To think that a size 16 is not fat

[roseability]

I mean I would say this, as I am surprisingly enough a size 16.

When I was younger I dieted, starved and fought myself into a size 10-12. I just can't be bothered anymore. My DH seems to like my curves and I feel it is only society that deems I should be thinner.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a size 10-12 BTW but I think some women are naturally smaller sizes than others

I want to stand up to all this size 0 shit! Why can't we just be the size we are without feeling inadequate.

What do you all think?
How do you feel about your size?
What is your opinion of other's size?

Am I harking on about nothing or should Mnetters stand up and embrace their curves/lumps/bumps

I'm a 16-18 and the heaviest I've ever been. I'm actually quite self-conscious about it and have always had a bit of a weight complex. I'm not that tall and look and feel better without the extra three stone and in a size 12-14 (I've got large norks). That said, I've got a lot of stresses right now which make me not want to bother with dieting, and I've got a DH who thinks (or at least says) I look great. I generally eat very healthily, but could do with smaller portions. What I really need is a bit more time for more exercise and I know I'd feel better.

I'm a 16 atm and I feel really fat, compared to my usual size 12 (which I was before having DS2) I am fat.

I'm 5'8" so can carry it ok, but I've seen pictures of me (well pictures of ds2 but I'm holding him) and I look horrid.

I also have pictures of me as a size 8 though and my head looks massive.

Depending on your height, the healthiest sizes are probably 10/12/14, anything much higher or lower (in proportion to height obviously, I have two friends who are size 6's but they are like tiny little fairies) is likely to be pretty unhealthy.

By unhealthy I don't mean unfit, you can run marathons and still be unhealthy.

size 16 is not fat but I would not like to be a size 16

is it healthy? depends on the person imo, muscle weighs more than fat so if you were to weigh an athlete their BMI would be 'bad'

BMI is a crock of shite iirc, I am sure I have read somewhere

I am a size 10/12 and have gone up to a 14 in the past but because I am 5'9" you would not know

I can easily hide weight with my height iyswim, whereas my sister is small and spots every pound

Yes height does help to conceal it a bit, but I am 5'9 and when I see photos of me now (12-14) I am still a bit shocked at my size. I can hardly bear to look at pictures of me when DS was small and I was a 16 - I look fat.

I'm a 16 and definately in the fat camp. Soon as my Msc research gets handed in next week I will be back on the Cambridge diet. I hate the yoyo dieting but TBH would rather do that than give up some of my food indulgences and the odd glass of vine.

I remember one MN commenting that she would love to wake up a size zero because she could then eat her way back up to a size 14. Now that would be bliss

Gawd. It depends on so many things. As I am sure has been pointed out already many times - not read it all yet

Size 16 is pretty big if it's all flab on a tiny frame. Not so big if you are large framed. Or if there is a lot of muscle. The older I get the less tolerant I am of fat on myself - I find it ugly and I feel uncomfortable and would probably like shed some more inches ideally. But in the end as long as you are reasonably fit and healthy, it has to be down to personal preference.

Is frame size just about height though or bone width?

There is a big difference within size 16 isn't there? Big difference between Nigella Lawson size 16 (curvy, wide hips but gorgeous figure and at a guess within a healthy BMI) and Vanessa Feltz where it is all tummy. Depending on your shape you will have to buy bigger sizes of certain clothes- e.g big bum - you may be a size 12 but need to buy 14/16 jeans and have the waist taken in etc. Sizes also vary hugely in shops - I can literally be an 8 in one shop and a 14 in another. Bizarre. I think BMI is a better indicator than clothes size.

Both I think theblonde.

i think also being 5' and a size 16 is fat and being 5'10'' and a 16 is not. so depends on stature too i suppose.

Frame is both I reckon. My sister has much narrower shoulders and hips, slimmer calves (whatever weight) and smaller boobs. I am much stockier so can carry more weight, consequently don't look as bad when fatter, not that it makes it any better. My norks - 34E - probably weigh half a stone each so if I get to about 10st, I look quite slim because the rest of my body is about 9st IYSWIM!

Is Vanessa Feltz really only a 16? Because if she is, why is it that I can only just squeeze into size 16 clothes in the stores where a 16 is generous (FatFace, M&S)? Because in all honesty, I will admit that I'm overweight but not to the extent that she is.

I was going to say that it depends on frame etc. But actually, thinking about it, even my tall, ridiculously fit sister would be overweight if she was size 16. Short, unfit people like me would definitely be fat at that size.

I don't think it's an entirely bad thing that 'society' (what does that even mean) says we should be thin. Being overweight isn't healthy.

Lots of people want to be thinner or lose weight.
But many are forgetting about their health and the composition of their bodies.
Some thin friends are like rakes and they have no muscle on them at all.
They can hardly pick up anything heavier than 25KG.
Bigger friends on the other hand, have "real" bodies and can cope with lots of loads and a much stronger.
Best thing to aim for is a lean body with toned muscles and a normal BMI.
I'm almost there, but all the fat has gone to my middle and won't shift! .

I am a size 16 and I am fat.
I go to the gym I work out but I am still fat.
There is a roll of it around my middle and I have thighs a russian shot put would be proud of.

I am tall (ish) but at 13 and a half stone I am fat, unhealthy and it does not look nice.

I am this size because I had a very tought 2 years and I found solance in food, it is my own doing and I am the only one who can undo it.

I do not feel pressure to be a size 0 of feel less of a person (if you pardon the pun) then stick thin women, but I do feel it will be unfair on the people who have to carry my coffin and will most likley put their backs out .

Diet starts the day the kids go back to school, as the holidays are manic to try and diet in.

I take a 16 (sometimes an 18) in tops. My BMI is OK.

However I thought BMI was wrong now. It is waist measurement which is health indicator.

However I had a very small waist pre dd, and now have a waist 4" larger despite being the same wieght

I think susie100 makes a good point. Size 16 around the norks not a problem but a size 16 waist probably means you're not as healthy as you should be. Fat carried around the waist puts you at higher risk of heart disease.

It is all about inner confidence! Whatever your size.
You can be a size 10 and have very low self esteem, be a size 16 and be very self assured.
However, I think a person's lifestyle really has an impact on his or her mental health.
If you have a good diet, keep active, feel good about yourself then you are bound to be happier.

beansmum - I agree. I am 5'11" and I was a size 16 after my 3rd baby was born. In my eyes I was huge . I just looked big rather than fat perhaps. But my mum who was a similar size but several inches shorter looked overweight. There is only so much you can disguise by being tall unfortunately.

I think you have to be honest with yourself, which is hard.

I'm 5'3-5'4": for me, size 16 would be very overweight. Both my parents have diabetes, plus 2 grandparents. I also have one parent who has been medicated for heart problems for the last 15 years and a grandparent who died at 62 from heart disease.

For me, 16 would look awful, would definitely be fat and would be - on an ongoing basis - a significant risk of ill health. If you are taller, if you have a bigger frame, if you have better genetic load, then it might be the better weight for
you.

I was a stone lighter than now in my teens and was a size 10. A size 8 was for anorexics. 30 years later and I'm still a size 10. Sizes must have got bigger over the years.

Slayerette you are probably right she is much bigger I think she claims to be a size 16 though.

Saggarmakersbottomknocker - I have read that being a classic pear rather than apple is much healthier. The waist size in those 'if it is bigger than this you should wrooy' is only 33 inches which I don't think is actually that big.

In my personal experience if I eat junk food and drink it goes straight to my waist, if I just overindulge a bit but am basically healthy (say on holiday)it goes on my thighs so maybe tummy fat is just indicative of food your body can't process properly. The average waist size in the 50s before processed food was 27 inches!

I was 5 stone lighter on my wedding day then I am now if only I was 10 inches taller .
At this rate in another 16 years I will have doubled my wedding weight and it will be a 2 for the price of one deal

I think that a size 16 is fat for the vast majority of women tbh.

You can be a size 16 and be gorgeous.
You can be a size 16 and be healthy depending upon where you carry the weight and how much you excercise.

I think that society's perception of size has been skewed by the population shift towards obesity and that this is more dangerous (in terms of affecting more people) than the whole "size zero thing". It's also worth remembering that to attain size zero would be extremely difficult for most average women but to attain size 16 would be quite easy, then imo it's often a slippery slope to obesity.

Slayerette, I agree, is V Feltz really a 16 ? Also is Fern ? I mean she is getting smaller, but I didn't think she was a 16. I would like to see her fit into some of the 16's I have tried on recently.