Am I overweight?

lozzah555 · May 2019

I’m a 5’10 20 year old female and weight 12 and a half stone? Do I need to lose weight?

L1zardQueen · May 2019

Nope. Do you lift weights?

cmriverside · May 2019

You are just at the very top of the healthy weight range at 25.1 BMI. So you could lose weight or stay where you are. Are you happy with your current weight? It's not unhealthy.

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html

lozzah555 · May 2019

I don’t exercise a lot and if I do it is only cardio. I would like to be a bit smaller but I’m naturally quite curvy

sefajane1 · May 2019

I mean this in the kindest way but, why are you asking total strangers on the internet if we think you should lose weight? Are YOU happy with how YOU feel? Are YOU happy with what YOU see in the mirror? If yes, then sod what anyone else will tell you 😊

sijomial · May 2019

lozzah555 wrote: »

I’m a 5’10 20 year old female and weight 12 and a half stone? Do I need to lose weight?

Are you overweight? Yes you are a little overweight.
A different question to yourself as a female who doesn't exercise much and won't have an unusually high amount of muscle would be "Am I over fat?". That's a question only you have the information to answer. Also your body, your choice.

But define "need"? For longevity and current health - probably not need to lose weight.
But depends on your goal physique how much you want to lose weight/lose fat.

e.g. As a 5'9" male at 12 stone I don't need to lose weight but I would look better and cycle faster if I lost a few pounds. That's the difference between need and want.

Blythmag · May 2019

Nah

rheddmobile · May 2019

As mentioned above, your BMI is 25.1 which is on the cusp between healthy and overweight - actually slightly into the overweight range.

If you are large boned, muscular, and athletic, this may be a good weight for you. If you are small boned and have no muscle, it could mean you would be better off losing fat.

You’re 20 which for a lot of young women is about when they start having to pay attention to what they eat or pack on the pounds - the classic “freshman fifteen.” Partly this is because they may be eating at home less, and doing different activities. My suggestion for you would be just to put this on your radar - start making sure you get enough activity, eat well, don’t overeat. Depending on what you’ve been doing up until now, just paying a little more attention to diet and exercise may cause you to drop a few pounds. It’s better to form good habits now than to wake up five years from now and notice you have gained a bunch of weight.

PAV8888 · May 2019

lozzah555 wrote: »

I don’t exercise a lot and if I do it is only cardio. I would like to be a bit smaller but I’m naturally quite curvy

There is medical need, there is self satisfaction, there is other peoples' views. There's lots.

By what you've publicly disclosed (BMI 25.1, age 20) there doesn't exist STRONG evidence that you're in medical need of losing weight to seriously decrease your future health risks.

By your sub-text of don't exercise a lot (what is the definition of "a lot"? how active are you excluding deliberate exercise? these are unknown) there is some risk that you may be over-fat even if you are not at a very high BMI and some risk that you're not particularly active.

By your sub-text of "naturally curvy" I see an indication that you are satisfied with your current look.

This is MAJOR, and mental health is often worth quite a bit of increased physical health risk--and that's not even counting that good mental health may decrease physical health risk in the long run anyway!

By the same label of "naturally curvy" there is also some risk that you are one of the people who regard what others may view as excess fat reserves as being a good and normal thing.

Your doctor is probably in a better position to assist you in terms of determining relative risk in terms of your perception of being naturally curvy.

What I would say here is to encourage you to reverse your position on exercise and to find some joy in being active (even if this is not in the context of INTENSE exercise, moderate exercise is good too!). By that I mean even things such as hikes, or carrying loads of groceries and swinging them around while you do so!

While a BMI of 25.1 (that does not substantially increase over the years) is not usually associated with dire health consequences, an inactive lifestyle starting at age 20 may be much more of a long term concern.

apullum · May 2019

What does your doctor say? Do you have any physical or mental health concerns that are related to weight or eating?

Barring any health conditions, if you’re unhappy with your appearance, you might start strength training rather than focusing on weight loss.

Am I overweight?

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