Why being fat may not be so bad for you after all

"Roger Zoul" contributed wisdom to
:

Lá~ká~ Wáná wrote:
:: We tend to go by our life experiences. Why do you think I'm so
:: hell-bent on losing this weight? My husband loves me no matter what
:: size I am. Clothes are just clothes. I don't want to suffer the
:: diseases so common to the obese. I've seen enough suffering over
:: the years due to obesity. There's nothing healthy about it.........

Losing weight is a very good thing because it typically means improved
diet and a less sedentary lifestyle. Those all cause improvements in
blood lipids and other things. For diabetics, BG control can be had
even if weight loss isn't achieved (due to improved diet and being
active), thereby significantly improving quality and length of life!

You seem to have the answer but it can be very dangerous the way its
said. That should be "improved diet and less sedentary lifestyle are very
good things and can also lead to losing weight".

Dieticians seem to be learning this lesson and get off of the "lose
weight" thing. Too often, the way its been approached in the past (and by
many posters in the fat-acceptance group) it stresses people out. Stress
is more harmful than weight and can continue to be so even if the person
gets slim. Getting slim or even a bodybuilder form is not life extending
if it causes the person to stress out. In some cases the thing to be
fixed (eating, smoking, sedentary) can be the persons way of handling
stress so stressing them out to remove it can do double harm.

Voluntary improvement of diet and increase of exercise is always a good
thing.

Gandalf Parker

"Bob in CT" contributed wisdom to
news
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 18:19:53 -0400, Lá~ká~ Wáná
wrote:


Jan wrote in message
...
More of the conventional wisdom-----
From time to time there will be human interest stories in the
newspaper or on TV concerning citizens who have reached or exceeded
their 100th birthday. Often photographs accompany the stories.
Have you ever seen one of these stories with an accompanying
photograph of a morbidly obese person?

I'll reply as well. NO! They've all been of average to below
average weight. All the elderly people in my family that are thin
and non smokers are still alive, some are in their 80s now. The
heavy smokers and the obese are all gone.

In my family, my grandfather lived into his 80s. He outlived all of
his many other brothers and sisters save one. He was an alcoholic
for many years. He smoked unfiltered cigarettes for many years. He
never exercised. He had a horrendous diet by any standard. He
worked in the coal mines and had black lung disease. He was obese.

Was he happy and unstressed in his later years? That seems to be a large
factor. Stressing out over things to extend your life doesnt seem to have
much benefit.

Most of the really old thin people I know are thin because they cannot
eat the things they used to eat, and the miss it. They arent old because
they are thin, they are thin because they are old. The deprivation of all
vices to extend your life into those years seems to have its pros and
cons.

Gandalf Parker

"Bob in CT" wrote in message
news
In my family, my grandfather lived into his 80s. He outlived all of his
many other brothers and sisters save one. He was an alcoholic for many
years. He smoked unfiltered cigarettes for many years. He never
exercised. He had a horrendous diet by any standard. He worked in the
coal mines and had black lung disease. He was obese.

I think we all know someone like that. :-) I also knew an old fellow who
outlived just about everyone in his family. He was also a smoking drunk and
obese. I don't know about his diet but since he was quite fat.......
Some people, a small number, remain healthy despite whatever conditions
their bodies are exposed to. Most people don't have such a constitution and
succumb to one of the cigarette or obesity related diseases. Who wants to
find out which group they're in?

LW
Start - 7/5/06 - 170lbs
Today - 160 lbs
Goal - 130lbs
Height 5'6"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bob in CT wrote:
:: On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 18:19:53 -0400, Lá~ká~ Wáná
:: wrote:
::
:::
::: Jan wrote in message
::: ...
:::: More of the conventional wisdom-----
:::: From time to time there will be human interest stories in the
:::: newspaper or on TV concerning citizens who have reached or exceeded
:::: their 100th birthday. Often photographs accompany the stories.
:::: Have you ever seen one of these stories with an accompanying
:::: photograph of a morbidly obese person?
:::
::: I'll reply as well. NO! They've all been of average to below
::: average weight. All the elderly people in my family that are thin
::: and non smokers are still alive, some are in their 80s now. The
::: heavy smokers and the obese are all gone.
:::
::: LW
::: Start - 7/5/06 - 170lbs
::: Today - 160 lbs
::: Goal - 130lbs
::: Height 5'6"
::: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
::
:: In my family, my grandfather lived into his 80s. He outlived all of
:: his many other brothers and sisters save one. He was an alcoholic
:: for many years. He smoked unfiltered cigarettes for many years. He
:: never exercised. He had a horrendous diet by any standard. He
:: worked in the coal mines and had black lung disease. He was obese.

He was also lucky! There is an exception to every rule.

Yes, I know one too. He's going to be eighty five, drinks a lot, smokes
a lot, plays golf a lot, and hasn't been to a doctor in forty years or
so. Definitely think he's the exception though, since he's the only one
I know. Good genes. :-)

--
Cheri



Roger Zoul wrote in message
king of long lived people with
bad habits.

He was also lucky! There is an exception to every rule.

"Greg Rozelle" wrote in message
m...
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 12:33:38 -0700, Jan wrote:

More of the conventional wisdom-----
From time to time there will be human interest stories in the
newspaper or on TV concerning citizens who have reached or exceeded
their 100th birthday. Often photographs accompany the stories.
Have you ever seen one of these stories with an accompanying
photograph of a morbidly obese person?

Yes,
I saw a woman who was 108 and still smoking.
I think she was a little overweight.

Was she 3 feet tall too?

Good genes helps! (Now, did I inherit those or not? Only time will tell.)

On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:03:54 -0400, Cheri gserviceatinreachdotcom wrote:

Yes, I know one too. He's going to be eighty five, drinks a lot, smokes
a lot, plays golf a lot, and hasn't been to a doctor in forty years or
so. Definitely think he's the exception though, since he's the only one
I know. Good genes. :-)

--
Cheri



Roger Zoul wrote in message
king of long lived people with
bad habits.

He was also lucky! There is an exception to every rule.



Oooh -- top and bottom posting. There are exceptions, but the other
poster was saying basically the same thing. My point being that one
person or a few people really mean nothing.

--
Bob in CT

wrote:
:: JEK wrote:
:::: And then there was a lot
:::: of disagreement as to the validity of the study, how adjustments
:::: were made for those that were under weight because of illness, etc.
:::
::: I don't believe that's an accurate characterization of how the study
::: was received. Here are some quotes from the NY Times article that
::: first covered it:
:::
::: "The new study, considered by many independent scientists to be the
::: most rigorous yet on the effects of weight, controlled for factors
::: like smoking, age, race and alcohol consumption in a sophisticated
::: analysis derived from a well-known method that has been used to
::: predict cancer risk."
:::
::: "Some statisticians and epidemiologists said that the study's
::: methods and data were exemplary and that the authors - Dr.
::: Williamson and Dr. Katherine M. Flegal of the disease control
::: centers, and Dr. Barry I. Graubard and Dr. Mitchell H. Gail of the
::: cancer institute - were experienced and highly regarded scientists."
::
::
::
:: And here's a quote in the days following from the CDC, who released
:: the study, where they are clearly backing away from the results:
:::
:: "CDC Director Julie Gerberding later apologized for any confusion
:: created by the emerging science on obesity at a press conference in
:: Atlanta a week after the HSPH symposium, stressing that extra weight
:: harms health, even if the exact relationship between weight and
:: premature death remains uncertain. In answering a question about the
:: Flegal study and the relationship between being overweight and poor
:: health outcomes, Gerberding said that, "there are some statistical
:: aspects of the way the study was designed and the data sources used
:: in that, that the author herself would not claim that overweight as
:: protective of ill health. So we want to be very clear-obesity and
:: overweight-and I'm sorry to say overweight because I know a lot of
:: people were hoping that CDC was going to come out and say it was okay
:: to be overweight, but we're not saying that. It is not okay to be
:: overweight." A transcript is available at
:: http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/. "
::
::
::
:: Here's excerpts from a panel at Harvard School of Public Health that
:: discussed the study, where they claim the study was flawed:
::
::
:: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/now/jun24/cdc.html
::
:: A Difference in Method
::
:: The results of the Flegal study "caused a lot of sensation in the
:: press [and] caused a lot of confusion on the part of individuals and
:: health care providers, so we thought it was really important to go
:: into this topic in depth and really look at the science underlying
:: the relationship between body weight and health-mortality being part
:: of that picture, but certainly not being the only part of that
:: picture," said Willett at the HSPH symposium.
::
:: Two HSPH panelists, JoAnn Manson and Frank Hu, suggested that the
:: conclusions reached by the Flegal study were the logical outcomes of
:: flawed methodology.

This all sounds very fishy to me. You see, what exactly is overweight
anyway? Where does one draw the line? Now, under pressure, people are
backpeddaling. Researchers have way more time to think about what they're
writing BEFORE publishing than they do once put in the hotseat. Then, it's
strictly a CYA kinda thing.

Bob in CT wrote:
:: Good genes helps! (Now, did I inherit those or not? Only time will
:: tell.)

Do you like poker?

:::
::
:: Oooh -- top and bottom posting. There are exceptions, but the other
:: poster was saying basically the same thing. My point being that one
:: person or a few people really mean nothing.
::

Right!

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On Wed, 2 Aug 2006 13:32:25 -0500, wrote:


"The Mongolian Death Worm" wrote in
message ps.com...
Why being fat may not be so bad for you after all


This is total BS! The sickest people I've know and the first to
pass away from strokes, heart disease and complications of diabetes
were the obese and the heavy smokers. Not that thin people don't
die prematurely, but they died of things like Lupus, complications
of smoking (cancer, chronic bronchitis and emphysema) and other
causes unrelated to obesity/inactivity. Now add those things to the
obese and........ need anyone say more?

LW
Start - 7/5/06 - 170lbs
Today - 160 lbs
Goal - 130lbs
Height 5'6"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think that 10 pounds was brain tissue...can't you read a charter?

LV

I rode a tank and wore a General's rank-When the blitzkrieg raged and
the bodies stank.- - - Rolling Stones-Sympathy for the Devil


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