help! Do I look OBESE? opinions please!

R

rcnew

New member
Right, I don't know if this is the right place to ask but hey,

Checking my BMI I am classed as obese, I'm 5'6" and 210 however I don't know whether I look it. I accept that I am overweight but obese sounds like more.

I fit average UK 14 clothes, no-one has made weight comments, including my doctor? My waist to hip ratio is 0.77.

I nurse in A&E therefore I am very active, my arms and legs have a fair bit of muscle on them due to the nature of the job.

Just want to ask others if I look obese?
 
looking obese doesn't equal being obese, if you wanna know if you're obese, check your bmi as it's a fair indicator.
 
I look like I'm overweight, but I'm actually pretty close to 40.6 BMI making me well above obese. Does that mean I look like I'm nothing but fat and lazy? No. Our bodies work in weird ways, some of us carry all our weight in our stomach, others can carry it all in their thighs (I kid you not, I saw a woman with thighs that are HUGE but her upper body was very thin) while us lucky few carry our weight equally through our body. What matters is the numbers. Now, does that mean you have to exercise and diet and lose weight because you're "obese"? Yes, and no. You should do whatever you feel is necessary, and your doctor's recommendation helps.

If you feel good, look good, and generally live healthy, then don't sweat about it (see what I did there? lol). The BMI chart is just a guideline to show what range you're within. As Benny said being obese, and looking it, are different things. Think about losing weight for your health and longevity rather than how you look ;). Just imagine how you'll feel if you lost 80lb. You'd look and feel 10x amazing. Think health first, beauty second.
 
Loch said:
I look like I'm overweight, but I'm actually pretty close to 40.6 BMI making me well above obese. Does that mean I look like I'm nothing but fat and lazy? No. Our bodies work in weird ways, some of us carry all our weight in our stomach, others can carry it all in their thighs (I kid you not, I saw a woman with thighs that are HUGE but her upper body was very thin) while us lucky few carry our weight equally through our body. What matters is the numbers. Now, does that mean you have to exercise and diet and lose weight because you're "obese"? Yes, and no. You should do whatever you feel is necessary, and your doctor's recommendation helps.

If you feel good, look good, and generally live healthy, then don't sweat about it (see what I did there? lol). The BMI chart is just a guideline to show what range you're within. As Benny said being obese, and looking it, are different things. Think about losing weight for your health and longevity rather than how you look ;). Just imagine how you'll feel if you lost 80lb. You'd look and feel 10x amazing. Think health first, beauty second.
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Regarding the BMI chart, I just recently read in the newspaper about some guy whose doing studies to make changes to the BMI chart due to it being very outdated and more often than not incorrect regarding the amount of fat, and shapes of people. If you google it you'll find plenty of articles regarding the inaccuracy of the BMI chart.
 
When I was at my heaviest, nobody would believe me when I told them what my weight was. I was in the 'morbidly' obese category, with a BMI that was off the charts (60+). I was wearing UK size 34+, yet even my doctor wouldn't believe me when I told him my weight until he had actually put me on the scales. Now that I have lost weight, people still vastly underestimate my actual weight. I work in a charity shop, and on a regular basis I have people holding out clothes to me saying " This would look nice on you, and you'd fit into it easily." The clothes they show me are sizes 14 - 16, I am actually wearing 22s in jeans and 24/26 in tops.

Looks mean nothing. I'm 5"11, and my weight is evenly distributed, so it shows less. I am 'big-boned', not in the sense of using it as an excuse either - I had my bone density measured, and my bones are extremely dense and heavy, at the top range of the charts for males, and off the charts for females (which I am). I have broad shoulders, large feet, a wide back....I am built like a brick outhouse, as my mother lovingly tells me. ;) So the way you look really doesn't mean much.

That said, BMI is really very inaccurate and outdated. It leaves out a lot of important things, like your shape, your build, bone density, amount of muscle etc. There are hardcore athletes who, going strictly by BMI, would fall into the obese category, simply because their muscles are heavy. So that's not really something very accurate.

As Loch said, don't let it get to you. Go to the point where you feel happy and healthy, and don't get too hung up on the names that are given to things. My doc told me that I would never manage to get into the 'normal' or 'recommended' range of BMI. If I did that, I would be about 30+ lbs underweight for my build and frame. I'm not bothered. As long as I'm healthy and feel ok within myself, I don't care whether this silly scale calls me overweight, obese, or a one eyed ogre. ;)
 
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