Please get in shape!

[Halthron]

if you are fat you are fat.....you may be able to bench three trucks but you are still not the shape that you are supposed to be and at some point it may well catch up to you.

not sure how the cardiac doc will be when he says you're stuffed and you say "but doc, you should see me squat"

not to say people shouldnt be fat if thats their choice.......but if it is your choice you cant have it both ways and also claim to be "in shape"

You certainly can.

Being in shape involves having a healthy BP, being able to do somewhat athletic exertions without much trouble, etc. If you take someone in your definition of great shape and slather an extra 1% of body fat on him, does he fall out of shape? Toss another % and keep going. At what point does the person stop being in good shape if they can still run a mile without stopping?

I didn't say the guy didn't experience any effects that he wouldn't if he weren't overweight but to call a powerlifter out of shape is using suspect judgement. I base my definition of "in shape" on what someone can do and the effect it has on them rather than on someone's physical appearance. Since only their doctor will know their cholestorol level, BP, EKG readings, etc, and there are plenty of thin people with high blood pressure or cholesterol levels, results are the the only thing I can use.

 

[Tiggs]

woooooo! Lots of very defensive folks!

Listen, if you are happy with your belly then great - dont let me keep you from that burger

 

[Deep Hull]

woooooo! Lots of very defensive folks!

Listen, if you are happy with your belly then great - dont let me keep you from that burger

Keep in mind Tiggs, if everyone was a perfect and shapely model of the human species, then you would be exactly like everyone else. If that was the case, then you would be unable to feel superior and who on earth would you be able to disparage? :06:

 

[TheRedHead]

Keep in mind Tiggs, if everyone was a perfect and shapely model of the human species, then you would be exactly like everyone else. If that was the case, then you would be unable to feel superior and who on earth would you be able to disparage? :06:

Tiggs is no model of perfection. Tiggs has asthma which would make Tiggs a stroke to many. Tiggs isn't even certified according to his/her profile. I think Tiggs should give the fitness lecture to Capt. Janet (wreck diver, Andrea Doria diver, Master and Commander, inducted into the Woman Diver Hall of Fame). Image attached.

 

[Tiggs]

But asthma is very different to fat. for a start its noy optional, if there was something i could do to resolve it i would......its not like i can just diet it away. Also, asthma is a nusience, its not a health risk. Via meds it has no effect on me at all and wont lead to the possibility of heart diesese, diabetes, etc.......its about as annoying as my neededing contact lenses.

As for Capt. Janet.......why does she need a lecture? Lets assume she is happy with her shape and well aware of what to do if she had wanted to change it (bit late now of course)
Her diving is clearly not compromised and she would be what i call "task fit" - a bit like the big ladies that do step classes, they are fit for the task having done it so often. HOWEVER, janet (and our step class girls) are not giving themsleves the best chance at a long and healthy life by carrying such huge amounts of extra weight. As i have said before, if she is happy GREAT....but dont hold her up as a model of a fit healthy person.....just a happy one that dives well.

T

 

[TheRedHead]

But asthma is very different to fat. for a start its noy optional, if there was something i could do to resolve it i would......its not like i can just diet it away. Also, asthma is a nusience, its not a health risk. Via meds it has no effect on me at all and wont lead to the possibility of heart diesese, diabetes, etc.......its about as annoying as my neededing contact lenses.

As for Capt. Janet.......why does she need a lecture? Lets assume she is happy with her shape and well aware of what to do if she had wanted to change it (bit late now of course)
Her diving is clearly not compromised and she would be what i call "task fit" - a bit like the big ladies that do step classes, they are fit for the task having done it so often. HOWEVER, janet (and our step class girls) are not giving themsleves the best chance at a long and healthy life by carrying such huge amounts of extra weight. As i have said before, if she is happy GREAT....but dont hold her up as a model of a fit healthy person.....just a happy one that dives well.

T

Tiggs, I can't agree with you that people must be within the weight chart norms to be fit and healthy. I'm sure you have worked hard to overcome a disease that at one time would automatically disqualify you for diving and may disqualify you from some types of technical diving.

Capt. Janet is a mixed gas, technical diver, who regularly dives to over 200 feet. If she wasn't fit or healthy, the chances are that she would have died during one of her over 5000 dives in the most challenging conditions of the Northeast wrecks. She was also captain of the dive boat Seeker, which is a very physically demanding job. I posit that she would have to be fit simply to have been able to accomplish what she has during her career.

You came here expecting (and received) encouragement and support from others in your challenge to learn how to dive and yet you are judgemental to point of ridiculing those who don't fit in the norm. I believe you are very proud of your accomplishments, but very insecure about yourself learning how to dive. You should learn more about diving and divers and get some experience before jumping to conclusions without knowing the facts. Our life spans have been steadily increasing over the years, particularly the past 75 years, and we don't have enough data to know what the effect of a fatter population will be over the long term.

In diving, and we are here to talk about diving, being fit and able to dive is more important than any derived scale of what one should weigh.

 

[Tiggs]

if you take a thousand people who are fat and a thousnad people who are not......i would suggest the fat ones will have more instances of (avoidable) illness and death than the non-fat ones.

thats my only point.......not that its good to be un-fat or bad to be fat. Just stating the facts.

the only reason i spoke up was because a number of people suggsted that fat wasnt a big deal (with regards fitness) and used (really silly) examples to justify it. So far we have Arnold (who did years of anabolic steroids), Shaq (who is not your average chap) and capt. Janet who appears to be industructable!

now if people want to live their lives in with the thousand fat people then they are more than welcome to.......my only issue is that they do so beliving that Arnold, Shaq and Capt. Janet are living proof that deviating from the norm is fine when clearly there are more fat people having heart attacks than doing what Janet is.

My grandad smoke and lived till 94........doesnt make it a healthy choice.

T

 

[TheRedHead]

if you take a thousand people who are fat and a thousnad people who are not......i would suggest the fat ones will have more instances of (avoidable) illness and death than the non-fat ones.

thats my only point.......not that its good to be un-fat or bad to be fat. Just stating the facts.

the only reason i spoke up was because a number of people suggsted that fat wasnt a big deal (with regards fitness) and used (really silly) examples to justify it. So far we have Arnold (who did years of anabolic steroids), Shaq (who is not your average chap) and capt. Janet who appears to be industructable!

now if people want to live their lives in with the thousand fat people then they are more than welcome to.......my only issue is that they do so beliving that Arnold, Shaq and Capt. Janet are living proof that deviating from the norm is fine when clearly there are more fat people having heart attacks than doing what Janet is.

My grandad smoke and lived till 94........doesnt make it a healthy choice.

T

Fatness and fitness are not mutually exclusive and it is the one thing that Arnold, Shaq and Capt. Janet have in common. Lean and sedentary people are twice as likely to die than fat and fit people, according to some studies. The lowest mortality rate is in the lean and fit category, but a more realistic goal is to encourage fat people to exercise rather than diet which can lead to a yo-yo effect of weight loss and gain, plus a lot of despair. One of my good friends is a Native American who was adopted and raised in a white Chicago family. She exercises regularly and is healthy while weighing 260. She has lost and gained weight many times. She can lose, but just can't keep it off without a severely restricted caloric intake. Loosing weight is not just a simple matter of self control for many people.

Some people, like me and possibly you, would be hard pressed not to become toothpicks if we ran up and down the court playing basketball all day. People have set points in their weight where it is awfully difficult to keep weight below that point, even with exercise. Shaq is an obvious extreme example.

The fitting into the weight chart has unleashed a lot of controversy here and in our medical community and there is not a lot of evidence that fat and fit people are unhealthy. Lean and fit people are the ideal in our society, but it is simply not true that you cannot be fat and healthy - if you keep fit.

There are many articles both popular and scholarly on the topic.

http://docnews.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/2/5/6
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/11/26/AR2005032305542.html

Even when you read something that says there is a correlation between being fat and risk factors for developing serious diseases, what does that really mean? How many studies? How much of a correlation?

You consider asthma a nuisance, but some people are disabled by it. Insurance companies like asthma about as much as diabetes. The interesting thing to me is in this debate is that you are unsympathetic to overweight people and you really believe that it is something that can be controlled just by a change of habits and self control. I find it odd that you don't question authority in this assumption when you obviously questioned asthma as an absolute contraindication in diving.

 

[SteveDiver]

I would rather die from being thin then overweight and fat. Health and fitness is ones own responsibility. It may sound crude however I have no pitty for those overweight. After all their habits put them in that position/condition. I just flew back from Fort Lauderdale where there was a veeerrrry large man sitting next to me in the seat, it was disgusting and his fat rolls were touching my arm. I asked the flight attendant to please find him or myself another seat. I was not going to give up my comfort for his self afflicting condition. Southwest Airlines makes overweight people purchase another seat hopefully Continental will do the same. I have always had a swimmers build and once I hit 30 I started gaining weight near my belly. I then started hot yoga, weight training and running six miles daily to keep myself fit. Fitness is important, I have seen fat people with many issues such as: bad knees, poor circulation, developing adult diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease, depression amongst many others. My father is a MD in New York, I have been around the table many of times listening to him preach about fitness and speak of the effects of obesity. I have even heard overweight individuals try to say the have a thyroid condition this is completely bull! there are many medications to control the thyroid. IMO they use the "medical" condition as an excuse for their over endulgence. This is my opinion and not directed to any specific person/persons. You can take it or leave it however the reason for discussion groups is to hear everyones opinions on various topics some opinions one may or may not like. .

 

[BIGSAGE136]

It Lives!