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 would be overweight and look in my mind at least as fat.

I am a 14 and have just tipped into the overweight catagory on bmi and I certainly feel and look a bit overweight. I feel fat and look bad in the mirror compared to how I've always looked in the past. Basically I've always been hourglass and quite tall and now I'm losing my waist definition and have these horrible frumpy droopy boobs...hormones, stress and less active as just too bloody busy with work and kids. Im not massively fat but not slim either.

Yes, absolutely. Though I'm not British, so what's considered 'normal' in the UK is 100% fat in Europe and everyone would say so. The 'average' UK size 16 would be 'obese' where I come from. There simply aren't many people that fat, so it would stand out. And no, the height wouldn't help. I'm from a tall nation, 5'11'' myself, and look too fat at 14, with extra lard on me, much better at my current lean size 8. 14 is size L. It's called 'Large' and not 'Medium' or 'Small' for a reason.

@bubblebutt88 don't get disheartened by the answers here, these threads I think are incredibly unhealthy if you're already questioning your weight/body image, no one is being cruel or mean but having lived with an ED for most of my life you won't get the answer you're looking for here & most likely you'll feel worse for asking

I'm 5ft 3" (& possibly shrinking?!) so I know how easy it is for me to put weight on & as for vanity sizing these days it's a minefield, I have my mams wedding dress & she was (her words!) "a petite 10" when she was married in the 60's & I can tell you now there's no way anyone who is a size 10 now could get into that dress, it's more like a 6-8 nowadays, I know because in my unhealthiest days I used it as a yardstick

@bryceQ I'm the same height and exactly the same, I'm fairly slim at a large 10 / small 12.

It's all relative to height etc...if I go down to a 14, I am honestly, skeletal, it falls off my legs, collarbone and arms, I am 6ft and gangly (fat atm tho')
My friend who is 4'10 describes herself as an oompa loompa at a size 12.
Dress size means nothing in generalisation.

I'm 5'10". When I was at my target weight and at the lower end of recommended BMI for my height, I was a size 14 (very occasionally a 12). It's different for everyone

On MN, anything above an 8 is not considered slim.

I am 5’2”, 9 st 2lb and a size 12. I would definitely consider myself overweight and I have a lot of fat. According to the TDEE calculator, I should be between 7 st 12 and 8 st 11.

SIL is 5’11” and a size 14. She has very little body fat.

I have never been smaller than a small 12 round my hips and shoulders (so always been size 12 jeans etc...) though I was technically anorexic with a BMI of 15. I was a size 6-8 everywhere there wasn't 'wide bones' (so stomach etc...).

I'm now a large 12 or small 14 in jeans so 'size' wise not a huge change (barely gone up a size) but I'm definitely far fatter, I'm 4 stone heavier and a 10-12 in the stomach area now.

I'm still technically not 'obese' at a bmi of 23 but I definately added a lot more 'fat' to the frame.

I’m a 14, I’d say it’s fat but not massively so. I think our perception of weight has become skewed as so many people are really very obese. My bmi is 27.7 so bang smack in the middle of overweight but not obese.

MM's famous white dress couldn't fit on a size 2 mannequin in a museum. She was tiny.

Her highest weight was 140lbs when she was rumored to be pregnant.

On average she weighed 116-120 at 5'6.

I'm a US size 2-4 depending on the brand and have close to her measurements and height and weight with a larger waist.

It's obvious looking at her she was thin. Kim K has to starve herself to fit into her dress. She talked about it at the met gala.

I'm 5'9, quite pear shaped. When I was a size 14 I was on the lower end of my BMI. Definitely not fat. The slimmest I've been was a size 12 trousers and my BMI was around 20 (about size 8 top though).

It’s really hard to say . I’m 5ft 6. I’m a 10/12 - but a tight 10 more in between ( sleeves of a 10 will be snug but a 12 could be baggy elsewhere , size 10 bottoms are tight so not too comfortable but then 12 can be baggy on my legs ) I weigh 10st 8 … I don’t feel comfortable and am actively dieting / working out . I would be happy with a comfortable size 8/10 so I’d like to drop a dress size , but I don’t go by BMI , weight I go by how I feel . When I was a 14 I don’t think I was classed as overweight but I know I looked fat . I have a friend who is very tall and is a 14 and looks very slim . I have a friend who is short and at a size 12 she looked big . It all depends and can never be a straight answer . I would say go with how you feel , how your health is . That’s more important than dress size or a number on the scales .

Just to add as you say you are too busy to diet etc - I have a busy lifestyle and a poor diet up until 3 weeks ago when I started Keto alongside 14/16:8 fasting . I’ve never felt better . Lunches are easy now I’ve got into it and all my cravings are gone - I never thought I would be able to say that! My whole life revolved around food , I was always hungry and always snacking but now I have so much energy and I’m going to the gym 4 times per week . I feel better in every aspect of my life . I haven’t weighed as it’s only been a few weeks and I can really get too focused on numbers on scales ( I’ve been very skinny in the past ) but my clothes feel more comfortable and I can see a difference , mainly in my tummy and arms , and now mild health issues I had before are non existent. We have just had a KFC as a cheat and I feel absolutely awful now !

I should add I think in my entire life 1 person has called me fat and I had just given birth at the time.

In the past even at size 12, I use to get shamed for being 'too skinny' by bullies. My best friend wore a size 10 but got shamed for being fat (I'm all hips no boobs and she carried weight in belly and boobs) so really I don't think the dress sizes matters much.

That’s not fat.

Yes I agree life is more difficult, I never said greedy, it's more that people don't realise that a Starbuck's special is 900 calories...it's just a drink!!
Food has become more interesting and calorie dense. It's cheaper too, so two danish for breakfast is normal. But the calories are shocking.
I think if you have ever been through the dieting process, the reality that one chocolate bar requires 2 hours of physical exercise to burn it off, is a bit shocking. Food is calorie heavy and cheap. We don't think about the balance sheet for calories to exercise.

I wear a size 18 - 20 (although I do have a couple of size 12 tops that fit me too)

I just did my BMI - I'm in the middle of overweight...

I do think 'size' is very VERY subjective, I like loose fit, and nothing 'too close to me' ..

I have a friend who is 6ft and prides herself on being smaller sizes than me.. but she looks frankly unhealthy .. (In fact I know she is unhealthy based on her diet - if you cut her open she would be a fat thin person - I have more muscle tone and do far more exercise than her)

If you are a true 14 you are not fat at five nine, though. Vanity sizing has made things so hard to place, but a standard size 14 used to be a 28 inch waist which is not fat, especially not at your height.

Kim couldn't fit MM's dress. It wouldn't even close up on her. The family are an utter joke and she should never have been allowed anywhere near Marilyn's dress.

Fat is visual.

I am 5 2, bmi 18.5, small Asian frame with skinny limbs. But my stomach is a flabby perimenopausal mass of fat/saggy skin/untoned muscle (mmm attractive!) and I have GG boobs. At size 12 plus I look fat and my boobs and belly meet as I have no waist. It’s very irritating when people don’t believe that.

The great things about being in my fifties though is my friends and I have stopped obsessing about this stuff (not that I really ever did). We are every possible shape and size between us and don’t care.

But the OP (and the poster you are referring to ) are not speaking about a standard 14 is she? She's talking about a 14 now.

I'm 5'8 and consider myself fat at 14 (today's sizing). My arms, thighs, boobs and belly are much larger than they are now. I'm a 10 (2024 sizing). it's largely irrelevant that this may have been a 12 in the past - I am happy with the way I look and my bmi (20-21) as well as my weight. I prefer to be a couple of kg lighter

I would say that 95% of women who wear a 14 in today's sizing look overweight and probably are.

All these posts with ‘my husband likes me at a size X’ makes me 🤮. My instinct is to say, ‘And? Who cares?’

As someone who is 6ft, I don't disagree I'm 'large', but fat, I certainly aren't.

For the vast majority of people a size 14 is overweight. People will try and tell you otherwise but it’s wishful thinking. We’ve lost sight of what a healthy weight looks like. Most people eat way too much and are far too sedentary.

I agree, that dress is a piece of history, allowing a women who was far too large to squeeze into it/ ruin it. Shoving her enhanced arse into a dress cut for a slim women..

Absolutely disrespectful to an icon.
Don't allow a surgically enhanced odd ball the opportunity to ruin an item of history.