Weight! It’s So Frustrating!

Before the last set of interns left MedX a few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to have them all to myself for an evening after work. It was a great way to learn really what’s happening in my facility and to get to hear their personal opinions about exercise and health practices of today. We started talking about weight and obesity and I think that I surprised them with my beliefs on being overweight, yet being fit. Yes, one of my favorite health lines is “you can be fat and fit!” Which I will always believe is true but as in everything, there are limits to weight that will catch up to all of us.

Weight! The most frustrating issue in health! As the media so often says, it’s a huge health care issue. Yet, how many times do obese people go in for a physical with their doctor and come home raving about how all their blood work, blood pressure and heart rate are as healthy as can be, yet they are obese. It’s got to be a hard thing for a physician to have to tell an obese individual that their health is fine but carrying around all that weight is not healthy. But their health is fine?!

There is no doubt that a human body is designed to carry a certain amount of weight on its frame. Human weight is a combination of all the muscles, bones, soft tissues, organs and fluids of the body. Body fat is a protective layer that is required by the body to help in many facets of health, from cell development to protecting organs and maintaining body temperature. We need to have body fat on our frames and the body will fight to keep a certain percentage of it no matter how hard you try to take it off.

Here’s the take on weight that I’ve come up with over the years and don’t get mad at me for stating my thoughts on this issue. I’m talking extra weight in access of 40 to 50 lbs, not those last 10 lbs your body insists on keeping, let’s be realistic here. Being overweight and/or obese can be O.K. for a while, but there will come a time when the extra weight you are carrying around will become a primary issue for your health. I can almost equate it to turning 40. You see what I’m getting at? There is a time that everything seems to just start falling apart and when there is an excess of body weight on top of that age factor, the health issues just compound themselves. All of a sudden blood pressures increase, cholesterol levels creep up, knees and hips begin to hurt, diabetes sets in, sleep patterns change, digestion issues… I could go on and on! Which most will and can be directly related to the weight you’ve carried all your life. The weight has been that extra “taxing” factor on your body and when things start to break down, the weight factor accelerates the break down process.

Here’s something else to think about. Of all the pictures of individuals that live long lives, let’s say well into their late 90’s and 100’s. How many of them are obese? Are you thinking? I can’t even think of an individual who has held a record age of over a hundred being overweight! In fact, the locations that the “oldest” individuals in the world live usually are not in the United States. They are usually found in the far away countries where a healthy diet and healthy living (active living) have played a huge part of their lives. They don’t have a fast food chain restaurant and star bucks on every street corner, therefore their diet has been much healthier than what we are exposed to here. So is lifespan directly related to maintaining close to ideal body weight?

Now, not to quote a friend recently, but to yes totally quote her; “for some reason, this past month I have just gained weight and my clothes are so tight! And no matter what I do, I can’t seem to get it off!” Yes, you can and now is the time to catch that “creeping obesity” before it gets out of hand. Weight gain can be caused by a number of issues all of which can be discussed with your physician. But the main thing to think about is that if the weight is going on and you need to buy the next size up of jeans, isn’t it time to stop that gain? Pregnancy, age, health issues, lifestyles are not reasons to accept that extra weight, long term. Be in control and lose it when it creeps up on you.

The exercise factor is huge and if you do exercise, you can build a little higher defense against all these aging and obesity factors to some degree. Always remember, that there isn’t a health issue in this world that exercise won’t affect in a positive way with the number one issue being obesity. So being “fit and fat” is a great way to start! But don’t let it get farther than that!

Does it worry you that we talk about these things after work? Kinda crazy, huh? Must go with the industry, we are just trying to figure it all out.

 

Deborah Holmes

May 20, 2008