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You can also find information about local OA meetings at www.oregon-oa.org.

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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I am obese, and I have been for most of my life. The funny thing is that when I weighed more (in my 30s), I was far more active and healthy. I hiked, biked, played softball, went camping, gardened...my blood pressure was always normal...so were cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, etc.

Now, I weigh less than I did back then and I am not active or particularly healthy...because of post-polio effects, and a destroyed ankle. My activity and energy levels are severely restricted these days. I was temporarily abled and am becoming progressively more disabled (and there's a whole nother TOL conversation to have), irrespective of my weight.

To illustrate that it's not as simple as some would think, my husband, whose weight has stayed about the same and only slightly higher than my own for the 17 years I've known him, eats 3-4 times as much food as I do. According to the popular myth, he should be a giant by now. But he's not. He also poops about 3 times what I do. (A new area for research? Have scientists looked at the "output" part of the equation? I haven't heard of any research.)

Don't make assumptions about how much or what I eat based on my current size. I probably eat a whole lot healthier than you.

Fat does not equal unhealthy. Skinny does not equal healthy. Calorie reduction is a necessary piece of weight reduction, but it is not, in and of itself, sufficient. There are many studies coming out showing how complex the genetic, endocrine and neurotransmitter actions are that regulate appetite, fat storage, fat release, metabolism and obesity...not to mention the endocrine disorders associated with obesity such as diabetes. (And note: "associated with" does NOT mean "caused by". There is a great deal of debate in the scientific community about the causal relationships.)

I was happy, comfortable, loved and active in an obese body. I'm still in an obese body...just not as obese. And while I am still happy, and loved, I am uncomfortable from chronic pain and increasing loss of use of my body; flatly unable to be active no matter how much I might wish to be.

And the obesity is orthogonal to all that.

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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