There’s a cultural trend that soothes people’s (lets face it: mostly women’s) image of themselves despite being terribly overweight that underneath it all, they are still healthy. As if carrying sacks of fat around their body is just a personal quality like a bump in your nose or a wide pelvic bone and has nothing to do with the actual health of that person. So take THAT, societal/medical standards! You can’t use giving-a-crap-about-me-killing-myself as an excuse to point out that that’s exactly what I’m doing anymore because “despite being fat, I’m still healthy” and so on. Science even backs it up, they say, so boo-ya.
I’m not making fun of the person in this stock photo courtesy of the UK Daily Mail & Ocean/Corbis because cardio exercise is exactly how to aid a diet in burning off and shedding fat – but maybe more than a half-pound weight would be a little more ambitious? maybe? Actually forget it – do whatever works for you. Sorry I said anything. I just couldn’t help but notice that homegirl is lifting a Q-tip in the photo and couldn’t hold back the constructive criticism.
Of course, it doesn’t, but the hope that it does comes from research that some suggested showed “metabolically healthy obesity” – which describes an obese person who doesn’t have “obese people problems” like insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Good for you if that’s the case – but carrying excess fat on your frame still hurts you, bro – and we’re not saying so to make you feel bad – it’s important that it is known and avoided.
Reality isn’t shaming unless you make it so, and denying reality to make yourself feel better about over-indulging is not a net help to your well being. Stop kidding yourself.
But the lack of metabolic problems, also know as metabolic syndrome, may not mean that the lucky few “healthy” obese people are doing fine in the long run, according to a new study published in the European Heart Journal. In the review, researchers looked data linking coronary heart disease and bodyweight from a 12-year study on more than 7,500 people. They discovered that people classified as “unhealthy”—those with three or more markers like high blood pressure, waist size over 37″, blood glucose abnormalities—had twice the risk of CHD, no matter their weight.
People in the “healthy” column, however, showed a big contrast between those of normal weight and the overweight. Overweight subjects (BMI 25–30), had a 26% higher risk of CHD, while the obese (BMI over 30) had a 28% higher risk of heart problems.
Your heart can only push out so much blood before it collapses under the stress you’re putting on it just because sugar is delicious. Joe Rogan (or maybe it was someone on his show, idk, so forgive the loose credit giving here) phrases it well by pointing out the costs you’re giving yourself just for “mouth pleasure”. The allure is so great that the mentality becomes “how could something so good be bad?” and the excuses come rolling in to justify packing pounds. Break that mental cycle, bruh. Your heart can’t handle it.
Being overweight leads to greater risk of heart disease.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham said doctors should no longer use the term ‘healthy obesity’ to reassure overweight people that they have no signs of type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
Dr Rishi Caleyachetty, who is to be presented today at the European Congress on Obesity in Portugal, said: ‘The idea of being healthily obese is a myth.’
His team found that excess fat increased the risk of heart disease by half – even when blood pressure and cholesterol levels are normal, made a stroke more likely and almost doubled the risk of heart failure.
