Is a size 14 fat?

[bubblebutt88]

I know it's dependent on the individual and a lot of variables - height etc but generally speaking would you say it's 'fat?' I am a size 14, I don't think I'm huge but I have a big roll of fat around my belly (thanks c-section and pizza) and I do feel like my face looks a bit bloated at times.

I'm certainly not thin or toned but I wouldn't say I'm obese either. I know id look and feel better if I dropped a dress size but at this time in my life with young kids, a demanding job and lots going on I just can't find the energy to focus on weight loss.

What are your thoughts?

I'm 5'6 and a bit over 11 stone. I'm on the small side of a size 14. I'm overweight but not obese on BMI. Looking at myself in the mirror I'm definitely fat round my middle. At 10 and a half stone I don't look fat and am a healthy BMI and fit into a size 12.

I volunteer in a charity shop and last year we held a vintage event and it was obvious how small the sizes were compared to their modern equivalent. It was interesting the number of people who complained the clothes were sized wrongly.

'Size 14' is totally meaningless because clothes sizes vary dramatically between shops and brands. I own size 10, 12, 14 and 16 clothes as well as 'extra small', 'small' 'medium' and 'large' clothes. They all fit.

‘Fat’ is also meaningless!
you can be perfectly healthy at a size 14, yes.

At 5'9" I was overweight at size 14 and have crept into the obese category at size 16, so yes I'd say it's fat. The vast majority of people are fat at size 14 unless they're super tall. At size 10 I was on the lower end of a healthy BMI and size 12 I was in the mid range. The goal is to get back to a size 10-12 again but it's proving difficult!

Tbh I'd say they were wrongly sized if you didn't use modern measurements. I think most people know that sizes have got a lot bigger but couldn't tell you what the modern equivalent would be. I would find it very confusing trying to work out which size I was in different decades.

People are fat because they eat too much in relation to how active their lives are..it really is that simple.

We have access to too much cheap convenience foods, snaking is extreme and the extras!!!!..a Starbucks coffee with syrup and x and y..scary amount of calories.

We are mostly lazy, too many short car journey's, less housework (even hoovering can be done by a robot) A 1940's housewife would walk everywhere, sweep the house, scrub the steps, manually wash the clothes, have limited food.

It's not a mental health crisis or PTSD, it's a lazy/easy life making people fat. You look around and everyone is bigger, so you don't notice. Your child looks ok next to their classmates...It's only when you think about your child next to the 1970's kids, who are mostly super skinny, with bones sticking out...that you realise perception is based on familiarity.

In new money, ie vanity sizing, size 14 is fat yes

mostly Yes, unless you are very tall size 14 is fat

The nhs website have an easy bmi calculator
Heres the results for your height.
nb: It asks for ethnicity as it does affect the calculations and I just put in white for the purposes of this post. Nb . I will not be responding to posters who complain about this assumption…..sorry.

Suggest therefore OP you do a bmi calc as in my experience shops sizes are so different anyway.

@Fallenangelofthenorth we deliberately didn’t size the hangers just went with the labels in the clothes.

BMI isn't completely accurate and is considered outdated by some.
I'm not far off 6ft and at size 10 I looked too skinny and a bit ill, IMO! Size 12 seems to be my ideal size, acknowledging that it varies from retailer to retailer, however most of my clothes are size 12 and fit so I'm going on that.
It's worth noting that clothes size alone shouldn't be an indicator of health, I used to eat quite unhealthily and was quite sedentary, and after cutting out the junk and going to the gym most days, I eventually weighed more through muscle gain (although that routine slipped by the wayside post-kids)!

I'm not completely disagreeing with you but I do also think we tend to spend a lot more time at work and commuting than previous generations. I know I certainly do. Plus food is generally much poorer in nutrition so we don't feel as satisfied. I think it's unfair to suggest people are just lazy and greedy.

It must have been confusing then? I honestly couldn't tell you what size I'd be in "old sizes" and it can be difficult to tell by looking. Especially when you still think of yourself in your head as a size 8 😀

I’m a size 14, bmi 25.6 - so slightly overweight, waist is in the ‘consider taking action due to coronary heart factors’ range.

65 percent of uk adults are overweight or obese, i’m sure I look normal, not notably fat but per the nhs weight loss app, they recommend I try and loose 3.8 Kg.

nhs has good workouts and a weight loss app and honestly we should all be a healthy weight IF we can, to reduce our chances of lifestyle factors causing disease.

As other posters have said:

(a) there's no single simple measurement or number which offers an even halfway reliable indicator of how fat you are [by 'simple' I mean stuff like weight, BMI, dress size, etc, obviously it is possible to calculate body fat with a lot of precision].

(b) if I had to pick a single simple measure it would probably be waist size, but even that will throw up many false positives and false negatives.

Agree. My mum was born in 1932 and I have her dresses from the 50s, 60s and 70s including her wedding dress and evening wear..I’m a size 10/12 and the same height as my mum then, based on her wedding dress length, but I can’t even get my arms in the sleeves😂

When I was a size 14 I don’t believe I looked fat, no. I used to run 5kg easily every Saturday and exercised a lot on other days. I am 5’7. I was a size 10 when I took lots of drugs in my early 20s and looked emancipated. I am now a 16-18 and am a bit fat. But I still look fairly toned.

I think height and weight would determine or if you're overweight over a particular clothes size. That's how doctors determine it anyway.

Clothing seems to be cut so differently from one manufacturer to the other, so one size 14 could be a tent on a person, while another size 14 one could hardly squeeze into.

Big roll of fat around my belly= fat.

Or just had a baby! Like the OP.

The Terry Wogan test is still the best, IMO. Stand naked in front of a mirror and jump up and down. If anything wobbles that shouldn't, you are fat. Of course, if your belly fat is just a skin pooch after pregnancy, that won't count.

Whether you are fat or not, you have said you would feel better being a dress size lower. But dieting is not the answer as 95% of people regain their weight after 2 years. and every diet you go on decreases your metabolism.

Instead, try to really get in touch with your hunger - there are various ways to do this that you can google, including intuitive eating, hunger scales etc.

Once you are in touch with your hunger, before eating, ask yourself if you are hungry, or eating for some other reason - be curious about yourself. It's fine to eat even if you know you are eating because you are bored or tired or whatever - but acknowleding this means you know that 'I tend to eat when I am bored' and you can then come up with strategies for the future.

You willl be able to google a lot more about this and find some great free programs/advice, so that was just intended as a bit of a pointer.

Also, re your face looking bloated - you may be able to make a few adjustments to prevent water retention - dandelion tea or something.

And stress causes weight to be collected in your middle (due to cortisol etc), so anything you can do to decrease stress (exercise, relaxation, meditation) might be helpful there.

@fleurneige

Marilyn Monroe and many of the sexiest stars of the 50s and 60s were size 14.

Oh stop it. man was NOT a modern day size 14. This myth keeps popping up to try to support being overweight.

Today, Marilyn’s clothing fits very well on a size 6-8 dress form,
When she performed “Happy Birthday Mr. President” for John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962, roughly three months before her death, Marilyn’s measurements were bust: 35.5″, waist: 23.5″, hips: 33.25″. By modern-day standards, she would likely be a size 4 to 6.

Her dressmakers notes and her clothes have been scrutinised and she was tiny

Dress size doesn't come into it. I am a 14, within normal BMI range and no fat rolls etc. I am often described as slim because I have small bones etc. I am top of healthy weight band though and do watch my weight. I wouldn't describe myself as fat ( but wouldn't say I was thinking either. Just average).