Anonymous wrote:Medically healthy, sure. I've got beautiful labs, and am "obese".

Psychologically healthy, no. Not in this culture, where every idiot is an online-MD, and people feel totally comfortable fatshaming you, hiding it as concern for your health.

Being overweight makes you a target, and the damage the stress does to your body isn't good for your health. And if you try to remind people of this, they won't hear it, revealing that it was never about your health in the first place, it was about having an acceptable group of people to bully and blame.

So no, you can't be fat and healthy in the US. You can be clinically normal, for an extended period of time (maybe even your whole life), but your mental health will take a beating for it.

I just want to say that I’m a “normal” weight person, and I see and acknowledge what you’re saying. It’s not dissimilar to the health effects of racism; more stress and barriers to good care—so many doctors reflexively focus on weight regardless of actual health status—have huge downstream effects on health.

I’m sorry that you have to deal with this stigma.

Anonymous wrote:Overweight, maybe, but definitely not obese. It doesn’t matter if there is someone skinny who is even less healthy than you. This is a really dumb rationale. It doesn’t matter if one sub set of tests looks fine, those aren’t the whole picture.

Excess fat creates a cascade of health risks.

Agree. Plus if you were heathy, you wouldn’t become overweight in the first place. If you are eating heathy and not overeating, exercising regularly, don’t have metabolic issues, and are managing your stress levels, you would never become overweight.

My grandmother was overweight most of her life and she lived to 89. Lots of olive oil (Mideastern). Never drank soda. No smoking. She ate lots of meat, but it was always fresh. She'd never eat store-bought meat.

BMI is just weird. It almost would make more sense to go by how a person looks to determine overweight v. not. My ds is basically the leanest, most in shape person you could think of, and he is "overweight" according to BMI.

Anonymous wrote:Health is subjective and is more of a social construct than something real.

What?!

the question should be, can an overweight person be healthier with less body fat percentage.

So if you are 50% body fat, would you be healthier at 25% body fat?

I think there are studies that show high BF levels increase diseases risk.

I have a skinny friend who says he’s “fat on the inside”.

A little overweight? Yes. Obese? No.

Health is not just about measurable numbers like cholesterol, blood pressure, pulse, etc. Carrying a lot of excess weight isn't healthy for your bones, your joints, your organs, etc. You may not notice it now, but it will catch up to you soon.

I used to be 40 pounds overweight. Could work out fine. Labs all looked great. Other than the weight, I was completely healthy. Long term it wasn't healthy thought so I did lose the weight.

I am relatively healthy despite being obese for the last few years. I’m steadily losing and the plan is to get back to normal weight range as I was most of my life until I suffered chronic insomnia for nearly a decade after going into perimenopause.

Until two years ago I had very good blood work and suffered no symptoms that I didn’t have before I became overweight- I’ve suffered migraines since early 20s mostly around my cycle and those have actually reduced significantly since I reached menopause and my insomnia was resolved. I had some early onset arthritis first diagnosed in my 30s when normal weight, but that runs in my family. Finally I’ve struggled with refractory depression since my teen years and at all weights, this is rooted in ACEs/abusive childhood.

With regard to all other health markers I’m quite healthy and seem to have a robust immune system as I rarely get sick, but that might have a lot to do with being single and childless I don’t swap spit or have germ vectors in my household. I had a gynecological surgery for fairly common benign growth on ovary and then an incisional hernia repair following, and I had my gallbladder removed but I readily admit I ate a gross diet and once my estrogen levels dropped substantially my gallbladder got sick and had to come out. I developed post-cholecystectomy syndrome afterward and THAT made me sick, I became deficient in B1 and suffered a host of neurological problems until that was diagnosed and resolved.

But now I’m early 50s, obese and just barely prediabetic last checkup but cholesterol levels good. I’ve worked hard to reform my diet and lifestyle in terms of activity- I’d become sedentary in my work and home habits and now I am moving and counting steps and eating high fiber and I know I’m reversing the prediabetes because of certain changes in my body and urinary patterns.

My GYN tells me that I should keep taking an attitude of gratitude and recognize that having gained weight this last decade kept my bones really strong, which they are. Now I’m walking the weight off and lifting to build muscle and continue to keep my skeleton as solid as possible.

Imagine you drive your kids everyday to school. Instead of the 1 mile neighborhood drive you go three miles off roading everyday in your minivan to get them to school.

You may get there, just fine and in time. You may enjoy the bouncing and splashing of the adventure even.

But over time your beloved minivan will need major repairs or replaced sooner than if you would have just driven the easy mile to/from school everyday.

That is what being overweight does to your body. But by all means be fat if you are happy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m 5’4 and hover between 165-170.

My cholesterol is good, triglycerides normal, low blood pressure, good immune system, lots of energy.

So in my case—yes!

Keep telling yourself that.

Well, my medical data isn’t false. Its not a lie, my doctor had confirmed through blood tests and other vital signs. I’m sorry if it bothers you that someone so much heavier than you doesn’t have clogged arteries or a fatty liver. I eat a very clean diet, I’ve just always had a slow metabolism and I don’t feel like starving myself to lose a few pounds.

What you don’t seem to understand is that eventually you will have clogged arteries and a fatty liver.

If you are carrying 100 extra pounds eventually your joints will remind you. Other systems may too, but ah the HAAS years in the 20s and 30s! 🥱

If you are overweight by medical standards due to muscle mass yes, you can be “overweight” and healthy.
Just carrying extra fat, no. Not one upside to carry too much fat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Eventually it takes a toll.

So does running, weight lifting, being underweight, eating high protein diet.

My mom, in her eighties, is from that generation that smoked and starved themselves in the 1960s and 1970s. Still very thin but dementia, osteoporosis and multiple broken bones. Broken shoulder, hip, ribs, kidney problems. I can’t believe that remaining thin through cutting out entire food groups like dairy and engaging in long term starvation is the best option. But lots of women in her cohort did exactly that.