Size 10-12 but BMI calculator says overweight?!

[MarshmallowX1983]

I was weighed today by the Nurse for the first time in about 2 years. I've never worried too much about my weight but am conscious that I'm petite (5 ft 1) and if I do put on a bit of weight it shows very easily because of my height.

I weighed 59-60kg and I've come home and looked up my BMI for the first time in years and am shocked that it says I'm overweight. I wear a size 10-12 - but mostly size 10. I'm relatively active and my diet is healthy, I did used to drink alot but have cut down a fair bit since I left my (stressful) job. How much does BMI really mean? Should I be actively trying to lose weight? I have felt more body confident in my 30s after 2 kids than I did when I was a size 8 in my 20s!!

www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/

Putting your details in here says you're a healthy weight but at the top end of the scale; Not overweight

BMI is a tool I personally have no faith in as it ignores things like muscle mass. You can be incredibly fit from weight training and your BMI can read as overweight or obese.

Dress size has no meaning where weight is concerned.
The BMI gives you a broad range of weight in which the statistical likelyhood of developing a costly (for the NHS etc.) life style related desease is comparatively low.
Sit down in your underwear in front of a mirror - then you'll see if you are overweight or not (I am )

I’m 5ft 1 and a size 10 and I’m definitely overweight. Not sure what I weigh right now but about the same as you. I was 63kg after last Christmas which is my heaviest ever non pregnancy weight and went in a diet to get down to about 56kg. You can tell by looking at me that I’m fat, but I don’t have loads of muscle mass or anything, my extra weight is just fat. I’m short, petite, small boned etc. I should be at least 5kg lighter. I could see that a stockier built more muscular person of my height wouldn’t be overweight at the same weight as me but I definitely am.

I am 5’10 and a 14 and a stone overweight. I am absolutely carrying excess flab. I am a 12 at the top end of my BMI and a 10 at the lower end or as low as I have ever been. Also remember that dress sizes ‘grow’. I have put on 3 stone since my wedding but only gone up one dress size🧐

That makes sense to me. Your BMI comes out in the NHS calculator as top end of healthy. I’m taller and heavier than you (5ft 6, 68kg) but have roughly the same BMI.

I wear a size 10. I am very active and I eat healthily, but I definitely eat more than I truly need. I could definitely be a stone thinner and still look healthy.

We’re just very used to over eating and seeing overweight bodies in today’s society.

I’m a size 10 but have a BMI of just over 20, I weigh the same as you OP but I’m 170cm tall. Not sure how we can then have the same dress size, it doesn’t quite add up right - maybe you have heavy organs 🤷‍♀️ Or water retention? Or you’re more muscular?

I would say fitness is more important than a dress size. You say you're relatively active, so if this equals muscle mass then that's actually a good thing.

BMI isn't a useful way to monitor health. Being healthy, eating well and active is more important.

@Rosesareyellow you are 20 cm taller than me so makes sense that if you weigh the same you'd be a BMI 20. This is what I mean by being only 5 ft 1 - the weight shows up more easily as there's literally less of me to put it on! I do have quite a small frame, especially my rib cage as I'm still a 32D bra size. The fat seems to go on my belly and face...

It depends on where your weight is. I'm a size 10 I tops I could fit in some is too. Size 12 in bottoms. I have hardly any bust and bottom heavy. I'm 5ft 3 and weigh 67kg. I'm not over weight in person.

BMI is a narrow window so maybe your BMI is just slightly high OP.

you are 20 cm taller than me so makes sense that if you weigh the same you'd be a BMI 20.

Yes of course - but it was the same dress size that confused me. If we fit into the same jeans and you have a small frame - you can’t appear much bigger than me surely? So the weight must be going to other mysterious places - I’m a 32A, maybe it really is the boobs!

I am 5’2” and wish wish wish that 20 years ago at 64kg I had just been happy.

Like you I got freaked out by being on the verge of overweight and started dieting. 20 years later I’m almost obese

Some short people are proportionally petite and delicate but I’m not. I’m just short. I am strong and muscular and was healthy at size 10. I so wish I could go back in time and tell my 25 year old self that because now i really am fat at age 45 size 14+ 😢😢😢

I'm also 5'1" and am overweight at size 10-12. My healthy weight is more like 9st or a bit under.

BMI is a tool I personally have no faith in as it ignores things like muscle mass. You can be incredibly fit from weight training and your BMI can read as overweight or obese.

@Stellaris22 BMI is accurate unless someone's virtually a professional sportsperson.

@MarshmallowX1983 I put the stats in the NHS calculator and it said your BMI is about 24.9 at 60kg, so you shouldn't go over that.

You could lose some if you wanted for your own reasons, but you don't have to for health reasons. Just try and avoid putting any on. x

Thank you - every time I did it it came up overweight! So odd. Maybe because of my age (38) and ethnicity (mixed)?!

I’m a size 10-12 at 5”9’ and at the very top end of a healthy BMI, so can easily believe that you’d be overweight at almost the same dress size. I have a small frame for my height (I’m also a 32D), but part of the reason I’m heavy is because I do a lot of exercise so my muscle mass is high. I still think BMI is fairly accurate for me as I am aware that some parts of my body are a bit softer than they should be!

I would personally try to do something about your weight now, before more weight piles on. At the top end of a healthy BMI it doesn’t need to be anything drastic. Small sustainable changes to diet and exercise are always better.

I'm 12 stone and a size 10. According to the BMI I'm obese. I am not. I'm quite broad and muscular.

It used to really upset me and I've worked hard on reminding myself that most of my weight isn't fat.

Look at rugby players. They're all obese! They are clearly not. The scale is too blunt and doesn't take any relevant factors into account.

I'm 5"4 and 10 stone 4 having lost two stone through diet and running since May this year. I'm now only just within the healthy BMI range and want to lose another half stone to give me a buffer.

I was previously a size 12 and am now having to buy size 10.

Dress sizes have got bigger though. I have a Monsoon dress from more than 15 years ago and I wore it the other day. It's a size 14 and fits like a glove.

I also have loads of size 12 Next linen dresses purchased over the last 5 years. The earlier purchases still look ok on me even after losing the weight. The ones I bought in 2019 are now far too big and I will have to get them altered.

I don’t think dress sizes are a good gauge of whether you’re healthy anymore.

I’m 5’9 weigh 65kg and just had my second baby in 2 years 4 months ago so am not very toned or ‘in shape’ yet. I went to try on new jeans the other day and 8’s were swimming on me in both marks and next. I am not skinny and should not be a size 8 in jeans, madness!

BMI is a tool I personally have no faith in as it ignores things like muscle mass. You can be incredibly fit from weight training and your BMI can read as overweight or obese

Unless you were delusional you would know that you were heavier due to muscle? It's quite obvious that a lot of people kid themselves and deny that they should pay more attention to their weight.

Dress sizes mean nothing. I've been the same weight and shape most of my life and was always a size 12 - now I'm an 8/10. I haven't changed, dress sizing has.

We are all so different. I'm 5ft5, 9st, think that makes my BMI about 21. But, I have to buy size 12 jeans, still a 10 in dresses and tops, its my hips. To be a size 10 all over, I would need to lose another half a stone

Same height and age as you, I’m definitely on the verge of overweight at that weight but at our height it also only takes a few lbs off to make a big difference to bmi and appearance. Currently a couple of lbs lighter than you and have a couple of lbs to go to my happy weight, about bmi 24.

I’m also 38 but 5ft4 and 69kg. BMI is in the overweight category and I know it’s correct for me. I can see and feel flab on tummy/bum/thighs. I’m also a 10-12 in today’s sizing but know that for me that’s overweight. Today’s 10-12 is at least a 14 in yesterday’s sizing.

I’m slowly working my way down to 65kg (from 73) where I know I’ll feel tons healthier. I'm not too fussed about what size clothes I'm wearing but I hate feeling everything jiggle when I run to catch up with DD!

We’ve been doing Hello Fresh for about six months now and I do wonder if the meals are a little higher in calories than what we would eat before. I’m going to cut them down to every other week, step up the exercise and see if that helps!

The one thing I’ve learnt from MN posts is that everybody’s body is different! Same heights and weights can be very different body shapes and dress sizes. I’m like you - 5ft 2 and 61kg so very top end BMI. Earlier today on Facebook a photo popped up from 5 years ago. I was only 2kg lighter, but looked much much slimmer. I tried on the jacket I was wearing and its tight too. So what I’m trying to say is that I look chubby now even with a little weight gain. It must be that I’m more fat and less muscle now. I know that when I look in the mirror. BMI can be useful but I know what I look like if I’m honest with myself.