Is a size 14 big?

[fattytoadboy]

Just that really. Been somewhere between a size 12-14 for the past 20 years. Even when I lost two stone I still fit into my size 12 clothes. Now I’m about 12 stone at 5,7 and a solid 14.

I definitely feel better around the 10.5 stone mark. I’m really struggling to lose weight. Sometimes I look at myself and can see a roll around my belly or feel like my face looks bloated and neither of these things make me happy or confident.

Equally when I’m dressed well I think I look ok. I know it’s totally subjective but in your opinion is a size 14 what you’d consider large? I don’t think I look obscenely overweight but I definitely would look and feel better with a few stone off.

BMI chart says 14 is a healthy size for me as I’ve been a 14 for years and in the healthy bmi range and with my low blood pressure and cholesterol I’d say I’m as healthy as I need to be.

What causes the NHS problems is high blood pressure,high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, people eating shite which all sizes do and a lack of exercise not some random clothes size.

But you knew that didn’t you. 🙄

No it isn’t!

It is if you’re 5ft tall. Skinny if you’re 6 🤷‍♀️

I think H&Msizing has always been off. Sometimes up, sometimes down. Sometimes in the same collection. I tried on blazers in March there. Sizing up in one style was too tight, sizing down in the other was still too big.

Current size 6 is definitely smaller than an 80s 8 or 10 everywhere I've been. I still have clothes from those times. They are not Tammy sized (teen shop for those who don't remember it).

As a tall person I always sized up for sleeve length or bought mens sweaters. When I was pregnant with DS I was 9st 4 and this meant I got referred underweight.

I only began losing weight when I stopped wanting to be thin and started wanting to be strong.

As someone who has also struggled with weight, in the medium range (at 5,5 heaviest 11st but look SO much better at 10st) I don’t think at a size 14 anyone is walking past you in the street with a shocked “she’s huge” but while not obese it is big (IMO, 6/8 small, 10/12 medium, 14/16 large, 16/18 obese, 20+ morbidly obese)

Speaking honestly as someone that has gone from a 6 to a 16, and back down to an 8-10… yes it is. Anything above a 10, is slipping into large.

Don’t be ridiculous.

Dress size is not how obesity is measured.

I 100% understand where you are coming from. I ended up at a size 14/16 and 12 stone (5ft 5") for around 15 years. Last June I was just so fed up of the diet merry-go-round I went on Mounjaro and lost almost all the extra 2 stone. Honestly I feel so much better, I am not interested in looking attractive, I just don't want to feel physically uncomfortable or to worry about looking foolish in clothes. I'm extremely bottom-heavy and my dream item of clothing was always just to be able to wear a pair of jeans without feeling like someone's nana wearing a pair of M&S triangle-shaped ones. My body hurts less (knees etc) and it's so nice to just wear 'normal' clothes (a pair of jeans for me). I'm now microdosing the pens (counting clicks - here on MN if you need details) for cost reasons, and it seems to be working for me.

Wow, that was a venomous little rant.
Having a pop at 'thin/normal weight' people is a thing now?

That’s not an attack on thin people, it’s an attack on a particular kind of competitive undereating you see on Mumsnet which is full of tactless or unkind digs at fatter people.
Most thin people have the modicum of empathy needed to not take part in this but nonetheless there are plenty on here who do enjoy putting others down and that’s what this post is getting at.

I am similar to you in that I’m currently a size 14 /.../ I don’t look at other size 14 people and think they look big.

Exactly that - our perception of what is big changes depending on our own weight and everyone around us. Speaking from experience, when I was bigger, i always thought of person x as very slim and person y as average. Then I lost weight and now person x looks average and person y is large - their weight has not changed.
If all your friends are size 20 and you're 14, then you feel like the slim one. If an average woman is size 16, then again, 14 is slimmer than average, all good. But an average woman in the UK is also only 5'4'', and most people at that height and size 14 would not be small.

I'm going to keep saying this because it's true. If you are tall you have to size up for sleeve length. I don't have any size 10 blazers or jackets, I do have some tops but high street brands aren't sized for tall people.

I'm not busty but those who are won't fit in anything below a 12 in tops unless they want them silly level tight.

More important than all of this is to love who you are. By all means slim a bit if you feel it will help your health but most size 14 people are not needing to do that

So many nasty and toxic responses, how sad that women can treat each other this way!

OP I am a very similar weight and height to you. I was smaller around 9.5 stone and then had a baby and now more like 12 stone. None of my old clothes fit me and I felt really rubbish about it. But I decided that my priority was in my family, not my own image. I eat fairly healthily (but still have plenty of treats) and try to go on walks regularly with my baby. Yet still I'm 12 stone. I decided to get myself a bit of a new wardrobe for my new body (nothing crazy- spent about £150 for some new staple items) and feel so much better now. Could you get some new clothes to fit your new body, instead of trying to force your body back into old clothes? It made the world of difference to me. I still look good, I just have a different style now.

I used to have anorexia so I know how negative thoughts and self image can eat away at you and make you feel awful. Please don't listen to the nasty negative comments some people on here have made. Your weight doesn't sound like a problem. Perhaps your diet and exercise habits could be improved, but for the sake of health and longevity, not for the sake of a smaller body to fit our society's ridiculous standards.

depends entirely on how tall you are, surely?

Those that are saying it’s big, large or overweight. Well yes it might be if you are 5ft.

Not if you are tall though. Not in the slightest.

I’m usually a 14 these days and I would say on average a 14 is a “medium” size. It is too big for me though because I’m only 5’4” with quite a small frame, I preferred my size and felt more comfortable when I was a 10-12. I don’t think I look “fat” exactly at the moment just a bit chubby!

You’re quite a bit taller than me though so probably don’t look large as a size 14.

I really think ladies sizes are becoming meaningless though, there is so much variation. I can be a 12-16 in one shop!
Just go with how you feel and look more than what the label says.

Don’t be stupid
how is a size 10/12 at 5ft 11 large? We aren’t all 5ft 4

It depends I was a tight size 12 at 9st 6lb and I felt huge as it was all around my middle, I’m now 8st 12lb and feel good. Other people are very comfortable at that size. Size 14 would be huge to me, and small to someone whose an 18 or over.

I think size 12 was average but it may be 14 now.

12 stone at 5' 7" is overweight, yes. You may carry the weight well, some people do. If you exercise regularly and eat well I wouldn't be particularly concerned about the scales.

No it’s size 16 and has been for at least 15 years

It is overweight. Everyone will hate me for saying that, but it is. We have an obesity crisis so now that seems quite normal. But it’s not.

It should be pretty simple and the answer to one simple question: how would I look - and feel - if I was 1, 2 or 3 dress size down, or 2 or 3 stones (or more) lighter.

If realistically and truthfully you would look emaciated if you were a stone lighter, then your current weight is likely fine.

If you would look absolutely fine, or likely much better, with less weight and wearing a size 10 or 12 instead of a 16-18, then you have your answer.

I am not talking about suddenly exercising, building muscles - which we all need - but your current body. People do know the answer anyway, they just come up with excuses. Not everyone cares about their health and looks sadly. It's easier to pretend that women can have either a brain or a good body but not both at the same time.

It's funny how everyone falls over themselves to admire someone like Kate Middleton. She doesn't come from a different species, she's a normal woman, had 3 children. She's tall and has a boyish figure, but there's no reason why anyone couldn't be as slim if they wanted to.