11stone and 5'5, classed as fat?

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I have an issue with this picture, it's very easy to be fooled by things like this. She is undeniably thinner in the after picture, but she also has a tan and a different pose, plus a more flattering outfit (fitted bra and a different cut on the briefs).

Why do you have an issue. The before and after picture is suited for its designated role to show a loss of mass. Losing mass will allow you to wear flattering clothing.

OP, I think you could benefit from improving your posture. That immediately makes you look slimmer. If you perform exercises like squats, deadlifts, overhead press, pressups, planks (work on strengthening posterior chain and mid-section) your posture will improve, plus you'll get stronger which is a bonus.

No, the improvement in posture will only make OP look slimmer if she suffers from hyperlordosis. Improvement in posture is mainly done by strengthening the weak muscles, and lengthening the tight muscles.
Also you have to first diagnose OP, before sending her off to do compounds. She could have sway back, lumbar lordosis, thoracic kyphosis. So by advising OP to go straight into weightlifting would do more harm than good.

I am 5'5'' and weigh 11.5 stone as well, but I wear a size 8-10 on top and a 12 on the bottom. I have genetically very big hips and bum and I train squats every day. My BMI is 26.5 but I don't pay any attention to this as I have been weight training consistently for 4 years now so I know a lot of this is muscle. You can see my triceps when my arms are relaxed, for example and some separation in my quads.

Squats everyday? Ok jpeg.

Basically, my point is that the scale is a load of rubbish. You want to change your body composition which means increasing muscle and losing fat. You might not lose weight, but you will lose inches/clothes sizes. I weigh as much now as I did 3 years ago, but I wear 2 clothes sizes smaller, for example.

The scale is glorious. [I]You might not lose weight but you will see a reduction in your clothes size? are you a wizard.
This operation should be done in stages, reduction/gain. Try avoid mixing the two, you want to observe your progress whilst cutting and bulking.
OP should cut down, whilst aiming to retain as much muscle as possible. Cutting is done by staying in a caloric deficit, bulking is done by staying in a caloric surplus.

-I have an issue with the picture because of the reasons I stated. I said she has lost fat, but the other elements I mentioned also contribute to making her a lot slimmer. You can wear clothes that are flattering even when you have more body fat, so I don't really get your point there :confused:

- Speaking anecdotally, lifting weights has really improved my own posture. I know how posture is improved. Going from no strength training to some strength training will help, even bodyweight stuff. Just generally being active will help tbh.I don't think it's dangerous for OP to start lifting weights, but if she is really bothered she could go checked out by a doc/physio before starting, but as long as you have no long-standing health problems, research proper technique and start conservatively with the weights you use you have nothing to fear from compound movements. We definitely don't want to scaremonger here.

-Yes I squat every day I train, which is 4-6 times a week. I train a mixture of front and back squats. I compete in weightlifting, so it's an essential exercise.

-I think your problem with my comment "you might not lose weight but you may drop clothes sizes" means that we are interpreting the phrase "lose weight" differently. The OP wants to lose fat. This can actually happen without the number on the scale changing very much if you maintain a decent amount of muscle mass. Eat a caloric deficit, but a decent amount of protein and do resistance training = good results.