Sunday, January 27, 2013

A reasonable weight does a body good

   A week or so ago, I saw a professor who had taught a class I attended in 1999 or 2000.  I believe it was a seminar in aging.  I was completing my post baccalaureate certificate in Gerontology at the time.  In fact, the courses that I took in order to receive that 'degree' are ones that changed my personal approach to health.  I learned that what one does in their 20s and 30s has everything to do with what they will be able to do in their 80sI changed my lifestyle then and have never once faltered.  No periods of time without daily exercise and no yo yo dieting or weight fluctuations.  Prior to 1999, I had been pretty much like everyone else.  I went on a "diet" to lose the ten or twenty pounds I put on by eating just whatever the hell was in front of me.  I often ate enough to give myself a belly ache.  I exercised only in spurts.  I like who I am today so much better.
   Anyways, this professor was overweight 13 years ago - perhaps she was obese.  I do not remember her having any physical limitations, she was just over fat.  When I saw her recently, now in her 50s or 60s, it was as she was entering a room.  She walked in hunched over and leaning heavily upon a very large walking stick.  She was taking small, hesitant, heavy steps.  
  My reason for sharing this it to make the point that even if a person does not show evidence of metabolic syndrome due to obesity,  being overweight is unhealthy.   This woman was clearly disabled.  [of course, her difficulty ambulating could be caused by something else, but being overweight surely exacerbates it] 

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