CPAPtalk.com

Hello

Now that that's intresting saying that overweight osa people are lazy when it comes to losing weight. When I got diagnoised with sleep apeona I was the normal weight range. I often worked out at the gym despite having major sinus trouble that warrented a nose operation to shave the tubinates!

Now since because of some meds I am on I am 70kgs and I am trying to lose some of that weight despite some been medication induced. I often worked out at the gym and weight training, I have a short neck...plus I am short and stocky.

I am fairly fit despite the extra weight on my tummy which is bloating that is out of control.[again med induced] But I can race around if I have to, but I still have trouble with my sleep despite been reasonably fit. I am often napping at the middle in the day as sometimes I am rather tired.

I realise that responding to trolls is unadvisable, however for the interest of anyone who might be wondering "Well, how DID you get that fat?"...:

Ozij and Lola's posts are unbelievable...you two must be very unhappy people. Are you the ones that sued McDonalds for making you too fat? Seems like you are in a major blame game with the fact that you are overweight. If you don't want to admit you are "not strict" how did you put on so much extra weight? You weren't born overweight so somewhere along the line you lacked the self control to just say NO to that next Big Mac.

Actually, I can't stand McDonald's food, nor most fast food. Fatty food makes me feel ill and high sugar food gives me a headache; they always have. My favourite food is salad! (Not with cream dressing, yuk. ) And I'm quite happy, thank you. Yours is a common response when someone states that they do not accept the status quo that fat = automatically unhealthy, bad, a sign of no self-discipline, something to be ashamed of and gotten rid of no matter the cost. It can be hard to accept that someone is unashamed of how they look no matter how fat or thin or tall or short they are when our society places so much importance on a person looking "attractive" according to an unobtainable standard. The requirement to be slim has been medicalised too; you will find no scientific evidence that dieting works for the vast majority of people, any doctor worth their salt will readily admit that nobody knows how to have people lose weight and keep it off. The health dangers have been vastly overstated - behaviours such as eating a poor diet and remaining sedentary will lead to weight gain in many people, but others can behave the same and stay slim. That sedentary fat person and his slim friend who eats even more junk than he does are likely both equally unhealthy. The fat lady who goes to the gym every day has a hugely reduced risk of health problems than the slim girl who never does. I suggest reading the books "Big Fat Lies" by Glen Gaesser and "The Diet Myth" by Paul Campos for a full exposition on the demonisation of fat in both social and medical circles, including actual scientific evidence not sponsored by the diet industry..

I place blame only on the misguided efforts of people who though they meant well by putting me on strict diets starting when I was TEN years old. I was not fat by any means. Examining photographs of me as a child is evidence enough; I also won medals in Junior Athletics and such. I was told constantly that "You've got such a pretty face, if ony you'd lose weight" and "If you lose weight I will buy you nice clothes" as well as admonishments that fat was BAD, it was SHAMEFUL, it was a sign I was a LAZY girl. So, to please, as girls are brought up to do, I followed these low-calorie diets SO WELL. I never cheated, I was so good. However, the body is powerful and knows what it needs to do to survive. These diets were at starvation level, I was on them for years and years. And it is well documented that starvation levels of caloric intake do cause one's body to slow down and conserve energy as much as possible, to store fat at every opportunity and to not use it as an energy source until the very end. After I "successfully" completed each diet/starvation session, I was allowed to eat like a normal growing child, and, of course, would always put back on more weight than I had initially lost - even though I still didn't eat junk food. It is a biological impossibility to stay on a low calorie diet for an amount of time like I did without your body rebelling.

It has taken many years but my weight is now stable (much better for your health than fluctuating); I have self-esteem and dignity, I do not base my worth on a number on a scale or what dress size I wear; I have muchly improved my health due to being able to visit a doctor without fear of a lecture on what a slob I was; and I am NOT suing any of the family and/or health professionals that had me on dangerous, destructive diets at a young age nor am I suing the authors of those awful dieting books from the 70s and 80s - I am getting on with my life and not wallowing in past incidents. Have I mentioned that my personal trainer at my gym (who used to be a professional athlete) is very impressed with my strength and cardio fitness, with no concessions for my size?

Disparaging the whole positive body image movement because one woman, Oprah, still feels that she has to be slim to be an acceptable human being, is a rather drastic move. I feel quite sorry for Oprah. She has immense success as a businesswoman, wealth, millions of adoring fans, and yet it seems all that is worth very little to her unless she is slim. Imagine if Oprah felt she had to have her skin lightened and plastic surgery to make her look more "white" to be successful and had whole shows dedicated to which bleaching cream to use. PBI is an important thing, for all women, regardless of age or size. It does NOT promote bad health. It promotes everyone feeling good about themselves enough to want to keep themselves healthy and is about "psychological immunisation" against the unattainable and negative images of women and body size in the media and resistance to unhealthy diets and expectations. Instead of the idea that a fat person MUST be that way from sitting on the counch inhaling the Big Macs all day, it encourages people to honestly examine how their physical and mental health is being affected by size and vice versa, without geting caught up in cultural baggage about what is virtuous and what is "naughty".

WHEW! That's about all I have to say on this subject here. (Elsewhere's another matter... )

Lola,

That was a great reply. Sorry it must have taken you three hours to write, but it was worth the read. Very pertinent.

I have to say, first off, it was me who was corrected by "Guest," the author of this original thread, when I felt everyone was maybe coming down too hard on her and I tried to defend her use of the word "lazy" as meaning too tired as probably not trying to be offensive. But I'm sorry to say that after reading her reply to everyone, I think I may have misread her post and she actually is trying to spark some nasty replies here with her very rigid and opinionated response. I think it could have been phrased in a much more tactful and non-condescending tone. Congratulations you got off your lazy butt and did something, but that isn't EVERYBODY'S reason for being overweight. And to just surmise it is, IMHO, is pretty damn arrogant.

Bottom line, if it works for you, great. But we were not created to be a carbon copy of each other and what one person feels is fine for them is nobody else's business to say is right or wrong. God bless you if you feel you are just fine at 250 and are healthy at the same time. If you have a few pounds to lose and still go to the gym and eat right so that your cholesterol and BP is at an acceptable level, what is the harm, that you offend or irritate someone else with your appearance? Well, as they say with TV or radio, that if you don't like what's on, change the channel, just don't look at someone if their heavy appearance "offends" you. But no one has the right to tell another how they should appear body image wise. It's totally up to them.

I have 11 lbs. to lose. I am not standing on a soapbox because I am one of the heavier people on this site and that post relates to me. I just don't like to read the insensitive comments about eating McDonald's all day when that person has NO IDEA what these people who are in this type of situation are doing. Pretty bold assumption, and you know what happens when you assume...

I personally have gone on what I always call not a "diet," but a healthy eating lifestyle now. Diets are a mistake, I agree. Once you go off a specified, short-term eating plan to lose some weight, you usually do end up going back to your pre-diet weight. But if you can train your body and mind to eat healthily and stick to that way of life, you are ahead of the game.

My suggestion to people who are so rigid and assume everyone should be and do just the same as they, chill out and live and let live. This was one hell of a way to start a morning, reading the anger that the author of the original thread exudes. Maybe she's doing something for her body, but the attitude needs major adjustment.

Hello

I agree that size comes in all shapes and sizes.....I am not a model sized person as I am fairly short and stocky now. I was thin when I was younger, maybe thin but not phyically strong or fit. No point having no fittness and strength despite having a model like frame on me!!

I was on a heavy low protien diet and that was hard, as it cut down on every food in all food groups. I left that diet at 12 yrs, I got bigger but not fitter. I had to go to gym do tone my minmal muscles in my body when I was in childhood. Since adulthood I have packed on but at least I can race around the place without thinking about it.

Mc Donald's like the the chips, the burgers is a err.....Never got used to the favour of them, majority of diet is rice and veggies. The sleep apeona was not weight induced, it was because of my gummmed up sinuses! Internal deformity of the airways.

Been on med as got older that cause a side effects of weight gain, fluid retension from meds. Still going to gym and working out, As some the clothes out there are not made for a short and over weight person!
Plus I am not crash hot been a blimp myself!

It depends on the % of fat and muscle distrubtion throught out the body. Some Sport people are known to be overweight or obese by the scales, but half all that weight they are is muscle, ie: Rugby player.

As I find clothes in alot of shops are for more for "tall, thin people" too bad if your not in that stearotype, Been short and pudgy like myself. I have to hem up alot clothes as the legs are too long. I pity those who get the fithy glares from people for been heavily built male or female. They still get the fithy glares from people who are alot smaller then them.

I'ts not their fault!!!!

I just want to add some "Food for Thought".

I noticed several complaints about dieting and how fast most of us gain the weight back....may I recommend Curves weight MANAGEMENT program? This program is based on increasing your metabolism and is designed to get you to a point where dieting is only necessary 1-2 days per month. My ENT recommended losing 30 lbs. I am not fat per se, just a little "curvy" in places. I couldn't really diet effectively because I didn't eat much to begin with. I was very active with my kids (hiking, kayaking, etc) and even worked out at the gym semi regularly. Well, I signed up for the Curves 6 week challenge and I followed the program TO THE LETTER. I lost 15 lbs in 6 weeks and I feel great. I also eat 5 to 6 times a day now. Just small portions of better food. My husband says that it has made a real difference (on those nights when I can't use the CPAP because of my allergies) in my snoring.

For you men who don't have access to Curves, buy the book at the bookstore. I was amazed by how successful and easy this was.

My ENT also says that the surgery is usually only 50-60% effective, IF YOU ARE LUCKY.

I don't much care if anyone is fat if they are healthy and happy. But if you aren't they you should do what it takes to improve your quality of life. And this works for me.

Diane

Hi Diane...just curious since you responded so quickly to the Curves program (I was once a fitness assistant there): how old are you? For some of the older women whose metabolisms had slowed down due to hormonal changes and "life" the results were not as quick as you experienced...they did have changes in inches but not as much weight loss as you. Terry

I am almost 50

My metabolism had slowed way down. I didn't realize it (much) just figured that I was getting older. But now that I have more energy I realize what had happened.

I guess I think it has more to do with motivation. We obviously were not born fat! Long ago, there was much more physical activity in our lives. Modern conveniences have increased our waist lines.

I truly do not believe in "diets" I think we need to relearn how to eat healthy, making healthly choices, eating more fruits and veggies, lean meats, low-fat dairy products and limiting simple carbohydrates (sugars), you know pastries, etc. Eating more whole grain foods.

We were not made to be fat and if everyone would admit it, for our health and our emotional well-being, we would all be better off to lose pounds.

If any of you disagree, I guess I would say there is lots of denial and rationalization going on here, take a look at some of my posts, I've had some very large posts on this subject as well.

I personally am doing Weight Watchers, I cannot afford the meetings so I follow at home on my own. I have lost weight and notice I have more energy. There is no food that I cannot eat, I just need to think ahead and decide "is this the healthiest choice for me?".

I open to comments.

Heidi

Sleeping With The Enemy wrote: We were not made to be fat and if everyone would admit it, for our health and our emotional well-being, we would all be better off to lose pounds.

If any of you disagree, I guess I would say there is lots of denial and rationalization going on here, take a look at some of my posts, I've had some very large posts on this subject as well.

We were made to have the ability to be fat. It's a necessary biological thing - it's how we survive stress and famines and illness. Through modern ideas about what constitutes accepted standards of health and beauty, we've lost touch with the way our bodies work. Some people just have the genetic propensity to store fat easily, some have high-octane metabolisms and have to eat voraciously to keep up. Some people have had their functioning messed up by disordered eating, disease, and other factors.

Believe me, I've done a huge amount of research on this, and it's not to justify staying fat. I have an abiding interest in my health, as we all should, and I am yet to discover any solid scientific evidence that losing fat will necessarily improve one's physical and mental health, as well as any evidence that long term weight loss is sustainable for most people. Yes, there can be links between poor health and being fat, but there is no proven causality. I'm not one to read a newpaper article about the latest study that supposedly proves fat people are just plain unhealthy and believe it just like that. I'll actually go look up the studies in the medical journals database at the library and see what actually went on with it, I'm aware of the scientific method and the way studies are conducted and data analysed. And also conflicts of interest between the authors and the funding.

Let's see: the last time I was able to lose weight, it was because I had started taking a new medication. It made me nauseated and I was basically mirroring the caloric intake of those who undergo weight loss surgery for 4 months. I tried to cram all the vitamins and minerals a body needs into the small amounts I could eat. I kept exercising, because I like to do it, and I'd rather not have felt even worse for lack of it. I lost nearly 3 dress sizes, and people would tell me I looked great, but you know what? I was starving and malnourished, I felt like s***, my hair was lank and fell out easily, my fingernails were ridged and discoloured, I smelled bad, my gums bled, my snoring and sleep was worse, my skin was simultaneously dry and flaky and breaking out with acne. My mental health was about the same. My medication dosage was finally adjusted and I was able to eat enough food to receive the nutrition I need. Needless to say, I put the weight right back on and I'm lucky it wasn't more. This is the experience of altogether too many people, and it's a great deal more unhealthy than being fat might ever be.

How is this denial? I am an intelligent, educated person capable of rational thought and scientific understanding. I have never denied that some people's health problems may be caused by their weight, my point throughout all this has been that this is not the case for every fat person, and that it is entirely possible (and desirable) for people of all sizes to be healthy without a focus on losing weight.

I personally am doing Weight Watchers, I cannot afford the meetings so I follow at home on my own. I have lost weight and notice I have more energy. There is no food that I cannot eat, I just need to think ahead and decide "is this the healthiest choice for me?".

In my case, and in the cases of those with similar dieting backgrounds, the most healthy choice is not to have a goal of losing weight. Really. Truly. There is no way you can convince me that I'd be healthier starving my body to lose weight than remaining as I am, eating healthy and exercising plenty. How is not wanting to experience the effects of malnutrition denial and rationalisation? I'm not denying I'm fat, far from it, but I cannot see how that is an automatically bad thing. I'm not going to be enthusiastic about any special programs such as Weight Watchers - the only scientific information available on WW shows its best success with supervised participants was keeping 5lbs off after two years. (The study is here.) If a person wishes to participate after making a fully informed decision, then best wishes to them. (The program itself seems like a fairly reasonable thing to follow for nutrition and healthy eating choices.)

I'd just really, really, like it if more people could accept that I too am capable of making decisions about my health, based on reasearch and informed choice. It's not like the fat's replaced my brain cells. There are alternative possibilites to health besides weight loss.

Perhaps read this article, for a bit of a start, or at the least, an alternative viewpoint, on how fat isn't quite the hyped-up illness indicator that we read about in the media:
http://www.techcentralstation.com/042505D.html. The other articles by Ms Szwarc are also quite revealing. [/url]

AAARGH....all this talk makes me want to grab a twinkie! Just kidding I think we've all made some good points many of which I can identify with ...definitely colored by our own unique experiences. This is an interesting topic and I'm really glad for the exchange of ideas. BTW I've dropped two more pounds and am down to 205 so I'll change my signature. Terry

AAARGH....all this talk makes me want to grab a twinkie!

Terry,

Perfect line right about now, thank you!

I have to agree that dieting is not the answer. Changing your way of eating to a more healthy one for life is the key. That is why dieting will never work. It's a temporary method by which we lose weight. If you start eating correctly, and incorporate a little hard exercise (get the cardio system moving again), there is no way you won't lose the extra pounds that shouldn't be there. But it has to be a way of life, not a temporary measure by which we hope to lose weight.

I want to agree with the premise that if you're overweight but exercise and are healthy, that's fine. The only thing that doesn't sit right with me on this is, if you're exercising enough to do good, you shouldn't be overweight unless you have some other underlying condition. If you get past the 20 minute warmup point with cardio exercise, that is when fat starts to burn off. You must get past the 20 minutes, though. If you are doing that three times a week, at least, then you have to burn off the extra pounds. If you say you are exercising but not losing weight, then what are you doing? Now if you're just bench pressing weights, okay. Muscle weighs more than fat and you're not doing a thing to burn off the fat by doing that. But if you are doing anything to work up a sweat for your cardiovascular system, you should be losing weight, too.

I love people, regardless if you weigh 90 lbs. or 350 (that's the limit though, after 350 I don't love you-ONLY KIDDING). I couldn't care less what you look like. If you have a good heart, in my book, that's what counts. But I would like to see anyone who does have a good heart (and I don't mean healthy by "good") also be in good shape so we can have you on this earth a little longer. Good people are hard to come by, maybe not on this site. So when you find those who are worth it, you want to keep them around. I truly believe eating right and exercise is the answer to that. And watching out for cars doing more than 75 mph down side streets when you're out for that healthy after-dinner stroll.

I still have my 11 lbs. to go to get to my goal weight and I'm loving every moment of my new lifestyle. So I am practicing what I preach, by the way.
Have a great night, all.

Flower51 wrote:AAARGH....all this talk makes me want to grab a twinkie!

With all the preservatives in a Twinkie they'll stay "fresh" on the shelf for years.

If we eat enough of them will be absorb the preservatives and stay young for years?

I wish!

If we eat enough of them will be absorb the preservatives and stay young for years?

Um, no...but I love the way you think.

Sleepless on LI wrote:

If we eat enough of them will be absorb the preservatives and stay young for years?

Um, no...but I love the way you think.

If you haven't tried it, how do you know?

(I think I need to go get some sleep; I'm getting really silly now. More than usual, that is.)

I am a nurse and in my line of work I have seen tons or overweight people.

Some of the risks of being overweight are type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

There are many others:
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/heal ... health.htm

Being healthy and overweight just don't fit together. This business about famine is just more rationalization on your part.

There is not amount of research you could quote me to support your rationalization that it is okay or healthy to be overweight.

I am overweight and honest with myself. I don't really care what every one else thinks about how I look but I want to look better and feel better. I want to be able to run with my kids and not die in the process. I want to live long and be able to play with my grandchildren.

You may be educated and smart with words, but the fact is your in denial and instead of putting your energy into getting healthier, you have wasted it on supporting your obesity with articles and research.

I don't know how much you weight or what you look like, but if you like being fat, go for it!!!