UberGeek

I kept telling my doc, that at 199 lbs, I wasn't fat, I was just big boned.

Then my doc showed me my cholesterol and triglycerides... Then I just SFTU. I'm fat, and working to fix that. Thankfully, my waist is outside of the danger-zone.

camelopardalis

I'm glad you brought this up. I've forgotten all about this bit of information primarily because it happened at a time when the only "sport" I did was golf and was blissfully oblivious of my slowly rising weight.

The peak of my weight was 199 lbs which at 5'11" put me right at 27.75 which is at the level that I wouldn't have been considered overweight on that old standard. It didn't bother me at all to be at that weight until we went on vacation to the Caribbean and I was looking at my beach pictures. It was enlightening and, frankly, quite disgusting. A couple of months later my Doctor wanted to put me on high blood pressure and cholesterol medications.

No way. I told him that I was going to beat both naturally by watching what I eat and by exercising. He said good luck. "Almost nobody ever succeeds in doing so". He said maybe one out of every 3 or 4 hundred people is able to.

Needless to say, that became a major challenge to me. I did succeed in that endeavor.

There is no way the overwhelming majority of the population can justify that a BMI of over 27.8 is not fat. That is delusional.

Can other forum readers weigh in on this?

mmmdonuts

I agree that the current BMI thresholds are a better gauge but I think ConstantRider's post was to point out that American's did not suddenly become obese. The trends using BMI would show that but the change in the scale is probably where the jump happened and the actual gains by the population were likely more gradual.

Edit: Let me add that I mean this when overall head counts and categories are used. If the raw BMI numbers are used over time then it wouldn't matter.

ConstantRider

Yes, that was the intent of my post. There are a lot of articles and studies that talk about the alarming jump in overweight/obesity rates in the last 20 years, and it's not always clear if their authors are taking into account the 1998 change.

In reality, overweightness, obesity, and an increasingly sedentary life have characterized American life since at least the 1930s. These things have steadily increased, but as early as 1952, for example, one in four adults were considered overweight and the NY Times was calling obesity the country's primary health problem.

Ironically, while we're fatter than ever, life expectancies continue to rise, and earlier this year, the CDC reported that "death rates for 10 of the 15 leading causes of death decreased significantly between 2008 and 2009, including for heart disease, cancer and stroke."

UberGeek

That's mainly due to vaccinations and a decrease in smokers. So, it decreased in spite of obesity growing.

camelopardalis

I wonder about quality of life with regard to longer life spans.

Don in Austin

I am glad you succeeded. Statins are a liver toxin. Blood pressure meds make you impotent. You are far better off with your program -- no thanks to your doctor, nor the medical profession in general, and least of all to the pharmaceutical companies. A friend of mind in his forties got a physical and had high blood pressure, triglycerides etc. and promptly got put on meds. His marital function went to crap and the doctor had not even warmed him that would happen. When he figured out why he was no longer functioning -- still no thanks to the doctor -- he ramped up exercise, started eating better and lost about 50 pounds and fixed all his numbers. He got off the meds and back to functioning with his wife. Whenever I see one of those ads for cholesterol meds: "When diet and exercise isn't enough...." I feel the pharma companies are doing their best to enable those would rather take a pill than than take responsibility for adopting a healthy life style. Makes me want to build pipe bombs.

My wife started asking any doctor she went to what their most recent continuing education -- as required by law -- consisted of. Without exception it was a mini-vacation courtesy of a drug company pushing its latest products.

One out of every three or four hundred? I guess you and I are both pretty special! Oh, and also my friend AJ, mentioned earlier, and his wife who lost about 10" from her waist. And others I know. There would be far more of us if the doctors were not, by and large, lazy pill pushers.

Don in Austin

gregf83 

Right. Now it's the doctor's and Big Pharma's fault that America is fat, out of shape and smokes too much. If only people knew they should exercise more and eat properly.

Maybe the doctors get tired of telling people what to do and having their advice ignored...

camelopardalis

When you get older and your cholesterol and blood pressure go up, it's telling you that you are doing something wrong. You should change something in your lifestyle. Instead, people start taking medications.

A doctor speaking on public TV said "These prescriptions are like permission slips that kids get in school. You can do wrong, but you are permitted to do so. Just take these pills". It will always be the easy way out.

camelopardalis

Absolutely. I'm sure that people in this forum are not representative of the public at large so the percentages here are probably better. I have no reason to doubt his statement though.

And yes, we are pretty special.

Don in Austin

A few years ago when I was heavier and had higher blood pressure, doctors were happy to write me scrips for statins. Just once, I tried them and quit after feeling sick and weak for about five days. I was given NO warnings whatsoever about side effects. I never received more than the briefest lip service about exercise and diet with no specifics. My friend AJ is not the only person I know who has been prescribed blood pressure meds without being told they would give him a limp dick. That side effect was powerful motivation for him to adopt an exercise and dietary modification program -- which has been successful now for about three years. As far as I am concerned it is inexcusable that he was given the meds without being warned and without a healthier alternative proposed.

When you see ads on TV "When diet and exercise are not enough...." the message is pretty clear: Diet and exercise might help a little, but what you really need is a pill. Big Pharma and the medical community are reinforcing people's laziness. Sure, there will always be the those that light a cigarette as soon as possible after surgery for throat or lung cancer, but there are also plenty of people who deserve and just might use more enlightened guidance from their doctors. All too often, they are left to figure it out by themselves and get healthy in spite of the doctors' attempts to push pills on them.

If a doctor becomes so jaded that he/she gives up on advising patients on healthy lifestyles, that doctor needs to take a year or two off or retire for good.

Don in Austin

BarracksSi

My uncle's a family practitioner in a small town.

Fortunately, he leads by example. He's back in half-marathons after heart surgery to replace a defective valve, rides his bike to work, and organizes an annual fun run (a 5K is part of it, and I think there's a longer leg, too). He's been part of that town's heart and soul for forty years.

Frustrating to think that he might be an exception, too.

Don in Austin

I am afraid he is. We need more like him.

Don in Austin

camelopardalis

Sounds to me that he's more special than any of us here. Maybe you can get him to post in this forum. He will be inspirational.

gregf83 

Sorry, I'm not buying it. People don't need a doctor to tell the to lose weight. How about a little personal responsibility instead of looking for someone else to blame.

Don in Austin

So you think its perfectly fine that the doctor gave him blood pressure meds and told him nothing about the side effects? A good doctor gives good advice -- including encouragement to do what you already know you should do rather than offering a crappy pharmaceutical alternative right off to bat. What is wrong with the doctor saying to AJ, "I could prescribe blood pressure medication. It will probably give you a limp dick among other side effects. Instead, lets talk about an exercise program, let's talk about trans fats, which are everywhere, lets talk about avoiding HFCS which is everywhere. I will give you 3 months -- I bet you can do it. This is your wake-up call." Nope, just give him a pill: "He wouldn't do it anyway!" WRONG

Don in Austin

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes, I think it is/has become part of our culture that we are "taken care of." And I'm a hard-core Lefty. Something goes wrong, we expect someone to fix it. They sell mandatory flood insurance for instance. Nuts. I go to the doctor with RSI from computer programming, he runs to get the paperwork to put me on permanent disability. I was out of there. Fixed it with exercise.

When people go to an expert to help them with a problem, they hope their car mechanic or banker, for instance, will use the latest knowledge and expertise to fix it. Unfortunately, many of our expert systems are corrupt, like duh. When that problem interacts with our cultural bias to seek help, our problem gets larger and then we don't know where to turn for advice and help. So it's pretty cool to have forums like this which are arguably free from corruption, though of course not from bias.

OTOH, I've been riding with a guy for 15 years who has developed serious, apparently unfixable blood pressure problems. The White Coated Devils (as he puts it) keep upping his meds, which makes him less and less able to lead his group. He is kind of a big guy who puts on protein easily and is one of those guys where you can see the heads of his quads through his shorts. Maybe if he went on a serious low calorie diet? But he's not overweight, still rides well and often. Life isn't fair sometimes, and what works for one doesn't work for another. In another case, I did a project for a guy who has a blood cholesterol of over 300 and who refuses to take statins. He runs every day, does marathons, bike tours, skis all winter including XC skating. He's a terrific athlete. My age and so far no heart problems, just that high cholesterol.

So it's hard to know what to do sometimes and there seems to be very little money in researching how to fix complex metabolic problems in any way that doesn't involve profits for various corporations.

gregf83 

I wasn't talking about the actions of one doctor, rather the blanket statements you made blaming the medical community and big pharma for the poor health of Americans. It's a cop out.

mmmdonuts

I have never, ever spent more than 5 minutes with a Dr. Well, that's not entirely true. Eye exams and dental work took more than 5 minutes. But any other GP or specialist I've seen wants to get in and out as quickly as possible. They don't engage and answer questions. Say ahhh, give a pill, and move on. NEXT!

BarracksSi

[tangent]

Why don't we have kids who are just "weird" anymore? They all have some sort of disease -- ADD, ADHD, BFD, whatever. And they all get pills.

[/tangent]

mmmdonuts

Because beating them is now considered child abuse...

BarracksSi

To add to my post from a week ago --

I wore the same suit today that I wore in HS. I know, that's minus points for still having the same suit, but plus points for still fitting in it, and plus a few more for it fitting looser than it did way back when.

camelopardalis

Greg, I agree with you 100% that every person should take full responsibility for his health habits and lifestyle. However, it is also true that the medical professionals have a huge credibility with the public at large. Not everybody is well read or informed with regard to the intricacies of a healthy lifestyle. Hearing advice from friends and family who may or may not be knowledgeable is not going to have as much weight as hearing it from a doctor. What do you think the odds are that something as basic as 3500 calories=1 lb fat is known to the average person. I bet you no more than 1 in ten.

camelopardalis

Unless you kept growing (vertically) after high school, you should be able to.

gregf83 

All true. Nevertheless, I don't see any evidence that Doctors are not providing good advice to their patients on the whole. I suspect the problem is more with the patients not following through on their recommendations. After all it is much easier to tell a patient to drop 50lbs than it is to actually lose the weight.