Over the past couple of days, the local news has been reporting something that hit an already tense nerve in me and this flossing is more of a rant than a solution. So, if you are not a fan of someone being on a soapbox, speaking their mind.... then, you can stop here and have a nice day, okay?
(Stepping on soapbox)...
Okay, I am fully aware that not everyone is perfectly at the ideal weight that according to the calculations of the body mass index (aka BMI), and it is just about reasonable to say that there is controversy over what that weight is to every body type and how it can appear that a person could look positively malnourished. Of course, it is painfully obvious that when the formula for what is considered a healthy weight according to the BMI charts, it never considered body structure (bone structure) or even muscle mass (since muscle weighs more than fat). It should be considered when a doctor looks at a person and makes the assessment to whether a person is considered to be at their ideal weight, overweight, or obese.
With that being said. NOW I can get to what has tweaked my last nerve....
According to a recent news report, there is a plan in the works to label a person's ranking on the BMI chart as a disease than a result. Let me say it this way.... Apparently obesity is a disease rather than a condition. REALLY?!?!?!?!? My question is how can that be?
Obesity can occur to any person and it is not always due to poor diet and exercise. There are other conditions to consider that still do not make this a disease, so to speak. How about Thyroid conditions? How about side effects from a medication? How about genetics? These few considerations have been explored, but in all of them, they are not considered a disease in any sense of the word. Well, maybe when it comes down to the conclusion of the Thyroid, but side effects to medications are not diseases... they are side effects to the medication. While some believe that genetics can pose as more of a learned habit from generation to generation, it still is not something a person can "catch". Heck, getting older poses a threat to a person's ability to maintain or even lose weight. So even the change of life for both men and women have a disease attached to it, right? Is the medical community going to call a pregnant woman diseased because they gain weight during pregnancy? Being pregnant is not a disease, but a 9 month condition that results in a baby from a sexual act, but there is weight gain in the process. Oh, we can call that a disease, too, since it is quite hard for some to lose that pregnancy weight.
Maybe I am splitting hairs here, but the truth is out there and it needs to be said.
While on the subject of claiming that obesity should be called a disease, there needs to be a solution to the issue. Of course, people can eat less and move more, but it is the foods that we eat that can also affect a person's body. The processes to foods that get me. Convenience foods are not the most healthy to choose from. nor is the genetically modified foods created in labs to produce more volume for the populous in a far faster time frame. I have seen Food, Inc., the movie,. and was completely disgusted in the process of how our food is created and handled. I would love to go organic, but the cost exceeds our family budget. I would go vegetarian (or even vegan), but even those lifestyle choices will lack the necessary nutrients that the body needs, but even achieving these extreme lifestyles is impossible when I have a family of picky eating, convenience food loving, stubborn people to contend with. I know we are capable of getting protein from plants, but even the process of cooking is tainted when it comes to the water we consume and use for cooking. As with any diet out there, it is required that you consume vitamins in pill form to supplement for nutrients that we cannot get enough of in the foods we consume. Really, how is one eating plan better than the other if you have to consume a medicinal grade pill to get the balance right? According to some studies, even the foods we consume (organic or otherwise) do not contain the necessary nutrients a body needs in a single serving. Of course, the concept of what a serving is even can baffle the most astute of minds. Oh, and lets factor in calories consumed for added measure.
When it comes to calories, we are supposed to take in less than what we burn in a day in order to lose weight. To maintain weight, we need to consume the exact amount of calories we burn. Why is that important? Because apparently, if a person consumes more calories than what we burn, we will gain weight, and that is a bad thing. The problem in that scenario is this.... According to an individual, the rate of calories burned varies on other factors. These factors are muscle mass and level of exertion. Ever wondered how that is figured out? I am still trying to figure it out myself, but I did do a little study on a treadmill one time.
Oh, treadmills.... the torture devises of the gym, but the most popular. If you have ever been on one, you will notice that these machines do have the nerve to ask you about your weight and age before starting an exercise program. While it is not an exact science and is in no means accurate to the individual, it does give you a ballpark figure of how many calories you burned while on the machine. Now, when I did my little research, I found out that the heavier you are, the higher the calorie burn there is compared to a person of lighter weight. Most likely because of the weight that is being moved, but as with this machine and many others, it cannot calculate calorie burn if the weight is from a person that has more muscle than fat or vise versa. Muscle is known to burn more fat, but fat burns at a slower rate if there is a lack of muscle. So, how does one manage to know exactly how effective a workout truly is? Exertion is one way, but not exactly an exact science, either. A person in poor shape will feel strong exertion at a lower rate of effort compared to a person in far better shape. Can a person figure exertion from the level of sweating? Nope. External temperatures can affect the start and strength of sweating. So, really, how does a person know that their efforts are successful? You don't.
With all the science that has been shared in how a person is successful in losing weight being bunk, there is also the controversy over how to maintain weight. If a person does obtain their goal weight, how are you guaranteed that is stays the same? There is no guarantee that continuing the same routine is going to keep you where you need to be. In all honesty, how does a person figure calorie content and exercise burn to be exact? You can't. You can keep a vigilant eye on the scale, but even that is not the guarantee that you are healthy at doing it. Muscle weighs more than fat. That is a fact. Bone structure affects weight. A body can only be healthy at a weight that the body chooses to be ideal. Not some chart with a confusing formula that does not factor in these variances.
While I may be nitpicking at the most extreme level and I do believe that there are some people that happen to be truly unhealthy and carry an excessive amount of weight, I just happen to have a serious problem that there are people that want to call a slight weight problem a disease when there are extreme issues being the culprit to the generality of the topic. According to the BMI chart, I am considered obese, but I have been told that I may appear a bit on the heavy side, I am in no way looking unhealthy. I am strong and I do not need the aid of a walker to move. I am active, but not like a hamster in in exercise wheel kind of active. I go to the gym, but I do not live there. I eat healthy, but to the point that I am a health Nazi. I know that my weight issues are not going to be easy to solve. I am getting older and my metabolism is not like the way it used to be. I also happen to like food and sometimes I do mindlessly snack when I should not be, but I am working on that. I just happen to feel angered by the generalization that my being overweight for my frame and muscle level is on the verge of being labeled a disease than a situation being worked on. Really, if this is a disease, then there should be a pill to go along with the many others out there to solve my problem that will not be addictive or destructive to my well being. Once that is figured out, then I might be a little more welcoming on being considered diseased. I just see my weight as more of a challenge than a death sentence and I would hope that others that feel the same instead of defeated all the time.
Okay, stepping off my soapbox....
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
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