Weight a minute

[CamB]

OK, so I am pretty bored. All this talk of food and tabs' fine 6'5" 320lb physique, and my own newly discovered cycling regime, plus innumerable articles in the local paper about the increasing "size" of the world, have made me want to create a poll. (edit) By the way, I'm not looking to rag on anyone here - I'm just curious.

This poll will measure Pelicanites' BMIs - body mass index - the slightly spurious measure of overweightness and obesity used by the media etc.

BMI is calculated two ways:

- (weight in kg) divided by (height in metres squared)

In my case, 75/(1.84*1.85) = 22.

OR:

- (weight in pounds times 703) divided by (height in inches squared)

In my case, (165*703)/(72.8*72.8) = 22.

tabs will be (320*703)/(77*77) = 38.

What does BMI mean? When you see "50% of Americans are overweight" in the media, it means "50% of Americans have a BMI of over 25". Obese is defined as a BMI of 30 or greater. Over around 40 is "morbidly obese" - ie likely to kill ya.

BMI of less than 18.5 (for adults) is referred to as "underweight".

It is a spurious measure because it measures the following poorly:

- muscley (sp?) people (for instance, Governer Arnie is probably "overweight")
- Pacific Island people (larger, heavier bone structure, greater muscle mass). I'm sure this applies to other ethnicities too
- doesn't really apply to children (tell that to the NZ media)

I thought I better check my maths and stuff, and lo and behold, an online calculator and people who know far more than I:

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm

So anyway, take part in the poll and make me happy . I will be surprised if 20 people bother

[turbo6bar]

Do you believe in the Atkin's diet: eat no carbs?

My gut tells me this is silly, but it seems to work. I still believe in eating less than you burn to lose weight. Oh, and exercise at least 4-5 times per week, 30+ minutes per session and go aerobic.

Cam, if you ride your bike a lot, you'll need protein shakes or lots of extra food to keep your muscle mass. You might find that keeping weight on is as hard or harder than losing weight.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Before the onset of celiac disease I was 25.72. Now I'm 23.08 and have stabilized there.

I don't recommend CD as a weight-loss method, though.

[Overpaid Slacker]

Cam, at 6'5", I'd have to weigh 210 lb to be considered "healthy." Christ, I'd be a bean pole. What supermodel-influenced freak came up w/ this index?

JP

[dd74]

Atkins works; I lost 45 pounds in about 4 months. Exercise helps. I'm on a treadmill, pushing weights or cycling usually seven days a week.

I can afford a burger but, you know (tic) I don't want to give up my figure...(tic)

[CamB]

Haha JP - I guess that "tall people" is also a limitation.

I have a friend who is 6'4" - 6'5", and weighs about 220lb. While he isn't happy about it (mostly because he has always been a bean pole and the weight appeared over the last 3 years), he looks (and is) "normal".

I dunno - the implication of this table is that tall people are supposed to be bean poles!

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/bmi_dis.htm

I guess I started this topic out of interest, and because we see a relentless media discussion of a world becoming overweight. I've got no medical skills, so have no idea what is healthy.

Jurgen - I looked into the Atkin's diet, purely out of interest (as is obvious from my BMI, I'm a skinny bugger). I suspect it works because, no matter how much steak, bacon, cream and eggs one eats, that the amount of calories taken in will be less than the amount required.

In fact, as you say I need extra food because of the cycling. I eat an extra meal usually. I will also need to start going to the gym to avoid losing upper body mass. I have always had trouble putting weight on, not taking it off.

[CamB]

Blue - celiac disease - I had to rush to google on that one

I just realised it may be the same thing my wife's cousin had. No gluten! I seem to remember she was no dairy too? She ate a lot of fries...

[dd74]

Hey, if you sponsor me for citizenship in NZ, I'll open a "Fat Burger" franchise in Auckland in return. There's always enough of that food to go 'round.

[widebody911]

30.16

[CamB]

No deal. Instead, bring me In'N'Out and Krispy Kreme.

For those two, I'd be anyone's *****.

[CHILI]

Uhh-ohh, you better pass me a burger! But, I guess I already knew that because all I hear all day is "you need to eat, you're sooooo skinny" blah, blah, blah!

You would never call a woman fat, so why call a guy skinny? It hurts, man... it hurts.

And if you're wondering, I'm about 130-135 and 5"11"

But, I too suffer from a disease that affects my weight. Crohn's disease. Diagnosed when I was 14, had surgery (3 ft of my intestines removed) in 1995. Bummer!

[pwd72s]

"I yam what I yam"-Popeye. But I agree with earlier posts...according to this chart, most of the professional athletes in the USA are in danger of dying of obesity.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

No, they're dying of drug overdoses....

[cstreit]

I dunno about the Atkins. For 100's of years people ahve been eating the 4 food groups... With no major problems untill the late 1900's...

I think we just have too many fast food/processed food choices now.

3 Squares and a little hard work is all you need.

FWIW - I'm a 22 BMI also.

[CJFusco]

i have a diet for all those atkins users.

it's called: EXERCISE AND STOP EATING COMPLETE CRAP

23ish bmi here

[Hockey fan]

Checking in at 23.73........

It must be the coca-cola and hostess cupcakes that I've had for breakfast for almost 20 years now. I'm going to be preserved like a mummy!

6' tall - 175 lbs

[Victor]

Sweet Lord! Is this "Tabs" a Pelican Member?

Must be a Ceyenne driver.

[turbo6bar]

BMI as an indicator of your body type might be valid for people who don't exercise. If you do exercise, BMI isn't quite so good. Who would you prefer,:a sedentary Heidi Klum at 129 lbs, or exercising Heidi Klum at 116 lbs. At both weights, Heidi is considered normal, but we know Heidi will get more men and live longer while sitting at 116 lbs. Like many things, you have to look at the big picture.

Regarding weight vs height, if you think you aren't chubby, look at nursing homes and retirement communities. How many 200+ pound chunkies do you see? Very few. Wanna live a long time? Lose the fat. Whether one would want to live long enough to be stuck in a nursing home... well, that's another story.

cstreit, CJFusco, I'm with you guys!!!

[Overpaid Slacker]

Chris -
Atkins definitely works, and I don't think it's about reduced calorie intake, per se.
At the risk of sounding like an Atkins apostle, he makes some good points in his book (which the vast majority of people "on Atkins" have never read, I've found out).
I think his most persuasive point is that in the last 100 years there *has* been a massive change in the American/western diet that the human animal hasn't evolved to cope w/ -- your body is going to assume (if it's "normal") that there's a famine around the corner and will store any and all excess energy -- add too much energy w/o the famine and you get fat and all the health problems (heart disease, diabetes, etc.) that go along with it. The amount of raw, nutritionally barren energy in the diet has skyrocketed.

200 years ago, the average person ate less than 10 lbs of sugar a year. In the 1890s colas erupted onto the scene and when you were thirsty, you got a big shot of sugar with your water. Result -- annual sugar intake was up to 100 lbs in 1928 and 138 lbs by 1990. [and this is just sucrose, not counting other sugars and the carbohydrates in pasta, spuds, beans, etc.]
Add to this that not only were colas introduced in the 1890s, but at the same time, mills began producing white, nutritionally useless flour very very cheaply. Cheap bread -- great! But put that flour together with sweetness or saltiness and you've got 95% of our junk food. (if you've ever been on Atkins and gone into a grocery store, you know that 80% of the stuff in the aisles is straight-out carbapalooza - you do most of your shopping around the perimeter of the store -- produce, meat and dairy)

19th century diet - lard, butter, eggs, bacon, beef, pork, etc.
19th century daily energy requirment, for an industrial/agrarian econoomy - pretty high.
19th century non-congenital heart disease: virtually none.

20th/21st century diet - carbs carbs carbs (energy energy energy).
20th/21st century daily energy requirement, in a service economy - enough to type and operate home theater remote controls
20th/21st century heart disease and/or diabetes: well, you know where this is going.

I encourage everyone to read the 1st 50 pages of the New Diet Revolution (it'll take about 30 minutes, tops). It's tough to gainsay his points.

Final point about Atkins -- it's not about "no carbs" which soooo many pinheads do for a couple of months, drop weight and then balloon right back up again. Zero carbs over a long period of time is dangerous. Atkins is about carb awareness/maintenance. Want carbs? Fine, have some, they're good for you in the right form -- just be moderate. Once you've "done" Atkins you're much more carb aware and realize that the "normal" diet is obscenely carb immoderate and you've been oversaturating your body w/ energy it's not going to burn contemporaneously (unless you're an X-Games competitor).

JP

[CJFusco]

oh I KNOW that Atkins works... both of my parents were starting to show their age about 2 years ago, until they went on Atkins - they are both in stupendous shape for their ages.

But then again, they run almost every other day, and my mom does aerobics twice a week and my father works out every other day (we have a varitable gym in my basement).

Personally, I have always been a somewhat active person, and fast food/salty snacks don't taste very appetising for me in the first place, so for me a better diet than atkins is excerise and eat right. It's just easier, in my eyes, than not eating bread at all.

I am a somewhat short 5'8", and a decidedly average 160 lbs. Once in awhile I'll have a few beers, or gorge on pizza, but most of the time I eat pretty well (it helps that I love salads). I walk 3 miles or so 3 days a week, and my job actually keeps me on my feet and running around for hours at a time. I lift weights sporatically, maybe once a week, just enough to keep my muscles from atrophying.

Even after all this exercise, I still have a little bit of a ponch in the midsection. Sometimes it just can't be helped. I did crunches for awhile, but fell out of habit awhile ago. Despite the ponch, I am in pretty good shape and hope to stay that way (there is a history of obesity in my family, so I have to keep active).