Opinions? Somewhat "fat" is OK?

juanwilly1

barefootbridgey wrote: »

I imagine that I probably fall into this category. I'm 39, I've weighed as much as 240 lbs (not pregnant, anyway) and as low as 180 which, arguably probably would still put me in this category, even though that's my ideal weight (personally, I liked how I looked and felt at that weight). Currently I'm about 217ish.

I'm healthy - quite, actually. I have a sedentary job, but outside of that, i'm very active at home (i''m on my feet and moving until about 45 minutes before I go to bed) and workout 5-6 days a week. My blood sugar is good. My blood pressure is great, and even on the low end of great. I do not feel tired and slovenly and gross - I did at 240, but I do not currently. I lift weight, I run, I do a lot of Les Mills classes. I don't get out of breath going up stairs or anything. i have many friends who either are or were overweight and not active and they all talk about being so tired and exhausted at the end of the day and on weekends, so much so that it keeps them from living life. I don't ever feel like that. My joints and back dont hurt - i don't notice the aches and pains that a lot of people seem to have as they get near 40.

I'm sure that there's an argument to be made that eventually those things will happen to me at some point, but I suspect that argument can be made for a lot of people. My work friend down the hall, for example, is in very good shape...but has high cholesterol and blood pressure.

I surely think you can be fat and fit. I also don't think that being fat allows me to be as healthy as I could be - surely I COULD be healthier. But that doesn't mean I'm not fit and healthy like this.

That being said -re: the original post. Those excerpts in quotations are great points. Focusing on being "fat" never once made me feel better about myself. what it normally does is throw me into a cycle of emotional eating and crying. I surely have needed "mirror checks" before - I surely have had to recognize that i NEEDED to lose weight, and that was a starting point. But anytime I've ever actually been successful it was by understanding myself as capable of whatever it is that I wanted to do and whatever goal I actually set. Paying attention to the non-weight benefits of exercise is leaps and bounds ore healthy and helpful for me to focus on and it's what keeps me going back to do more of it.

This is exactly ghe point of the study

AKTipsyCat wrote: »

I've been 175 and not active, and I've been 175 and active - and let me tell you those are two very different me's - especially at 5'4. When "weight loss" just means some random number on a chart I don't think it's always conducive to a healthy way of life - I see lots of "skinny fat" people. When I was lifting and doing hot yoga all the time, and at 175 - I looked and felt amazing! (trying to get back there now, lol) but it also encouraged me to try and eat better because - yeah, really hard to put your forehead on your knee when there are layers of fat in the way... and food has a tendency to morph into something that gives you energy (not a cure for boredom, a bad day, etc.)

There are always issues when you take a blanket statement and try to make it apply to everyone... especially if you are going to do an either/or take. In my opinion, both are important and they go hand in hand, but I think that trying to be active really helps reinforce trying to do other things to make yourself healthier... where often a sole focus on "weight" doesn't so much, and can actually lead you down several unhealthy paths... just my .02

Exactly! Just focusing on a weight loss number is NOT beneficial.

juanwilly1

I am the OP and I posted to offer some hope to those who feel badly about their ability to not be impacted psychologically from the number on the scale. Many on MFP are not happy with their weight as am I, yet I am fastidious about exercise and workout, mostly cardio/running/body weight resistant pushups, etc., at least 4 x weekly! I am 72 years of age and have never been morbidly obese yet I know so many who are and they suffer from low self-esteem, fatigue and a self-imposed inability to exercise or lose weight. They are defeated before they start! That is the point of the posting: To give hope to those that feel that they are just a number on the scale and a quite high number at that!

MikePfirrman

juanwilly1 wrote: »

I am the OP and I posted to offer some hope to those who feel badly about their ability to not be impacted psychologically from the number on the scale. Many on MFP are not happy with their weight as am I, yet I am fastidious about exercise and workout, mostly cardio/running/body weight resistant pushups, etc., at least 4 x weekly! I am 72 years of age and have never been morbidly obese yet I know so many who are and they suffer from low self-esteem, fatigue and a self-imposed inability to exercise or lose weight. They are defeated before they start! That is the point of the posting: To give hope to those that feel that they are just a number on the scale and a quite high number at that!

I was morbidly obese. Not judging others, but having a realistic view of my health. Living in denial about what carrying extra weight does to the human body, to me, also isn't helpful.

Sure, what you're saying is correct (in this case) -- health is a continuum and not always a straight line. Being "OK" can be construed as different meanings. Nothing wrong with accepting yourself as you are and patting yourself, or others, on the back for how far you've come (or just doing something today to be more healthy -- and you'll see I do that quite a bit on the "What was your Workout Today" thread). But accepting a level of fat as healthy is entirely different.

That's all we're distinguishing -- the difference between the two.

NorthCascades

SnifterPug wrote: »

This suggests there is nothing imprudent about exercise but points out that it is not always feasible for the very obese to exercise effectively.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2811477/

The British Heart Foundation has suggested there is no such thing as "fat but fit":

https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/behind-the-headlines/weight-and-heart-risk

Personally, exercise was the key to my weight loss. Not the doing of the exercise - the weight loss was managed by diet. But the enjoyment of the exercise and the desire to do more of it and achieve my goals. Ultimately it comes down to individual motivations, though. I used not to live a healthy lifestyle and I became overweight because I didn't care enough to change my behaviour. Now I do care enough. But I had to find that within myself and even if a doctor had looked me in the eye and said "you must do XYZ and stop ABC" I don't think that would have given me the will to do it.

That's the kind of thing everybody should ignore. There are a lot of people doing really great science, unfortunately there are also plenty of bad science reporters, and we all need a caveat emptor attitude when we read it. Fatness and fitness both exist on a scale of a gradient. It's not that you're either fat or not and you're either fit or not.

AshHeartsJesus

You can't out exercise a bad diet...so if you want to be "fit" it is food AND moving your body. But if you care about your soul and eternal body exercise and food profit little in the long run. My hope and salvation is in LORD JESUS forever means more then anything we can do now carnally.