the numbers still say
The numbers say absolutely nothing about *ME* because they are not about *ME*, they are statistical guesswork that at most shows a correlation between high BMI and other conditions. Medical science has not show a causal link between fat per se and anything except perhaps joint problems. Nor have very many studies been done on people who carry extra fat but are nevertheless active and in good health. Being overweight is entirely natural if you eat too much. In that sense it is not like smoking at all, though the gurus of the medico-diet industry want us to believe it is. We are designed to put on fat. What we are not designed to do is sit around for the entire day doing nothing and eating horrific foods.
To be meaningful, a study needs to look at more than unrelated survey results from the 70's and run the numbers against a BMI chart, as many do. It must track actual individuals in a group over their lives. It must examine what they eat, how they eat, and how much exercise they get. And it must weigh their fat vs. lean mass. Further it should look at the interplay between fat and lean mass, and look at the fat itself. Is it brown or white, and what purpose is it serving? None of this has been done yet. Indeed medical science has only just figured out we still have brown fat in adulthood, and that it may serve critical roles.
Furthermore, even *IF* BMI were a legitimate tool for studying large groups (highly questionable since it does nothing to rule out a myriad of other factors or body types), it STILL has no application as a diagnostic tool.
I'm absolutely fed up with the idea that weight loss must be the top priority because of a number on a 150 year old chart. That's NONSENSE. It leads to fad diets and barbaric surgery. I've been down that road over and over again to no avail. The endless (and well documented) cycle of such dieting failure is sadly a near-universal phenomenon. What works is to concentrate on getting intense sustained exercise at least five times a week and cooking all your own food. At least that's been working for me. I dropped another ten lbs. in the past month, but I don't care one way or the other about that. It's much more important that I can last longer on the trails and climb higher.
I'm just a big guy. I always have been and always will be.