Today's Pinup Fashion a Sly Wink to the Past - New York Times

[LizzieMaine]

Gee whiz, I'm seven pounds overweight. I better only eat half the pastrami sandwich for lunch today. (But at least I'm not, as my doctor suggested, "borderline obese.")

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Crazy. I am 5'7" and 157 lbs. My doctor told me I was "just outside" of my normal weight range -- not "borderline obese." I'd get a new doctor...lol

 

[Drappa]

I recently listened to an interesting radio program on the German radio, where a GP was being interviewed about his recent book. I don't recall the details, but his main thesis was that modern medicine is completely wrong about people's weight because standards were often randomly changed, based on all sorts of things but scientific research. He said that boundaries have been pushed over the years and people who would be considered healthy 50 years ago are now told that they suffer from all sorts of problems and are therefore being treated wrongly. Not sure if it is available in English, but it is called "Schlechte Medizin – ein Wutbuch"by Gunter Frank.
He also said that statistically elderly people with ideal BMIs dies earlier than those who are considered obese.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Crazy. I am 5'7" and 157 lbs. My doctor told me I was "just outside" of my normal weight range -- not "borderline obese." I'd get a new doctor...lol

Egad, we're exactly the same size. Well maybe not anymore -- I ate the other half of the pastrami sandwich anyway. Nertz to the doctor.

 

[Flicka]

OK, so I'm right on target according to that scale but seriously, I'm about 12 pounds heavier than my "normal" weight (thank to massive weight-gain after starting new meds last year), so it's not really right for me either.

 

[sheeplady]

I recently listened to an interesting radio program on the German radio, where a GP was being interviewed about his recent book. I don't recall the details, but his main thesis was that modern medicine is completely wrong about people's weight because standards were often randomly changed, based on all sorts of things but scientific research. He said that boundaries have been pushed over the years and people who would be considered healthy 50 years ago are now told that they suffer from all sorts of problems and are therefore being treated wrongly. Not sure if it is available in English, but it is called "Schlechte Medizin – ein Wutbuch"by Gunter Frank.
He also said that statistically elderly people with ideal BMIs dies earlier than those who are considered obese.

It'a a long accepted fact that skinny people- not just underweight, but those lower on the BMI scale of "healthy weight"- are likely to die younger. If you're skinny, your chances are far worse of dying young (really young in particular) than those who are overweight. I'm not sure about the elderly statistic, but I know this is true from the teens until the 50s, where it evens out. They are not sure if this is because some thinner people are more likely to have underlying serious health issues that make them thin or if it is some protective measure of having some meat on your bones.

There is a pervasive idea that thin equals healthy, and even worse, being thin is protective against all sorts of things, including heart disease. It's not totally true, but there is a phrase that "Thin people die of stroke, heavy people die of heart attacks." Either way, you're dead of heart disease. Pick your poison.

 

[LizzieMaine]

No matter *what* you do, eventually you're dead. And I'd rather be dead having enjoyed a pastrami sandwich along the way.

 

[Flicka]

No matter *what* you do, eventually you're dead. And I'd rather be dead having enjoyed a pastrami sandwich along the way.

Like my mother says; something's gonna give in the end, and if you spend your life worrying about which body part it's going to be, you're wasting it.

 

[AmateisGal]

No matter *what* you do, eventually you're dead. And I'd rather be dead having enjoyed a pastrami sandwich along the way.

lol lol lol

Lizzie, you are totally cracking me up this boring Monday afternoon. (I still say you should write a book, or the very least, a humor column. We still need a replacement for Erma Bombeck!).

 

[AmateisGal]

This gal has some really enlightening things to say about nutrition, weight, and health. And she's not shy about saying it, either.

http://www.fatnutritionist.com/

 

[Amy Jeanne]

No matter *what* you do, eventually you're dead. And I'd rather be dead having enjoyed a pastrami sandwich along the way.

This is how I live my life. And one of the biggest factors as to why Cosmo and the like don't bother me.

 

[Red Diabla]

And your suggested weight for your height and age, 1931:

I *should* be 146 lbs, but my weight isn't even on the chart for my height!!!!

According to that chart, with my height of 5'10" I should weigh 164 lbs. That's actually not too far off from where I'm at, especially considering women today probably have more muscle mass than their predecessors.

RD

 

[Carl Miller]

My height isn't even on the chart.

 

[MikeBravo]

My docotor told me I was obese. I asked for a second opinion.

He said "You're ugly too"

 

[LolitaHaze]

My docotor told me I was obese. I asked for a second opinion.

He said "You're ugly too"

Bwhahahahahaha

 

[Edward]

No matter *what* you do, eventually you're dead. And I'd rather be dead having enjoyed a pastrami sandwich along the way.

Healthy food fascists don't really live twenty years longer - it just feels like it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Exactly. What good is living twenty years longer if you spend all that time in the bathroom?

 

[Edward]

Exactly. What good is living twenty years longer if you spend all that time in the bathroom?

Oh, I do some of my best thinking and reading in the bathroom. I've even posted to the Lounge from the Marlowe Throne Room (I could be doing it now. I'm not. But I could be). It'd be more the long, tedious hours eating things I don't really like in restaurants while everyone else enjoys their food would get me. I'm overweight, but I really don't much care about helth. I'd like to be thinner purely because I am vain. So far, my love of food has been stronger than my vanity, so I remain overweight.

 

[Flicka]

Oh, I do some of my best thinking and reading in the bathroom. I've even posted to the Lounge from the Marlowe Throne Room (I could be doing it now. I'm not. But I could be). It'd be more the long, tedious hours eating things I don't really like in restaurants while everyone else enjoys their food would get me. I'm overweight, but I really don't much care about helth. I'd like to be thinner purely because I am vain. So far, my love of food has been stronger than my vanity, so I remain overweight.

Thank you. Now I will never again be able to read your posts without wondering IF...

I have absolutely zero health awareness. I may pretend I do, but it's really all about vanity. It's strange, but I never exercise out of consideration for myself, but rather from self-loathing. I just dawns on me, every now and then, that I actually like it.

The only health issue I've taken seriously is my insomnia (which is what my weight-gaining meds are for, or rather against). I used to sleep on an average 4-5 hours a night max and nothing (I mean nothing) at least one night a week. That's actually a huuuuuge health liability, and it had been going on to and fro for about ten years. Getting help for that has actually turned my life around.

 

[AmateisGal]

Wow, Flicka, I am so glad you got help for that. I can't imagine not being able to sleep. If anything, I sleep too much and have a horrible time waking up. I even have dreams where I'm struggling to wake up. Weird.