Two stone overweight! I thought I was a healthy weight (pics included)

[user1493797837]

I'm 5ft6 and should be 11 stone. 10 stone to be slim.

I've never weighed myself.

I stepped on the scales at the doctors today and it says I'm 12st 11lbs!!!!

That's almost two stone overweight.

I am very physically active and have a high protein diet.

I have a podgy tummy from loose skin and weak muscles but my arms and legs are fairly toned I thought.

I'm quite shocked and I've decided to diet to get within a normal healthy range.

I've included a picture. How overweight do you think I look? Do you think the scales could be wrong?

Clothes wise I'm a size 12 but on the odd occasion I'm a 14.

Never a 10 or 16 though.

In the 2nd photo yes, you look overweight.

I am surprised at the 'sisterly love' shown here ; saying there, there, you look fine, let's not get hung up on body image etc etc.

Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer of women. Diabetes is an epidemic. Being overweight is not an image issue, it's a health issue.

Minimising it is not doing anyone any favours, and it's not being nasty to tell someone they could lose some weight. I think because almost 70% of women are overweight, people lose sight of what slim /normal should look like.

x-d posts cringiest

polly do you know the stats for men as well then. Yes she looks fine, in the picture of op with the blue dress, she does look good hardly obese. If you are into weights and fitness, then you can be heavier due to muscle build up. I think a sensible approach to health, eating sensibly and exercising is good. Cutting back on the refined sugar.

I'm tall so carry a bit of extra weight. However I know I'm a stone overweight. This impacts on my health as I have high blood pressure and asthma.

If the scales say you're overweight - you are! For good health you need to have a healthy BMI. For me it's portion size, I eat far too much and alcohol. If I cut them down I lose weight.

Aeroflot- why do you ask? It's easy enough to find.

content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB20562/obes-phys-acti-diet-eng-2016-rep.pdf

These figures are slightly out of date (2014.)

I think too many people are putting their heads in the sand. The only people who can use 'muscle' as an excuse for weighing a lot / obese are athletes and professional sports people, who are clearly very muscly. The average person does not fall into that group which is why we have BMI values.

Yes she looks fine, in the picture of op with the blue dress, she does look good hardly obese.

This is because people aren't able to comprehend what 2st overweight looks like and how it can be deemed 'obese'. What I see from the photo is heavy thighs, a big tummy and heavy upper arms.

Just stop being in denial.

Op I would say you are a bit overweight. I'm 5'6 ish, and active, fairly muscular. I'm pretty slim at 11St. But certainly overweight at over 12 stone. Too thin if I get down to 10st.

Why not try and lost a stone and see how you look and feel then?

I had a health scare recently and it's really made me look at myself and what I'm eating. Being overweight at 20/30 or even 40 is okay but at you get older the health risks do increase. I don't think it has anything to do with being sexy or attractive - people find other people of all shapes, sizes and ages attractive but health wise (especially heart wise) it can have an impact long term.

I am 5ft 7 and until recently I was a size 16ish and weighed about 12st 8. By making some very small changes to my diet (less cake and chocolate!) and going for long walks with my ipod I am now down to 11st 5. I intend to keep going and hopefully keep getting fitter. I am 37 this year.

That's based on your later pic, I can't see the first ones for some reason.

I agree that peoples idea of what fat looks like is skewed.

I re weighed myself four times.

I weigh 11 stone. So a healthy weight. I knew 13 stone was wrong.

polly because you seem to over emphasise the female stats. I would not rely to heavily on BMI values, they can be flawed.

blogs.plos.org/obesitypanacea/2012/02/10/why-the-body-mass-index-bmi-is-a-poor-measure-of-your-health/

I am not burying my head in the sand, yes at 5ft 2 and nearly 2 stone overweight I know I am not thin, but nor am I going to get hung up about it, and let it affect me and my mental health. I have taken steps to try and reduce this, by doing cardio excercise 5 times a week, and reducing my sugar and fat intake, and choose healthy alternatives.

I know that I will not be model thin, but I am to be fitter and shed some weight. If I fancy the odd treat I will, a healthy approach to food is important too.

Op with no offence intended you do look more than 11 St so I really would go more on that than weight. I'm the same height as you and would be considered slim at 11 St. I may be of a bigger build I suppose. I'm currently around 13 stone, having had a baby recently and eaten crap, I don't look any bigger than your pic in the blue dress.

That's really odd that your GPs scales were so completely wrong op! Have you rung the surgery to let them know?

By the way, I can't see any photos apart from the one posted by another poster which I think has confused the thread somewhat

Does anyone know why that is?

That's a big difference, I can understand being out by a few pound but that's crackers. Where you wearing shoes, heavy clothes at the surgery? My gp doesn't let me take off my shoes for a weigh in which I think is a bit unfair.

Not sure bibbity . I can see the second pic but not the first.

Where are the pictures?

The GP scales were almost 2 stone out?! That's crackers and you cannot be the first person to notice.

And surely a good GP should be able to tell just by looking at someone whether they were obese or not (bla bla, solid muscle disclaimer).

I can only see the second photo in the blue dress. I am 5'6 and weigh about 11 and a half stone, hopefully less now since I have been doing 5:2 (ish). At 11st you aren't significantly overweight, but you look fairly similar to me, some bits untoned, and probably would benefit health-wise from a little less tummy fat.

The colour of the dress is lovely btw, suits you.

I can only see the the second picture.

Your figure looks similar to mine- I'm between 12 and 12.7, 5ft 7, and a comfortable size 12 with a few 10s and 14s if necessary. I think I am overweight, but not massively so. I could lose 3st according to weight charts and still be normal but if I actually did lose 3st I would be incredibly skinny.

I think you're very brave to post on here and ask for feedback OP.

Aeroflot ^emphasise the female stats" well maybe that's because this is MUMsnet and the thread was started by a female.
The media stuff tends to lump together overweight/ obese into around 67% of the population.

The 'stop being in denial' was not aimed at you

It was aimed at the posters who were saying ' she looks fine, not obese at all...' (maybe that includes you?)

It was also about people saying if someone is 'fit and looks good' they can't be overweight'.

You missed the point: that people have a skewed image of what overweight looks like.

OP your GPs scales cannot be 2 stone out. That's nonsense. If they are, you need to phone them now and tell them. But I don't think they are.

How do I see the pictures?

I think you look lovely OP. You look like you naturally have a larger body build than some people, but you don't look unhealthy or unattractive in any way to me. Enjoying your body at the size it is and keeping fit and active is FAR more healthy (both mentally and physically) than an endless cycle of dieting and getting hung up about not being a size 10.

I'd be really happy to be your shape and have your confidence.