Just because I'm not heavily overweight.....

I'm overweight..I don't look hugely fat.. but I am very top heavy.. and I get the same type of remarks Ronni.. why do you want to lose weight, you'll lose all your 'assets''....I'm actually quite a bit overweight but I carry it well... except I can't do anything about hiding my upper half..

I don't care about having a substantial top shelf.. I'd be very happy to be even a 38 .. but people find this difficult to accept, they have no idea how this extra weight affects my joints...
I've always been slim.. never more than 9 stones.. 126 pounds ..now since Covid, and sitting around.. I'm much more than that, and it's proving difficult to shift... not helped by those who put obstacles in my way thinking I don't need to lose weight..
My sister by another mister, we are much the same.
 
You can see by this pic I took yesterday..
IMG-4214.jpg
 

I read once that the older we get, we need a little padding around the hips, especially for those falls that can injure our hips. Just a thought. :unsure:
I'm going to take that with a grain of salt. That seems to strain against all the medical advice I've heard. But maybe that's because I need to lose 15 pounds.
 
No, but I saw an episode of the Twilight Zone, or maybe it was a movie, based on that novel. It was really good! And I'm sure the title was also Thinner. ...I just checked; it was a movie, 1996.

But I'm not an unscrupulous attorney. I've been good (lately 😟).
Diss any gypsies lately? The book was much better than the movie, I read/saw them.
 
It's worrying me all the time that I've been losing weight over the past year. For decades I weight about 185 or so, which isn't a lot for a man who's around 6ft tall (I say "around" because I was 6ft before spinal injury, 5'9" after, and 5'11" post surgery). But anyway, a year ago I suddenly lost my appetite. I just stopped feeling hungry. I still very rarely feel hungry; weeks and months pass between times when I actually feel hunger.

I make myself eat at least one full meal a day, but I got down to under 140 lbs. I'm 147 now but I'm freaking skinny. Even my face doesn't look the same as a year ago. I don't like it. Doctors haven't found a cause and don't seem too worried, but I'm worried.
Most BMI calculators will indicate that a 6 ft. tall man that is 184 lb.s is at the upper limit of "normal". When I came back from Vietnam I was at 147 lb.s(like you), and yeah- I was skinny. Very odd about your appetite, I wish we could trade appetites for a few months...;)
Seriously, I hope your doctors continue to investigate. Here's a cut 'n paste off some website about...
Causes of unintentional weight loss
Stressful events like a divorce, losing a job, or the death of a loved one. It can also be caused by malnutrition, a health condition or a combination of things.
Some causes of unintentional weight loss include:
mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
problems with digestion, such as coeliac disease or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
other health conditions, such as an overactive thyroid, type 2 diabetes or heart failure
 
Most BMI calculators will indicate that a 6 ft. tall man that is 184 lb.s is at the upper limit of "normal". When I came back from Vietnam I was at 147 lb.s(like you), and yeah- I was skinny. Very odd about your appetite, I wish we could trade appetites for a few months...;)
Seriously, I hope your doctors continue to investigate. Here's a cut 'n paste off some website about...
Causes of unintentional weight loss
Stressful events like a divorce, losing a job, or the death of a loved one. It can also be caused by malnutrition, a health condition or a combination of things.
Some causes of unintentional weight loss include:
mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
problems with digestion, such as coeliac disease or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
other health conditions, such as an overactive thyroid, type 2 diabetes or heart failure
You know what? I lost Paxton, seemingly for good, around the same time my appetite tanked. I've worried about him every single day, and actually mourned over it ever since. And I know I can't compare it to losing your child due to their death, but it comes pretty close I think.

I didn't associate the appetite loss to losing Paxton until now. Maybe I didn't want to acknowledge or admit how hard-hitting it was emotionally.
 
I had a friend years ago who was over weight, but in excellent health. He played football in high school, and a friend of mine who played on the team with him told me, "Yeah he is big, but very strong, and remarkably fast." So there are some body types that don't fit any universal good health standard. Incidentally, my friend was drafted into the Army and came back from basic looking like a track star, and not the shot put type, but like a distance runner. I commented to him, and he admitted, maybe because it was expected, that he needed to lose weight. He said basic training for him was nothing but calisthenics and jello for dinner, along with the other "fatties" singled out for weight loss.

But the Army can have a sadistic sense of humor. After basic, he was assigned to cook school, and he gained it all back to what was probably more like his personal ideal weight.

When I went to take my screening physical for the draft, I was sent to a center 165 miles away and was herded into a group of strangers. We were all standing around wearing nothing but undershorts, and one guy who looked like Mr. Universe took his turn stepping onto the weight scale, and the officer in charge, shouted out in disbelief, "Jesus Christ, you're overweight," and Mr. U just smiled and shrugged. The officer asked, "Do you want to be in the Army?" And Mr. Muscular replied emphatically, "Hell no!" They said he would have to come back in 6 months to be weighed again. I imagine he just went home ate steak and protein supplements, and lifted weights to put on as much muscle as he could. Go figure.
 
You know what? I lost Paxton, seemingly for good, around the same time my appetite tanked. I've worried about him every single day, and actually mourned over it ever since. And I know I can't compare it to losing your child due to their death, but it comes pretty close I think.

I didn't associate the appetite loss to losing Paxton until now. Maybe I didn't want to acknowledge or admit how hard-hitting it was emotionally.
Grief ,mourning and worry go so deep into a person's whole being, but I've noticed that they can manifest in different ways on different occasions.
For example: when myself and my kid's mom divorced I must have lost 20 lbs in just a couple months. whereas, when I divorced again later on, I actually gained weight...a lot! With your worry and concern about Paxton I could imagine that as possibly causing your loss of appetite. Conversely, even-though I still mourn for my daughter, I no longer worry about her, like I had for the last few years., so my appetite has gone into "comfort eating" mode.
 
My adult weight for most of my life (other than pregnancy and nursing) was 135. I'm 5'8" and this was ideal. During the worst of the time with my abusive ex, when I was suicidal and and under extreme stress, I dropped to my lowest weight of 113 pounds. I was skeletal, people thought I was anorexic.

I gained a bunch after menopause and it took forever to stop that gain, and then start losing. Leveled out at around 145, felt good, was eating healthily and my doc suggested I maintain that which I did for 10 years, but recently the weight started creeping up again so I'm working to get it back down.
@Ronni, here’s a thought… perhaps if you change your goal to something over which you have more control, you might achieve your weight loss. By this I mean, how about making your goal to limit yourself to a certain # of carbs/day or to have twice as many vegetables compared to carbs/sweets. (These are just general suggestions, I’m not sure what works best for you). Or maybe eat what you want but limitbit to less than 1/2 of what you would normally eat.

hope you find a solution that works for you
 
I find myself getting irritated at a few well meaning friends who consistently dismiss my concerns about my weight and my efforts to manage it, when the subject comes up.
Having lost and gained lots of weight I pay attention to mine and others. I am a believer that so long as you are healthy and happy you should choose your own weight. Don't listen to others.

@hollydolly you look great just the way you are. However if losing a few pounds would make you happier I think you should go for it! Its your life and your body. And I am sure you would still look great.
 
Interesting anecdote. I do carry some weight on me. No getting around that. So, when I knew it was time to get myself a walker, I wanted one of those I could sit on. One of the heavyweight ones for bigger folks. So, I brought my scrip to the walker place and handed it over. Turns out, the lady said, Medicare would not cover the larger walker for me. Why. you ask? At 250 I did not weigh enough!!! I had to weigh closer to 400 to get it covered. Never been told I was not heavy enough. LOL

WALKER.jpg
 
Body Mass Index
I am not a great believer in BMI, not at the individual level anyway. At about 26 I am in the lower end of the overweight range. However my % body fat is well below average, in the fit range. And when I have been lighter I did not feel as good. BMI is a decent general indicator, but healthy BMI ranges vary a lot.

Here is some critical analysis on the subject:

From JAMA
Association of All-Cause Mortality With Overweight and Obesity Using Standard Body Mass Index Categories
A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1555137

From NPR
Research: A Little Extra Fat May Help You Live Longer
https://www.npr.org/sections/health...h-a-little-extra-fat-may-help-you-live-longer

From Web MD
Underweight Even Deadlier Than Overweight, Study Says Death risk nearly doubled for excessively thin people
https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20140328/underweight-even-deadlier-than-overweight-study-says

From CNN
Thin is in, but fat might be better
https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/16/health/weight-study/index.html

From Scientific American
Could a Few Extra Pounds Help You Live Longer?
A new Danish study provides more data but does not resolve the question
May 10, 2016
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-a-few-extra-pounds-help-you-live-longer/
 
......doesn't mean I don't need to lose a few pounds!

I find myself getting irritated at a few well meaning friends who consistently dismiss my concerns about my weight and my efforts to manage it, when the subject comes up.

No, I'm not heavily overweight. I'm 153 pounds right now, and want to get down to 145. I know that's not much to lose, but it's more weight than I'm comfortable with and that is healthy for me. But because I'm not obese, because I look slim (I'm tall so that really helps) and because I dress in a way flatters my good points and minimizes the bad (like my tummy and hips) and can still move athletically, I don't look like I'm carrying any extra weight or struggling with mobility, and so my concerns and issues are dismissed as being inconsequential.

It's really annoying. I don't want to be compared to this friend who's morbidly obese, or that one who is well over 200 pounds on a smaller frame, and so I have nothing to worry about. Well, here's the thing, I'm not comparing myself to them, I'm comparing myself to myself, from now to previously. And I've gained some weight. And I want it gone. It's making me feel not healthy, and I even those few pounds I can feel in my joints. It's just.....annoying. One friend (friend? Maybe not anymore!) who insinuated that I was just complaining about so I could deviously draw attention to myself, to the fact that I'm much slimmer than a lot of my other friends! Good Lord!!!:mad: No, NO. I'm concerned about my health, dammit!!!

Thanks for letting me vent!
My free advice is only talk about your weight problem with friends who are obviously thinner than you, weigh less, and whom you know have no worries about a highly overweight friend or relative.
 

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