Happy October, already! I read an article the other day how when you are older time flies by, as opposed to when you are younger. It is a perception thing, and it was quite interesting. I may try to squeeze in an article on that topic soon. Don’t forget to come back on Tuesday to see what my husband decided to have my daughter and I cook for our week 2 Family Cook Off Challenge. I do work every weekend now, so there will be no new posts on weekends. For the month of October I am offering 10% off my Walking Buddy Plan, for any readers of this blog, and 20% off for subscribers to my Mailchimp newsletter, sign up below. The discount is refunded after the free meet and greet is completed. If you are a reader of this blog use code Walk22 at checkout, and if you are a Mailchimp subscriber use code Walk21 at checkout. I will be doing a post about this Monday. The codes are valid right up until October 31, 2021. Also, join the challenge and lose 10 pounds by Halloween! Please note if reading about weight, obesity, food, calories, fat, etc are triggering for you, please choose not to read any further.
So, we can’t discuss Obesity if we can’t define it. I know for a lot of people, myself included, admitting you are overweight or obese is a difficult topic. There is a big difference between being overweight, obese, and extremely obese. There are health implications for all of them, whether or not you want to admit that. The tools to measure obesity are not flawless and that adds more ire to the topic. The body positivity movement also comes into play. There is nothing wrong with being positive about your body. In my opinion you have to fully accept your body, and love it, before you can change it. Why? Because when you loathe, or shame yourself, or allow others to do it, you are in a vicious cycle that impedes your ability to make the changes needed to be healthy. This includes social media, and influencers which to me are both huge problems for body positivity in any way. How people in the movement, and those who criticize the movement, speak to and about each other is just plain awful. Click bait, getting views, and making money is a huge problem when you are discussing such a serious topic. I have watched tons of videos on obesity before writing this post, probably more than a years worth, and the videos that make the most money are not the ones that are actually educational, or even bringing good sound awareness to the issue. It is the ones with the most extreme, loud, and obnoxious points of view. This is just sad. How anyone can call themselves a Health Influencer when they are pushing nothing but drivel is beyond my understanding. This does not include all the reading of blogs, and websites on the topic of obesity. Most of them are promoting things to make money and not really concerned with anyone’s health or actually helping them solve their obesity issue. That brings me to can you be obese and be healthy? There are lots of things that go into that question, but in a general sort of way, no probably not. You may be partially healthy, but you are increasing your risk for lots of chronic ailments when you are obese. I hope to talk about all of these topics in the coming weeks. I am not an expert, and I have my own weight issues, as does 75% of Americans, but I am working hard to change it, and that is what matters. Buckle up for the ride!
So, what is the definition of Obesity? Of course some people generalize it as just more weight than needed, but to be specific it is more of a fat issue. Fat, and weight are not the same thing, but, and this is one of the issues with BMI, your classification of obesity is based on weight to height ratio. So, if you are short you are going to be at a much lower weight to not be considered overweight or obese. The CDC has a BMI tool for free so you can see where you are on the chart. You obviously need to weigh yourself and have an accurate height for the tool to work. You have to be honest with how tall you are, and how much you weigh! Watch the short videos below to learn more about obesity and how it is defined. In a general way obesity is defined as having more body fat, or weight, than the body needs in comparison to height, ie BMI. There are also charts as to normal body weights usually geared towards children, plus hip to waist ratio. In general, for a woman a waist measuring more than 35 inches is going to put you at a higher risk for health issues. There are also body fat calculator estimates.
The first step to change is finding out if you are obese, and being honest about it. We will discuss why you should care later.
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