Weight Loss Support - What do you call yourself?

Fat, overweight, big, obese, hefty, chubby, big-girl, full-sized, ginormous, etc.

How many of you have been called any of those words (or other words) that describe your weight? Did it (does it) hurt your feelings? How do you cope? And what do YOU call yourself?

As for me, I call myself "fat". Cause that's what it is to me. I've often referred to myself as "chubbalicious" because I don't think that being fat makes me undesirable in any way. But mostly I just say "Hey, I'm fat." Calling it "overweight" or any other word doesn't make the fact any less factual!

But if someone else calls attention to my "plumpness" (hey, there's another word!) I do get a bit riled. One woman I work with has pointed out on more than one occasion that I "shovel in the food" :rolleyes: and it DOES bother me because I DO have a tendency to eat fast (it's one of my faults that I AM STILL working on!) and yet, if she flat out called me fat, I wouldn't care. :?: I don't get it. ALLUDE that I'm fat, (or overweight, or whatever) and I'm angry. SAY I'm fat, and I'll just agree with you! :shrug:

Thoughts?

One time I was told by a guy, "Well, you're a BIG girl, not gonna lie to you, not like there's anything wrong with that..." and I got soooo offended for some reason!

I usually refer to myself as a "fat kid" because it's goofy and it gives the impression that I'm comfortable and not touchy about my weight, which is SO not the truth, but nobody wants to be that sensitive person nobody wants to offend... so I just take the brunt of it and pretend I don't care. Like, "are you serious? Nobody saved a sweet potato for the fat kid?" or "Sorry but some of us fat kids can't sprint up the stairs like you do *pant pant*" all with a wide smile.

I call myself fat because I am.

I can't really say I've had anyone say any words to me, but I know people think things. I also think that I'm more self conscious of it because I used to be so much smaller.

Do you think that maybe that woman's comments were just a comment about how you eat, and nothing to do with your weight? My hubs eats really fast and shovels, and I've said that to him jokingly .. he's not fat :)

Some people just don't think before they say things.

I call myself fat, because I am. It doesn't really hurt my feelings when people bring it up, but I like to bring it up before them in a joking way if I can tell the convo is going in that direction. I do however feel that my weight makes me unattractive. I have to admit I like the way my butt looks in some boyshorts, but this stomach has got to go.

When I feel good about myself, I call myself curvy and sexy

When I feel bloated, horrible and disgusting, I call myself fat

I've been called lots of things: big, fat, short, cute, beautiful, pretty, chunky, curvy...

Most people don't have the audacity to say horrible things to your face. Those type of comments I've learned aren't worth my time to think about it. It's common for people to put down other people to make themselves feel better.

I love your chubbalicous nickname. I call myself chunkymonkey, bubble butt, thunderthighs.

My close girlfriends who are of similar size and want to lose weight - we call each other FA (eff Ay). Short for fat a... you know. But if someone outside our group were to call one of us heavy, fat or whatever, it does hurt.

A coworker who has gained about 15lbs recently (She is probably borderline BMI overweight, but as we all know, that still looks pretty normal). She has been suffering with back problems and was talking to another coworker about the issue. The other person actually said to her that it was probably because of her weight gain, and made some comment regarding her being overweight and the weight that she has gained. This really hurt my friend. Its one thing for me to joke with her and call her FA, but we do it on a friend level. For this other person to tell her the truth, but in a matter of fact manner - really hurt.

Even now, I sometimes look in the mirror and my mental dialogue is "what a fat @ss." I'm almost incapable of referring to my weight in a positive way. I really hope that's something I'll be able to change.

You name it, I've been called it!!! I usually refer to myself as fluffy but let's face it....it's fat!! I haven't really been called anything since high school. You know how cruel kids can be but sometimes you just know what people are trying to say without actually saying anything. I had finally become the kind of person who would try to beat you to the punch and say something about being fat before anybody else had a chance to!

You really are treated differently because of size! It's almost like its pre-programmed into society to hate the fat people although there are probably more overweight people in the US than there are "skinny" people!!

I am on my way to being called healthy!! I don't have time to worry about what other people think of me! This journey is difficult enough with out having added worry!! :)

Do you think that maybe that woman's comments were just a comment about how you eat, and nothing to do with your weight?
Very possible - altho she herself used to be quite fat, and she lost about 50 pounds. She's only made such comments SINCE she lost the weight. And for some aggravating reason (gggrrrr!!!!!) she bakes stuff ALL THE DAMN TIME and brings it to work - she doesn't eat it, oh no! - but she just "loves to bake!" :mad:

Some people just don't think before they say things.

Yeah, that's true. Even been guilty of that myself! :o

This is a good question, one that I wonder about often.

I don't know what to call myself at this point, now that I'm at goal. My friends call me skinny, and I guess logically I know that I must be skinny. But I do not consider myself a skinny person.

I guess I'm just average.

Voluptuous!!

I call myself fat, unless I'm talking to my doc, then I say "unhealthy weight" because "fat" is not a professional term...I wouldn't call a patient fat.

I have been made fun of for my weight from 1st grade straight thru highschool, aroung junior year I worked at losing weight, and removed myself from the target fat kid list. But I spent all those years embarrassed of my weight, and hurt and mortified should someone point out my weight. I tip toed around it, trying to pretend I wasn't huge. As if no one would notice I was fat if I or the current situation didn't draw attention to body size. And I regret living like some kind of emotional prisoner for all those years....never again.


I am not unconfortable if someone points out my weight, but when does that happen as an adult? Not nearly as much as when we were kids. But I'm no meek person anymore. I hate to say that I can be very sarcastic, and I think most people have gotten the vibe that I'm not the person to pass a weight comment about in a rude way.

My weight exists and I don't want to pretend its ok, because its not. My knees hurt and I point blank tell myself, its because I'm fat. My cousin is the person that wants to pretend her weight doesn't exist. She'll go to doc after doc about her knes, but gets mad and leaves when the tell her she needs to lose weight (she is about 150 - 200 lbs over weight).

To me fat is not a bad word, and I won't let it control other aspects of my life. Its already dug its claws into so much of who I am already.

For some reason, I hate the word"fat". HATE it. It is not used in our home- I don't even think ds7 knows the meaning! LOL

I use the word "chubby" to describe myself. I have also used the word fluffy. NO matter how overweight someone is , I would call them "chubby" if I had to refernce their size for some reason, they could be 900 lbs and still I would call them "chubby". I don't mind the word "overweight" either. There just seems to be some derogatory connotation with the word "fat". Ugh.

I almost have the opposite reaction to fat as Natalia. I prefer fat to any other term, and I really, really, really hate cute euphemisms for fat.

I hate the term "fluffy," most of all - with an irrationally intense passion. I'm not a fan of most euphemisms in general, but none get me as riled as fluffy. It's the only term that I find painful, like fingernails on a chalkboard. Maybe because it's just so darned "cute," and doesn't seem appropriate to me. My fatness isn't cute. It's not evil or horrible, but it isn't cute. Maybe it's because cute seems so dismissive. Being cute is for children and animals, not for someone you respect as an equal, Whenever I hear "fluffy," I think of it being a name for a cat, a dog, or a sheep, not for an adult worthy of respect.


My father's nicknames for me has always been kaplods and jammers (short for jammer juicekins). At around age 5, "fat" was added, as in fat kaplods and fat jammers.

I know it sounds horrible, but he said it with such love that I never really thought about it being negative (except that I was always afraid he would "slip" and say it in front of my friends).

I call myself fat, very fat, and sometimes super fat. I prefer to use the word fat, because it's the most descriptive, and the most straighforward. I'm not very sensitive any more about what other people call me. I've laughed in the faces of people trying to hurt me with the word fat (I think it's about as insulting as calling a person a red head - yeah, so what?)

Yeah, I know fat has health risks. I'm experiencing a lot of them, but I refuse to feel like a criminal for making mistakes. There are a lot of dangerous and risky behaviors that we don't criticise people for (and we even admire people for some risky behaviors).

I don't expect to be admired for being fat (there are people, mostly men with fat-fetishes who do that, and that creeps me out ina big way), but I also don't expect to be treated like a criminal because I don't have one aspect of my life under control.

Depends on the crowd. I usually say big girl. It doesnt make 'others' feel weird. It's a fun word. But I have become more comfortable with fat and overweight. And no one would dare make reference to my weight:)

I've been called big before, but I didn't mind because I *am* big and anything less to me is just pandering. I usually call myself fat, but I try not to because it carries such negative connotations in our society, regardless of the fact that it is just a descriptive word. I hate the word "obese", it just sounds so...icky. I guess I just call myself a "work-in-progress" lol... :p

I call myself fat @ss. "Let me get my FA out of this car" or "help me get my FA off the floor" or "wait for FA, I can't run like ya'll" are constantly coming out of my mouth.

If someone else called me that? Well, there would be blue streaks in the air, and then I would go home and cry and eat my weight in ice cream.

Funny how we can be self-deprecating but insulted if a stranger mentions it, huh?

When I was, I would call myself fat,
but now Im not, I'd call myself normal :)

goodforme, I did the same kind of thing when I was heavier (and still do, but make a conscious effort to avoid it). I'd make comments about what a fatty I was, and how I could show the skinny girls how to eat because I was a fat@ss, and so on, all the usual self-deprecating comments.

I guess I'd say those things to justify my weight. If I could crack a funny about it, it must not be a serious problem, therefore I could convince myself it wasn't something to worry about. I'd show the world that it didn't matter to me. And also, I wanted to say the hurtful things about myself before anybody else had a chance to think them. All destructive thoughts.

Looking back, I think I should have described myself as "overweight." I think that's the term that is most appealing to me. It's a simple statement of fact...I was over my ideal weight. No matter what defines ideal weight (BMI, personal preference, whatever)...I was over that weight, thus, overweight. Just simple plain straightforward fact. "Fat" also kind of accomplishes this, like kaplods said, calling somebody fat is like calling somebody a redhead, it just is. But there are too many connotations attached to the word. Curvy, big girl, fluffy, chubby, more to love, etc are all euphemisms and beat around the fact bush. Useless, in my opinion. Yes, I like overweight the best, I'd say.

Before I was overweight, and now I'm athletic/average.

These days I am very cautiously referring to myself as "Texas normal", because my BMI is now 29.9 and in Texas, that's normal!

Before? I never, ever, ever referred to my weight. I am dead serious. I don't think I ever once said anything about it, because there was no way to talk about it that didn't make me feel ashamed. People usually followed my lead: almost ten years in the classroom, I had students call me by or annoymously write every foul name in the book, but they never called me fat.

i call myself a renaissance lady :) if you look at the paintings the ladies are all curvy! ... In my culture though, others (usually the older generation) have no problem telling you that your fat or are getting fat... I dont like it but am use to it.

What I call myself:
"out of shape" - 'cause I am, no matter what is my weight
"skinny fat" - ditto
"frumpy"
"fat a$$" - 'cause I'm bottom-heavy
"lumpy"
"misshapen"

And sometimes when I am feeling good about myself:
"OK"
"fine"
"average"
"getting better"

Nothing really positive to say yet, but I'm getting there. :) I really am *fat* even though I am not *overweight* (but I'm over my ideal weight!) - so my issues are all about how I carry the weight I have, how to be more toned and how to be more athletic.

Just for laughs, what others have said about me in the past:
"Man, you are faaaaaat" - from a child at a swimming pool, and I was 113 lbs! (it was a long time ago)
"Your butt really is big!" - from a gay man, I weighed 120-125
Something about how I should eat less and lose weight - from a guy, I was 121 lbs then
Something about how I would have no problems bearing children because my hips were so big :?: - from a guy I was on a DATE with, I was probably 132-135 lbs
Assumptions that I was pregnant - from 3 different people, I weighed ~130-142 lbs.

Nobody said nothin' when I reached my high weight. Except one (naturally skinny) friend had a hard time disguising her horror when I said I couldn't cram myself into a size 10 pair of jeans. What-EVER.

But I think I cried in each of these instances - or at least cried inside. Even if I think I am a lumpy, misshapen slob, I still have this irrational hope that others don't see me that way, ya know? I also really hope that I never said something to someone about their weight that hurt them. It's such a terrible feeling.

I don't recall anyone ever calling me anything. Most of the time I call myself huuuuuuuuuge. If I am having a really bad day, I say I'm as big as a barn because that's really how I feel. Even though I've lost alot I still cannot get my brain to see that I am not as big as I was. I think it's because I have so much farther to go.

Giant is the word that first comes to mind... because not only am I tall... I'm also built larger (the majority of it IS fat), and so... especially when I'm with kids... I'm not just the short chubby girl that they can all have fun with... no... I tower four feet over them. :p

I wasn't even THAT fat as a kid, I was certainly overweight, and probably "chubby" is the closest to it, but I was the only bigger one in my class so I sure stood out. I think I was like 80 pounds if other girls were mid-60's. Mean kids would call me fat. My own sister called me the worst hurtful thing, 'a beached whale' (40 years later I still don't like her) and a 'best friend' (so I thought) told me that my legs 'looked like sausages' when I had to put on white knee socks to go to her church. You know that still hurts my stomach when I remember that!

now - it is just such a mindset to think of myself as 'fat'. Because I have proportionally bigger thighs, bigger upper arms...and will never have nice legs. Dayum...stuff from childhood sticks doesn't it! :(

Giant is the word that first comes to mind... because not only am I tall... I'm also built larger (the majority of it IS fat), and so... especially when I'm with kids... I'm not just the short chubby girl that they can all have fun with... no... I tower four feet over them. :p

There's a beautiful word for this: Statuesque.

Generally I just call myself "fat" when I want to refer to the fact that I am, indeed, obese.

But if you were to ask me my body type, I would say "Pear-shaped, great hips and butt and legs, with a good ability to put on muscle. Check out these guns!" *flex*

There's a beautiful word for this: Statuesque.


Haha... unfortunately... that word just isn't in the vocabulary of the kids I'm with... cousins and kids of my parents' friends. ;)

I guess the other word for me that comes to mind is "debela". Which means fat in Serbian. I was called this so many times by these two girls... nobody else cared... and I wasn't THAT big at the time... but... I was the American, and they were the popular kids... So yeah... ;)

I describe myself as a big girl. I've had guys say i've got "curves", that i'm "wide", and "but you're still pretty". lol

I don't discuss my body size unless it's relevant, and then I'll say I'm "heavy" (i.e. -- I don't think I want to sit in that chair because I'm heavy). I don't mind the word "fat". I do think the young person's word "thick" is interesting. I don't use it, but I find it fascinating.

I don't talk about it unless it's relevant, but I'll say "since I got fat" or "since I got overweight" "I'm obese". I don't mind the word fat if it's used in a relevant way. No word is nice if being used as a pejorative, but I'm not precious about admitting I'm fat, because I am.

Most other words make me cringe, even euphemisms like "curvy". I dunno... I see Jennifer Lopez as a curvy woman... I'm fat, not curvy. :lol:

I think of "thick" as "overweight but still sexually attractive". Like zatfig.

Wow, I don't think I ever referred to myself by my weight, I can't remember doing it. It was...the elephant in the room, I never mentioned it or called attention to it. The one time I can remember my doctor talking about my weight, my face went red as fire - the great unmentionable was being mentioned!

Internally, I think I used fat.

I generally just call myself fat, or heavy, but the euphemisms drive me crazy. I don't necessarily associate anything negative with the terms, I don't do it in a self-depricating manner, so choosing cutesy terms is MAKING it more aberrant or 'bad' for me than it actually is. It's just another description of me - along with short, talkative, smart, loving, etc etc. It just doesn't hold any power in my life as a word, and changing it up doesn't do anything beneficial in my life.

One time I was told by a guy, "Well, you're a BIG girl, not gonna lie to you, not like there's anything wrong with that..." and I got soooo offended for some reason!

I usually refer to myself as a "fat kid" because it's goofy and it gives the impression that I'm comfortable and not touchy about my weight, which is SO not the truth, but nobody wants to be that sensitive person nobody wants to offend... so I just take the brunt of it and pretend I don't care. Like, "are you serious? Nobody saved a sweet potato for the fat kid?" or "Sorry but some of us fat kids can't sprint up the stairs like you do *pant pant*" all with a wide smile.

This is interesting. I have a friend who does this.

"I can't do those things. I'm fat!"
"Slow down for the fat girl, everyone"

I dunno, but it makes me uncomfortable. I didn't realize until your post that it's a way to pretend the person isn't overly sensitive about her weight.

Back to the original topic: I never thought I was fat or overweight (yeah, I was in major denial) so I would ALWAYS be hurt when someone called me fat, heavy, big or whatever. I think I referred to myself as "thick". lol! So, so in denial. :D

Cant say ive had anyone say or comment on my weight in a long time , well apart from my dad has the odd dig cos he thinks hes a comidian haha
he calls me sumor wrestler , baby elephant, baby whale etc etc .........all in good fun tho and it doesnt bother me one bit.
Wouldnt say i have a name i call myself , however my best mate and i call each other GUTSEY. And that is something wev always caledl each other , and its a reflection on our weight and or love of food :)

I just say I'm big. And I'm the only one thats allowed to call myelf fat lol. I have a few double standards :P

I never considered myself fat. I thought of myself as "out of shape" or "needing to lose a few pounds". It wasn't until I got my graduation photo that I was like "D@mn! I'm huge!" Now I think of myself as average or normal.

I use the term "heavy" mostly. Sometimes "overweight". When I'm speaking medically, specifically about health issues dealing with overweight, I will use "obese" or "morbidly obese", because these are definable medical terms.

"Fat" bothers me, mostly because it's such a trigger word for teasing. And I don't feel any connection to most of the other euphemisms... fluffy, curvy, chubby (which sounds very little-kidish to me), etc.

I do like some of the jokes, though. "I'm not overweight; I'm undertall." "I'm in great shape. Round is a shape!" And of course..

http://www.buddha-world.org/buddhamania/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/bodyofagod_fullpic_1.gif

I mostly hear all the name calling from my family, how lovely huh? My sister usually calls me fat ***. But I call myself either fat or oBeast.lol.
This guy at work always comes up and says Hey sexy!, and I usually tell him, I don't think your ready for this jelly.lol. He always walks away laughing and blushing. Its been an ongoing joke for a month now.

I speak French and Spanish and have lived in other countries for extended periods of time, and worked with immigrants here in the US. It definitely varies from culture to culture. "Gordo" or "gorda" for a woman in Spanish doesn't feel as pejorative to me as fat. It's just descriptive, most of the time doesn't feel like it has a judgment attached to it. As in, "So, I'm meeting this person at 3:00. What do they look like?" "Dark hair, wears glasses, 'gordo.'" A reflection of the less fat-phobic Latino cultures in general.

The best word hands down in Spanish is 'hermosa.' Means beautiful (but distinct from linda, bonita, etc) but also implies something that is rich and full. A ripe mango is hermosa. A larger woman who is confident and carries herself well is 'hermosa.' Yes, that's me.

I find this extremely interesting! -

I have really enjoyed this thread – and I’d say the facts are clear: we know what we are. Whether we say fat, overweight, chubby, “obeast” (heh, that one made me laugh!!!) heavy or whatever, we know … and there’s no hiding it to the world. "Fat" really says it for me, because like one poster said “calling somebody fat is like calling somebody a redhead, it just is.”

Some of us consider "cutesy" terms to be bad, while others of us find it easier to deal with if we apply "chubby" or "fluffy" to our description. Some would rather use the medical terminology (obese, overweight, etc) and some of us don't care what others think but we're our own worst offender ("god I'm so DISGUSTING!") - while others of us can call ourselves fat all day & our friends & family can call us whatever pet name (Jumbo, Baby Elephant, etc) & it's ok.... -OR - it hurts WORSE when a loved one points out our fatness, and yet the minute a STRANGER says something we consider derogatory, we may not act hurt or angry, but we do get smart***. ;)

While several people have made some common annotations, a few of you have truly surprised me! I really like “voluptuous” and LOVE “renaissance lady”!!! “Zatfig” was very unusual - not sure if I'd heard that before! “Gutsey” was kinda cute (IMO) and the spanish words “gorda” and “hermosa” just sound beautiful (I think Spanish is a beautiful language anyway… you could call me dog doo-doo in Spanish & I’d probably just smile lovingly at you!)

Some of you really just made me smile!! Serbrider: “I'm not just the short chubby girl that they can all have fun with... no... I tower four feet over them.” and Warmaiden’s response “There's a beautiful word for this: Statuesque.”

I, myself, do prefer the cutesy names (as I said, my favorite descriptive word for myself is “Chubbalicious”) because it doesn’t seem quite so BAD to me. “Fat” is a very factual word. It can describe 10 pounds overweight or 200 pounds overweight. “Overweight” itself says the same thing, but fat is a “smaller” word & “easier” to say, I guess, LOL!! What about words like "stout... large... plump... corpulent"...??

“Obese”… that’s the most hurtful word in the Beach Patrol dictionary. The regular dictionary says Obese is Extremely overweight, especially weighing more than 20% (for men) or 25% (for women) over their ideal weight determined by height and build; or, having a body mass index over 30kg / m.

And then there's MORBIDLY obese, a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it has an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems, such as the likelihood of various diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties during sleep, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.

To me, obese says a person is so fat, so far out of normal weight range, that they can’t get off the sofa or buy clothes in any regular store. And I know there are people here who are struggling to lose 200, 300, even 400 pounds or more. I admire these people more than I admire a person struggling to lose 25-50 pounds (such as myself). And yet, I don’t see that 10 or 15 pounds is any big deal (although I’m sure that those who are fraught with even a few extra pounds, it’s a very big deal TO THEM.)

I’m really very proud to be a member of this forum. You’re all quite wonderful people, :hug: and I'm cheering all of you on your weight loss journeys. :carrot: