Do I look OBESE? Pic included

[letmehaveathink]

So apparently I’m obese according to the NHS website. I definitely have a belly but I don’t feel obese! What do you think? I’m worried I’m deluded!

You do look quite big but well done on the weight loss so far. That’s amazing.

I agree we have lost sight of what is a healthy body size.

@buffyreboot

Not really, I'm being brutally honest.

Overeating is a major issue in this country, we all do it, me included.

You can't begin to solve the problem without acknowledging it first.

But yes I'm probably being rude to OP. Sorry OP.

OP you've made good progress, keep it up. But it really is down to bad food habits that you found yourself in this position.

It's not all your fault of course, it's the food environment we all live it. For all we know, your parent could have had you on coke and chicken nuggets by the time your were 3.

It's very hard to eat well and even harder to lose weight.

Absolutely not. Not even close

Obese is a medical definition and not a public perception opinion.

I was also shocked to be classed as obese when I weighed myself at 13st something. I am 5’ 8”. I have since lost 3st and am now in the mid range of healthy BMI. I look slimmer, but not massively different to when I was obese.

I think we have changed our perception of “obese” because it is not uncommon to see very very obese people. We have shifted our perception to think that those very very large people are “obese” and therefore those of us that look as you do seem very much “normal” and certainly not obese.

The BMI numbers are generally about right though. And I suspect you’d feel physically much better if you lost weight to get your BMI back in the healthy range.

I don't agree with dismissing dress size as unimportant - no so much what the label says (Last week I tried on three different styles of jeans in Zara. To get a good fit I would have bought one pair in a size 10, one in a 12 and the other pair in a 14. That's just ludicrous.) but you know how your clothes feel on you. Like most people I don't obsessively weigh myself every day but I know that if the things I wear regularly are feeling tighter or are getting baggy then my weight has changed, even if I haven't been on the scales or noticed any other changes myself. On an everyday basis I find the fit of my clothes the most reliable indicator of my weight.

As far as vanity sizing goes, I'm sure there's something in it but I have a few things that belonged to my grandmother, some classic items I've kept that are size 12, which I currently am. They shouldn't fit if vanity sizing is such a problem. I remember her as having a tiny frame, I would have said no more than an 8 but her clothes, or at least those I have, were a size 12, which does support vanity sizing and the way our perception of size has changed (unless it's because she shrunk as she was older and that's the only way I knew her). However her size 12s I have from the 1950s do fit me and they probably shouldn't.

On the topic of BMI, BRI etc., I live in Spain (am not Spanish though) where the population is generally shorter and finer boned than I am. How does BMI account for that kind of thing? Regardless of weight the Spanish ladies I know in the majority have much, much narrower shoulders than me and there is a kind of national shape that's common and is different to the average shape you would see in England - known for pear shaped in particular I believe? When I stand up to get off the train I feel like Gulliver. I used to live in South America too where there is also a different shape to local ethnicities that was the most common to see. Not about weight but about how the proportions were constructed like breadth of shoulder and hip, length of leg etc. It was a very square shape. There are some fairly broad ethnicity qualifications on BMI calculators but they seem to be based upon risk and don't take into account the way these different builds can affect the results.

Definitely not.

Genuine question, English is my third language. Is it wrong to say that 80kg person is thinner than 180kg person? I'm not calling either of them thin or skinny.

Like, would we describe someone who is 6'1 to be less tall than someone who is 6'7? I personally would say 6'1 is shorter than 6'7, both are objectively tall but if I say shorter, am I indicating 6'1 is short?

Your BMI says you are overweight not obese. Your picture looks consistent with your BMI, you do look a little overweight, with most of it on your belly. You don't look big IMO, nevermind obese.

@FullLondonEye , because dress size might be determined by the physical frame.

Zara's sizing is something else! I have various types of trousers and jeans from there, some size 12 that are nearly falling off some that are a bit of a squeeze, some size 10 that fit like a glove. Sizes do tend to be more varied than 20 years ago I think from shop to shop. But who knows. I still have size 8 dresses from 20 years ago that I can almost squeeze into but could not wear out! I'm definitely in the size 10-12 range. Last weekend I bought a pair of jeans from River Island and a top, the top is actually a size 8 and fits lovely and the jeans are a 12.🤔

Like you I find the fit of my regularly worn existing clothes the most reliable indicator of my weight.

You are reading the chart wrong. Nowhere does it say you are obese on the screenshot you posted, the X is literally on the overweight category...your eyes are just focusing on the red area...

I’m too distracted by the lovely dogs.

We’re in trouble but not for the reason I think you think we are. We are in trouble because we have massively lost sight of what a healthy weight should look like.

I would say no, you don't look obese. But they base it on BMI now adays.

I agree. Look at any old seaside photos of people on the beach in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and probably even the 80s. Nearly everyone is slim, barely anyone obese amongst them. In fact, they stand out in photos.

Overweight but not obese.

I agree.

Look at the comments about collar bones and ribs sticking out when people are a healthy BMI.

That is what you are supposed to look like.

Agree with above and the images show a normal, healthy figure in my view. Not super toned or athletic but a sensible size. The number of people who think size is healthy because it’s ‘average’ is worrying.

I don’t think you do look obese. You are borderline so losing 4lb will put you into overweight rather than obese.

BMI ranges for adults over 18, as outlined by the NHS.
Below 18.5 – Underweight range
Between 18.5 and 24.9 – Healthy range
Between 25 and 29.9 – Overweight range
Between 30 and 39.9 – Obese range

Yet thee to the Mounjaro .. (if your bp/cholestoral is high ) .. you will qualify.. and be in tip top health by new year !

No. You look quite slim.

You don’t even look overweight in that photo to me x

You do not look obese.