Re: Anti-anti-obesity

runnswim@xxxxxxx (Larry Weisenthal) wrote:

Plenty of technically obese people have good blood pressure, low 

heartrates,low cholesterol and other measures of fitness.<<

You've got to consider the whole person.  Obesity is simply a risk
factor.  You can have hypertension (another risk factor) without
obesity and obesity without hypertension.  Obesity can be defined by
body mass index only for population statistical purposes.  Most people
with body mass indices in the obese range are truly obese.  But some
obviously aren't (those with big muscles plus or minus big bones).
People with "normal' body mass indices can be actually obese, if they
have small muscles plus small bones, but a lot of abdominal body fat.
But even people with genuine obesity can have an otherwise favorable
risk factor profile.  It's all a statistical thing; some smokers live
to be 90, afterall.

I'm not so sure that Oprah is more attractive when she's skinny than
when she's plump, or whether or not she's healthier.  Oprah just
doesn't look genuine when she gets real skinny.  I think I'd be more
likely to open up, interview-wise, to the more "comfortable" looking
Oprah.  But I do think that people who buy economy section airline
seats should stay in their own assigned space.  And I still feel that
parents who let their kids be inactive and become overly flabby are not
good parents.  Obesity should just be another of those pleasures
reserved for adults who are willing to accept its risks and/or
disadvantages.

While recovering from a probable rib fracture (early May surfing
injury), I had to temporarily give up swimming, while taking up rowing
("erging") on the Concept II machine.  It gave me great insights into
biceps freestyle, which I've incorporated into my swimming, since
returning to the pool.  But I got hooked on the competitive aspects of
the erging, where I think I can get world ranked in my age group, if I
can "make" the lightweight cutoff of 165 pounds (my weight always
bounces around between 164 and 169).  While trying to stay below 165,
I've gotten a newly gained appreciation for the efforts of successful
dieters.

http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/log_start.asp

"Comfortable" Oprah does look nice, but still much, much better than she looked in her 30s as very fat Oprah.

I am inspired by this thread to try to at least get rid of the 20 pounds I regained of the 40 I lost (and lose some more), and part of how I'm doing it is giving up vegetarianism. One meat meal and I realized I have been hungry 24/7 for six months. I think it works fine for some people, and maybe it will work for a thinner incarnation of me, or an incarnation with better diabetic control, but for now I'm abandoning it. Dieting has to be easier when there is some satiety available.

The last time I flew in an economy flight (on a little plane, maybe a Dornier) I was next to one of the biggest men I've ever seen. He was very fat, and also very tall. Because I'm rather short, we did fit in the seat OK, except that there was little room for my shoulders, which are broad. So airline seating is a problem of solid geometry (and in these little planes two broad-shouldered people of equal height are just plain screwed). The man was clearly a medical doctor, judging by what he was reading, and he was also clearly obese. So it happens to all kinds of people who should know better...
Madelaine
.

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