to think that size 14 is NOT that bad?

[Coldhands]

I have always been naturally thin, to the point where I wanted to put on weight. At school I actually used to get asked if I was anorexic (I was not). Sometimes commenting on being 'skinny' (hate that word) is just as bad as commenting on 'fat' people.

Anyway, I put on loads of weight after having DS and it has taken me a very long time to shift it as I can't exercise. I was wearing size 14 clothes for quite a while after, which I didn't think was that bad. Now I am back to a 12, I have had loads of comments about the weight I have lost (which does make me feel good). When I look back at the photos, yes I looked bigger than I thought I was at the time, and for me it was unnatural after always having been thin.

I bumped into a distant reletive the other day who said "oh you've lost weight" Great I thought, then she started going on and on and on about how big I was, and she lost her baby weight straight away when she had her DD (this woman is not particularly slim herself btw), and how I took soooo long to lose weight as I got so big. I told her I was only a size 14 (she thought I said 14 stone and went on about that for a bit). In the end I just "hmmmed" along until she shut up.

AIBU to think that a 14 is NOT big? Obviously I am much happier being a 12, I would say I am now slim but I have curves (and a few more wobbly bits than I would like, but we can't have everything ), and what is this bloody obsession that everyone has about weight? I recently read that a size 12 was a plus model size! WTF is that about!!

AKMD - waist/hip ratio has been shown to be a much better indication of health than BMI. wiki

How can a size 14 be 'smaller' on a 6ft person than on a 5 ft person? I thought models etc (who are around 6ft usually) were size 8 or smaller? Surely a tall size 14 would still be 'larger', isn't it to do with width rather than height? I think size 14 is a perfectly nice size to be, not too small but not unhealthily overweight.

I don't like wearing tight clothes as I have very visible hip bones/ribs, without even being particularly slim.

well it's about body fat downhillfast. I and my sister are both a size 12. I am curvy, she's most definitely not. She's a bit taller than me but mostly it's that her bones are bigger - I have a much narrower frame than her.

Really does depend

ATM I know I am big (16 - 18) becuase still BF and haven't really focused on trying to lose babyweight, was a size 12 a few years ago and became ill... a 14 really is right for me but I have a funny build I am the first to admit, even as a teenager with ED I managed to survive on 7 satsumas a day (no idea why, sorry) and was a size 6 on top and 12 on the bottom. My family just have humungous hips.

Fitness wise I amand was OK,comparing myself to 20 other adults of same age and generally slimmer running after a carnival float on an autumnal evening (a good test LOL).

Iam quite solid miond,wide size 7 feet and and 5'6".

Don't get me wrong, am not happy at this size and I've lost mroe before so know I can and will again- but what I aim for is a healthy BMI/ fitnesslevel,I know from experience if I were a size zero I would still think myself fat, and Dh likes girls bigger than me anyway so there's no point focussing on anything else.

A model who is 6ft and size 8 must be truly skeletal in reality then!?

(Oh no please don't let me comment immediately after Bonsoir on a fat thread!)

I am a size 14/16 and 5'11 and a broad frame. I am 2 stone heavier than the lightest I have ever been in adulthood. IMO I am 1 stone overweight, but I would be mortified if someone actually thought I was FAT. I think it does depend on your weight. When I was 10 stone I was ridiculously skinny and a size 10. If a 5'0" woman was 10 stone (I'm guessing) they would probably be a size 12/14. So height DOES matter.

IMO someone of average to tall height who is a size 14 could probably benefit with losing a bit of weight, but would most certainly not be fat.

average height

For UK woman average height is 5f4 so a size 14 would be to much fat for most of the population.

You may look lovely at a size 18, but there is going to be effects on the body that are not pleasant, especially long term.

Phew - good job I'm a slow typer

Generally speaking, size 14 is not huge at all.
But it does depend on your bone structure, height etc.
Up to the age of 25 I was size 4 (am 5'8")-very skinny, but no bones really visible. Now, post-baby I am probably size 10-and have rolls of fat and wobbly bits everywhere- I have small bones and so at size 10 don't look fit at all while someone with bigger bones will look slimmer at 12 or 14 iyswim.

whatever makes you happy

some people are a 10 and miserable gits
some a 20 and happy as larry

clothes are nicer and there is more choice if you are smaller
ditto people are generally nicer if you fit a current social norm

I'm still confused about models. They must all weigh 'underweight' if they are so tall and yet only size 8. Aren't lots of designer clothes made in size 8-10 only?

yes they are all underweight.

coldhands your friend obviously has ishooos herself, pay her no heed.

this size thing is a bit random as it depends on body shape, differs between shops etc etc. A size 14 in shop aimed at teens is much smaller than size 14 in shop aimed at older women.

shape thing - i'm bf at mo and my top is a size 16 but that's to accomodate by bust. the rest of me isn't that big. so it's misleading.

Better to employ a range of things to guage whether you are a bit big or not, look in mirror, weight, how much exercise you do, dress size etc etc etc.

On the whole 14 is a bit on the large side but by no means the end of the world IMO. 10-12 is nice size to be. For me anyway.

size shouldn't be the measure anyway we should look at BMI.

how can you know how large or small your bones are unless you have a bone scan? Even then it is the density of the bone that vary not the diameter...?

I'm about 10,4 at the mo and about 5,10.5 tall
I'm a 10-12
my friend is a model...old model now, but she is 5,11 and 8 stone she's an 8 and is v v thin

ROFL @ downhillfast

This can't be the first time you have heard that catwalk type models tend to be on the thin side?

not meant nastily, downhill, I'm just a bit surprised that this is news to you!

Know they are generally thin downhillfast! But if 'real' 6footers are size 14, it just underlines how small models must be. An earlier poster said size 14 and 6ft = skinny.

sorry meant 'know they are generally thin imsonottelling'!

Ivy - when I was just under 10 stone (at about 18yo), I definitely couldn't pinch an inch! There was hardly any 'flesh' on me at all, so IMO that is the thinest I am meant to be (I'm sure I could be thinner but I would probably look terrible). Before I put an extra 8 - 10 pounds weight on recently (after DC2 was born) people often told me I looked slim, even though I weighed about 11.5 stone. I really wasn't slim (did have lumps and bumps) but being tall can do you a lot of favours with regard to the size people view you as.

If being 6ft and a size 14 makes you skinny, what does that ,make me at 5"11 and a 10/12?? I hate the word skinny as much as larger ladies hate to be called fat!

sizes have got so much bigger now, though
a size 10 in the 80s would be really quite tiny
I think I would feel uncomfortable at a 14 personally nowadays, though I was a 14 in my early 20s and I looked alright