health at every size

I'm gonna ramble here.  A lot.  You have been warned.

I was reading some stuff recently about the... is it a philosophy?  a movement?  just an idea?  of Health at Every Size.  Some parts of the philosophy make good sense to me.

I do think we should stop equating weight with health.  If you are overweight according to the BMI chart, that does not automatically mean you are unhealthy and if you are in the "normal" BMI range, that does not automatically mean you are healthy.  I agree with that.  And I think we should all work on loving and accepting ourselves at any size (and with any health condition).

But then I get confused. 

The fact that you can be healthy if your BMI says you're overweight doesn't necessarily mean that you are.  Weight is not the only indicator of health, but isn't it one part of a very big equation?  While someone might be healthy at 200 pounds, how likely are they to be healthy at 300 or 400 pounds?  And why would it be considered bad to admit that you weren't perfectly healthy?  Shouldn't loving and accepting ourselves include loving and accepting any health issues we have?

Interesting question. I love myself, the way I am, but, I have some health issues I could live better without.

 I was healthy at 311.  I had no major health problems and my bloodwork always came back much better than my skinny husband.  The reason I decided to have surgery was to prevent any major health problems down the road and I had a hard time moving which is frustrating when you are trying to chase a three year old around!  Now that I am down enough to see a difference I am not sure how healthy I would be at 130 like my surgeon wants.  To me, I just wanted to be able to be physical and healthy so if I can acheive that at 160 or 175, that will be my goal.  I want to eat well and use my body not be sickly!

I think part of this depends on how we define health.  Is "health" merely "the absence of major health problems" or is it something more?

The only real health problem I had at 270 pounds was arthritis in my knees.  My blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, were all OK.  I suspect they would not have stayed OK forever, but they were OK at them time I had surgery.  And yet, is it really a example of good health when a 37 year old woman gets out of breath walking up one flight of stairs?

And I don't want to try to define health for anyone else.  If someone feels they were healthy, or healthy enough, at 300 pounds, who am I to say they weren't?  But why the insistence among so many people that they are perfectly healthy at a high weight?  Is it OK to be fat if you are healthy but bad to be fat if you have health problems?  Should I have to apologize for my weight if I have health problems but not if I am healthy?

 I absolutely agree that we can be healthy at almost ANY weight, to a limit.  When I was 225/250 pounds, I had no co-morbidities (I had none at 308 but was starting to develop them, slightly raised BP and barely over 6.0 sugars, I don't know what the american equivilant to that is)  I got around very easily, I didn't have gerd or sleep disorders. I still have excellent cholesteral levels etc.

I was reasonably active, though of course not a sportster by any means.  Did I avoid things, of course, I would circle the parking lot to find something closer etc.  

Then I started to get older, my eating habits now were much worse than my metabolism.  I got a job where I sat 75/90% of the time.  I became more financially stable, which allowed me to eat at restaurants more often and I hit my 40th birthday.  

Suddenly my weight was no longer stable and co-morbidities were threatening.  So I do believe that when we are young we can carry more weight, but as we age it puts at risk for so many more diseases and obsticals with our health. 

So I think the key here is living/eating/moving lifestyle will allow you to weigh more/have a higher BMI and be healthy as many lower BMI rates.  So many factors come into play, family history of the big three (heart disease, diabetes, Cancer) lifestyle choices (drinking, drugs, smoking, rich eating) etc.  

I don't believe it's cut and dried at all. 

Gypsy

I think health issues are mostly hereditary - but can be brought on or impacted by many factors, including weight.  I had all the co=morbidities before my surgery - but they were the same ones my small mother had - everything was resolved after my surgery and weight loss - but now my blood pressure is sneaking back up - and I am back on blood pressure medication.  I have only fluctuated about 5 pounds in weight so it is not a weight issue that has brought it back. 

I know those things can be hereditary and I'm guessing in most cases there is actually a combination of factors involved. 

I think this school of thought has a lot of relevance, especially with regards to people with normal BMI's because some of them are the UNhealthiest people I know. But society just sees weight and doesn't tell THOSE people to stop eating massive amounts of trans fat and sugar.

I also know some very healthy plus sized women. The exercise enough to maintain their weights but their weight is not low.

Then there is me. I'm 200 lbs. most days. I technically weigh 40 lbs. more than I should but have great cholesterol, perfect blood pressure, I can run, jump and do anything else I want to do.

So I agree...to a certain extent weight isn't a sure indicator of ill or superior health. When you get to people who are in the upper ranges of being obese and morbidly obese is where I think that theory wanes a bit.

I agree.  Many thin people are very uhealthy.

And I would think you would be healthy - you are physically active, you eat pretty healthy stuff, at least a lot of the time.  I don't think that "extra" 40 pounds means you aren't healthy.

Honestly, though?  If you technically weighed 200 pounds more than you should, I would be skeptical that you were very healthy.  And maybe I am wrong there, maybe there are very healthy, very heavy people out there.

But you know what else?  If you technically weighed 200 pounds more than you should AND you had health problems, I would still think you were a good person.

I think that's part of the issue I have.  It seems like some people are saying it's OK to be fat - as long as you are still healthy.  And I think it's OK to be fat, whether you are healthy or not. 

But then, I don't think loving yourself means you can't try to lose weight or improve your health, either.  I seem to be getting that message a lot from things I've been reading.  Like if we want to lose weight, that must mean we hate ourselves at our current weight.  And it might mean that for some people, but I sure don't think that's true for everyone.