I used to be average weight in college, so I figure I want to get back to that same weight. But when I get there, or probably well before that, I want to build up my muscle bulk, Since muscle weighs more than fat, I may end up liking how I feel at 10-20 pounds more than I weighed in college.

As for BMI and what % of the population I'll end up at, I couldn't care less. So long as I get comfortable with myself, and I'm healthy, that's what counts.

When you can take pictures from weird angles and not look horrific.

I, too, am stuck on the 100lbs for 5ft and then 5lbs for each inch, which is why my goal is 150lbs. That, and apparently the most attractive BMI is 20.85.

Even though I have a normal BMI, I still have quite a lot of excess fat on my body in the least flattering areas like love handles, saddle bags, stomach pooch, and bat wings. I think I will no longer feel fat when:

-I have a lower body fat percentage
-When I can wear really right shirts and really tight jeans without having any visible fat showing
-When I don't feel the need to suck in while wearing a tight shirt

How funny to see this thread here as I was just thinking about it as I was getting my morning coffee! I was walking by a mirror, so I flashed my belly to myself and stood up straight (not sucking my gut in, but flexing the muscles) and I thought "I'm not fat. I just have a thick trunk!" :-)

I'm completely proportionate, but I just have a bit of extra on the fat layer. Doesn't make me think that I'm fat, especially as I dislike that word (am I expelled from this site now?)

Sure, my stomach comes out when I sit, but so does everyone else's. It's just more visible when there's more fat on it. I'm overweight, but weight schmeight. I don't have a "diabetes belly" (I have had that as well at some point and that got me worried), so I'm not in any kind of danger due to excess weight.

So, I guess the answer would be..."right now"? :-)

I reached goal over a year ago and have been maintaining. Didn't actually sink in that I'm normal until I went in for my pre-op screening before my knee replacement surgery a couple of weeks ago. I was meeting with the anesthesiologist and he told me "you are slim so that should make thing easier". Me? Slim? I think that might be the first time I've ever heard that from someone talking about me. I think this is the first time that I've had to concede that I may no longer be fat.

I have to go by BMI because I have skewed perception when it comes to my body. In my mirrors at home I don't look so bad but then I see myself in pictures (which I avoid like crazy) or in my mother-in-law's mirror. OMG! My mother-in-law's mirror makes me look SOOOO FAAAAAT! I convinced myself it was her mirror and not me; how could it be, since my mirrors at home I look OK? So then I had my teenage son (6'1" beanpole) stand next to me in front of MIL's mirror - and HE looked totally normal. SO then, THIS is how I look to others? I was not a happy camper.

Then I found this web site (What Real Women Look Like):
http://www.mybodygallery.com/photos-...3#.Ur27RrTDu4o

It has helped me tremendously. I can plug in my stats and I can see objectively what my particular weight and build looks like.

When I get to a weight where the OTHER ladies that same height and weight look good to me, then I will no longer consider myself fat. Which, at 5'2" will be around 130 pounds.

Well Outside of my BMI I have an Ideal image of what I am trying to Achieve, so even after I hit my BMI I may not be at that point cause there are still fatty area that I would rather muscle replace (lol feel like covering my eyes and running after writing that line lol)

I like that BMI feature, but it compares you to other Americans, not everyone in the world.

I'm at 51st percentile.

To answer the OP - I want to be comfortably back in my size 8 UK (size 4 US) clothes. Then I will consider myself slim. Size 10 will do, but size 8 is better.

The whole thing is subjective, or objective, or however you want to look at it and how you feel.

I'm 54, I had twins at 20 years old that were over 6 pounds each! Talk about body destruction!

The only thing that is going to get rid of that last little roll, on my belly is surgery. Partly life, partly genetics, it is what it is.

However, I am strong, I lift, and I power walk, and run now and then. I'm in kick a** shape.

I would not mind getting the girls reduced, but, money is not going to let that happen, so I buy good bra's.

My older son, 5'10", state trooper, and SWAT sniper, is a muscle built guy! BMI, says he's fat?

There is not one ounce of fat on him. He's built like a brick s**t house! And he can still run a 400 meter in 55 seconds!

His little brother by 4 minutes, is not far behind!

The point is, there is no one perfect formula to go by.

Do the best you can with what you have, and love it!

I love my big ole manly looking arms. Someone else might have big thighs, or a booty, or in my case, big ole GIRLS! (aka, boobs)

Whatever it is, be positive and love what you have, and make it a positive, not a negative!

This is an interesting topic. I was just posting about it on my blog. When I was child/teenager I always thought I was "fat" since I had a thick waist/tummy overhang. But, objectively looking at my photos I really wasn't fat and looked pretty much normal weight.

When I was in my 30s and joined WW weighing in the high 160s I thought I was horribly fat. Within a short period of time I got down into my 140s and still thought I was fat. And, according to WW at the time I was overweight.
So, I lost until I hit my goal weight of 125.

Now, the WW charts have changed and 146 is no longer overweight. So, the standard of overweight or "fat" changes over time.

A couple of years ago I got down to 161 and I didn't feel fat, although I was surely overweight.

Right now, my goal weight is 146 (I don't think I can realistically get back to or sustain my old goal weight of 125).

I like to think that at 146 I won't be fat any more. But, then I read about skinny fat. Some people say that if your waist is larger than 35" you are obese, while others say larger than 31.5" or a waist/hip ratio more than .85.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-...minal-obesity/

So, it is hard to know at times. When I lost weight in my 30s I didn't get below a 31" waist until I was in my 130s as a recall.

I've felt 'fat' my entire life. I had an overhanging tummy since the age of 1 or 2. I had a tummy tuck when I got to 89kg because my tummy just hung down halfway to my knees, and my ab muscles were separated from having two children. Now at 84kg (I did get to 78kg but went back up), even after my tummy tuck, I still consider myself 'fat'. I will need another tummy tuck, a vertical one, as well as surgery to my thighs and back before I'm happy because there's just so much skin. It's horrible.

I have been using Halls for ages its AWESOME

But on a note about what you consider NORMAL, well until recently I had a certain perspective.

You see I walk every day and do dont have softdrinks, burgers just protein and salads mostly and yes the fat is slowly coming off

HOWEVER I only WALK so right now my legs have almost 0 fat and are muscle... just iron clad muscle.

Above my waist... I am thinner but not toned. By comparison my top half appears to be flabby comparative to the bottom. If you were to cut me in half and ONLY saw the top half you would say... he looks ok. but because my bottom half is toned it looks flabby i will need to take a phone to make sense to you all

The best example I can give is this... from the movie Lady on the water who had one side with muscle and the other side nothing... except my issues is top and bottom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkIgXlE8bSo

I haven't gotten there yet. To answer your question though, it's a matter of perspective; if you see a doctor who is going strictly by the BMI and body fat indexes, you can be labelled overweight "fat" even if you do not appear to be so to others. Considering that a large (no pun intended) number of people in America are overweight or even obese and a percentage of that are morbidly obese. Not to mention the "obesity" crisis is so major in America that even a small percentage of the morbidly obese people are in a segregated category on their own because they way over 500 or 600 lbs and are actually rendered disabled from that. The idea of a normal weight may be skewed a little in laymen's terms, but anyway, sorry for the rambling, I guess outside of the doctor's office, you can be considered "not fat" if you can wear a size below 12 in clothing stores or from the eyes of a person seeing you, if they don't see excessive or bulging skin around your stomach, legs, etc, you aren't fat.

I always thought not being fat was not having a lower belly or gut.

No kidding. I'm 38th percentile yet "marginally overweight" idk what that even means.