I’m Obese, You’re Obese…
Obesity
I love all the news reports that we are continually assaulted with showing a nameless faceless person walking around with some extra junk in the trunk. America is facing an obesity epidemic!!! Listen, I know we as Americans are addicted to the junk food and we have a lot to learn from the rest of the world about calorie intake and exercise. I’ve struggled with my weight for years. I lost 50 pounds in 2002 and have slowly put 30 of it back on. Last week some guys at work decided to form a group called the “Fat Boyz” and work toward a goal of losing 5% of our body weight in six weeks and 10% in 18 weeks. Today was my first weigh in and I was down 4 pounds in a week. I’m proud of that, and I hope to keep it going. I’d like to lose about 20 pounds or so. But here’s what really gets me irritated. The BMI, (Body Mass Index) appears to be the tool that everyone is using to determine one’s relative health. You can calculate yours at sites like this.
You’ll notice that there are only 2 considerations - height and weight. There’s a disclaimer that if you’re muscular or athletic it may not apply, blah, blah, blah. But there is another factor that just seems blatantly ignored. Where is the dropdown menu that asks you if you are an “M” or an “F”? My wife and I are the same height. Apparently we are supposed to weigh the same. Jen has always maintained a healthy weight, but shortly after her pregnancy she was toward the higher end of the “normal” range and felt like she needed to lose weight. When I lost my 50 pounds in 2002, I was still considered 2 pounds overweight, but was in a 32 inch belt and wearing medium T-shirts. To reach the lower end of the “healthy” weight range I could have dropped another 43 pounds, at which point I think I would have needed to keep lead weights in my 24 inch jeans to keep from blowing away.
This group of guys trying to lose weight is even further evidence that the BMI calculator “healthy” weight ranges applies to females and needs an adjustment to be applicable to males. With all work clothes on (I specify this because I am right on the border and a lack of clothing would change my status) 12 of the 13 guys in our contest weighed in classified as “obese” for their height. If you were to look at the 13 of us I guarantee you would not classify more than 2 as obese. Listen, most of us could stand to lose a few pounds. But the next time you hear the sky is falling warnings about how 60% of the population is obese, take it with a grain of salt. We may not all be quite the tub o’ lards we’re labeled as. Maybe more like bowls of margarine. ***
----------------------------------------------------------
source: http://kcillini77.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/im-obese-youre-obese/
image: http://stb.msn.com/j/F1/F1D18CAD1BBFAFCC8F1F1ED181CCD85.standard.jpg
The keywords of BMI Calculator: Obesity Calculator, BMI Calculator for all, BMI Calculator classic and American BMI Calculator.
Obesity
I love all the news reports that we are continually assaulted with showing a nameless faceless person walking around with some extra junk in the trunk. America is facing an obesity epidemic!!! Listen, I know we as Americans are addicted to the junk food and we have a lot to learn from the rest of the world about calorie intake and exercise. I’ve struggled with my weight for years. I lost 50 pounds in 2002 and have slowly put 30 of it back on. Last week some guys at work decided to form a group called the “Fat Boyz” and work toward a goal of losing 5% of our body weight in six weeks and 10% in 18 weeks. Today was my first weigh in and I was down 4 pounds in a week. I’m proud of that, and I hope to keep it going. I’d like to lose about 20 pounds or so. But here’s what really gets me irritated. The BMI, (Body Mass Index) appears to be the tool that everyone is using to determine one’s relative health. You can calculate yours at sites like this.
You’ll notice that there are only 2 considerations - height and weight. There’s a disclaimer that if you’re muscular or athletic it may not apply, blah, blah, blah. But there is another factor that just seems blatantly ignored. Where is the dropdown menu that asks you if you are an “M” or an “F”? My wife and I are the same height. Apparently we are supposed to weigh the same. Jen has always maintained a healthy weight, but shortly after her pregnancy she was toward the higher end of the “normal” range and felt like she needed to lose weight. When I lost my 50 pounds in 2002, I was still considered 2 pounds overweight, but was in a 32 inch belt and wearing medium T-shirts. To reach the lower end of the “healthy” weight range I could have dropped another 43 pounds, at which point I think I would have needed to keep lead weights in my 24 inch jeans to keep from blowing away.
This group of guys trying to lose weight is even further evidence that the BMI calculator “healthy” weight ranges applies to females and needs an adjustment to be applicable to males. With all work clothes on (I specify this because I am right on the border and a lack of clothing would change my status) 12 of the 13 guys in our contest weighed in classified as “obese” for their height. If you were to look at the 13 of us I guarantee you would not classify more than 2 as obese. Listen, most of us could stand to lose a few pounds. But the next time you hear the sky is falling warnings about how 60% of the population is obese, take it with a grain of salt. We may not all be quite the tub o’ lards we’re labeled as. Maybe more like bowls of margarine. ***
----------------------------------------------------------
source: http://kcillini77.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/im-obese-youre-obese/
image: http://stb.msn.com/j/F1/F1D18CAD1BBFAFCC8F1F1ED181CCD85.standard.jpg
The keywords of BMI Calculator: Obesity Calculator, BMI Calculator for all, BMI Calculator classic and American BMI Calculator.
0 comments:
Post a Comment