Obesity Can Be Healthy, Dammit!- Page 3

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 3:05pm

The ropes and dodgeball have both conspired to create many a chubby adult.

[sidjones09]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 3:32pm

"but if I really had to point a finger At anyone --it would be at parents.

Parents, quite simply, have stopped raising their kids. And then they blame the schools, they blame the media, they blame fast food, and fast lifestyles -- for the obesity, violence, drugs, sex...

however, they never look into the mirror and blame themselves."

PREACH RadiGal! PREACH!

After teaching for a while, I came to this realization pretty early on. I couldn't stay in a profession where I was undervalued and blamed for problems that had nothing to do with me. And shunned when I tried to do something about it. It was a sad decision, because you really care about the children, but I was sacrificing my own happiness.

There is so much reform that needs to happen in our Education System it makes my head spin, And government, parents, and teachers are all at fault in some way shape or form. How we can all sit down at the table and find some way to fix it needs to become a priority on this country's agenda.

[luvliza89]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 3:59pm

"I know plenty of people who are not overweight who eat garbage - which isnt healthy either."

No, not at all. And I one of those people. I've weighed between 108lbs and 110lbs for the past few years and I eat way more then anyone I know, and eat almost all garbage. So not healthy. One of my best friends is one on the larger side, but eats an amazing diet and is very healthy. She's just always been bigger. It happens.

I don't know what my point to post was but yeah good times not gaining weight.

[kelzama]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 4:07pm

Rad, you took the post right off my keyboard.

A friend and I were laughing over her early '70s high school photos, when all of a sudden, something occurred to me. I asked her to point out the "fat girls." We all had them, the ones you couldn't believe were that big.

She pointed to a few, including one truly obese girl. Funny thing was, most of the "fat girls" would be considered quite normal by today's standards, if not on the slim side. The majority of the girls appeared downright skinny.

Doubt it? Try on a dress from your mother's or grandmother's prime. Chances are you'll come nowhere near being able to zip the darned thing.

Now, the availability of better and consistent nutrition has certainly beefed up the frame; our shoulders generally are broader, we're generally taller than previous generations, but we're considerably fatter. We spend too much time sitting and eating refined sugars, and not enough moving.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 4:18pm

"I can't tell you how many times I've heard of obese people getting laughed at and heckled while struggling with a treadmill or using a really light weight."

I haven't experienced this at any gym.

[soapguy17]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 5:37pm

BB, I can personally tell you I have been on the teasing end of that. Sadly, it happens.

[misschung]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 5:50pm

I agree that gyms are a meat market and that people can be nasty and superficial. But, if you don't like the gym - work out at home!

re: work load for school aged kids - it does get better. But I can tell you that if they are used to doing a lot of work in hs, college will be a breeze. College is also more interesting, which helps A LOT. lol

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 7:04pm

"I can't tell you how many times I've heard of obese people getting laughed at and heckled while struggling with a treadmill or using a really light weight."

I haven't experienced this at any gym.

Me neither. Seriously, Cruel, how many times HAVE you heard of this? Have you ever been AT the gyms and heard this happening? Or are you hearing it second hand? Or worse, are you reading it on a lesbian fat activist's blog?

And MissChung, you can mitigate the original post all you want, but Cruel wrote of a "constant barrage" of "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE"s, which you ratcheted down to "you'd be so much happier." Which, you would have to admit is much, much different.

I would like some level of quantification on abstractions like "constant" and "countless times." Let's hear what we're REALLY talking about here.

[Luscious]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:06pm

I've been fat and I've been thin. When I was thin I was miserable. I'm much happier, fatter. Why is it so difficult to accept that people come in all shapes and sizes? AND THAT'S OK. No one is going to live forever. Most everyone has at least one vice that can be detrimental to their health in some way. I say... Live the life you want to the live and love the life you live.

Updated On: 4/26/07 at 09:06 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:14pm

"Everybody, everybody, EVERYBODY needs to watch FAT: What No One Is Telling You on PBS."

I know one of the women who was on that program-Mary. I remember her telling me how fat she once was and pulled out a photo to prove it. She really works at it-I applaud her for her success.

It's on right now, actually.

[rgaywrites]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:42pm

I can definitely attest to people being mean to fat people at the gym. I've lost a great deal of weight over the last year, and when I was at my largest, people were at their cruelest. They point and laugh and hee and haw and think they're real clever. And if you have low self-esteem, its enough to make you stay home. Thankfully, I had my iPod and really good music and the thought of how fabulous I was going to look when I was thinner. But there were days, when I was hot and sweaty and some skinny little girl was giving me the "look" and snickering or making some rude comment that it took all my strength to not curl into the fetal position crying. People can be really evil.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:48pm

"I can't tell you how many times I've heard of obese people getting laughed at and heckled while struggling with a treadmill or using a really light weight."

I can't say I've ever noticed that. What I've found about going to the gym is that people rarely look at or seem to notice anyone else. Everyone goes into their own mental zone and works out. No one who wants to join a gym should ever feel like they will be shamed. If anything they will be applauded for their efforts.

[justagirl2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:52pm

See, I don't have weight problems, and even I feel leery about going to the gym. Even if you know no one else cares about how you look, it's still intimidating to be around all those physically fit people who take it SO seriously. But, obesity is a very real and scary issue, and if going to the gym and being surrounded by physically fit people is one of the only ways to fix it, I guess we all have to suck it up.

[Calvin]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:54pm

I have heard the light weight thing before. When I lived in South Jersey, some goofball came and made some sort of comment about the tiny dumbbells I was using for my triceps. I informed him that I was still recovering from a horrific car accident and that using those light weights were a specific part of my physical therapy.

That was all BS, of course, but it shut him up.

Here in New York, however, my experiences are more in line with morosco's: Nobody really pays attention to you, whether you want them to or not.

[shira467]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:56pm

I'm currently watching the Discocvery Channel's "Fat: What They're Not Telling You". It's rather interesting.

[misschung]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:11pm

And MissChung, you can mitigate the original post all you want, but Cruel wrote of a "constant barrage" of "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE"s, which you ratcheted down to "you'd be so much happier." Which, you would have to admit is much, much different.
?
Of course they are different, and I wasn't trying to mitigate anything. I was agreeing with what I thought was his concern - that people pass judgement and try to tell you how to live your life. "you are going to die" is more acrid than "you'd be so much happier" but I have to tell you, I have had people tell me the latter and its very unnerving.

Updated On: 4/26/07 at 10:11 PM

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:15pm

Isn't the definition of "obese" that you're so overweight that it's affecting your health? So, technically, you can be overweight and be healthy, but not obese? That's what I thought, at least.

[misschung]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:19pm

yeah me too

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:25pm

Jane dear, he's 19....first year of college....and if he's making excuses for being "fat" at 19, that is truly an issue he should deal with now

[soapguy17]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:25pm

morosco, Namo, and Barstolboy. I have personally been made fun of at a gym. And not even because I was struggling with anything. But, for merely having the nerve to walk into one. I'm not saying that SHOULD be used as an excuse, but I promise you a lot of people, especially those my age would be turned away by this.

It eventually escalated to the point where I started, and I still do this actually, going around 5:00 in the morning on Weekdays. And 6:00 on Weekends. Luckily my body responds better to being worked out in the mornings anyway. So in this case it turned out to be a good thing.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:47pm

Elphaba, I thought he might still be in his teens, but I was trying not to offend him.

Actually, I'm sure many of us have learned that Cruel Sandwich is not the least bit interested in advice (in many of his threads) and it's a waste of time to try and help him. It's falling on deaf ears.

Regarding being made fun of at the gym- At the one I attended, that would never, ever happen. It's not that kind of clientele. If anyone's interested, the gym is called Printing House, on Hudson St. in the W. Village.

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:51pm

(copied from wikipedia)


Obesity, especially central obesity (male-type or waist-predominant obesity), is an important risk factor for the "metabolic syndrome" ("syndrome X"), the clustering of a number of diseases and risk factors that heavily predispose for cardiovascular disease. These are diabetes mellitus type 2, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and triglyceride levels (combined hyperlipidemia). An inflammatory state is present, which — together with the above — has been implicated in the high prevalence of atherosclerosis (fatty lumps in the arterial wall), and a prothrombotic state may further worsen cardiovascular risk.

Apart from the metabolic syndrome, obesity is also correlated (in population studies) with a variety of other complications. For many of these complaints, it has not been clearly established to what extent they are caused directly by obesity itself, or have some other cause (such as limited exercise) that causes obesity as well. Most confidence in a direct cause is given to the mechanical complications in the following list:

Cardiovascular: congestive heart failure, enlarged heart and its associated arrhythmias and dizziness, cor pulmonale, varicose veins, and pulmonary embolism
Endocrine: polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), menstrual disorders, and infertility
Gastrointestinal: gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), fatty liver disease, cholelithiasis (gallstones), hernia, and colorectal cancer
Renal and genitourinary: urinary incontinence, glomerulopathy, hypogonadism (male), breast cancer (female), uterine cancer (female), stillbirth
Integument (skin and appendages): stretch marks, acanthosis nigricans, lymphedema, cellulitis, carbuncles, intertrigo
Musculoskeletal: hyperuricemia (which predisposes to gout), immobility, osteoarthritis, low back pain
Neurologic: stroke, meralgia paresthetica, headache, carpal tunnel syndrome, dementia[4]
Respiratory: dyspnea, obstructive sleep apnea, hypoventilation syndrome, Pickwickian syndrome, asthma
Psychological: Depression, low self esteem, body dysmorphic disorder, social stigmatization

that doesn't sound too healthy...

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:59pm

If your BMI (body mass index) is 30 or over, you're obese.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 11:43pm

it's an open letter to my doctor.

Updated On: 4/26/07 at 11:43 PM

[misschung]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 11:51pm

oo what kind of cake is that?