I think I need to be told I am fat

While I'm all for making someone feel good about herself, sometimes we need a kick in the pants, right? You carry your weight very evenly, I never would have guessed 190. While I don't look at your picture and think "that girl's obese!" you obviously know you need to lose some weight or you wouldn't have written this post. Here's the reality, though and I'm giving it with love and respect... I'm about your height and if I ever saw 190 on the scale I'd be much more than a little unhappy. In fact I hit 140 last year and was VERY unhappy because I was about to fall into the "overweight" category. That was my wake up call and the moment I got into action.

Don't let people convince you of something you know is untrue. If you know you're overweight and are unhappy about it, do something. Do it for you because you know that 190 at 5'3" isn't healthy no matter what people tell you. Good luck on your journey, wherever it takes you.

You should have seen my face the day I had my children,I weighed close to 240 with both of them :noway:
I know I am overweight and unhappy about it,I just dont think that I need to lose 50lbs to feel,look and be healthy.
It is a lot less overwhelming thinking "I need to lose 30 /40 lbs" and doesnt seem so unrealistic.(I weighed 155 on my honeymoon 13 years ago,then got pregnant with my son and have yet to get under 170 in the past 10 years :ohwell:
I always have people tell me that I look fine and do not need to lose weight,I know I just hold my weight well and that healthwise it would be better to lose anything,even 20lbs.
thanks for your honesty

You may not need to lose the full 50 lbs to be at a healthy weight for you. I weigh 165 which is 10lbs overweight at 5'6" by the BMI chart and I am pretty dense so I look like I weigh a little less. Obviously I could still stand to lose a few pounds (I'd like to lose that last 10) but at this point its just going for less belly and arm flab, not overall smaller-ness.

You do look overweight, but you don't look 50lbs overweight. Actually - what scale are you using? I had an old scale that was putting me in 10 lbs heavier than I am.

They say that even losing 10% of your weight even if it does not put you into a 'healthy' bmi has enormous health benefits, so why not just shoot for the 20 lbs lost and then take it from there. That way you WILL get the health benefits and if you feel good at that weight then fine, leave it. (PS also active overweight people are healthier on the standard markers than inactive thin people, so if you are not active now adding that will also have health benefits).

You are not fat at all.

There is nothing wrong with being confident and loving yourself. You look very cute to me in this pic!

You do not look morbidly obese!! You & I are alike in one way... unhealthy BMIs and bodies that are good at hiding it (except I'm like the rest of the crowd and think I look worse than I do, haha). Because I was able to hide it so well, it's taken me until now to decide I really have to take losing weight & getting in shape seriously. I came to this point for 2 reasons:

1) All of my co-workers are old enough to be my mother (or grandmother in some cases)... and I have seen the damage done to poor care of their bodies, and how difficult it is to keep up with a changing body. I want to make sure that I am in good habits NOW, at age 21, so that I can continue to keep my body in good health through the end of my days.

2) My big "WTF time to change" moment: back in June I (tried) to take a tough hike with my husband (who is a runner). I literally could not get up the hill. It was embarrassing how out of shape I was... My asthma kicked in immediately, I got frustrated and started crying at one point, it was a horrible mess, haha. After that I decided that a 21 year old (an any-number-year-old, truly) should not be kept from doing fun, active things from a simple unwillingness to get some exercise and eat food that is good for you. Then I found MFP, which has helped me keep up a momentum, and for the first time in my life I feel like I can achieve my health & weight goals.

You should do it for your health! I recommend the book "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano... it will completely change the way you see food, health & well-being.

I think you know you don't look morbidly obese.

I don't mean this disrespectfully or in a mean way, but if you want my honest opinion, I think you are trolling for compliments and attention.

But what do I know?

If you are being honest with yourself, you know what morbidly obese truly looks like. If you truly see yourself as that way, then you may need to get some help (sorry, just being blunt - not trying to be mean or hurt your feelings. I personally think you look great.)

I got curious about the definition of "morbidly obese", so I looked it up:

Obesity traditionally has been defined as a weight at least 20% above the weight corresponding to the lowest death rate for individuals of a specific height, gender, and age (ideal weight). Twenty to forty percent over ideal weight is considered mildly obese; 40-100% over ideal weight is considered moderately obese; and 100% over ideal weight is considered severely, or morbidly, obese.

from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Morbidly+obese

You definitely don't look morbidly obese! Or obese at all. When I see how good you look, and then think that I weight the same as you and I'm 5'8", I figure maybe I'm being too critical of myself, lol. I still have some extra weight on me and I can't seem to shake it off, which aggravates me cuz everyone tells me I don't need to, but I know what I look like naked and they don't, lol. I always wonder if people are just being too nice...

I don't think you look unhealthy and you have a feminine figure. There's some extra pounds, yeah, to be honest, but you know that too, the numbers are lying but there's an element of truth.

All in all, we can always make healthier choices, and that's only good for us. There is no harm in adding some exercise, cutting out some crap and adding some nutrient rich, low calorie foods. Aim for health, not numbers!

BMI is such a sham. It was invented in the 1800's and people and physiques have changed a lot since then!

I agree! Food is the devil. If I ever win the lottery (yeah, right) I'd hire a personal chef. I tell my husband that all the time. LOL!