Weight and body image

[aussie_shark_bait]

I always had a very athletic build, and if i put on a few kilos it was noticable to me and well anyone close casue i am pretty short (5'2"). When i was pregnant i had an accident at work and my hip was damaged and i was too far along with the pregnancy to safely manipulate it back into place so until i gave birth i could barely walk by the end of the day. I put on the standard pregnancy weight to be expected plus an extra 4kilos. I found it very difficult to lose the excess weight, but I never noticed anyone treating me any different, i was still the same me. I didn't diet as I breastfed my son for 15 months.

Last year my neighbour a really lovelly 55 yr old retired, fit, went to the gym mon - fri for 1 -3 hours a day, very healthy diet, history of heart disease in family. He still had a massive heart attack and died. i tried to revive him for 30 minutes while the ambulance came. It has been the hardest of things for me to come to terms with. I have a cousin who is a year older than me she is 5'4" and she weighs 145kg, she is morbidly obese and she isn't 30 yet. She recently had a baby, she wasn't allowed to deliver at any of the close hospitals to her she had to go to a mjor one in Melbourne becasue the delivery bed wasn't rated to hold her weight. Her mother is mobidly obese and has sleep apnea due to her weight condition, her father mobidly obese, with sleep apnea, both wear alarms for when their hearts stop in their sleep. They re proud of their weight and are defiant aboiut not losing the weight.

After Graham had his heart attack, i lost 20 kg, i didn't even realise, i sorted cruised through life for about 4 months coping with what had happened or what i couldn't help from happening. Just trying to be a good Mum and be there for Grahams wife - they never had children. When i went to pick up my sons Santa photos he was too scared to sit with him on his own i sat with Santa with my son on my knees. I didn't recognise myself in the photos, i was very skinny. I had not noticed, no one treated me differently. But i feel really fit now, my hip has been great for the last year since the weight has come off, i don't think my image made a difference to the people around me, but i think with Grahams death, my perpective is a lot different today than it was before that day he died especially regarding health and the health of the heart and related issues.

ASB

 

[Snowbear]

I've been watching this thread and was not going to participate, but here goes anyhow.....

Ever since I hit puberty, I have been "overweight" by the medical charts for BMI. Even when I was 24 years old and was running a couple marathons a year and could bench press my own weight! I also had a body fat measurement of 11 point something percent!

Thing is, if I was the weight the charts say I should be, I probably would not be strong enough to do my job :11:

As it is, I'm a lot older now, have survived a few injuries, am not running marathons OR bench pressing anything close to my own weight. I've also got quite a bit more body fat than I did then, but I can still do my job and am plently fit enough to dive. I don't really care much what folks think of me or what I look like (actually, my weight is the least of my worries in that department :frown: ), what's important is that no matter what I weigh and how much body fat I have, I am able cardiovascularly and muscularly fit enough to do my job and keep diving.

 

[bwerb]

SB...if you are athletic...which I know you are...you can effectively toss the BMI and medical charts definitions of "fat". Muscle weighs more...by the "charts" every competitive bodybuilder is "clinically obese". Heck...Tom Cruise...5'7" @ 210 lbs is "clinically obese" by the charts.

There is also such a thing as "skinny fat"...whereby you fit right in the middle of the BMI chart for your body size but...your body fat percentage is way high...you "weigh-in" alright but in reality, you are carrying way too much fat.

 

[Sue-ba]

On the lighter side, not really relavent but here goes...

My new college freshman (dorm dweller) went to the grocery store with her 5 roommates the other day. They were at the self-check out but were having problems with the machine. It kept telling them "the weight distribution is not right, please place the item in the bag." They were feeling a little frustrated and were trying to make the machine understand that the items were in the bag when the machine attendant, who is of oriental ascent w/accent, pokes his head between 2 of the roommates, (one of which is overweight), and says, "do you have a weight problem?"

This roommate looked like she was going to tear his head off until she realized he was not talking about her weight.

 

[bwerb]

Hahaha...I liked it when my wife and I were in a labrinth like market in Bankok and she is looking at shirts...she holds up this tiny little silk blouse and asks the vendor (who is about 5'3" tall) if he has any in larger sizes...(she is 5'9" tall)...he takes one look at her towering above him and says..."no...you extra extra large...no shirts for you here." We'd discovered a shop geared to the locals.

 

[cdiver2]

On the lighter side, not really relavent but here goes...

My new college freshman (dorm dweller) went to the grocery store with her 5 roommates the other day. They were at the self-check out but were having problems with the machine. It kept telling them "the weight distribution is not right, please place the item in the bag." They were feeling a little frustrated and were trying to make the machine understand that the items were in the bag when the machine attendant, who is of oriental ascent w/accent, pokes his head between 2 of the roommates, (one of which is overweight), and says, "do you have a weight problem?"

This roommate looked like she was going to tear his head off until she realized he was not talking about her weight.

You owe me a new keyboard and coke and would you wash my pants as well LOL

 

[BacardiSpice]

Bacardispice
The next time I go to PNG if we come through Sydney you have got one.

My hero! :07:

 

[alcina]

OK...a little digression on my part here:

However there is a problem out there right now. You see more large children than ever. Why. It's not medical. It's because they sit in front of the TV watching it or playing video games instead of being outside and being active.

Actually, not really. The biggest problem is the parents, not the kids. The parents buy the food, the parents allow the constant inactivity (I am not that old, but I don't even remember watching tv after school - I was out doing things; and during school holidays? Forget it!), the parents set the example with excessive bad food choices (I still don't believe Mickey D's, ice cream etc is "bad" for you...as long as you don't think it's a staple...it's a treat!) & bad activity habits (too tired, too busy, no time, no energy).

Why aren't the advertising campaigns working?

Because people would have to haul butt and do something instead of sitting in front of their tvs watching the nice people get healthy on the screen. People would have to take personal responsibility for themselves and their families. People would have to change. People would have to work for something instead of expecting reward/benefit for no input. Seems to me I see a lot of this last one especially.

It heartens me to see all of us here being good role models...it'd be nice if we could get more people involved with life again!

 

[outlawaggie]

The biggest problem is the parents, not the kids. The parents buy the food, the parents allow the constant inactivity (I am not that old, but I don't even remember watching tv after school - I was out doing things; and during school holidays? Forget it!), the parents set the example with excessive bad food choices (I still don't believe Mickey D's, ice cream etc is "bad" for you...as long as you don't think it's a staple...it's a treat!) & bad activity habits (too tired, too busy, no time, no energy).


It heartens me to see all of us here being good role models...it'd be nice if we could get more people involved with life again!

AMEN! My kids actually eat healthier than I did at their age but like alcina said we were all outside playing and thereby burning calories. Through high school i actually TRIED to gain weight. It was simply not possible (wish I still had this problem) Of the kids in my neighborhood the fat ones are allowed to spend every afternoon watching TV or even worse, playing video games. The other kids are out playing (running, riding, etc) If the weather is nice after school or on a weekend I make my kids go outside and play (not that it takes much convincing)

I do agree however that business is partly to blame only in that when I was a kid a coke was 12oz now they're 20oz. Fries were a small bag now they are super, wonder sized. Business, in an effort to have the best "value" has simply made the portions larger.

 

[Scubaguy62]

I have to agree with Kennedydive. We all can stand to lose weight. Personally, I can stand to lose about 30# and while that sounds like a lot, it really isn't. I will not speak of my wife, although I will say that the name scbababe fits her well.

Like Kennedydive's wife, my wife is also short and petite. She doesn't only gets dirty looks from less than perfect bodies (BTW a perfect body centers more around genetics than % of fat. A person can be 2% fat and not have a perfect body), but on occassion she's also the subject of some inappropriate comments. Be that as it may, and notwithstanding that I'm not "free from sin," Like Kennedydive and his buddies, I too would cast the proverbial first stone anyway either to a close friend, or a member of my family, seeking resolution to our weight problem. Rest assured, however, it will be done tactfully and with love and affection. But, if it incites a response like some of the ones I've seen here, I will either ignore it and the person, or respond in a manner equal to theirs.

I could careless about those I don't know who wish to be "FAT" and may be happy being that way. It's your life and I'm no one to tell you how to live it. However, keep in mind that neither are you to tell me what I can say, and to whom, especially when the person happens to be closer to me than it will, perhaps ever, be to you.

It is not a medically proven fact that cigarettes cause lung cancer, only that the risk of lung cancer is increased on those who smoke. There are tons of smokers who die of natural causes, never ever having develop lung cancer. So to say that being FAT infers poor health is equally wrong. However, what is a medically proven fact is that for every pound of excess fat in your body your heart has to pump through so many blood vessels that if they were to be sown together it will reach from New York to California. So if you believe you can be obese and healthy (heck I will even extend obese to include overweight), think about it.