But you don't look overweight!

yorkshirecath
yorkshirecath Posts: 13 Member
in Motivation and Support
Had anyone else had this?
As a woman I am fairly tall at 5ft 8 so hiding those extra pounds was fairly easy. However, heading up to 14 stone even I couldn't hide it anymore. But still I get the oh you don't look over weight, or oh you are tall and slim aren't you! If you saw me without my clothes you would would soon change your mind haha.
I'm 21lbs down now so hopefully when people say I look slim I actually will be!

Replies

  • aerosolo
    aerosolo Posts: 15 Member
    I hear this nearly every time the discussion of weight or health comes up and boy, does it hurt. I get the dirty "get real" looks and "where?!" is the most popular response. Well, everywhere! I've got 25 extra pounds distributed between waist, butt, thighs, breasts (yay?), knees, feet and hands. I'm flattered that folks think I look good. But I'll be happier when I *feel* good.

    Wishing you luck and good health, and the determination to ignore the naysayers!
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
    edited September 2015
    Yup ... got it all the time when I was losing weight. I took one of two response paths:
    1. Ask them "what do you think I weigh, and what do you think a fit person of my height should weigh?" Invariably, they got my target weight pretty close, but well underestimated my actual weight. Then I revealed my current (at the time of the conversation) weight, and they invariably said "really? you don't look it." And then they get it.
    2. "You're used to the former, bigger me, but I'm still xx pounds over my post-university fitness point, which is my target." And then they get it.

    ETA - In the rare case that either of the two responses didn't work, I suggested that if they saw my remaining belly fat, they'd agree that I had more work to do. No one took up that challenge. :smile:

    As long as you have a reasonable, healthy target, keep at it, even if others don't think you have any further to go.

  • flrancho
    flrancho Posts: 271 Member
    I've gotten it from co-workers and people I go to church with. I'm 5'6" and about 25 pounds away from my goal weight. I hear all the time that I need to stop loosing and that I look great how I am. I guess I carry my weight well. I'm still listed as overweight by my BMI index (though literally only by a couple pounds), and I still have a body fat percentage of around 33%.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I used to get this. I have a pretty true hourglass figure and gain weight evenly so it's not obvious I'm carrying too much weight until my face fills out. And even then, I'm the one who notices usually.

    Since I didn't talk about dieting most of the time, not too many people said anything.
  • MarziPanda95
    MarziPanda95 Posts: 1,326 Member
    I got that too. I'm 5'7 and was 211lbs when I started (15 stone 1lb), but I didn't carry it too badly. I didn't look 211lbs, especially because I carried a lot in my breasts. Regardless, I did still look overweight, just not obese. My grandad only sees me at certain times of the year. When I was home over the summer he commented that I've lost weight and asked how much. When I told him he was shocked and asked how much I used to weigh. When I told him that, he was even more shocked.
    My dad keeps telling me to stop losing weight. I'm still 145lbs (10 stone 5) and want to get to 140 (10st) and then reevaluate (perhaps going down to 135 but no lower). It's right in the middle of my BMI so it's certainly not unrealistic. Plus I look good clothed but look awful naked! I still have a lot of stomach fat. I suck it in when I'm out. I just smile and nod at him.
  • chickiechickie
    chickiechickie Posts: 27 Member
    I think a large number of people greatly misunderstand what healthy truly is. I think if you look like everyone else, you are okay; it hasn't yet been considered that everyone else might also need to be healthier. Majority rules even when they don't.
  • jakegold
    jakegold Posts: 24 Member
    I hear this all the time! I'm 6"1 and 225, about 30 pounds over weight. Hold strong and keep in mind it's just being healthier in general and people's perception of you does not matter
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,162 Member
    In some cases, I think this is just the kind of thing people say: "You're not fat!" "But you look great!" "Where?" . . . sometimes people think this is a a way to be nice, to say that one is OK as one is.

    I've always been pretty matter of fact about being overweight (roughly 60 pounds in recent years). Sometimes I'd mention something about being fat in a factual context, not self-deprecatingly, or constantly, or in an attention-seeking way - like "it would be easier to bend over and reach that thing if I weren't fat".

    This kind of factual statement, to my bafflement, would almost always draw "You're not fat!" or "Don't call yourself that!" or the like. The denial is supposed to be some kind of compliment (?) or they think I'm hating on myself (not), or somesuch.

    I did have a brief dispute with a PA in my doctor's office, but that was just funny: I said something about needing to lose weight, she said "you're not overweight". I told her to check my height/weight for BMI. "Oh. OK" (I was in the lower end of the obese range - 5'5" and over 180, for heaven's sake!) But, this was an oncology practice, and I think they were used to seeing overweight people with kind of doughy arms & faces. I didn't have these because of being that odd duck, a reasonably fit fat person - most of my fat was central & lower body.

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