Am I fat?

[Confused19831983]

Posting here for traffic.

I am 5ft 4inch and I weigh 10stone.

I am 41.

One question.

Am I fat?

Genuinely interested in opinions.

This is mumsnet, where anyone who eats more than a lettuce leaf a day is a big greedy fatty. FGS don't ask here.

People saying one thing or another can't possibly know if the OP is carrying too much body fat or not.

Body composition makes all the difference

At 10 stone 5'4" the Op could be chubby with definite excess body fat or incredibly fit and have very little excess body fat.

With my small boned frame, and I'm slightly taller, I would look fat at that weight. I think I could stand to lose a few pounds too though.

You're the same height as me and the same weight I was when pregnant, so to me that's fat.

Our perception of what's fat has become warped because so many people are overweight now. I spend alot of time travelling in Asia and it really stands out how fat we are in comparison.

Oh come on, the refusal to see what is right in front of us is half the issue our country has around weights.

I wouldn’t use the word fat, but yes, for your height you are overweight.

Thank you for your kind words and congrats on the birth of your baby

Yes, I have a definite muffin top 😂

Also @Opinionwontchangeluv I welcome all views, so thanks for yours.

The diverse responses have been so interesting to read, and I think they in part explain why I feel so conflicted about my weight myself.

The replies have somehow succeeded in making me feel better about my current weight but also motivated to get down to nine stone.

I think it's a funny world we live in when all the celebs around us are super slim, and this is held up as the ideal, yet in reality most people today are overweight.

It's difficult to know where you fit in.

I also think it's challenging to lose weight in our current society.

Unless you cook everything from scratch, the vast majority of food you buy in shops and restaurants is laden with calories.

For those of us who are time poor, this is tricky.

I work full time and have a one year old so I struggle to fit in exercise.

Also, I don't have that many pleasures in life - I used to smoke and drink more than I should have done. Obvs had to kick those two habits. I feel I deserve the odd chippy tea. Doesn't everyone?

Anyway, thank you again.

I wrote this post after weighing myself for the first time in six months.

I hope to get down to nine stone by September. We'll see!

I find weight a bit irrelevant. Body fat % is a more interesting measure.

Everyone is different. I carry weight all over. I’m 5ft 5 and at 10 stone can wear a size 10 and definitely slim. I’m not 10 stone at the moment though 😂

Here you go OP
https://uquiz.com/quiz/hXV2kr/how-fat-are-you-extremely-accurate-pictures-included

It is so subjective.

You have a healthy BMI. But I'm an inch shorter and at that weight would not look slim. But there are people of the same height/weight that would look great.

Women often don't like the way they look at any weight, sadly .

These threads should be banned.

I'm sure this has been said but it depends on so many factors. How muscular are you, do you have big boobs?
I weigh the same as you but am 5ft 8. I have very little muscle and small boobs. If I get to 11 stone I look fat - even though I'm tall and it's still a healthy BMI. Even at just over 10 stone I'm not that slim. I mean, I'm slimish but not exactly wasting away.
Yet I have friends who are shorter than me and can get to 11 stone stone and look really slim. It's because they're muscular and lean. They don't have any flab and the muscle makes them heavier.

This is mumsnet, where anyone who eats more than a lettuce leaf a day is a big greedy fatty.

Said no-one ever.

Yeah, I am not muscular at all but I do have massive boobs.

I was that weight at 5,2. It was a little chubby. I was slim at 9 stone.

That quiz is very tedious, and parts of it are hard to work out. I got bored very quickly! What answer does someone of 5 ft 3 and late 50s give at the start? (Question 1.) All I can see for 5 ft 1 to 5 ft 4 is aged 80-101. But there are lots of choices for children.

Anyway, the poster who said this site is a toxic cesspit sometimes was correct. Posters late last night telling a 10 stone 5 ft 4 woman that she IS fat actually. FFS! Yeah maybe just MAYBE she isn't super slim (she admits she has a muffin top,) but 10 stone at 5 ft 4 is NOT FAT.

OP don’t worry too much what others think, if you want to change do it for you.

I have always been slim/small boned and am 5 ft 4, when I quit smoking I ate a lot of junk and too much each day I hit 9 stone 10, I did look chubby and people commented to me on it. I know that sounds crazy but I’d previously always hovered at 7-7 and a half stone and my face got really round it just did not suit me at all.

Feeling like shit I then went back to eating more healthily or at least reducing the amount/portion sizes and exercising gently (always walked but started workouts 3 times a week/couch to 5k). By the time I was pregnant with my DD I’d settled at about 8 stone, I then gained 2 stone in both pregnancies and lost it through breastfeeding, I have always remained at 8 stone 7-9 since having them (youngest is 4 now) and this is my ‘natural’ weight I’d say. But I do eat healthily most of the time.

I could be slimmer if I started working out again but I just don’t have time or energy right now, the school runs are enough at the mo. I aim
to get fit in September but not worry about the number on the scales as such.

It just shows it does vary wildly, but I personally look better with less weight on. Some people look better with it on and end up looking gaunt at the weight I am!

It’s personal, if you feel unhappy or not yourself then do it for you not anyone else. I’d never say you are fat, your BMI is healthy, it’s down to you if you feel like you’re not the weight you should be.

Also congratulations on your baby. You should look in the mirror and thank your body for what it’s done!

Thank you very much for your kind response.
You are right, we all vary so much!
Personally, I would look too skinny below 8stone.
I reckon 8stone 10lbs probs my perfect weight.
When I put weight on it's really visible in my face! It gets so chubby? Ha ha.
So yeah, I think I look better when I am slimmer.
And yeah, I am grateful for my body, all ten stone of it!

It doesn't matter what size others are or their attitude, if you feel that at the top end of a healthy and your body composition isn't making you feel your best, it's fine to make positive changes.

Gradually tweak habits to make them healthier. Drink plenty of water. Add in more plants, and protein, reduce ultra-processed foods, build in more movement. Carry baby in a carrier for weight bearing exercise. Add in more walks. Short exercise sessions. Do something that makes you sweaty. Do something to make you stronger.

You don't need a radical, punitive diet or hours in the gym, but making realistic habit changes will feel better, and keep you healthy well into older life.

Being at the borders of a healthy weight isn't a terrible place to be, but if habits don't change, you'll probably find yourself in a harder, less healthy position in a few years time. Losing muscle mass at this stage of life makes weight gain more likely in the future along with mobility issues much further down the line.

These replies..... At 18 I was 5'5" and 9 stone and was very slim, willowy stature, small waist, big boobs, small frame. As you get older and have kids you change. My ideal weight now would be just over 10 stone, at that weight I would again be "slim".

I am currently 11 stone, slightly overweight, with enormous boobage. If I went down to some of the weights suggested here I would look positively ill at 58 years old.

If it makes you feel better slightly fat people live longer and healthier lives 😉

I'm 5 ft 8 inches and weigh 10 stone so possibly you are a bit cuddly. I'm a standard size 12.

Fat isn't a feeling. Saying you feel fat as shorthand for not liking how your body looks is fatphobic. (If you're actually fat, you can't take it off at will. Yes, there are ways of dressing that will disguise/ hide some fatness, but fat bodies are always fat, it's not a thing you feel sometimes).

If you can buy clothes, in person, in most high street shops you aren't meaningfully fat. If you're very slim or very short you're still usually in a better position than a fat person as it's easier to have clothes that are too big tailored to fit than to have a much more restricted range only available online.