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!

Not obese at all but BMI is very inaccurate. You could gain muscle weight and it would register as more obese, and doesn't consider bone structure.

You look slim

Difficult to say. You are big, but maybe not obese in most folk's opinion

BMI is inaccurate if you carry significantly more muscle than the average person (i.e, visible muscle bulk), but OP doesn't. Those telling her she is healthy are doing a her disservice. BMI is a perfectly adequate medical tool for the vast majority of the population.

Op you look perfectly fine, but BMI is not a look; it is a medical diagnosis. If the calculator says you need to lose weight to be healthy, then it is worth taking that on board and making some changes.

Sorry but that is not slim.

I wouldnt say that the OP is obese at all, but definitely not slim.

But the OP isn’t obese by the BMI calculator!

Yes - It will be correct and you are obese. Its a medical classification.

I’m 5’ and was obese at 10 stone with a BMI of 31. I was a size 12 with a 36” bust and just felt a little bit concious of my belly.

I’ve now lost a stone, am a size 10 and don’t feel I want to lose any more - food wise it would be unsustainable for me. I’m still very overweight according to the charts,

I had a BMI of nearly 34, so was classified as obese. It's now 29.2, so I've just edged into the NHS 'overweight' category. Most of my fat is on my stomach.

ETA I'd still class myself as 'obese'.

We have lost sight of what slim is. Healthy slim women have some visible bones around the side of the ribs and collarbones and hips. Not skeletal but you can see some bone when bending etc.

if you can see no bones but are generally the shape of a slim person but with an extra thick layer (ie you go in and out and have no fat rolls ) you like likely overweight. If you have any rolls at all or have lost the ‘person’ shape (ie have a belly or thighs that are no longer defined) then you are likely obese.

People think of morbidly obese looking people when they hear obese.

Solidarity @Op - I could have written your post and I look very similar to you. Need to lose some weight but I really don’t feel obese. I am very physically active and muscular as well as carrying extra fat. I can outrun my children! But this thread is helping me reframe this as a medical issue rather than a looks issue.

I am 5 5/6 (shrinking thanks to age!) and my lowest "normal" weight is 8 st 4 lbs. At size 6/8 I weighed 9 stone. I had an eating disorder but thanks to my build, wide shoulders, wide hips, etc although the smallest clothes that fitted me were a 6 or 8, I was dangerously ill. Almost no body fat and malnourished. But I genuinely have "heavy bones"! Even my doctor weighed me three times to check!

I weigh just under 11st and I'm 5ft 6, I'm overweight. You really don;t look like you weigh that much at your height from the photo!

You don't look obese to me. I am also 5 ft 3 and would like to get down to your wait. I am working on it, but am perimenopausal and have just been diagnosed as celiac so it is slow progress.

You look like we all do and having no time for ourselves. You look just right to me.

When I’m a size 10 I get people asking in hushed, worried tones if I’m ill. I’m taller than you but even so, a 10 really isn’t that small and should be healthy for my height but it really doesn’t look it. I look far healthier as a 12.

Absolutely not

I am guessing that you and I have a similar frame.

I look back and realise how ill I was and how bad looked, but all I saw was "Your normal BMI means you should weigh between 8st 4lbs and...." whatever it was, you can tell what I focussed on. I was 9 stone so I was always too heavy in my mind. Thats why I hate BMI, its the absolute gift to the gremlins of eating disorders.

To know if someone is obese you need to see a 'side view' - I look thin from the front and pregnant from the side.. so one photo such as the one you posted may not show the whole story

Similarly if you do lots of exercise you might weigh more than if you do less. Have you measured your waist and checked - it should be half your height - mine is not .. not even close! I am obese :(

I’ll say it again, the “NHS” is not saying that she is obese. To get to a BMI of 30 and be in the obese category, she’d need to put on 11lb and be 12st2.

Presumably OP has an ethnic background with lower numbers for healthy weight, overweight and obese.

I think you would look healthier if you lost a couple of stone OP and that should put you in the healthy weight category.

Oh come on! The dogs are just black masses* in the picture. They're just dogs!

And no OP, you do not even look overweight. I looked much bigger than you when a nurse informed me I was obese.

• I don't mean satanic rituals, just dog-shaped dark things.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320599

Very interesting article about how and why we all think that we are thinner/fatter than we actually are.

Weight doesn’t equal fitness
I’m obese, and much bigger than the OP, but I exercise regularly
my size 6 friend couldn’t run for the bus

I was intending to PM you and had started to type my response but then cancelled it because others may find it helpful.

I viewed your photograph and what screamed out at me was PCOS. You are fairly slim hipped and seem to carry most of your weight around your midsection and your upper arms. I don’t have a medical background but I am a PCOS woman in her 60s who had to maintain a 1000 calorie diet and exercise like mad to maintain a healthy weight. I still had upper arm fat and through vanity kept then covered even at at size 10. I even did 16-8 fasting before it became a thing.
Look at your mum, where does she carry her excess weight in her upper body that was disproportionate to her general weight and body size?

People assume that if you have given birth then you don’t have PCOS…untrue.

It’s great you have lost 5lbs but most of it will be water weight.

No one can outrun their genetics but I would advise you to first make an appointment with your GP (hope they are more helpful than mine) and ask to be tested for insulin resistance. Don’t be robbed off, insist you are referred to an endocrinologist. I’m sorry…you probably didn’t want to hear this. As a PCOS sufferer I am now insulin resistant and taking Metformin (private prescription) and my weight is back under control. Wishing you well with the NHS idea of normal. ❤️

@letmehaveathink You don't look obese, your arms look quite athletic, if you are quite strong then BMI might not be applicable to you.

Try a body fat % calculator there are loads on the internet usually require weight, height, waist, hip and neck measurements to calculate an estimate. By eye I'd say you were about 25% which is only a few points over ideal