I want to lose weight... (Part 1)

"So, I want to lose weight..."

My first, instinctive, sarcastic response to this is "Well, ok, we could saw off an arm..."

Let's face it, then you would weigh less, right?

So, weight is not usually the issue. I am sure if we magically transformed 20 lbs of fat into 20 lbs of muscle tissue on the average person, they would be happy with it, even though they do not 'weigh less.'

So we need to get the words correct. Words do have meaning, after all.

You want to lose fat.

Specifically, you want to lose excess white adipose tissue. And why would you want to do that?

There are numerous studies that show that increased weight (beyond a certain point) is an indicator of decreased health, and shorter and less healthy life spans. (see here, here, here, and here.) (That last one is a lu-lu. Framingham... so much data!!)

Most people who have fought the battle with increased weight tell all too familiar stories.

"I get winded just going up a flight of stairs."

"I have problems sleeping."

"My knees hurt; I can barely walk to the end of the block sometimes."

"I run out of energy so fast. I try to stop eating, but then I am lethargic, and angry." (I would be too, if I had to eat less!)

There are so many questions involved, so much information, and so much mis- or even mal-guidance; some people come and go off of diets and end up in tears.

We want to be healthy.
We want to live long lives, and disease free.
We want to enjoy life, our families, our children, our friends.

So, I am going to try to do some 'splainin' (Hey, Luuuuucy!)
All (or nearly so) of this will be from an evolutionary/ancestral point of view. I want to cover a number of topics;

What exactly is fat? (There has to be a reason we have it in the first place, right?)
Why do we get fat? (How does it get stored, what is the physical processes, etc...)
What are some myths about fat?
How can we 'lose' fat? (We get it, people lose it, how does that work?)
What is good health, and how can I be healthy?

 

 I think that last one is the most important. Generally, if you ask your doctor to get blood work done, you are looking for a 'baseline,' In other words, what are the normal scales for individuals, and where do I fall on those scales? For instance, I am 5'8" tall, and yesterday at the gym I weighed 166 lbs, giving me a BMI of about 25.2%. Am I healthy? Am I overweight? 25.2% (according to that nifty calculator provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services,) means I am overweight. O.k., all 3 of you who read my posting know me fairly well, and I am not overweight. There must be more to that story!

So you can see, just like "I want to lose weight," there is more information needed. Simply taking height and weight does not give you nearly enough information about health. (Which is a serious bone I have to pick with Michelle Obama. The original interview on Yahoo is gone, but there are references to it all over the place (like here) where she encourages BMI screening for kids.) BMI is a number, it does not tell you jack shit about health.
All it will do is make you fear the scale. Specifically, BMI is calculated this way, using the equation at the right. Honestly, does it tell you anything??? (other than a mathematical ratio, that is.)

So you ask your doctor for a blood screening, and you find all your numbers are in the 'green,' but you still have a high BMI. What to do.. what to do.

What can we do about our own health? I cross-posted on Facebook a picture with a quote superimposed upon it "People are fed by the FOOD Industry, which pays no attention to health... and are treated by the HEALTH industry, which pays no attention to food."

Are there people who do not get sick? There is a good question. Are there people who do not get cavities? Who do not get overweight? Who do not suffer from hypertension, gout, diabetes, cancer? Who live long lives?

My dad died when he was 54 years old. Cancer got him. He lived his life like he was trying to end it. Alcoholic. 2 to 3 pack a day smoker. I guess we were lucky he made it to 54.

Who are the people who do not get sick? Better yet, what do they eat? How do they live? What do they do, what don't they do?

Because, you know, we are the most 'overexercised' people on the planet. We have more health clubs, more gym memberships, more people running, than any other country in the world. People were sweating to the oldies for years, and yet....

We're still dying off.

We have obese children (Really, that is sad... except for the obvious genetic mutations that cause it, where can that problem originate?)

What on earth are we doing wrong?

Anyway, I hope to shed a little light with what I have learned along my own journey. In February of 2008, all they wanted to do was keep me alive. Today? I've completed my first triathlon, and I am looking for more. I want long life and good health, and I want you to have it, too.

This might be a strange journey... but why should this be any different?

Cheers!

Scott