I would like to hear from overweight female divers...

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Wow...I have heard so many insipiring thoughts and stories. I love the lady who talked about how she is a size 22 and everyone is so accommodating for her. What a lovely story. I am truly inspired. This thread has made my week.
 
Lynn CA:
I am an overweight (about size 22), over 50 female diver. i love it, I am not heavy once in the water, I hope to still be doing this when I am 80. I have been on 2 weeklong liveaboards, and lots of dayboats, and no one, has ever said anything to make me feel bad, but I have gotten comments about how good I am once in the water that made me feel great.

Some of the things I have done to make it easier on myself: Have my own wetsuits (both 7 ml for California, and 3 ml, for the tropics, and a microprene skin for very warm water, or under the 7 ml when it is very cold). I bought Henderson hyperstreach for all 3 because it is so streachy that even though I am size 22 in clothes, I am size 12 (can you belive it - not since I was 14 years old!) in the Henderson, and it fits perfectly over my big stomache & wide hips. I also have my own weight intergrated BC. That way I don't have to be embaressed by trying on gear at the shop, that doesn't fit, and I think it is safer too, since I know my own gear. I also dive NITROX, and stay very well within the air (not NITROX) tables, to give myself a big margin of safety, since I too worry about DCS. The weight intergrated BC means no one knows how much weight I have on, just goes in the removeable pockets. From reading about dive accidents, the biggest risk seems to be heart attack from long stressful surface swims, so I only do boat dives, and work hard on my navigation skills, so I always come up at the lader, no surface swim. Sometimes I have missed the boat, then I use my safety sausage and make them come get me, if I am far away. If I am close I just take it slow & easy back to to boat, or go down 5 feet and do it underwater (I leave enuf air that I can do that).

Sometimes my very skinny husband gets too cold, or tired to want to continue diving so then I have to find another buddy, and this has never been a problem, no one has been reluctant to dive with me, cause I am as good as they are once in the water.

Because of my excess weight, and age, I have 3 bad disks in my back, and can't lift or carry anything over about 10 lbs. So I can't wear my gear out of the water. On every dive boat I have been on (lots) the divemasters have been friendly & helpful about bringin me my gear as I sit on the edge of the dive platform, and holding the weight off my shoulders (weight intregrated allows this) while I buckle up, then I do a forward roll into the water. When I come up, I hand up the weight pouches, then the BC, then my fins, then climb the ladder. Everyone has always been helpful and accomodating, and made this feel normal, and no one has ever said anything to make me feel bad. On my last liveaboard (at the great barrier reef) there was a woman who was much larger than me, and she had over 1000 dives, and had ther respect of everyone on board for her diving knowledge and skill.

Go for it, have a good time, and be safe. No one is likely to make you feel bad, and all will want to help you have a good time.

You have truly inspired me...
 
I am about your size, and know I am overweight. However, if you don't like the way I look in my bathing suit (one piece), please don't look. Just about everybody I dive with male and female, are more concerned with diving than what anybody looks like. So far, nobody has told me I am too fat to dive.
Get out there and enjoy yourself, and have fun!
 
Jenny, I don't know luvspoodles, but I do know you. You are overweight, but you are strong and you have stamina. You and luvspoodles may or may not be in similar shape even though you are of similar size. I do not fear for your safety when you dive, you are skilled, confident and in pretty good shape. Others your size may or may not have those characteristics that make you a safe diver. I would hesitate to generalize based on size.
 
luvspoodles:
I am mostly nervous about the fact that someone will be rude and tell me that I have no place diving, in my shape. I worry about this especially from the male hard core divers that I have encountered on this board. Once, when I mentioned how much lead I had to carry someone told me that I needed to lose weight and that I shouldn't be diving in my condition. So how do you handle it? Do you feel proud of yourself and who cares about what others think? Gosh, I wish I could be like that. Any pointers would be great!

Sure, most people are good and kind and loving, blah blah blah. But there are plenty of jerks in the world, and you're better off recognizing that, and figuring out -- in advance -- how to deal with them, so they don't wound you as badly as this man did.

Have a voice.

I don't know whether you responded to the poster in the situation you mentioned, but I think it's crucial to do so: Make your own statement, refuse to be the victim of a hit-and-run. Standing up for yourself will make you feel stronger, which will make you stronger.

A string of four-letter words can be tempting :), but I prefer the soft answer that ENDS the conversation. (Or attempts to. Some people are such dolts.)

Had a bulletin board stranger told me I was too overweight to dive, I might have responded: "Interesting opinion. But both PADI and NAUI disagree with you, and they've got far more experience and expertise in making these judgments."

I might be steaming when I signed off, but better to be angry than to hurt.

DM
 
Gee, thanks Walter for the compliment. Appreciated. Really.
 
Wow, I hadn't heard that!

I couldn't agree more with the lifestyle risks. As I always say, we ALL have our habits!

Andrea


Ishie:
No worries; I take them, myself. From what I've read, there is a SLIGHT increase in DCS risk for women who are on the pill. It's not enough to make me lose sleep, but if people are rudely pointing fingers about minimally increasing diving risks (like by being overweight), it's relevant to point out that there are almost no divers who have completely eliminated all lifestyle risks.

Ishie
 
scubandrea:
Wow, I hadn't heard that!

I couldn't agree more with the lifestyle risks. As I always say, we ALL have our habits!

Andrea

I had never heard that either. But it does feel good to think about the fact that we all have risks.
 
Hi there
Just got back from a weeks diving in warm water at a resort where I saw all sorts of bodyshapes.
A few observations:
1) women with curves look sexier in wetsuits (IMHO) than women without curves
2) those with badly fitting wetsuits that struggled in and out of them looked foolish whatever their size
3) those that smiled received smiles back whatever their size; grumpy cows came across as grummpy cows.
Size really wasnt an issue.
 
lostinspace:
Hi there
Just got back from a weeks diving in warm water at a resort where I saw all sorts of bodyshapes.
A few observations:
1) women with curves look sexier in wetsuits (IMHO) than women without curves
2) those with badly fitting wetsuits that struggled in and out of them looked foolish whatever their size
3) those that smiled received smiles back whatever their size; grumpy cows came across as grummpy cows.
Size really wasnt an issue.


I really like your first observation!
But Grummpy cows?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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