Are some people really heavy or am I kidding myself?

[Ellessdee]

I know I'm a bit overweight. I'm a solid size 12. I weighed myself and did my BMI out of curiosity and it's telling me I'm obese. Is BMI wildly inaccurate or am I in denial re my weight? I used to weight train and do have quite a bit of muscle but also a layer of fat on top! Anyway, trying to pose weight, just wondering if I should be worried!

I'm a size 12 and definitely obese so not unlikely. I've lost over 2.5 stone in the last 6months and gone from a size 16 to 12. I still have 2 stone to get to my healthy weight. I think people have lost sight of what a healthy weight looks like. People who are a healthy weight should look slim.

Waist measurement is probably the key. "Black African" covers a huge range of body shapes but if you carry a lot of weight on your hips and thighs then an obese BMI is less of a concern than it would be if you were carrying it on your midriff.

As you've acknowledged however it's well worth you losing a stone or two.

BMI doesn't take into account all manner of differences, including muscle mass, bone density, age, race etc

The healthy, overweight, and obese ranges for BMI are deliberately wide to take into account all manner of differences, including muscle mass, bone density, age, race etc.

Clothes sizes aren't relevant anymore unfortunately. A modern 12 can be an old 16. Retailers have got a lot to answer for.
BMI is still a good guide for what to aim for.

I’m really not trying to be rude but I have been 67kg after having a baby and I’m 5’6 and it, as well as being 12-16 is, in my opinion, overweight. My BMI was technically healthy then too so I think it’s actually quite generous/there was a lot of extra weight on me everywhere at that size.

I'm slightly chunky, size 14-16. But apparently I'm obese. I certainly am not!

I did get down to my recommended weight once, I looked awful and mentally it wasn't a good place to be. As I was heading for an eating disorder. I got addicted to loosing weight.

BMI is a useful tool but not terribly helpful in health terms, however it’s certainly a better reflection of weight and mass than clothes sizing which is ridiculous.

Clothing now is nearly always elasticated to some degree, we don’t have the structured tailoring of 30-40+ years ago. So saying you can fit in a vanity sized 12 is largely meaningless. You can potentially be verging on morbidly obese and still stuff yourself into a pair of size 16 leggings…

I border on a 12 to 14. 5ft5 and 51. Put on the old corona stone but was 10 stone before and I think GP said I was fine though could lose some weight.

I would say to you only as I ignored this, from 30 onwards your metabolism slows down so it’s good to get exercise and diet regimes in place now.

That is the BMI chart

I mean, why are you ‘certainly not’ obese? At size 14-16 you likely are obese. It isn’t a dirty nasty word, it just means you are too overweight. I don’t think descriptors like ‘slightly chunky’ (see also curvy/soft/a bit plump) really help, because it allows people to pretend they aren’t overweight or obese.

Out of curiosity, if you think a size 16 is ‘slightly chunky’ and ‘certainly not obese’ at what size would you think ‘okay I am probably obese now.’ An 18? 20?

UK size 12? And ...from where (cuts seem to vary quite a lot).
You might just be a big strong lass with a lot of nice dense muscle - what's your bust/waist/hip figures, and/or what do the scales say about fat percentage (I know they're just an imperfect indicator)... Are you just basically built like a cartoon superheroine, very curvy but very strong?

As PPs have said, my understanding is that a big bum or bust isn't as much of a health concern as a lot of fat held in the waist area and round the internal organs (although weight in general is always going to affect the joints obvs).

If you're active and eat your veg it's probably a lot less of a worry than if you're on the couch with an exclusively beige diet...

I was underweight at 7 and below stone for years. I didn’t overeat and I snacked sometimes but I probably walked more back then. I recall going to the doctor fot something and being weighed at age 17 and they were a bit shocked I was my weight then.

To me, obese means grossly fat. But it now seems to be officially applied to people who’d once have been described as just a bit on the plump side.

Depends on how you carry it I suppose! But I am NOT overweight, neither am I obese. Nope I'm very comfortable in my clothes, and in swimwear etc. I think some people look in the mirror and just see a little roll of blubber and think FAT. Unless you are in the gym every day and/or have a personal trainer, most people are just ordinary.

I have to be weighed at consultant review for an illness every six months. They say every time that all is good in the weight dept. and have NEVER said anything to me about losing weight, so I'll place my trust in the medics and be happy.

You are definitely right. I come from a family of lean skinnies, my SIL from a family of the well rounded.

We had our babies within days of each other, both weighing 6lb 10oz. Everyone agreed how much heavier her baby felt to mine. The girls, now in their forties are the same height, wear the same size clothes. There is still a significant difference in their weight.

@Kanaloa I see obese as the girls in the Snag adverts, or my friends who are size 20+ I don't deny that I'm overweight, at all but Obese I am not.

DH has got massive bones, at the mid point of his BMI he looks gaunt and I mean ill. He looks healthier towards the top end of his BMI. Honestly if you are 5ft 9 and a size 12 I doubt you would actually be overweight. I would do waist to height ratio. Theres a director link towards that and your actual health.

I am not overweight by any stretch. Probably underweight currently as ebf and whittling away.

The point of bringing this up is I doubt hip, waist examples would work for me. I am very square and androgynous in body shape. My hips very small, and my rib cage very large which means I don’t have a petite wee kardashian waist.

You know if your overweight or not. I would just forget the weights, ratios, and categories and do your best to get it under control if you wish.

On the size 12 thing. I've lost 3 stone this year. I've gone from obese cat 2 to overweight. I have about another stone to lose to get into healthy bmi range.

My new clothes are size 12 and some are size 10. I absolutely was not wearing size 10/12 20 years ago when I was last this weight- more like 14/16.

The last time I wore size 10 I was an 8 stone teenager.

Ah okay. I guess it’s a difference of opinion. To me I think overweight is a little bit more than healthy weight, and obese is a little bit more than that. I would say people over size 20 are extremely obese.

We have girls at work who have a tall and slender build. If they were size 12 they'd definitely be obese. Body fat percentage is a great way to assess.

At my slimmest, I was a size 8/10 on top and size 10/12 on the bottom and still classified as overweight. I was about 11 st 11, so not far off healthy weight range, but it took a massive amount of effort (as well as a hugely stressful life event that stopped me eating more than a few mouthfuls at a time) to even get that slim. I'm not sure if I could be bothered to do it again, and I certainly hope I'm never in a similarly life-changing stressful situation again either. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Forgot to say my height is 5'8

I’m a stone overweight at minute and wore a size 10 next dress yesterday you can’t go on dress size.