Have people's concepts of normal become too fat?

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  • tenintwenty
    tenintwenty Posts: 92
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    If you are quite muscular, your bf might be in the essential range, which might look too thin for some people. I'm 5'7, and pretty muscular, and people start telling me I look too thin around 126. Just because the bottom range of the BMI is considered "healthy" doesn't mean every person within that range is in optimal health. Personally, I like to cruise around with my body fat at suboptimal levels, but I won't argue with anyone who tells me that I'd actually be healthier a little fatter.
  • mrdexter1
    mrdexter1 Posts: 356 Member
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    in the uk even the "special k " advert girl is now fat and wearing a one piece !!!
  • Nutella91
    Nutella91 Posts: 624 Member
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    my exact thoughts!
  • thebigcb
    thebigcb Posts: 2,210 Member
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    I think so yes

    I know I considered myself normal, fine, until I really looked at myself, weight, height, bmi etc.

    Now when I look at people I realise how many of US are actually over weight. My partner works in health profession and she said bariatric is now the major issue they experience on a daily basis, and leads to more complications than any other.
  • Pineapples
    Pineapples Posts: 246 Member
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    I remember when I first started going out to town in my late teens and said to my dad, "Dad, aren't you a bit jealous that I'm heading out to bars full of young women that I can dance with and potentially, you know, have fun with?"

    His response cracked me up:

    "No, because in my day they were all thin"

    LMAO that really made me laugh!
  • ms_leanne
    ms_leanne Posts: 523
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    in the uk even the "special k " advert girl is now fat and wearing a one piece !!!

    I bet you that is because they didn't want to guarantee a skinny body from eating cardboard cereal lol
  • agggie550
    agggie550 Posts: 281 Member
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    All you Uk people think you have it figured out, it was cool to fat in 'Merica way before it was cool their... get with the times :P
  • OddballExtreme
    OddballExtreme Posts: 296 Member
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    Some people are telling me I need to eat more, and I myself was big a couple of years ago. (192 in 2010, 132 today). I see people bigger than me but will NOT say anything because I don't want to create problems. I am more concerned for their health and well-being and not how they look.
  • SlinkyAndHerAmazingBunsOfSteel
    SlinkyAndHerAmazingBunsOfSteel Posts: 434 Member
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    in the uk even the "special k " advert girl is now fat and wearing a one piece !!!
    I would hardly say she was "fat" :noway:
  • shadowkitty22
    shadowkitty22 Posts: 495 Member
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    I certainly think so. I was out in the sun on Monday - a really lovely, warm day in my neck of the woods - and was quietly astounded at how many fat people they were. This comes from a former fatty. But I would say a good 80% of the people I saw were at the very least overweight, with some being so large they couldn't walk properly.

    I often get told not to lose more weight because I'll look "skinny", or "anorexic". I am actually borderline overweight, according to the BMI, and very far from skinny indeed.

    My friend has a six year old sister, and there's a worryingly high number of fat children in her class. When I was in school - which wasn't THAT long ago in the scheme of things - there was one token fat kid, and it was me. And, compared to some of the children I've seen, I wasn't anywhere near as big.

    I'm all for body confidence and acceptance of all shapes and sizes, but I sometimes think that things have swung too much the other way. Body shapes are being normalised, and that's not necessarily a good thing when it's impacting on people's health. Comfort zones are very, very dangerous.

    Are you sure you aren't borderline overweight due to all of your muscles? Because you look absolutely amazing in your photos and are an inspiration in your before and after side by side shots. But I'm not going to be the one to tell you to stop losing but instead will tell you to keep up the good work.
  • castadiva
    castadiva Posts: 2,016 Member
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    I rather suspect it's actually that our idea of 'ideal weight/body shape' has become too thin. The 'ideal' displayed by Hollywood, the music and print media industries is actually representative of an underweight or very-low-range 'normal' BMI*, in most cases (I'm speaking predominantly of females here), with a very low body fat percentage (unhealthily low for women of childbearing age in many cases) and reflects (again, in general) a physique that is only physically-achievable by less than 5% of the population.

    The 'ideal' figures of most of the last century were much, much closer to the 'average' female form, and were achievable or at least emulatable in a healthy way by more women, thus the contrast between 'ideal' and 'realistic' was much less startling. Compare celebrities of the past such as Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren, Jayne Russell, Doris Day or Marilyn Monroe to Reese Witherspoon, Kristen Stewart, Anne Hathaway et al, and this becomes evident very quickly. Even a young Meryl Streep or Diane Keaton was much closer to 'average' in size than the current crop of ultra-thin actresses.

    *Which is not a good measure of individual health, but this isn't the place to go into that!
  • sunglasses_and_ocean_waves
    sunglasses_and_ocean_waves Posts: 2,757 Member
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    I remember when I first started going out to town in my late teens and said to my dad, "Dad, aren't you a bit jealous that I'm heading out to bars full of young women that I can dance with and potentially, you know, have fun with?"

    His response cracked me up:

    "No, because in my day they were all thin"

    I shouldn't laugh but I can't help it! Your dad is funny!!

    I don't really know about the population at large. Older people seem the same size as they were. It's the 20 something crowd that shocks me. We spend an enormous time at the beach in the summer, and it's kind of sad to see hot young guys and girls with their muffins tops and moobs. I had a hot body at that age but carried a little cellulite in the back of my thighs which embarrassed me greatly.
  • LoisRoseTav
    LoisRoseTav Posts: 6 Member
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    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/14/article-0-139B1B8A000005DC-690_306x531.jpg Fat? REALLY? :huh:
  • SquidgySquidge
    SquidgySquidge Posts: 239 Member
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    Totally agree, this is something I was only thinking about the other day.

    There was a picture of an overweight girl on Facebook, posted from a page, it wasn't a friend or anything - she was dressed in sexy underwear and men and women were 'rating' her. She wasn't obese, but most definitly in the overweight category.
    Anyway, all the women were coming on to say how refreshing it was to see a woman with 'curves' - I was amazed, she wasn't curvy, she was overweight - curves to me are a decent bum and boobs on a healthy weighing body, not a woman whose belly is hanging over the top of her knickers.

    And funnily enough, all the women prasing her 'curves' looked to be overweight/obese themselves.

    So yeah, I definitely think peoples perception of what a healthy weight should be has changed, if people think that someone her size was healthily curvy, they would obviously think a girl with body fat % in the athletic range would be anorexic, it's ridiculous!
  • kellehbeans
    kellehbeans Posts: 838 Member
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    As someone else said in the post, it depends on the culture of the country.

    Here in the UK, I think you're right. Same with America. An average size of a size 16 (UK) is pretty bad - considering that would have been a size 18/20 about 20 years ago - my mother measured a waist line of a pair of size 12 shorts I had on eBay the other day - 32 inches. She thought they were a size 14. Vanity sizing really doesn't help.

    A lot of people look at me and say that I need to stop losing weight. I've gone from 197lbs to 145lbs, and at 5'4, although this is a healthy weight, I am not happy with my BF% - a lot of people say I'm too skinny, which I don't think is true AT ALL.

    And the things with the mannequins making them 'real-sized' is really demoralizing. Are people less or more than a size 12 unreal?
  • kindasortachewy
    kindasortachewy Posts: 1,084 Member
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    I think so for sure, In America I started as a 16ish and I would say 14/16 is the average so no one thought I was 'overweight' the people who have notice keep saying, oh you don't need to lose any weight, you look fine! I am in the overweight BMI and it is not fine!
  • YourLotusFlower11
    YourLotusFlower11 Posts: 90 Member
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    I put on most of my weight after having my second child I'm 5"6 and used to weigh 10.2 stones I am now 14.5st after losing 19lbs in less than 5 weeks, 10lbs I lost by using mfp for the past 20 days.
    I don't just blame it on the pregnancy I just lost track of how much I was eating.

    I am size 16-18 and although I look better than before 18-20 I am certainly not happy at this size and I personally don't believe anybody would be. Yes you can still look lovely but health wise I seriously doubt it can be any good to be in the overweight or obese category.

    I believe ppl are getting a bit to relaxed with their weight and one should always aim for a healthy bmi depending on their body's composition.

    Since joining mfp it has actually given me the belief that I don't only have to lose weight I should also work on my general fitness, build muscle and balance my diet correctly.
    It's a long road until I reach my goal but I won't succumb to the belief that it's ok to be this size.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    My favorite kind of fat shaming is "concerned fat shaming". You know, when random folks comment on overweight people but insist it's not how they look that upsets them, it's genuine concern for their health. How dare they try to learn to accept and be happy as they are at a UK 16/US 12; what about their health?


    Oh and one time someone told m to eat a burger and it hurt my feelings. How dare these overweight people lash out with even a fraction of the venom the world has heaped on to them; they're not allowed to be bitter and mean; after all I'm slim/athletic/skinny and they should aspire to be more like me because I am closer to the ideal.


    Who cares if being fat is more acceptable? Are fat people making you fat? Making your kid fat? Eating all your food? Stealing your jobs or otherwise inhibiting your life in some manner beyond making you look upon their overweight forms? As far a I'm concerned it just means more clothes available in my size; sounds like a win to me.
  • mrdexter1
    mrdexter1 Posts: 356 Member
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    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/14/article-0-139B1B8A000005DC-690_306x531.jpg Fat? REALLY? :huh:

    yes really.. she has no waist .
  • SlinkyAndHerAmazingBunsOfSteel
    SlinkyAndHerAmazingBunsOfSteel Posts: 434 Member
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    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/14/article-0-139B1B8A000005DC-690_306x531.jpg Fat? REALLY? :huh:
    Definetely NOT fat! I don't understand how someone could think that??? :grumble:

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