Is my opinion on what is obese wrong?

[Thewheelweavesasthewheelwills]

This is me recently on a family day out at a big park which I was fit enough for.

I know I need to lose some weight and I have finally started to eat better. I got into a terrible habit of eating way too much chocolate when cluster feeding on the couch and didn't stop! I am now watching what I eat. I hate cal counting but I think I need to for a while to make myself accountable. I am aiming to lose about a stone.

Anyway, my app says I am obese. I would have said I was over weight yes but not obese. But I read on here a lot that we all have the wrong idea of what is overweight/ obese these days so maybe I was deluding myself?

YABU - you are obese, that is what it looks like
YANBU - you are not obese just a little fat

You don’t look obese to me OP, I saw your pic and thought you had quite a lovely figure for someone who’s got a baby under a year.

And with breastfeeding you should definitely stick the scales away and ignore. It plays havoc on your body

The problem with the word obese, is that when people picture what it means, they picture someone who's huge, who's severely or "morbidly obese".

But that's not the case, what it actually means is a substantial accumulation of body fat that could impact health.

26% of the UK population are obese (including me), so our perception of what's normal has become skewed. Walk around looking at people and you won't think that 1 in 4 is obese, but that's because we've gotten used to it.

Go watch some videos on YouTube of the 60s and 70s and you'll quickly notice a difference though.

So yes OP, unfortunately you do look obese. But you've recognised it and are looking to change that, which is a good first step!

I agree with everyone saying that if you are currently breastfeeding and still with a young baby then you need to give yourself a break and just concentrate on eating healthily.

If you weren't in this period of life, then I agree with your calculation that says you need to lose 3.5 stone to be in the healthy weight category.

Yes Bmi is not the be all and end all, but it's roughly accurate for the vast majority of the population.

I'm not saying you don't look fit and healthy but being overweight catches up with you as you get older.

The range for my weight to be in the healthy range is across 14 kilos. That’s a huge range. I’m at the lower end because I’m a smaller woman. As a larger or more muscular woman I’d sit comfortably at the higher end. 14 kilos away.

I work in a profession that involves knowing everybody’s BMI. After thousands of measurements I’m yet to encounter someone who is in the obese category - a BMI over 30, or 30+ kilos away from my current weight in the healthy range - solely bc of muscle mass or big boobs. It hasn’t happened once.

Obese is simply a medical categorization used as a broader risk stratification tool and in research papers. It doesn’t mean you’re bad, lazy, unhealthy or unattractive. It’s just a category. You don’t have to engage with it unless you wish to do so.

Why do you care ? It's a tool of measurement that's all.
I was borderline obese when I was training hard, super fit and had loads of muscle.
Im now overweight rather than obese and I look and feel like shit.

I'd rather have my old body back and be back in the obese category thank you very much.

BMI is useful as a population-level measure but can be inaccurate - sometimes highly so - at the individual level. Other measures (such as waist circumference) are far more useful indicators of individual risk.

I think you look really nice in those photos, by the way. Hopefully you can ignore the labels, as ultimately these are not relevant or useful - what is more important is asking whether there are changes you (indeed we all) can make to have a healthier lifestyle.

The thing is, 'normal' these days is overweight/ obese for most of us

Your height and bone structure will also play a part - I'm 5ft 9" and carry my extra weight all over so don't look particularly huge at 13 stones. But I am overweight according to BMI! Even when I was 11 stones (25 years ago) I was a size 14 in chain store clothes, size 12 in posh clothes! Now I'm still a 14/16 in chain store clothes but 2 stones heavier and a lot less toned!

Same here. According to the nhs at my height etc I shouldn’t weight more than 10 stone 6 which I didn’t until menopause in 40s. Two stone over is the overweight category. So 12 st 7 and over for me is classed as obese and you look very similar to me in build. You’re probably just into the lower end of the category. I’m almost a stone down now from 13st 8 and will see it as a milestone when I get out of the obese category.

I'm extremely obese from that and look nothing like that photo so it is very individual
Am a top heavy size 16

You don’t look obese to me 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes, you look obese. It's not a judgement, just fact.

You look perfectly fine to me.
I'd say nice and slim with a few curves.
You have a fabulous figure.
Take no notice of false statistics.

You look good for someone who has given birth less than 12 months ago. Back in the eighties, I can remember a lovely midwife telling us during an ante natal class visit to a maternity hospital that your body takes around a year to fully recover from childbirth and that's why they recommend not getting pregnant again within the first year after giving birth but of course, lots do.
She also said the term obese means weighing just 10% more than your ideal body weight.

You are breastfeeding! Just focus on rest, sleep and getting through it. Healthy snacks and movement are good but some days you just need a sugar hit. unless you’re in a calorie deficit, you will stay plump with high blood cholesterol (what breast milk is made from) until you stop. And that’s fine.

I felt great and loved my body when I was bf, but to everyone else I was a plump size 16-18 and either invisible or not treated the same in shops etc as when I had been a size 10 with a 26 inch waist and 32 double Ds. But back then I never felt good enough. Maybe that’s because the message I got was that girls like Jessica simpson and Kelly Brook were fatties and that was a mortal sin? When you look at pictures of them now it seems insane as they look so lovely and healthy. So our views of normal women are really skewed and have been for a while.

Also it’s well known the camera adds 10 pounds.

Also normal bmi for women used to be up to 27, but they rounded down to 25 (according to my midwife) so don’t worry.

I'm 5' 4" and 9.5 stone. I'm a size 12 in jeans.

Height to waiste ratio better

https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/waist-height-ratio#:~:text=The%20general%20guidance%20is%20that,related%20to%20excess%20body%20weight.

I’m not being rude but how are you a size 8-10 at that weight and height? I am bang in the middle of “healthy weight” range, I’m 9 st 7lb and 5 ft 6. And I’m a size 12 generally but sometimes for skirts or jeans a size 14. I would NEVER fit into a size 8-10 but people do look at me and assume that I would because I have skinny arms and chicken legs and no boobs.

is it that all my weight is around my middle (which I know is dangerous) and yours is evenly distributed, and you have boobs and a bum?

i just don’t understand BMI at all when it comes to dress sizes. It doesn’t often correlate, I don’t think. There is so much variation amongst body shapes.

@CurlyhairedAssassin😂 I do have a 95th centile head so assuming I carry quite a lot in my bones. I also tend to shop at places like M&S, Seasalt, Sainsburys so probably bigger sizing than H&M?

Oh yes and probably pretty much an hourglass shape, 27 inch waist.

That’s morbidly obese and I don’t know how much the word has changed or if our perception of size has changed.

Level 1 obese 30-<35
Level 2 obese 25-<40
Level 3 obese 40+

I’m level 2 and currently eating better to help with my health, which is also helping me to lose weight.

Yes, you do look obese op but only just and definitely in level 1.

@ChickenMacaroni god I’m so jealous! My waist has disappeared in the last few years (perimenopause). I keep thinking that waistlines on skirts and dresses I buy are getting higher but really I know that it’s probably my pregnant looking belly that’s causing them to sit higher! The whole visceral fat thing on me is a worry. I think it’s better to have your weight evenly distributed. I’d love to have a voluptuous figure like the photo someone posted upthread.

I was obese but thought I was “just” overweight OP so when you put the numbers in, I think you just have to accept where it places you OP. You look lovely but if you fall into the obese category you are far from alone. I’ve now managed to swim my way to a healthy weight and that feels amazing.
So many people are obese now that we’ve become used to it and it’s so easily done getting into bad habits.

I am also obese but I don't think I look like what I think of as obese but admit i am overweight. BMI isn't perfect.
I think of someone who wears size 18 clothes as obese - I'm a 14.