of her bust in old age but also with size-inflation (vanity sizing.)

I get fed up with buying her clothes and returning them as in her head she is still a size 14, whereas because of changing sizes she is really a 12 or a 10!

But she's never weighed more than 9st and when she hit that she went to a slimming class, lost half a stone and has kepyt it off.

I'm a 14 and 5 ft 3. I am definitely overweight. Vanity sizes have changed things so much over the years. What is now a 14 would have been a 16 a few years ago in many ships

It will depend on your height but for the vast majority of people yes, a size 14 will be overweight. I’m 5’11 and currently wear a size 14. I weigh 13 stone so have a bmi of just over 25, just tipping me into the overweight category. I am definitely carrying too much weight and look overweight especially around my stomach. When I weighed 12 stone and had a bmi of 23.5 I was still a size 14. I felt quite slim at that weight. It was only at less than 11 1/2 stone so a bmi of 22.5 or less that I could get into a size 12.

Shops

I would not go by clothes sizes but by BMI. Those who devise clothes sizing play to insecurity and vanity and it varies from shop to shop. Also your waist measurement should be less than half your height in inches. So if you are 5'3 your waist should not be more than 31 inches. Is that a size 14?

Cheese is the worst

It has no right to be as calorie dense as it is

I recently started weighing my food to help lose a little and was shocked I was adding 500 calories worth of cheese to my meals and it's not even that much, a large handful of grated cheese in some pasta!

BMI is a bit of a weak method of measuring body fat though.

BMI is only a weak measurement of body fat if you know you do intensive strength training and are an obviously muscular person. If you aren't someone who lifts heavy and/or who lifts mid-range for lots of repetitions and/or who does a seriously impressive bodyweight routine, then a BMI you can trust a BMI calculation as a very good indicator of your body fat. Tbh, I do acrobatics and regularly work with women who can do 10 pull-ups, even some who can do several one handed pull-ups, which is a serious level of body-strength for anyone, but especially a woman and any of them who's weight I know have a BMI in the healthy range.

I'm mid 60s, size 14 and 5'10 and feel about the right size, I don't think I would feel any better or be healthier if I was a size 10-12

I guess I see women who are slimmer but figure I will never get that slim because I’ve been same weight for so long without losing anything I’ve got this defeatist attitude which I know is wrong.

I’m five foot one and was heading into a size 14 a couple of years ago - I was definitely overweight and it wasn’t a nice feeling, so lost just under a stone and felt much better.

I think you need to remember that a size 14 is vanity sizing so 30 years ago would probably be an 18. That shouldn't be a real shock.

I'm a 10 but definitely an old school 12/14!

Sizes have also changed. A size 14 now would be about a size 16-18 from 20-30 year ago and larger if you go back further. So a size 14 in the 1990s was not overweight, but it probably is now.

I'm 5ft3 and a size 14. I weigh 9 stone 8, so my BMI is 23.7. The chart says I could go up to 10 stone 1 and still be a healthy weight. It's absolutely ridiculous to say a size 14 means you're overweight!

Yes I’m going to stop buying cheese because if it’s in the house I can’t resist it it’s like my comfort food.

I am 5'6 and have a small frame (32 bra) - being anything over a (modern) size 8 means I start to get belly rolls developing, which squish up and make me feel out of breath when I'm driving.

We aren't talking about the 1990s or thirty years ago though?

We are talking about just now?

Why does this always get brought up on these threads. Like vanity sizing is the OPs fault or something?

I'm 5'10" and the same, quite a wide skeleton and even got a thigh gap because of my bone structure. size 14 and BMI about 22

Oh, love!

You need help. Your guts are messed up because of all the processed food you are eating. That's why you feel bloated.

It's fine not to eat breakfast if you don't feel hungry, but it's not fine to spend the rest of the day snacking and eating crap.

Just as an example, (and I'm not showing off !) a typical day for me is...

Full fat Greek yoghurt with blueberries and seeds at 8am. Or a boiled egg and 1 sl toast.

Lunch- either homemade soup, or cheese and fruit, and sometimes some oat cakes, or some kind of salad (leaves, tinned fish, cheese.)

Dinner - grilled or baked fillet of fish (cod, salmon, haddock) or chicken fillets/ thighs, with a lot of veg (often do roast veg - peppers, squash, sweet potato, mushrooms, aubergine) . Green veg every day- broccoli or spinach usually.

Dinner can also be a stir fry, home made shepherds pie, roast chicken dinner, vegetable curry, wholegrain pasta with stuff thrown in.
More greek yoghurt and fruit for 'pudding'.

Occasionally we have a pudding like once a week- crumble, or something I've made.

I do think various factors impact your overall appearance. Your frame, build, shape, tone etc and all of these get worse with age. Then there's the 'your face or your figure' dilemma as you get older - lose too much weight and you can look gaunt in your face. I've piled on the pounds so probably look a bit dumpy now but at least I still have a waist!

I am 5'3 and a size 14. As I've recently lost 6 stone and reduced from a size 22, I feel bloody great! But I'm sure if I'd increased from a 10 I'd feel bigger. I'm a classic pear shape so more like a 12 on top and can dress to emphasise that.

My BMI is in the overweight range but again that feels like an achievement after being in the 40+ category. If I lost another stone I'd be in my healthy weight range and a size 12.

When I was at the bottom of my healthy BMI range some years ago, I was a size 8. So I think my healthy size range is 8-12. I am ok with how I am at the moment but I will aim to lose some more and tone up over the next year.

I’m quite tall and wide naturally. When I can fit into a size 14 I’m not overweight in terms of bmi, though towards the upper limit of the range allowed. Unfortunately I’m in a size 16 at the moment….