The case for being overweight

This is getting to be a real obsession with parents and their kids. We just had a physical for my two sons -- one of them is skinny as a rail. The other one, you'd look at him and think "nose tackle." Of course they want him to take a blood test (after a 12-hour fast) and all that.

He eats pretty well -- not great, too much pizza (like me!), but he does get his fruits and veggies and good protein and he's always in a sport and moves around. He'll never spend a day of his life in his "normal" BMI range.

 

We have the same thing... My oldest is pretty lean. My youngest looks exactly like me and is built like a tank. He eats pretty well, has a ton of energy, and is doing great. At his last doctor's appointment, the doctor told me he was "obese" and I wanted to punch her...

 

Yup. It sounds cliche, but weight is really just a number.

When I was at my lowest weight I wasn't eating a good diet at all. It wasn't BAD per se, but full of lots of carbs and very little green stuff. I would get tired quickly and feel worn out easily. Granted, I was also working overnights at the time, but looking back, I think my general lack of eating enough probably also played a role too.

 

I'm in the same boat. I'm 6'3" as well. I am broad shouldered and thick. Even when I was in the best shape of my life after working in a gravel pit for a summer when I was 18 -- the one time in my life I had anything even closely resembling a six-pack -- I was still 220. Went to a doctor several years ago who said I should be shooting to get to 185, I just looked at him and laughed. The last time I was 185 I'm thinking was Grade 10. I look back at pictures from high school when I was 225 -- I played hockey worked physical labour jobs, hardly the lethargic sloth I am now -- and there's not a lot of fat on that frame. I haven't been lucky enough to have a doc tell me what my ideal weight should be like Mizzou, but there is no way it is 185. That is an unattainable mark. The goal for me is 225, if I can get down to it, I would be ecstatic. Long ways off though. damn life sucking job.

 

I played football at 240 in high school. I was a pretty good player, but I always thought I was fat. Part of that was due to having an asshole father who told me that regularly, probably one of the first people who was telling me that I should weigh 180. I had a 32-inch waist, something resembling a six-pack and when I look back at pictures of myself at that age, I am stunned at what good shape I was in...

 

I've lost 40+ pounds in the past six months and my goal is 225. I'm not too far off. I doubt my ideal weight is still 220, but it's probably within 10 pounds of that. I'm not concerned about being skinny, that's never going to happen, I just don't want my weight to get in the way of being able to enjoy my kids...

I let myself go gradually as my kids were born. I've finally lost all of that weight plus another 10 or so...

If you want to know what your ideal weight is, get dunked and have them do a fat/muscle percentage. The pincher things that they have at most gyms are OK, but not as accurate as getting dunked.

 

I was 5-foot-9 and about 215 pounds at my heaviest, about 10 years ago. I see some photos from that time period and am pretty shocked at how full my face and frame is, but I never thought of myself as "obese," and I don't look it. One day, though, I was messing around with the BMI calculator and was shocked to find out that, yes, I'd have been classified as "obese" back then. Granted, I was definitely overweight, probably to an unhealthy degree. But it's surprising to see what qualifies as obese.

These days, I'm at 5-foot-9 (obviously) and about 150 in the winter, 145-46 in the summer. Everyone carries it differently, though, which is why this one-size-fits-all BMI stuff is probably being unmasked as a fraud. Some people would look emaciated at my current weight. I could still lose an inch or two. I'd like to get my "ideal weight" checked out like Mizzou suggests.

 

Knowing feels great, because no matter what it's going to be good news compared to what BMI tells you... I highly recommend it.

 

Some of this has to depend on family history, other health concerns, etc. if you have diabetes in the family, you obviously don't want to flirt with a higher BMI, right?

I was so proud of myself a few years ago I'd gotten my BMI right to the center... Like 22 or 23.. Went in for physical expecting a pat on the back... And the doctor holds up the BMI chart and points to the 20. Geez!! I wanted to punch her.

But I do have a horror show of heart disease in the family.

 

Apologies for the double post... Been thinking about these studies...

A theory..... GENERALLY speaking... Very generally over millions of people... Would we say normal weight individuals burn more calories in a day than overweight people?

Generally Yes? And if you burn more calories, you're more active. You're doing more, generally. You're out there more, yes? If you're out in the world more, more chances to get into a car accident, get shot, break your leg and sustain a clot, pick up a virus, breathe in a carcinogen that trips a cancer gene.

If you telecommute from home, you don't get out as much. Therefore less chance of a 'mortality encounter' if you will.

Very rough theory and not fleshed out too well by me... But see where I'm going with it?

It wouldn't be the chubbiness itself that's generally protective... It's the lack of 'dangerous' activity.

 

A 6 ... With a BMI of 36 ... Our queen!