Fat & Fit at the Same Time?
by Peg Jordan, RN
Q.
I just read an article about "being fat and being fit at
the same time." It says as long as your heart, blood sugar
and blood pressure are normal, you don't need to lose
weight -- that being overweight according to the definition
isn't the reason for all the weight-related diseases, and
being physically inactive is. Do you agree with this
theory? Is there some related study that supports this?
-- F.S.
Peg Jordan, RN answers:
You are well read, girlfriend! The great weight debate has
been raging for 10 years now, but most people are unaware
of it. It remains a professional battle among
nutritionists, obesity experts, exercise physiologists and
epidemiologists -- and of course, the weight-loss industry,
which has much to gain from convincing people they're fat.
I've been a bigmouth in the debate for some time ... ever
since I interviewed Lynne Cox, a marathon swimmer who has a
body fat of 34 percent. She's a supreme endurance athlete,
a real champion, and incredibly fit under that layer of fat
that most doctors would consider borderline obese. But
she's healthy and strong and could swim rings around most
obesity experts.
The best research is compiled in a book called Big Fat
Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health, by
Glenn Gaesser. He and Steven Blair at the Cooper Aerobics
Center in Dallas looked at all the research in the past 20
years on this subject of weight and fitness. They found
that the key factor for your health and longevity is
whether you're sedentary -- not what you weigh.
Here's what we know for sure: If a naturally thin person
does NOT exercise, he or she has a poor health outlook. If
an overweight person does exercise, he or she has a much
better profile for health and longevity than the sedentary
thin person.
If you've had a sudden weight gain, try your best to drop
a few pounds. But if you've always carried more weight on
you since you were young, and you are customarily in good
health, don't obsess about your weight. Focus on getting
regular exercise. Your weight will stabilize and you will
be doing so much more for your health, and life will be
immensely more enjoyable.
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