Do you think you're fat?

[ThingsThatGoHumpInTheNight]

I do. And I'm wrong. I know rationally I am not fat. I am 5'5 weigh 9st7ish, dress size 8-10, body fat 18-22%, you can see my ribs from behind and my abs in front....so why oh why do I constantly feel crap about myself?

I do eat more crap than I probably should do (chocolate 5 times a week ) and I do carry weight up top (32FF boobs)...but I am not fat. So why do I feel like I am? Constantly worry that I am. People I don't know well (new work colleagues, random people at parties) make offhand comments 'healthy breakfast again eh?' this morning as I ate a croissant and fruit at my desk and it makes me feel awful.

Are other people like this? Why????

Sorry to anyone this offends...I feel for people with weight issues, I really do, but been thinking about this today (sparked by comment this morning) and wondering if I am the only one?

I feel I look fat in my clothes because they're loose and blouse out ITSWIM. I know I'm not actually fat though.

Thanks everyone (or mostly everyone for your replies)...it's sort of nice to know I am not the only person that has silly worries about this. The more I think about it, the more I think it is a manifestation of other stresses /esteem issues, mostly as a result of my child/early adulthood. I know this is something that only I can fix/control and I think I need to healthily (more healthily anyway) and take a step back and have a word with myself every now and then.

To all those people who find this boring/have better or more important things to think about, fair enough, but I don't talk about this in RL as I know many people who truly do have weight issues and other would be selfish and self absorbed of me...but maybe have a little compassion for other people's feelings/point of view...just because you are or are not fat and don't care, doesn't mean other people's feelings cars not legitimate.

eat healthily

I'm 5'4" and weigh 10.5 stone and wear size 12. I'm curvy (and now know my correct size is 32F bra thanks to mumsnet) and happy with the way I look. However as talkinpeace mentioned I do have concerns about visceral fat so have been cycling and doing yoga to tone up, which seems to be working a treat.

I'm fat. I try to diet all of the time, but I can't seem to get it together. :(

bendertherobot
I'm fat. I try to diet all of the time, but I can't seem to get it together.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03863jg/The_Men_Who_Made_Us_Thin_Episode_1/
Watch and realise
you need to make the "diet" be how you want to eat for the rest of your life, not till "that party"
and then you will help put those parasites out of business

I know I am fat.

I am size 14 and 5ft.

But had a baby 4 months ago and still losing weight. It's not the be all and end all. I exercise fairly regularly and I indulge occasionally, but I see no harm in this. Plus, I feel fine and I think that counts a lot more.

As long as it's not making me feel bad, I don't mind being overweight. I used to hate it as I used to be even more overweight (18 dress size).

At the end of the day though I will try and lose another stone and be a size 12 or 10. I am easy enough to get into a size 14 already, so it's not that difficult. BFing helps, too.

Think the word fat is confusing and misused.
In my mind "fat" is > size 18 or someone with an unhealthy BMI.

I think I'm probably morbidly obese...now that is fat.

Seriously ladies, enjoy your beautiful bodies.

Three weeks ago I would have said that I was really slim.

I know I have gained a few pounds, logically I know I haven't gained enough for other people to notice but that is enough to make me feel fat. My clothes just aren't fitting as nicely.

I worked so darn hard to lose 5 stone and then maintain my weightloss so I am mad that I have slipped, only a few pounds but I am struggling to get into my usual healthy lifestyle again. Dh has been sick and with the kids at home I have not been able to get to the gym as much and I have been picking at their leftovers.

I am obsessive and it doesn't take me long to feel really bad about myself.

I hate that about me.

I'm 5"5 and 8 and a half stone. Usually an 8-10.
I feel fat though... I think I'm a funny shape! I'm trying to tone up a bit especially my arms. I sometimes think I look ok but then will catch a glimpse of myself in a shop window or somewhere and will think, nope, funny shape!

fat isn't a feeling and how to figure out what's really going on

This is a good blog and very consistent with what you're saying op.

I don't, I know I'm slim and I've always rationally known/seen that.

This is not meant in a boasty way - more in reassuring way that not all women see themselves as bigger than they are/are insecure about their bodies.

(I'm insecure about plenty of other things but I've never had massive insecurities about the way I look/my size)

Great link strong, I think that pretty much sums it up for me...

I think other peoples/cultural perception has a lot to do with it.

Back in 1983 when I started work I heard other people calling me "the blimp" behind my back. I was an '80s size 14, which was 36-26-38. A 26 waist is now SIZE 8!!! I found a picture of me taken back then and by todays standards I look very slim indeed.

What I'm getting at is, I suppose, if someone is a Size 14 and lives in an area filled with gym bunnies or yummy mummies or ladies who lunch, if they vary from that body shape they will feel fat. But if the live in, where was it, Hull - the fattest place in Britain, they will feel slim.

But I'm now a Size 16-18, weigh 13st at 5'3" so yes, I am fat, IMO.

I am 'fat'. I am morbidly obese and weight 21 stone (5'9). I struggle to lose weight because I am psychological powered by food. I cry if I can't snack in the evenings because it has become my support to get through the day. I look forward to binge eating. I started piling on the weight at 14, before that I was healthy, because I was far more active. Now I hate exercise and I love eating... so it has all spiraled out of control. I am only now really getting out of my denial about my weight and eating habits in the last couple of years (I am 26 now).
I hate pictures of myself, but I am not actually all that bothered by looks. I now am motivated to lose weight because I am always so tired and go through bouts of depression because I feel less able to do things. I injured my knee a couple of years ago, and my weight has stopped it from healing properly, my back hurts from the strain of carrying the weight... and I can't walk far at all now.
I have tried a few diets, but know they are pointless because they make me obsessive about food. I am beginning to get desperate and considering using weight loss drugs, despite knowing it could do me damage. I just want to be healthy again :(

Thanks Talkinpeace. I think that my dad was chatting to me about this documentary earlier today. I will watch it.

I have made some permanent changes which are left over from various diets over the years. I drink green tea every day. I drink water, coconut water and almond milk every day. I eat oats, almonds, walnuts, berries and bananas every day. If I do eat bread, I eat wholemeal. I've stopped eating entire pizzas to myself or entire tubs of ben and jerry's to myself.

My downfalls these days seem to be social. We go out for meals quite often, or round friend's and family for lunch. It's lovely, but I do seem to eat way too many biscuits, desserts and cakes.

Thanks for the link to the BBC programme. :)

Yes, I do feel fat, because I am. However, thanks to some great advice from people on here, I'm finally doing something about my terrible eating habits.

Awww, OP, sorry you feel like this.

I'm fat, and think I'm not!! No but seriously, I'm size 14/16, looks worse probably as I'm only 5ft2 but I'm bloody happy. I recently threw out 99% of my shitty wardrobe and bought 4/5 items that make me feel great - it's made a huge difference and I've had so many compliments lately . Self-acceptance is key to happiness and I hope you can discover a way to find that OP.

Rachtoteach, I think that's a really great attitude. :) I think that I'm a similar size to you and I feel that way most of the time. I do sort of forget I'm fat as well, then I catch myself in the mirror or in a photo and think 'Who's that fat old....Oh'.

I'm glad that you're feeling good about yourself, and so you should. I'm glad that you've got some nice compliments too, because that's always nice. :)

I had therapy for this. Body Image therapy and you have no idea the results of asking a room full of females (of varying ages from 15-50) to draw a lifesize outine of themselves.

I can change my opinion of my size 6 self within an hour. It goes from one extreme of loathing the protrusion of my stomach to feeling too thin in my jeans. I realise my thinking is irrational but at the time the anxiety is very real. I became addicted to exercise because of this and did my body alot of damage. I remind myself of this every day in a helpful and positive way. I try to focus on being positive about my body and also use factual evidence to overcome my feelings as I now know the feelings will most often always be negative. I believe the negativity came from my Mum who still diets all year round and exercises like it's compulsory. For me now I walk daily and swim occasionally. I have recently been doing a little pilates too to firm up as I realise i mistake loss of firmness or tone for being fat.

This is a very dangerous area. We should be taught to love our bodies. They have did so much for us and take us some amazing journies.

This thread completely resonates with me.

I'm 5'5" and weigh 9st 6lb and have, since my thirties, and having had 3 DCs, been on and off diets.

I'm often told I'm slim and, looking around me, I am definitely one of,the slimmer ladies in my area.

So why, why, why do I torture myself?

After having read this thread so far I've vowed to start anew. No more diets, no more negativity about my body.

I'm healthy, everything works and life is too, too short.

OneLittleToddleTerror I didn't mean to sound so stroppy! I agree that one hour leisurely walking will not get you very fit - but walking at a reasonable pace for that length of time every day is proven to bring significant health benefits. I work in health and honestly if everyone did one hour walking a day at any kind of pace the NHS would save a fortune! You really wouldn't believe the number of people who do close to no physical activity at all - it's scary.

I spent most of my post-pubescent life acting as though I was obese. In university I went through a phase of never ever taking my coat off and trying to hide my body at all costs. The idea of showing bare arms would have caused me genuine fear and legs... no way. I avoided any activity where anyone would see any of my flesh. I was a size 10 to 12, 5ft 9, BMI 21 to 22.

Now I am a size 16 to 18, BMI 29... carrying an extra stone since ds2 partially also because of being severely depressed last year an less mobile/on drugs. Now 8 weeks pg and just... over it. I have amazing bp and heart rate, in every functional physical sense I am fit, well and healthy.. have just come through some pretty hard-core PND and it just seems such a nonsensical thing to get het up about. I have no doubt there are some seriously unhappy and critical women who would consider me fat beyond belief but I know I'm quite statuesque really and carry it well and even if I didn't it is just so immaterial. I suspect when I finish my family and am off antidepressants fully I will go back down to a size 12-14 and that is where I will be. I hope never to diet again. I certainly have no desire to ever go back to that self-hating and obsessive fool who wasted so much life thinking my weight was the issue I needed to resolve. A waist is a terrible thing to mind.

This thread is depressing me. I have recently gone from a size 6 to 12 and know that probably I am not fat as such and have been trying to convince myself but all of you going size8-10 fat etc. AH I should never have opened it...