I'm overweight!

[AndyM]

Re: I\'m overweight!

<font color="blue"> I'm too short for my weight. </font>

Yep, I'm not overweight... I'm underheight! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

That reminds me of one of our former vice presidents of Sales at the company where I work. Rather than telling the sales team that they were under-selling, they told us in operations that we were over-producing! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[fishman]

Re: I\'m overweight!

Docheb, that sounds like something I can do. I'm going to try it.

BTW, when I applied for supplemental life insurance, my agent told me that the reason for the increased premiums was that I was too short for my weight. I thought it was kind of funny at the time too.

 

[MossRoad]

Re: I\'m overweight!

I'm 6' tall, too. When I was 18 I was 6' tall and weighed 135. When I got married in 1985 I weighed 155. I've been up as high as 218. I am currently at 205-210, depending on what I eat that day and my level of activity.

What I have found is that my shoulders have widened as have my hip bones. I wore size 28 waist back then. Now I'm lucky to fit 36. But there is no fat on my hips(just my gut). I could never dunk a basketball, but could dunk a vollyball. Now, at 200+ I miss the rim by about 2". Not bad for 44 years old.

I wouldn't worry so much about the weight number, but go for strength and stamina. Your body will most likely find a good balance for you. As your strength and stamina increase, your metabolism will most likely increase, too. I find that soda pop, cookies, candy and snack cakes really pack on the pounds, so substitute with veggies, low calorie dip, fruits and whole grain breads. As grandma always said, all things in moderation. Also, when you walk, walk faster. Make a mental note of this and if you notice yourself slowing down, pick up the pace. Whenever I take the stairs, I alway run them two at a time, no matter what. Maybe get a bicycle. I ride our tandem with our kids several nights a week for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. That helps with endurance.

Good luck to you. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[cisco]

Re: I\'m overweight!

Tough, very tough, and very common problem. We in the US have higher BMI's than all other "advanced" countries - sure Togo, Samoa and similar tend to have an obese population, but compared to most of our ancestors (say, our grandfathers), we're porky.
Whatever.
Sure, we have the internet, cars with stability control systems, MUCH better tractors ----- but the issue is that we've not evolved from our ancestors re. the ability to tolerate higher weight loads on our frames (i.e., the obese have more hip, knee, and back problems from overstressed joints), or the fat/body mass on our blood vessels and metabolism in general (adult hypertension and diabetes are much higher nowadays).
I do NOT like having to exercise, or paring my food intake (my wife is an excellent cook, and I like fine wines), but ---- I want to enjoy my grandchildren, and the stats say I've a better chance of being alive, and just as importantly, fully active, if I keep my BMI reasonable.
Yup, the very muscular can have a high BMI and yet not have problems, but how many of us in our 50's and older have much more muscle than fat - I've one of those taneka scales that gives (a general estimate of) a percent of body weight that is fat. I take that, plus my BMI, as general indicators of where I am re. weight control. That way I can correct for any height/weight issues (in other words, BMI) that are thrown off by more than the average muscle that I've built up via exercise. Really muscular folks (which I'm not) have BMI's that are inappropriately high, so a percent body fat indicator gives you a correction factor.
If you've a high BMI, and a high % body fat, you're not going to live as long, per statistics, and you'll likely have mobility problems that will limit your activity and tractor time. End of discussion - just no other way around it --- except for my father in law, who drank a bunch, smoked, and developed a large belly in his later years yet lasted until he was almost 90 (yes, he couldn't "get around much" the last 5 years).

 

[jol1269]

Re: I\'m overweight!

the real issue on body weight is fat ratio to muscle ratio it is always much more healthy and positive to have a high muscle ratio over your fat ratio and the best way to get this number is in a water tank test where the weigh you prior to weighing you on the water submerged and taking into account you lung capacity the bmi charts arent reliable in alot of situations as they dont take into account the bone size fat to muscle ratio yet if you want to get a quote on life insurance they go by the bmi chart pretty much period so if your chart shows you as obese and take it from me it is not that much to be considered obese you either will pay a ridculous rate if you can even get it . ofcourse there are other factors considered as well but hey what you going to do ...........

 

[Jagmandave]

Re: I\'m overweight!

In our middle 50's, my best friend is 6'4" and recently weighed in at around 300 lbs. He looked around one day and realized there are no living people over 80 that weigh 300 lbs, very few over 70 or 60 either, and concluded that he has to do something, pretty quickly. Fortunaltely he doesn't believe in fad diets, so he's doing it the right way - he started by eliminating the huge nightly bowl of ice cream!

 

[HRS]

Re: I\'m overweight!

Wow! That sounds a little more involved than the Special K pinch. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I agree that the fat to muscle ratio is very important. I have heard of "skinny" people who were actually quite unhealthy because their ratio was a little high on the fat side. However, I don't think most of us Americans have this ironic problem. I took a trip up to the lake today, and it was plainly obvious that many of us could use a little help. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif