Confabulat: I had a fat doctor once. I was in bad shape then, with the depression and alcoholism and all that. But every time I left her office, I sure as hell felt a lot better about my life.

So she did you some good. Being depressed and alcoholic is much worse than being overweight.

Confabulat: I mean, I've been sad, and I've been drunk, but I've always been able to look in the mirror and think "Well thank God I'm not fat!"

So there's always been that.

so what your saying is that you don't like fat people?

Being overweight probably skews people's perspective on what is normal.

My friends all tell me I'm "too skinny," but I am not. I weigh right about what I am supposed to weigh, with my BMI just south of the middle of normal range. That probably puts me in the bottom 10% of Americans, but that isn't saying much.

It's not that everyone is attempting to be dishonest or malicious, either. They're really just off-balance.

There could be something to the idea that people want to do the bare minimum, though. "The BMI scale says I need to weigh between 115 and 155, so my ideal weight is 155."

No, your ideal weight is in the 130s.

Arcturus72: I've got a doc that isn't in the best shape himself, but every time I go into his office, my blood pressure is somehow too high... Only in his office does that happen. I go to the local drugstore for their self check on BP and it's fine. Any other doc's office and it's fine... But my normal doc? "You need to cut out your salt" and so on is what I end up hearing...

I want to tell him that no, it's only at his office is it an issue, and maybe I need to stop coming there, since that seems to be the deciding factor...

Besides, I don't know too many Doc's that REALLY follow their own advice and have to be at a gym in 26 minutes...


I have the same issue. I wander Wal·Mart / CVS / place that has blood pressure machines, plop down in one, and it shows me just fine. I've had my blood pressure taken at work -- no problem. Donating blood? Fine.

Heck, I have some severe obstructive sleep apnea and my first sleep study, upon waking, showed me with a BP 0f 111/69 -- despite having just been told the night before that one of the effects of OSA is that BP doesn't tend to "reset" overnight like it should.

But I go to the doctor's and it shows my BP through the roof.

Now, I'm obese -- I won't deny this -- but I find it interesting that the only time my blood pressure shows "ZOMG!" is when I am at the doc's. Elsewhere, I am normal to high-end of normal.


o_O

Confabulat: AbbeySomeone: Being depressed and alcoholic is much worse than being overweight.

No, I doubt that very much.

I recently reconnected with my biological father. He's maybe a buck fifty soaking wet at six feet tall. I doubt that man had any fat on him even as a baby, I wonder how many people lose their wife and children after letting fat ruin their lives?

picturescrazy: Confabulat: AbbeySomeone: Being depressed and alcoholic is much worse than being overweight.

No, I doubt that very much.

I recently reconnected with my biological father. He's maybe a buck fifty soaking wet at six feet tall. I doubt that man had any fat on him even as a baby, I wonder how many people lose their wife and children after letting fat ruin their lives?

An estimated 300000 people die from obesity related illnesses per year. So maybe a few hundred thousand?

Blood pressure also measures the increase in stress involved in visiting the doctor. It's called the 'white coat effect.'

What if my doctor has AIDS?

picturescrazy: Confabulat: AbbeySomeone: Being depressed and alcoholic is much worse than being overweight.

No, I doubt that very much.

I recently reconnected with my biological father. He's maybe a buck fifty soaking wet at six feet tall. I doubt that man had any fat on him even as a baby, I wonder how many people lose their wife and children after letting fat ruin their lives?

a fellow who across the street died in december. years ago when his children were young his wife decided to fly the coop. she took off and pretty much poisoned the children against their father and they wound up hating him and not wanting to see him.
hurt by this loss and rejection, Harry took to sticking it in his mouth. when i met him he was well over 500LBS. his health was seriously compromised. Harry would not be able to breathe sometime so emergency volunteers responded to their place across the street. around 50 times a year, it was ridiculous, emergency vehicles everywhere. if they can't sleep they make sure you can't sleep either.
Harry was placed into a senior center so they could help him get his weight down but it was too little too late. Any way, in his case it was the loss of wife & family that led to a long term path of self destruction by over eating. Harry was a nice fellow and I hope wherever the cosmos took him he is finally happy and at peace.

NetOwl: Being overweight probably skews people's perspective on what is normal.

My friends all tell me I'm "too skinny," but I am not. I weigh right about what I am supposed to weigh, with my BMI just south of the middle of normal range. That probably puts me in the bottom 10% of Americans, but that isn't saying much.

It's not that everyone is attempting to be dishonest or malicious, either. They're really just off-balance.

There could be something to the idea that people want to do the bare minimum, though. "The BMI scale says I need to weigh between 115 and 155, so my ideal weight is 155."

No, your ideal weight is in the 130s.

As someone who bodybuilds, I have to say that the BMI is not an absolute. The BMI only says that if you are male/female and of X height, you should weigh within a certain range. It does not take into account factors such as bone structure and muscle mass. As a personal example, my partner and I both work out but have different body types; I am short and somewhat stocky with thicker bones, he is taller and lankier with thinner bones. We are both fairly muscular with similar weights. By the standards of the BMI, taken alone, I would be obese and he would be underweight.

In our cases, the BMI is a piece of crap. For some, it may be a good starting point, provided that one accounts for other health and physical factors.

But I have the right to know if I'm fat.

Though on the same note a fatter doctor may be able to offer more help if they know what is like to be in your shoes.

//Wife went to many condescending doctors who offered no real help concerning she exhaustion and weight, all refused to believe she ate as little as she claimed. Finally new doctor who is a biatchubby ran a full battery of test, found that her body wasn't storing D or B vitamins and almost failed thyroid, got her on proper medication and she is doing worlds better.

Darn you fark filter
biatchubby got turned into biatch-ubby.

MindStalker: Darn you fark filter
biatchubby got turned into biatch-ubby.

Heh :)

There is a doctor in a practice that my girlfriend and I use, Dr. Quereshi, who is very pleasant and seems to know his job very well. Unfortunately, Dr. Quereshi has got to be well over 300lbs. Neither one of us is overweight, except for me, by a couple pounds.

I'm just afraid to discuss anything with him regarding weight issues. It seems very awkward.

I just am not sure if I trust overweight doctors--it's like a divorced marriage counselor or a thin chef.

DarkHealer: NetOwl: Being overweight probably skews people's perspective on what is normal.

My friends all tell me I'm "too skinny," but I am not. I weigh right about what I am supposed to weigh, with my BMI just south of the middle of normal range. That probably puts me in the bottom 10% of Americans, but that isn't saying much.

It's not that everyone is attempting to be dishonest or malicious, either. They're really just off-balance.

There could be something to the idea that people want to do the bare minimum, though. "The BMI scale says I need to weigh between 115 and 155, so my ideal weight is 155."

No, your ideal weight is in the 130s.

As someone who bodybuilds, I have to say that the BMI is not an absolute. The BMI only says that if you are male/female and of X height, you should weigh within a certain range. It does not take into account factors such as bone structure and muscle mass. As a personal example, my partner and I both work out but have different body types; I am short and somewhat stocky with thicker bones, he is taller and lankier with thinner bones. We are both fairly muscular with similar weights. By the standards of the BMI, taken alone, I would be obese and he would be underweight.

In our cases, the BMI is a piece of crap. For some, it may be a good starting point, provided that one accounts for other health and physical factors.

Thank you. Your ideal weight is a combination of many factors and BMI has basically nothing to do with it. At best BMI is a fairly weak correlation between gender/heights/weights and typical body fat percentages.

This settles it. Tomorrow I go looking for a fat doctor.

If a fat doctor came in the room and told me I was fat, I'd hold up a mirror and say "care to try that one again?"

gravebayne2: Confabulat: I mean, I've been sad, and I've been drunk, but I've always been able to look in the mirror and think "Well thank God I'm not fat!"

So there's always been that.

so what your saying is that you don't like fat people?

you sound fat

bemis23: At best BMI is a fairly weak correlation between gender/heights/weights and typical body fat percentages.

never did understand what racing bikes had to do with body weight ratios in the first place.

/large rider = large shocks.

BMI, weight ranges, etc, are all useless if you aren't healthy. And they are almost meaningless if you are healthy. At least, that's my experience. Everyone has a friend who is on the low end of their ideal weight but chain smokes and eats like crap without any exercise.

My primary care physician hadn't seen me for roughly 7 years. Every year when I had my physical it was the nurse practitioner that would go through everything with me. She saw me go from 270 pounds down to 200 and turn into an avid runner (8 marathons and 50 halfs in 4 years.) Since then I put on 30 pounds again but still run 15 miles / week and go to the gym. She knows I have always had a tendency to carry extra weight and it wasn't an issue.

Then I go for my physical this year and the doc decides to pay a visit. He looks at me and says "According to my charts here, you're obese." I said "Yeah, but I'm not all that concerned." He then says I should be worried about heart attacks, diabetes, and the host of problems that come along with it. He then took my pulse which was 47 and decided that couldn't be right and took it again. Same result. Blood pressure was also excellent. Not just excellent for "someone my size" but for anyone. Blood work up came back stellar: low cholesterol, blood sugar perfect, and so on. He scheduled me for a 6 month follow-up to "make sure things wouldn't get out of hand."

Fact is, I do want to be 30 pounds lighter than I am now. I'm not really comfortable at this weight. But I'm healthier than most people 50 pounds lighter than me so the only concern I have is my physical appearance which seems to invite a host of opinions and judgements that are simply wrong.

"Well, let's take a look at you Miss. ..."

What would a 5'7" over 300lb female personal trainer tell you? Would you listen? I am curious for I know this person. Would you stay on that treadmill longer or eat differently by her advice?

I was trying to pass the medical exam to get my student pilot's license so I went to a local clinic that was a certified FAA medical inspector. When his pretty nurse took my blood pressure it was normal. When the doctor took it, I went really high and failed and then went into about 6 months of delay in my pilot training while my own doctor went through various medicines to get my blood pressure to normal.

Turns out the doctor was a former pilot himself with lots of pilot magazines in his waiting room and judging by the size of his belly, he could no longer pass the exam himself so he was taking it out on others.

I grew to hate this particular doctor.

I know a few people who can eat and drink whatever they want, and they do, and not gain a single farking pound. All this without exercise. Yet I eat a bowl of cereal, walk everywhere I go, and go for a run 5 days a week and feel like a gain 20 pounds.

I'm torn on this one. On one hand, being told to lose weight by some thin doctor who's never had any real stress in his life is just not going to do anything for me. On the other hand, a doctor who's overweight doesn't know how to handle the stresses in his life, so it's not like I'd trust him to recommend to me anything useful, because obviously it doesn't work.

On a third hand, I hate doctors who claim that everything wrong with you is because you're fat. I don't think they should sugarcoat it - they should tell you you're fat! - but at the same time, they're not doing their friggin' jobs. An ear infection is not because you're fat.

Spanky3woods: I was trying to pass the medical exam to get my student pilot's license so I went to a local clinic that was a certified FAA medical inspector. When his pretty nurse took my blood pressure it was normal. When the doctor took it, I went really high and failed and then went into about 6 months of delay in my pilot training while my own doctor went through various medicines to get my blood pressure to normal.

Turns out the doctor was a former pilot himself with lots of pilot magazines in his waiting room and judging by the size of his belly, he could no longer pass the exam himself so he was taking it out on others.

I grew to hate this particular doctor.

White Coat Hypertension (new window) is actually pretty common. I'm surprised the MD didn't recognize that was the problem.

Veloram: If a fat doctor came in the room and told me I was fat, I'd hold up a mirror and say "care to try that one again?"

To which the doctor would reply, "You are fat."

/the old "pot/kettle" argument is deflection and doesn't change the fact that, yes, the kettle is black

DarkHealer: As someone who bodybuilds, I have to say that the BMI is not an absolute. The BMI only says that if you are male/female and of X height, you should weigh within a certain range. It does not take into account factors such as bone structure and muscle mass. As a personal example, my partner and I both work out but have different body types; I am short and somewhat stocky with thicker bones, he is taller and lankier with thinner bones. We are both fairly muscular with similar weights. By the standards of the BMI, taken alone, I would be obese and he would be underweight.

In our cases, the BMI is a piece of crap. For some, it may be a good starting point, provided that one accounts for other health and physical factors.


Every third person on the internet is an extreme bodybuilder who is "healthy" with a BMI of 30, obviously.

The body type argument doesn't hold, though. I have a short, "stocky" build, but that just means I look a bit less skinny with a BMI of 21 or so. If you're blaming your body type for the fact that you're 40 pounds overweight, you're making excuses. Body type does not make the difference between a BMI of 18 and a BMI of 30.

I chose my doctor because he's ex military and currently a marathoner, every other doctor I've had has trouble understanding my medical issues ie: I keep on breaking myself.

"no doc, I don't have osteoporosis, I'm just reckless..."

NetOwlThe body type argument doesn't hold, though. I have a short, "stocky" build, but that just means I look a bit less skinny with a BMI of 21 or so. If you're blaming your body type for the fact that you're 40 pounds overweight, you're making excuses. Body type does not make the difference between a BMI of 18 and a BMI of 30.

BMI is pretty useless actually, at least for individuals. It was developed to look at trends in populations. It does not discern between body fat percentage and lean body mass. While carrying a lot of weight, even muscle, may be relatively hard on your heart (making BMI a starting point), having a ton of muscle does not meet most health professionals' definitions of obesity. I prefer percentage body fat. With percent body fat, a person can be a skinny mini and they can still be obese (usually from chronic dieting without exercise).

blackdawn: I know a few people who can eat and drink whatever they want, and they do, and not gain a single farking pound. All this without exercise. Yet I eat a bowl of cereal, walk everywhere I go, and go for a run 5 days a week and feel like a gain 20 pounds.

Are they under 30-35. Just wait. They'll pork up soon enough and the hilarious part is they won't see it coming until its too late.

Must be only doctors.

My dog is more than a little larger than he's supposed to be and the people most likely to point that out always seem to be overweight themselves.

I was in my doctor's office the other day and while I was waiting in my little room I could hear the conversation in the room next to mine. The guy in there asked the doctor if he would live to be a ripe old age.

The doctor asked himif he drank alcohol. No.
Took drugs. No.
Eat lots of greasy foods like bacon. No.
Had promiscuous unprotected sex. No.
Smoked. No.

The doctor asked him why the fark did he care then?