I think I need to be told I am fat

I am the same way! I feel all cute and everything and then look in the mirror! Total bummer! But you look fantastic, I'm 5'1 and 190 and look fat

You definitely don't look morbidly obese - but that is partly because you are lucky enough to carry your weight really well. Even overweight, you have a shape!! That means as you lose weight you will look even better.

I was borderline obese when I started losing - a couple years ago. Lost 20 pounds, then got bored - gained a few back. Then I started here last fall, and lost 35 pounds. (So about 50 pounds total loss from my highest weight - 183 and 5' 5 1/2") I feel so awesome, and when I look back at pictures of myself, I can't believe how big I was. Like you, I didn't feel too bad about myself, I carried it well, but it was pictures of me that really made me realize I had to lose weight.

Find a sustainable way to start losing, start working out (that is what really made it a life changer for me), and start being more and more happy about how you look! Just wait until you see skinny pictures of yourself!

Charts are not for the individual. You do not look morbidly obsese at all. Now, I also understand the feel of small and the look of big at 5'2", but you have to know also that a camera will do its best to make you think you are hallucinating. That saying that it adds 10 lbs is not a lie. While what we see may push and motivate us for change, please know that you are an individual, and I will encourage you to change what you see to what you actually feel, but do not believe the hype of the standardized chart. :flowerforyou:

I don't think you look obese at all! I understand the feeling though of feeling like you look great then seeing yourself later in a pic. Keep up the good work, you look fabulous.

Agreed...all of the above!

How DARE you! HOw dare you have the confidence to feel good about your body!
You don't look fat. So please don't tell yourself you are.

i'm only an inch shorter and look way fatter... and i weigh less!

you look really good ;D

Are you up for brutal honesty?
I think many of us have started to lose our sense of overweight, because so much of the population is overweight. When we compare with 'average', we often forget that the average person these days is overweight.
I definitely don't see morbidly obese, but I definitely see overweight.

You look like you carry your weight very similarly to me - it's evenly distributed across your body. Some people gain weight and it turns into one big beer belly, or spare tire, or huge thighs. Some people instead gain weight very very evenly, and that makes it less visible. Instead of seeing one big fat area, it's a smaller layer of fat all over. So you don't look as heavy, and it's easy to not notice the pounds for a while.
Looking at your photo, there's no big fat area, but everything looks soft and having some extra width. Your waist doesn't go in much, but your body appears as though it naturally would. Your widest part is not at your hipbones, but below that - suggesting extra weight carried on your thighs. Your arms are extremely soft, and your wrists and hands look a bit puffy.

So I don't think you look too bad, and you definitely carry your weight well, but you probably do have a fair bit of extra fat on your body that doesn't do you any favours, and would probably be healthier losing some of it.

this

and BMI is flawed.
If it says you're morbidly obese, I don't buy that. You may have more lean mass than is typical at your height/weight ratio.

So, if you posted this just to hear all the "helpful" people say over and over how great you look, you are not gonna get that from me. I hope this wasn't a veiled cry for compliments....

Not morbidly obese, but definitely overweight. You have work to do. For your health, for yourself, and for your children. You could be healthier at a lower body fat percentage. Aim for that.

Don't worry about your BMI too much. If you can find out what your body fat percentage is, that would be a much better indicator.

I think what you're looking for in this thread is motivation. The charts say you're obese, and you feel like you should lose weight (because the charts say you're obese), but because you don't *look* obese, you're having trouble finding the motivation to lose weight.

Am I right? If I am, you need a different source of motivation. It's not going to be your appearance, because that's fine. For what it's worth, feeling lousy about your appearance isn't the healthiest source of motivation anyway.

So what *will* be your motivation? Maybe you want to wear a bikini next year. Maybe you want to get great at lifting weights (all the cool ladies are doing it :glasses: ). Maybe you want to run a marathon. Maybe you want to make an ex-boyfriend super jealous. Maybe you just want to impress your friends on MFP by hitting your calorie goal day after day.

Figure out what really motivates you, and makes you feel good, and use THAT.

My $.02.

Honey please, you got curves, work em'!

No, you don't look obese or fat to me... but that's not really the point is it? Many of us have gotten used to weights that are higher than are good for us. Are you fit? Do you want to live a long, healthy life?
I was at a good weight for so much of my life, and the weight crept on slowly, so I also have trouble believing that I really, really do need to lose weight. Although I don't carry it as well as you, I do seem to "fool" some people. For instance, the store clerks won't always bring me the size I need, or they'll bring a smaller size too... "just in case". Now after 4 months on MFP, they might be right about a different size. :happy: But the more important thing is that I feel so much better... I can walk farther and do other things without tiring.
So maybe you don't need to be told you're fat. There's no reason to feel badly about yourself. But could you feel better about yourself and enjoy a healthier, more active life if you exercised more and ate better?
P.S. Don't you also want to be around to see your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren...? And to be able to run and play with them? And to set a good example for them, so they're more likely to live a healthy, long life.

If you think that you look morbidly obese I dont want to know what people think of me

I think we interpret how we look in the mirror quite differently to how we see ourselves in a static image like a photo. I spent my teenage years thinking I was fat when I was in the normal BMI. Then I did put on weight and hit the overweight BMI bordering obese but I kept telling myself it was still fine and I wasn't really that overweight. This is called denial. Depending on what I wore I looked reasonable, and friends and family minimise how overweight you look because they are bound by social codes (which is why the question Does my bum look big in this? usually results in someone telling you what you want to hear).Our society has become so used to overweight we are calling overweight curvy and obese chubby and minimising the damage we are doing to ourselves and the generation that follows our example.
I did all sorts of quick fixes that didn't last because I LOVE food and stopping my 'diet' meant eating whatever I felt like. I read post yesterday that inspired me the guy had lost a huge amount of weight in a good, intelligent way and he said
Food controls your weight; exercise controls your health. That's my new motto. I can't keep playing mind games with food - like I've been "good" all day I "deserve" a treat, "I'll be good tomorrow" or "I've already "broken" my diet I may as well go the whole hog and really indulge" MFP has helped me get control of how many "stupid" calories I eat and this has been a revelation to me. Keep pushing for healthy and as your body shape changes you'll become aware that your perseption of what you looked like before will change as well. Hope it's motivating not depressing.