The mystery of why some obese people think that they look good in Lycra has been solved.
Usually a distorted body image is discussed in regards to skinny people who think they are fat.
However, a new study reveals that this works the other way too, as many obese women see themselves as not overweight.The University of Texas Medical Branch surveyed 2200 women between the ages of 18 and 25 about their lifestyle, self-perception and dieting habits. About 25% of the women, who based on BMI were classified as obese, perceived themselves as normal.
Researchers say that this is alarming because if women don’t see themselves as having a problem they are unlikely to eat healthy and exercise. Women aren’t alone in this area as other recent studies noted that obese men often see themselves as normal also.
Do you struggle with a distorted body image or know someone that does? Participate in the poll and comments below.
Source: Fox News
There is some truth to that. I have just recently discovered that I am actually overweight. All this fat just kept accumulating so slowly that I didn’t see the difference over time! I thought I was normal, or maybe just slightly unfit.
Then I computed my BMI and realized I am past the safe margin. I asked my husband to take photos of me in underwear, and was horrified. I have lost about 12 pounds since July, and while I look much better now, I still need to lose at least 10 pounds and do a lot more exercise.
I do not understand how could it happen that I didn’t see what was happening to my body!
I’m morbidly obese (and down 30 lbs in 6 months). I know I’m morbidly obese. I’ll wear bathing suits because damned if I’m going to let society’s fear of fat stop me from having fun in the pool. But when I’m out of the pool I dress well. I wear clothes that FIT; I don’t try to fool myself (and no one else) by buying things that are too small so I can lie about my size. I wear clothes that flatter my figure. I would argue that I have an accurate idea of my size, and being morbidly obese hasn’t affected that.
There’s a big flaw about the poll question – those of us who do NOT have an accurate idea of our sizes might not realize it enough to indicate that. But of course, this is hardly a scientific poll.
I was pretty in shape when I was in high school, but I got kind of fat over the last 10 years. I just bought a Bowflex Revolution for sale so I started working out on that and I have lost a lot of weight.
Ashira —
Have you talked to your parents about how you feel? You don’t have to feel so alone in this. Hang in there! It’s possible that you’re about to have a major growth spurt. When I was around your age, I really packed on the pounds, but then one summer, I grew about 6-8 inches taller! After that, everything evened out. So all that fat was actually necessary.
And, I’m no doctor, but there are tons of reasons for both weight gain and weight loss. Sometimes, it’s genetics. Sometimes, it’s a thyroid condition. Sometimes, it’s eating habits.
Either way, please try not to worry too much about your weight. Some people, like me, waste their younger years hating themselves. It took me so long to realize that self-compassion (self-love), patience, healthy changes, and emotional support are so much more important.
P.S. Weight isn’t always a good measuring tool. It also measures the food in your stomach, the poop in your intestines, the water in your body, etc. And all of those things are normal and natural!
And again: you don’t have to feel alone! If you don’t want to talk to your parents about this, maybe try talking to your favorite teacher.
im 10 years old and weigh 140 lbs and 4 feet at school mostly people dont say im fat sometimes but my school treat me well i just wanna lose weight and be healthy i dont like when my docters to see that big numberwhen i get weighed and i dont have enough time to lose weight i go to scholl in aug can sombody help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:-( tears
Your post makes me sad!!
Its sad today that we all feel, fat and ugly because of what society tells us.
Trust me, I struggle as well I’m 5’8 & 140 pounds and think I’m gross, the only time i thought I looked great was when i weighed 114 pounds and my rib cage suck out of my back.
However now that I am in my 30′s I’m trying to learn that I am who I am, and if someone is going to judge me by my appearance they can go f**k themselves (pardon my french)
If you are bored, take up a hobby, learn something new, i understand it is hard, especially when you are depressed, but take baby steps. With little steps it goes along way, and if you fall off don’t beat yourself up. When you beat yourself up for eating a couple of cookies, you end up eating the whole box (believe me I’ve been there) so let it go and move onto something next!
There is soo much more to life than a silly number we have all become obsessed with. If Hollywood wants to starve themselves, let them, they don’t live in reality! They have personal trainers, personal chefs. We DON’T!!!
Sorry for the long winded message.
Brandy.
Your comments, while obviously made with good intentions, are actually quite offensive and even triggering to many girls and women.
I’m 16 too, 6’1 and about 115lb and I do believe you just called me awful and disgusting. Is that right? Sure, you can see my ribs a little, but I’m not disgusting. This is how I am. If I said now that I couldn’t gain weight if I tried because of medical reasons would it be okay? Would it suddenly become legitimate for me to be thin, for me to have bones? Of course it would be okay if I couldn’t help it. What if I said I chose to be like this? What then? Would you tell me I look like death, to eat a burger? Would you pity me? Of course I can’t speak for your individual reaction but I know many people who do treat girls like me who choose to be thin like dirt.
On the same note you’re not disgusting either. You’re athletic, you’re toned, but you’re extremely self conscious. Are you assuming that just because girls are thinner than you, they are full of confidence, completely unselfconscious and love their bodies? And what if they do? Are they still disgusting? Do they still look awful?
Now while I understand you probably never meant to offend or hurt, let me tell you it does. Your words have repercussions that you will never know. Calling a girl already down on her self-esteem disgusting, telling her she looks awful is wrong. Hell! Telling anybody that is wrong, but worst of all is that you are publicly legitimising the public thin-bashng culture we have here.
Love your body – I agree with you wholeheartedly, but when did it become okay to tell thin women they aren’t part of the sentiment. “Embrace that lower belly fat, those thicker thighs, and curvy hips.” That’s all well and good but what if this was reversed,what if I said love your bones, love your sinuous muscles, love the gap between your thighs? There would be uproar! In triumphing the cause of mid to larger women, many are inadvertently saying “Love your body because size doesn’t matter, you’re beautiful in your soul and that’s all that counts, unless you’re skinny.”
Don’t you understand? Saying “ew” to a thin person is just as bad as saying “ew” to a fat person.
You asked, “What would you rather be: an hour glass or a pencil?”
I ask, “What does it matter?”
Don’t pay out on thin people, don’t pay out of fat people. Let’s go Bambi. If we haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Right there with you. I’m small framed (I sometimes score great deals on bracelets too small to sell to most folk) and at 5’4″ am 118 pounds. I’m squishier than I used to be at 118, as I’m less muscular than I was 10 years ago. I’m smack dab in the middle of BMI’s healthy range for my height(108-145 if I recall), and actually a couple pounds more than http://www.freedieting.com/tools/ideal_body_weight.htm's “ideal weight.”
And yet I’ve had people in my circles wonder aloud to each other if I’m anorexic, and I’ve been called emaciated to my face.
It gets old.
I agree with you fully
Don’t say that! If you know what the problem is it’s up to you to solve it. That you describe yourself as fat and ugly makes me feel sad, don’t put yourself down. (That’s what cosmo and vogue are there for)xxxxxxx
I know exactly how you feel. I am seventeen years old, I am about 5 2 or 5 1 and I weigh 239 pounds. I already know i’m fat and ugly but I am this big because I am always bored. So, I eat to not be bored. Its like i’m obsessed with food. I have always been overweight, even as a child. I would exercise; nothing. I would eat right; nothing. So one day I decided to starv myself for a few months and I lost so much weight. But then I started developing depression (I still have it to this day, ever since thirteen) and I began to eat more and more, not to mention the bordem was still there so that didn’t help. Everytime I buy new clothes, a month later it doesnt fit so I have to give it away. All of my clothes never fit right and I spend hours trying to make it work but it doesn’t so I just give up and wear my pj’s everywhere. I am in sizes from eighteen to twentyfour. Clothes for overweight people just don’t get as much attention as they should when made like skinny people clothes. Media and fashion designers need to open their eyes! I am sorry this reply is so long. /:
yeah susan im the same way i lose then i gain back and forth. when i was 14 i put on 60 pounds in 3 months from a medication. got all the way to 180 then got more depressed and got up to 220. then at 18 started starving myself and went down to 155 then got pregnant and went to 250 (gained nearly 100 puonds during my pregnancy) now im trying to lose the right way down to 215 but none of my clothes fit right. My body shape changed a lot even from when i was this weight years ago. i dont have money to just go out buy new clothes so i go through all the jeans in my closet (which range from size 10-24) some 14s fit and some 18s fit its weird but they dont fit “right”.
i’m 16 years old, 5′ 8″ and 130 pounds. i’m extremely athletic, but i’m still extremely self conscious. in the back of my mind, i know i’m healthy, i know i’m fit. but, being a girl, of course i have fat in some places and it drives me insane! it’s so natural for women to feel this way thanks to the media. we ALL try to look like those gorgeous victoria’s secret models, but have you seen them in real life photos without the airbrush? one word: disgusting. it’s awful how skinny they are to the point where their ribs are pertruding.
so personally, i don’t believe that women who are overweight think they’re normal. i don’t care who you are, you DO notice excess fat anywhere!
truth is, we’ll never be completely thin, toned, and have that perfectly flat stomachs. we can only so good, but we need to embrace that lower belly fat, those thicker thighs, and curvy hips. what would you rather be: an hour glass or a pencil? i know what i’d choose.
Just a side note – I am sometimes guilty of wearing clothes that are too tight for me. It’s not because I think I’m thin – it’s very obvious when my waistband is uncomfortably tight and when you can see rolls – it’s because I tend to gain and lose weight pretty rapidly. When I’m at the higher end of my weight spectrum, I don’t want to buy bigger clothes because I want the incentive to lose weight.
I’m the opposite. I tend to be normal weight, but think I’m HUGE at times. It’s weird as well, as I’m a guy, and my wife thinks I’m nuts. The thing is, at one point in time, I really was fat. Weighing 250 at 5’10″ is not normal or healthy. I’ll always have the “mind” of a fat person. Now, if I get up to 185, I’m like “whoa, getting chubby there, mate.” I take this as a good thing though, keeps my eating/exercise in check so I’ll never get back to the size I was.
Oooh, I love the new format!
– Thanks Spectra…
Some people do seem to be blind to their true weight. One walk through a store and I see women especially spilling out of their clothes with fat, much like the picture in this article.
25% didn’t realize they were obese in this study? That’s not surprising because our population has been creeping up the scale for a long time and there are always people even bigger than you are.
For a long time I didn’t see myself as I was either. I just covered up the 200-lb belly and didn’t have a full-length mirror. Denial. Now I’ve lost over 50 lbs and am still dealing with the question, “What do I really look like? Thin enough at 135 lbs at my age or just right?” I have people tell me, Don’t lose more weight, and others say I look “healthy” and others say, “Go with the weight you’re comfortable with”—the latter is the advice I’m going with but I still have doubts. This has been a lifelong struggle so I try to trust the scale and if I like what I look like dressed up for work then that’s good enough.
Sometimes you just have to simplify the process and realize you’ll need to manage the shape you’ve been given and work on building muscle through exercise.
I have similar experiences as Spectra: »Yes, I have an accurate perception of my body, but society does not. I get told all the time that I am “WAY too skinny”«.
On my Youtube-Channel (it’s in German – do not bother) I get comments like “skeleton”. On another (German) video channel, people regularly accuse me of being “anorectic” etc.
With my 190cm, my ideal weight is exactly 77.8kg. And I remain between 77 and 79kg. So, where’s the problem?
Well, at least in my case, it’s very easy: People try hard to find something to critizise – or even better – defame a person whose point of view they do not share (which often happens in my case). And if they cannot find a valid reason to defame a person, they grasp for illusions.
So: Stay calm, stay healthy, eat the right things and the right amount of it.
I’m disappointed when the scale shows 100 lbs and thrilled when it shows 99 lbs. I’m 5’1″-5’2″.
that’s too much fat
I was anorexic as a teen, and considered myself fat if I dared got into triple digits as far as weight (‘m 5’5″). These days, if I measure over 35/25/35 I consider myself fat. (Sad as it sounds, that’s a step up from my ana years.) So, in a way I can’t help but envy people who are okay with themselves although they need to lose a few. It sure beats the hell I’ve put myself through.
I was at the website of a woman that makes medieval costumes the other day. She said on her website that any potential client of hers must be a size 18 or smaller otherwise she cant’t make a costume for them.
Why? I don’t know exactly. I doubt she is making the cut off at 18 just for folly and at a loss of pontential business.
There is “bigger” and then there is someone who needs two airplane seats.
And that is what I think it is about. When you are too big to get the outfit you want or sit on a plane like a normal person.
I’m not going to make an issue out of someone who could loose what weight they need to in 2-3 months!
Do you really want to put someone 90 days aways from being treated with dignity?
I like to say that vanity sizing is like paper money… it only means something if enough people get together to agree to give it a certain meaning… otherwise it’s worthless.
The people who got together to give it a meaning are the same industry that has been selling and sizing clothing for often at least 1 decade prior to the vanity sizing craze.
It’s like this, the more people you can sell to the more money you can make.
I think this term “vanity sizing” is the industry that praises skinny models way of getting revenge on the fact that they are at the mercy of thicker people with money to spend.
Oooh, I love the new format!
Anyways, on to the subject–Yes, I have an accurate perception of my body, but society does not. I get told all the time that I am “WAY too skinny”, even though I am at a NORMAL body weight and have a normal body fat % (it’s on the lower end of normal, but it’s normal). I know of several people that are obese that think that they are just overweight and plenty of overweight people that think they are just normal. Vanity sizing has something to do with it, I think–after all, if you aren’t in “plus sized” clothes, you aren’t obese, right? Yet most women that wear a size 14 are pretty overweight in my opinion.