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I want to be overweight.


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  • 4 months later...

BMI has a usefulness for a general indication, but obviously a very crude one.

  When I sit down with clients (I am training), one of the first things that come up is weight. From him/her and from me as well.  This is the way I assess weight goals (and based on the perception of client). 

     Your age: Generally speaking, a woman at 50 can be lighter than at 20 and look great. This is based upon the decreased bone and muscle mass with aging. As fitness is increased, the weight may actually go up once body fat is reduced. 

     Your bone structure: One way I measure this is by pinching off your non-dominant wrist with your dominant dominant Thumb and index finger. This is an area where there is little else than bony tissue even in obese state. I use three modes: 

     Thumb&Index finger overlap: 

       Lighter frame

      Thumb&Index finger touch each other:

       Moderate frame

      Thumb and index finger cannot meet:

       Heavy frame

       Your fitness goals: 

         If you want to be "just slim" I set a lower acceptable weight goal,

         If you desire more muscle/lean fitness, weight can be higher. 

        Body fat percentage:

        I still prefer to use the classic "pinching" at various sites of the body. It gives a better overall assessment than a mere body composition by sensors and also helps to identify "problem areas". 

       Race/Genetics: This is a trckier one, but in general it is also used in regular medicine where a dominance of Asian heritage tends to increase diabetic risk when BMI is 24-25; while the same for a "White" western person is more like 26-27. 

       Sex:  Generally, I see a BMI as a more approximate tool for women than men, because of their less muscle percentage and higher body fat. 

   So we have Age, Bone structure, Body fat, Fitness goals, Race and Sex. When combining these, me and my client reach a crude BMI/Weight number we will look upon as optimum for him/her and then design a plan from there.  I weigh my clients twice a month with same clothes, time and place. In addition, I have two assistants who do the body pinching for fat%. 

   The strategy from there is combined with a fitness test (stamina, flexibility and power) along with hormonal testing, laboratory work, EKG and XRAY of vertebral column& wrist.  

  THEN, we sit down and design a workout, food and sleep program. I also have an arrangment with a fitness tracking device company to provide a good quality discounted watch. 

     Having said all the above it is very common to hear clients now describe their wieght loss/fitness in BMI terms instead of kilos. The 60 year old wife (Asian female) of a friend of mine went from a BMI of 23 to 19 (48 kilo). We used hormonal optimization; dietary changes; fitness (Yoga, weights, barefot beach running and Muay Thai) and total stop of alcohol. Last month, an ex GF of mine here in Norway said it was "embarrassing" to see my friend with "such a young wife" (he is 66) and he could never have gotten that in Norway. I simply told her she was right that he could never have gotten such a hot 60-year old Norwegian woman. 

    Her transformation took 8 months, but she is indeed also a very dedicated and fantastic woman. 

    To sum it up, she dropped the BMI by 4 units and is a stunner that most 30 year olds guys here would hit on in a heartbeat ;) 

 (The above fitness and weightloss regimen is based upon 20+ years clinical work with sports medicine and nutrition).

   Personally, I am 50+; Nordic male; above average Testosterone (no supplementing); 88 kilos/8% body fat/large frame; Rock climbing, Boxing/MuayThai, Triathlon, Yoga and plenty of female stimulation.....

         It is a pure pleasure to help people reach their fitness goals. I tend to help a lot of people for free as well and also train some Thai cops and firefighters. My best clients are the  wives of "farangs". You cannot have more dedicated people or  most supportive husbands :) Within the next two years I will be building a rehabilitation and treaining center in Northern Thailand for both drugs, medical recovery and peronalized fitness. 

Edited by NorskTiger
Missed context.
  • Like 1
  • 2 months later...

Another factor in minding one's weight, lifestyle and overall fitness level is the potential to address other ailments; in my case, one of them was mysterious, random pain in one of the big toes when I was in my early 40s living the Work Hard Play Hard life.

Several years later, in Thailand full-time, still living carelessly,  and blowing up like a balloon without the "Work" part of that old lifestyle, those inexplicable toe pain events began to occur more frequently and acutely, often me limping around the house for 2 to 3 days each time.  Only then did a guy I know in my local drinking club say to me matterafactly, "Mate!  You've got Gout!".  What?  I'd heard of it.  My Dad, and old guys like him, got that.  Not me.   Google search was like a bucket of cold water over my head. 

Discovered those little magic pills at the Pharmacy to combat the flare ups but in time, they became less effective.  My western brain logic said address the symptom with a tablet and ignore the cause, because that would mean I had to change my ways, and that wouldn't be much fun at all.   We're supposed be retired and enjoying ourselves, not eating rabbit food and living like a Monk.  Right?  Right!  Rah Rah Rah!

Finally pulled my head out and accepted reality that I probably needed to adjust a few things in my life.  S**t! 

That was about 1.5 years ago.  Reduced frequency of beer (but not abstaining), changed dietary intake habits, daily exercise, dropped 15+kgs.  No more Gout flare ups.  Not one.

Might feel like you're not getting anywhere at first, and that's when a lot of folks quit.  Slow and steady at first, work through the expected aches and pains as you get used to the new level of effort.  Don't over-think it and psych yourself out about how long it'll take to see results.  Just focus on each day's effort, as the Thais would say, "Don't tink too mutt".  In time, your wife/gf and others will comment one day, "Are you losing weight?".  It'll happen.  It's very satisfying on more than one level when it does, and motivates you to carry on.

  • Like 3
  • 1 year later...

Success at last, I am officially overweight and not obese. Was doing some weight training and cycling but the results were very variable, weight wise one day up the next day down. Decided to cut out the fried breakfasts and especially the bread last week, apparently one slice of bread can be equivalent to 4 teaspoons of sugar, and I would eat 4 slices everyday. Anyway to cut a long story short since cutting out the bread (the main culprit) I've got down to 88.9, that is about 3kg in a week.

Eating now overnight oats with fruit and yoghurt, it is actually very tasty. 

  On 8/18/2023 at 6:58 AM, Marble-eye said:

Success at last, I am officially overweight and not obese. Was doing some weight training and cycling but the results were very variable, weight wise one day up the next day down. Decided to cut out the fried breakfasts and especially the bread last week, apparently one slice of bread can be equivalent to 4 teaspoons of sugar, and I would eat 4 slices everyday. Anyway to cut a long story short since cutting out the bread (the main culprit) I've got down to 88.9, that is about 3kg in a week.

Eating now overnight oats with fruit and yoghurt, it is actually very tasty. 

Expand  

Bread being bad for you, weight wise, is one of life's cruelest things.    😞

  On 8/20/2023 at 1:25 PM, Marc26 said:

Bread being bad for you, weight wise, is one of life's cruelest things.    😞

Expand  

Exactly and I baked my own, had a freezer full of the stuff and my wife has just given it away to one of her friends. But oatmeal, yogurt and milk is just about bearable. 🤮

  • 2 months later...

The BMI is well understood, by medical researchers, though not practitioners, as a rule of thumb. The optimum weight actuallyvaries per individual for genetic reasons, and stocky physiques bear body weight better. Really the correct attitude to BMI, is to use it as an optimum, for beingvnot too fat nor too thin. Then it works fine.

  • 9 months later...
  On 11/11/2023 at 9:58 AM, Karolyn said:

The BMI is well understood, by medical researchers, though not practitioners, as a rule of thumb. The optimum weight actuallyvaries per individual for genetic reasons, and stocky physiques bear body weight better. Really the correct attitude to BMI, is to use it as an optimum, for beingvnot too fat nor too thin. Then it works fine.

Expand  

BMI is a nonsense and, I hate to puncture the OPs optimism, but it's no indication of overall health, longevity, or fitness, it never has been. I will quote a well known argument against the measure, but in this case, I see it myself.   My good friend here is Ex Army (25 years), In his day, a well respected and talented Rugby player for both the Army and Leicester RUC , His BMI I imagine is way over the preserved normal for his height and his age, but its mostly muscle, even at his age of 81.  People know when they are truly over weight .  They don't need some arbitrary measure to confirm the fact. It's time that it was dropped altogether my the medicos, especially the thin ones. 

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