OP
You only have to HOLD chocolate for it to make you fat. Didn't you learn ANYTHING at school?almitywife:
So what is too overweight to dive?
- Thread starter Kim
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
almitywife
Vegemite Mod
Sister Mary told me you hve to break it in half first to break the caloriesKim:You only have to HOLD chocolate for it to make you fat. Didn't you learn ANYTHING at school?
who'da thunk it that a nun would lie!
huskychemist
Contributor
Kim:
Not true...here's one:
Stephen Ash:
Kim:
You cartainly have a point when you say..."if we're getting defensive, than something correct is being said.." But I've agreed with the notion that overweight isn't healthy when compared to "at weight" if all other things are equal. Things often aren't always equal... And some of us fat folks have discussed how it affects our diving, and that of our buddies.
And one issue that has come up a few times... "I'm not sure I want to dive with somebody that is X pounds overweight." (Paraphrased, of course.) I certainly think all of us divers should be able to call a dive for any reason. With no argument. (Until we're on the computer, than we can argue all we want.) If you don't think I'm safe to dive with...than we won't dive together. And I'll respect your right to decide with whom you dive/don't dive...and the veritable plethora of reasons you can have to call a dive.
Have a great day. I've got a bowl of ice cream that's melting here...
Happy Diving.
- Messages
- 63,269
- Reaction score
- 16,549
It's true, because
Being overweight compromises your health. That is undisputed scientifically last I checked. There is a positive correlation with increased morbitity. Even cancer now we are seeing more and more.
If that is wrong, please set me straight. (and it doesn't mean you shouldn't dive)
If you want to be as safe as possible (which it sure sounds like to me, most of the time in these forums....then you have to address it, or you are in denial)
Just as, if I am over 40 and don't exercise, I must face that if I die, it will be most likely, because of a heart attack. I face it...I move on with the information and try and mitigate the risk. Just the facts 'mam..no emotional bagage needed, its not constructive to the desired outcome. lol...I can cut my risk in half...and I will still probably die of CV disease! cause thats what the facts are. I won't deserve it, mind you..but it's still very probable.
All the stuff about who thinks what about who and the stereotypes on both sides have absolutely no effect on reality....it's just a sideshow.
huskychemist
Contributor
telemonster:
What's the source here for this information? I ask not from a defensive standpoint (lord knows us harpoon dodgers have been far too defensive...hehehe...) but from an educational standpoint.
That's a statement of increased risk that I don't know about... (Maybe I heard about it during OW and tuned out like all of us fatties do when we hear that being overweight can cause troubles...)
So...is it true? Who says it? DAN? Other published research? And if so...I'd like to read the research. I'd like to know why. I'm curious...
Thanks.
OP
Again....you are missing the point. I never said I wouldn't dive with someone a lot heavier , or lighter, than me because I don't think they are safe. I said - I wouldn't dive alone with someone who I couldn't get out of the water on my own if the situation called for it, or if the reverse was true and they couldn't get ME out of the water. While I would consider that to be a practical matter of safety it wouldn't be because I didn't think you were safe to dive with, but that it might not be safe to do so. This doesn't have to be simply a question of over weight people either.......although it was thinking about my own weight that led me into it. It could be true for many husband/wife situations, or mismatched friends, adults diving with kids etc etc. If you dive with someone who cannot get you out of the water in a real emergency then you all need to be prepared for the fact that one day someone might have to watch something happen right in front of their eyes which they can't do anything about. They will have to live with how they feel about that from then on. If it doesn't bother them then I suppose that's their bag. I think it's reasonable to make people think about it though.huskychemist:
That's the real crux of this. The overweight part just reduces the people who could lift you, while for the most part increasing the possibility that something might happen to start with. I'm not getting *at* anyone.....it's just a simple truth that excess weight does not work in your favour regarding heart attacks and strokes. You can probably mitigate some of the effects with solid exercise, but in most cases every pound you lose is going to do you a lot more good, all other things being equal.
huskychemist
Contributor
Kim,
My point about you choosing not to dive with me because of my weight wasn't missing the point. It was right on point, based on your original post...how much is too much...for diving... And I think it can be brought down to a simple rule:
You can call any dive at any time for any reason. And the "call a dive" rule should be respected every dive.
You brought it up with respect to YOUR OWN WEIGHT. So in my mind, that means you think others might choose not to dive with you because of your weight. And, I think you also posted because you think you might decide at some point that you are too big for others to dive with...you don't want to put them in a situation they can't handle...getting you out of the water in an emergency, for example. Or you don't want to put yourself in a situation where they can't get you out of the water in an emergency.
The "YOU" of my previous post doesn't have to be YOU, Kim, not diving with ME, Lowell, because I'm fat. It can be any diver choosing to exercise his/her judgement about any other diver's skill/weight/fin color/etc. You just happened to bring up a serious issue that deals with being fat...something we get harassed about constantly. Even you admitted it could have been started a different way. Oh well...here we are.
Some of us "whales" shared how it impacts us and our buddies, and the decisions we talk about. A few weight-challenged folks talked about what they would do with a larger dive buddy...get us as far up the shore as possible to start CPR, for example. If I chose not to dive with people that were smaller than me, I'd never get to dive. I have yet to dive with anybody that weighed as much as I do. When I dive with people smaller than me (every dive, by the way), I don't assume they are going to get me out of the water in an emergency. I assume the opposite. That they won't be able to get me out of the water. So I take responsibility for myself, practice skills, learn as much as I can, etc.
My regular dive buddy knows there are situations where he'd be in trouble getting me out. (On his boat, just the two of us...for example.) I accept that he won't be able to get me out. He accepts that he won't be able to get me out. I know because I've talked to him about this a number of times. Have you talked to your regular dive buddy? If so, I'd be curious. From the OP, it didn't seem like you had...it was more you contemplating this on your own. So if something happens to me, will my dive buddy feel guilty? Probably. But I could be skinny as a pencil, and he'd feel guilty if something happened to me. I'd feel guilty if something happened to him. It's called survivor's guilt. I don't think guilt can be mitigated. It can be prevented by all of us diving as safe as we can.
So there you go...us fatties need to lose weight, because we'd be safer. Yep. Agreed. But I also think many buddy teams (some I've particpated in, for sure) could do a better job communicating on the surface before the dive about expecations while under water, thus preventing many problems. (Heart attacks not being one of them, though.)
There are people in my diving circle of friends that I outweigh by a factor of two. And they have chosen to dive with me. Have they considered the reality of having to get me out of the water in an emergency? I'm not sure. Maybe I'll ask them next time. As I mentioned, I've had this conversation with my regular dive buddy, but not the others that are less frequent buddies. Many of these other divers are far more experienced than I am, so I guess I'm making the assumption that they are OK diving with me. (I say this in the context of what you said...it might not be about whether I am a "safe" diver, but whether it is "safe" to dive with somebody you can't realistically get out of the water.) And they are adults, so I have to trust that if they weren't OK diving with me for any reason, they'd tell me. And I'd respect that. If they told me it was because of my weight, I'd probably discuss my notion of not relying on others. It might not change their mind, as they may not want to take the chance.
So...maybe we've finally arrived at an answer: (Carpel tunnel be darned!) I (you/him) am too overweight to dive when dive buddies choose not to dive with me because of how much I weigh. Until then, I'm not too overweight for diving. (Notice I said nothing of the other health issues...)
So there you go...it just took a few pages, lots of posts...a few ruffled feathers, a few dodged greenpeace boats, a harpoon or two...and a chance to figure out what we're really saying.
I actually think it's an interesting topic. (And, I'd like to know more about the "more weight = more risk of DCS" issue...)
Now let's break bread together and all will be fine.
Lowell
p.s. Almity: Are you saying my paragraph was overweight? Because you know, I've seen paragraphs that were overweight that could run circles around smaller paragraphs! Hehehe... Hope my editing helped.
My point about you choosing not to dive with me because of my weight wasn't missing the point. It was right on point, based on your original post...how much is too much...for diving... And I think it can be brought down to a simple rule:
You can call any dive at any time for any reason. And the "call a dive" rule should be respected every dive.
You brought it up with respect to YOUR OWN WEIGHT. So in my mind, that means you think others might choose not to dive with you because of your weight. And, I think you also posted because you think you might decide at some point that you are too big for others to dive with...you don't want to put them in a situation they can't handle...getting you out of the water in an emergency, for example. Or you don't want to put yourself in a situation where they can't get you out of the water in an emergency.
The "YOU" of my previous post doesn't have to be YOU, Kim, not diving with ME, Lowell, because I'm fat. It can be any diver choosing to exercise his/her judgement about any other diver's skill/weight/fin color/etc. You just happened to bring up a serious issue that deals with being fat...something we get harassed about constantly. Even you admitted it could have been started a different way. Oh well...here we are.
Some of us "whales" shared how it impacts us and our buddies, and the decisions we talk about. A few weight-challenged folks talked about what they would do with a larger dive buddy...get us as far up the shore as possible to start CPR, for example. If I chose not to dive with people that were smaller than me, I'd never get to dive. I have yet to dive with anybody that weighed as much as I do. When I dive with people smaller than me (every dive, by the way), I don't assume they are going to get me out of the water in an emergency. I assume the opposite. That they won't be able to get me out of the water. So I take responsibility for myself, practice skills, learn as much as I can, etc.
My regular dive buddy knows there are situations where he'd be in trouble getting me out. (On his boat, just the two of us...for example.) I accept that he won't be able to get me out. He accepts that he won't be able to get me out. I know because I've talked to him about this a number of times. Have you talked to your regular dive buddy? If so, I'd be curious. From the OP, it didn't seem like you had...it was more you contemplating this on your own. So if something happens to me, will my dive buddy feel guilty? Probably. But I could be skinny as a pencil, and he'd feel guilty if something happened to me. I'd feel guilty if something happened to him. It's called survivor's guilt. I don't think guilt can be mitigated. It can be prevented by all of us diving as safe as we can.
So there you go...us fatties need to lose weight, because we'd be safer. Yep. Agreed. But I also think many buddy teams (some I've particpated in, for sure) could do a better job communicating on the surface before the dive about expecations while under water, thus preventing many problems. (Heart attacks not being one of them, though.)
There are people in my diving circle of friends that I outweigh by a factor of two. And they have chosen to dive with me. Have they considered the reality of having to get me out of the water in an emergency? I'm not sure. Maybe I'll ask them next time. As I mentioned, I've had this conversation with my regular dive buddy, but not the others that are less frequent buddies. Many of these other divers are far more experienced than I am, so I guess I'm making the assumption that they are OK diving with me. (I say this in the context of what you said...it might not be about whether I am a "safe" diver, but whether it is "safe" to dive with somebody you can't realistically get out of the water.) And they are adults, so I have to trust that if they weren't OK diving with me for any reason, they'd tell me. And I'd respect that. If they told me it was because of my weight, I'd probably discuss my notion of not relying on others. It might not change their mind, as they may not want to take the chance.
So...maybe we've finally arrived at an answer: (Carpel tunnel be darned!) I (you/him) am too overweight to dive when dive buddies choose not to dive with me because of how much I weigh. Until then, I'm not too overweight for diving. (Notice I said nothing of the other health issues...)
So there you go...it just took a few pages, lots of posts...a few ruffled feathers, a few dodged greenpeace boats, a harpoon or two...and a chance to figure out what we're really saying.
I actually think it's an interesting topic. (And, I'd like to know more about the "more weight = more risk of DCS" issue...)
Now let's break bread together and all will be fine.
Lowell
p.s. Almity: Are you saying my paragraph was overweight? Because you know, I've seen paragraphs that were overweight that could run circles around smaller paragraphs! Hehehe... Hope my editing helped.
Charlie99
Contributor
- Messages
- 7,966
- Reaction score
- 166
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
Obesity and DCS has a general discussion, with links to several journal articles. In some of the articles, "fat" is defined by skin fold thickness rather than BMI.huskychemist:
Charlie Allen
almitywife
Vegemite Mod
Lowell... please put some paragraphs in! i would love to read what your posted but its hurting my brain
Similar threads
