The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Jan]

I'm sure you've all heard the results of the "new" CDC study. "It's better to be a little overweight." But before we all sigh a sigh of relief and head off to our bowl of popcorn let's look at some facts. No sooner had this study been realeased than these too were made public. The author of the CDC study now states"we are not saying that there are not plenty of health issues with being overweight" (Katherine Flegal CDC)

Here are just a few:

A 20 pound weight gain (that's not much) doubles the risk of high B.P. and diabetes and results in a 50% increase in the rate of heart disease.

15-20% of all cancer deaths in women can be attributed to obesity.

"Fat is not the inert storage depot most people think it is. It's an active organ and it produces chemicals & hormones that lead to diabetes, heart disease and even promote cancer" Dr.. Manson -- Brigham and Womens
Hospital and professor at Harvard School of Medicine

Fat produces estrogen which increases your risk of breast cancer later in life.

Being overweight boosts your chance of colon cancer by about 10%

Endometrial Cancer is the most weight related cancer (Eugenia Calle --
American Cancer Society)

Well now you know and you can all pat yourself on the back for deciding
to do the very best thing for you and your families. Lose the weight. We all wish we could just eat what we please and that it would be "ok" to be overweight. I have sometimes wished I lived in the days when a husband was praised for having a portly wife. You know, he had the money to feed her. But no matter what we wish we must deal with the facts. It's not Ok to be overweight no matter what .

jan

[AlexisClaire]

What they're probably getting at is that it's better to be slightly (5-10lbs) overweight than underweight, which is pretty obvious right? A little bit of extra padding just ensures you'll be better protected, but 20 lbs which might seem like just a little to those of us *ahem* who have a lot more than that packed on extra, is really more of a health concern.

That's what I figure anyway

[Jan]

Well actually as you said either extreme is bad. Too much weight or too little -- we are talking anorexia here!! But suprisingly statistics show that your lifespan is generally increased if you are either at your correct weight or just a little under. Notice the word "little" My Dad is 99 and quite thin now. I was concerned and spoke with his Dr. who told me that his weight was well within boundaries and not to increase it. It was better for him to be a little thin. Much easier on the heart and other body organs. That seems to go for us too. Five pounds probably makes little or no difference -- but then how many of us really worry about 5 pounds?? We like to justify being l5, 20, 25 pounds or more overweight and say we're healthy. Our cholesterol is fine ( maybe it is) Our blood pressure looks good ( that could be true too) but what we don't see does hurt us. I guess what I'm saying and the stats are saying is don't lull yourself into thinking weight is not such a problem as we "used to think". It still is and most likely always will be. Do yourself a BIG favor and part with it not just so you'll look great to society but so that you may avoid all the weight related illnesses. But, remember we can't always go by charts -- let your Dr. determine what is a healthy weight for you and stick to it. (Hopefully you have a Dr. who has been educated in these things -- unfortunately not all are) I was really shocked to see a notation on my chart which said "mildly obese" when I was l5 pounds above my suggested weight---UGh-- but I guess my Dr. tells it like it is.
jan