Am I wearing a sign that says "Please mock my weight?" & other grocery store sights!!

[Seshat]

If cart lady had rammed me, I'd have been on the ground in pain - and my partner would have been checking on me while telling cart lady off - QUITE firmly.

I've only just built up to being able to walk around a bit without a mobility tool. And I have a pain disorder. My partners are both very, very proud of me - and would be VERY angry with someone deliberately causing me pain!

Side note:
For those of you who are .. ahem .. larger or smaller than you feel is medically advisable for your build, I strongly recommend getting checked for endocrine, thyroid, or other disorders.
Also, if you can't find a form of exercise/physical activity that's enjoyable, seek out the reason.
That's how we got my pain disorder diagnosed - and now it's being appropriately treated, I'm able to exercise enough to start losing adipose tissue and gaining muscle. Without the treatment - well, we've been trying for more than five years, without success. With the treatment, I lost 5cm in waist circumference in a month!

Sure, not everyone with a medically inadvisable body shape has something else wrong with them, but it's definitely worth screening for such things!

[Food Lady]

I think it's all reletive to where you are. I'm 5' 7" and between a size 14 & 16. In Southern CA I am considered fat, but here in Wisconsin I'm just normal. I feel much better about myself here. Maybe it's more important how the weight is distributed, anyway. I've become more full-figured, shall we say, since my early 20s. At any rate, I don't care what anyone thinks. I left that concern behind in SoCal.

[Seshat]

I don't think it's 'where you are' terribly much - though I do agree that location affects the social pressure regarding body shape.

However, here are my somewhat vague guidelines:

Insufficient fat:
If you have lost the fat pads on your hands and feet (cushioning).
If you don't have enough fat around your body to keep you warm in a normal swimming pool kept at a normal temperature. (ie, not a hydrotherapy pool, and not a chillingly-cold pool.)

Excess fat:
If you have trouble making common body movements because the fat is in the way.
If the fat is affecting your endocrine system. Doctors can't tell by looking at you or weighing you, but a high fat/muscle ratio makes it more likely. Of course, with many of these, you can focus on adding muscle. And fixing the endocrine problem will usually make both adding muscle and losing fat easier.

Excess weight:
If your body weight is putting too much pressure on your supporting tissue, ie: feet, ankles, knees, hips, or your back/front/side when you're lying down.
Note that I call this 'weight', not 'fat'. Sometimes people build up so much muscle it injures their joints to carry it around! Though that is (thankfully) rare.


So yeah, not so much 'beauty' as 'is it interfering with your life and/or health'.

[lupo pazzesco]

good points Seshat. I've already been to a dr (my female dr was concerned about my weight, she ran all sorts of tests and panels, poking and prodding and drawing...ick). I'm actually surprisingly healthy and active for my size, so it's just a matter of losing the weight and keeping it off.

I have my yearly visit coming up. I'm hoping to surprise her with the fact I've lost 32 lbs and some inches off everywhere. I don't necessarily see the difference myself, but I can tell by how my clothes fit, and the increasing need for a belt.

Re: excess fat interfering with common body movements. Erm...my boobs interfere with my seeing my feet and being able to bend over without overbalancing. Despite losing weight, I've not lost my chest though. If nothing else, they're bigger, proportion-wise! >.> Does that count...?

[Seshat]

good points Seshat. I've already been to a dr (my female dr was concerned about my weight, she ran all sorts of tests and panels, poking and prodding and drawing...ick).

Good Doc! yay for doctors that actually CHECK, rather than lecturing.

I have my yearly visit coming up. I'm hoping to surprise her with the fact I've lost 32 lbs and some inches off everywhere. I don't necessarily see the difference myself, but I can tell by how my clothes fit, and the increasing need for a belt.

I refuse to know what my body mass is. I know that my psyche will handle it badly - I watched my mother 'try to lose weight' for too many years.

However, I can easily determine whether I'm gaining or losing body fat by tracking my measurements. I sew many of my own clothes, you see....

Re: excess fat interfering with common body movements. Erm...my boobs interfere with my seeing my feet and being able to bend over without overbalancing. Despite losing weight, I've not lost my chest though. If nothing else, they're bigger, proportion-wise! >.> Does that count...?

Yes and no.

If you've a good fat load otherwise and your pectoral muscles are in good condition, your current bust size and position is the best you're going to naturally get. So if you find it interferes and you're in good condition, your only option (that I know of) is surgical.
However, if you can work on reducing fat load and improving the condition of your pectorals, then you can reduce bust size (reducing fat load) and change how it's carried (pectoral muscles).
Try to get your pectorals to the point where you can do 30 reps of each of the major pectoral exercises, with whatever weight suits you. High numbers of reps with a light weight gives you sustain strength, which is what you want for postural things.

Unfortunately, we can't lose fat selectively. The best we can do is to improve postural muscles beneath whatever body part needs to be carried better.

[lupo pazzesco]

Good Doc! yay for doctors that actually CHECK, rather than lecturing.

I refuse to know what my body mass is. I know that my psyche will handle it badly - I watched my mother 'try to lose weight' for too many years.

However, I can easily determine whether I'm gaining or losing body fat by tracking my measurements. I sew many of my own clothes, you see....

Yeah, my doc is pretty spiffy that way. She actually read over my family history, asked questions about my habits and was concerned because in theory, I've got a decently healthy lifestyle, and I'm still large. thus the tests....

I'm relying mostly on the fact that my clothes are looser, but I'm slowly coming to terms that the numbers on the scale aren't the b-all, end-all of my world. I'm heavier than I want to be, but oddly, I carry it well enough, few can guess what my true weight is. I think it helps that I'm not looking at it from a "lose weight" perspective, so much as a "lifestyle change" perspective. I'm eating better and more active because I want to be healthier, not because I want to be a size 6 (which is NEVER going to happen, unless I become an anorexic supermodel anyway...)

Unfortunately, we can't lose fat selectively. The best we can do is to improve postural muscles beneath whatever body part needs to be carried better.

Well shucks, because I really really want to lose more in my ass and hips/thighs than I do up in the chest area. I'm pear shaped, my bottoms bigger than my top. I don't want to look weird, with minimal breasts and oversized ass...but that's a worry for another day. Working on muscles strength and core strength/strength training in general to be less flabby and in better shape is the focus.

[Evil Queen]

But but but but... I like you the way you are.

[Kitten in the box]

Bigger than you look??!!

If that had been me I would have said "Well if you hadn't been barking on your cell phone and actually paid attention you might have been able to see someone standing in front of you....its not that hard to do.

[Seshat]

Yeah, my doc is pretty spiffy that way. She actually read over my family history, asked questions about my habits and was concerned because in theory, I've got a decently healthy lifestyle, and I'm still large. thus the tests....

Wooot!

I think it helps that I'm not looking at it from a "lose weight" perspective, so much as a "lifestyle change" perspective. I'm eating better and more active because I want to be healthier, not because I want to be a size 6 (which is NEVER going to happen, unless I become an anorexic supermodel anyway...)

Best attitude for it, as near as I can tell.

I'm pear shaped, my bottoms bigger than my top.

Fat carried in the hips and thighs is a lower cardiac risk than fat in the belly. Something to do with how the veins run, apparently.

I don't want to look weird, with minimal breasts and oversized ass.

It's a normal variation of the female form; and actually quite a healthy variation. The whole thing about symmetry between the upper and lower body is an artificial cultural construct.

Look at old fertility figures like Venus of Willendorf, and one of the consistent things about them is that the hips are broader than the upper body. (The other consistent thing is huge breasts.)

Broad hips ("good childbearing hips") are a natural thing for the female body. If you're capable of seeing past optical illusions caused by careful clothing choice, you'll see that its also a very, very common variation.

Plus, if you do intend to have children (or have had children), broad hips make childbirth easier.

but that's a worry for another day. Working on muscles strength and core strength/strength training in general to be less flabby and in better shape is the focus.

That sounds excellent!

[lupo pazzesco]

But but but but... I like you the way you are.

Awwwww! <snugglehugs!!> Love ya, too!! But we also want a healthy Lupo, yis??

Fat carried in the hips and thighs is a lower cardiac risk than fat in the belly. Something to do with how the veins run, apparently.

Ya know, I've heard that repeatedly, and keep meaning to research the whyfors and howfors of that particular nugget of knowledge...

It's a normal variation of the female form; and actually quite a healthy variation. The whole thing about symmetry between the upper and lower body is an artificial cultural construct.

Look at old fertility figures like Venus of Willendorf, and one of the consistent things about them is that the hips are broader than the upper body. (The other consistent thing is huge breasts.)

Broad hips ("good childbearing hips") are a natural thing for the female body. If you're capable of seeing past optical illusions caused by careful clothing choice, you'll see that its also a very, very common variation.

Plus, if you do intend to have children (or have had children), broad hips make childbirth easier.

Squee! Archaeology reference!! <3 I've studied the Venus in passing in my major, I like seeing how the standards have changed. Hell, look at the Birth of Venus, or even Boticelli's works! I'm more pleasantly plump in that sense, I suppose. Either way, I don't mind being very hipp-y, but I'd like to maintain some proportionality, if I can, but if I can't, well, I"ll learn to dress intelligently. Best I can do. I'm not going to stop the getting in shape train because I won't fit a mold of what I should look like by society's standards. If I did, I'd pack up and move elsewhere, where chunky women are considered true beauties and rule society. :P

[Der Cute]

And you know what? A lot of "fat" status depends on WHERE you live. Like me. I have Le Tire around my hips. I call it insulation. People around here in Seattle call it fat. If I lived in Chicago or other Midwest cities...it'd be a non issue.
PS remember, those models on the cat walk? The boney chicken leg chicks? A lot of them use double sided tape, pins and cheats to make those clothing outfits stay on for the walk :P

My point is - damned if you do damned if you dont. So screw the damned part, and do what you want.

One thing I do. I'm waiting in line for grocery check out? I do curls with the basket. 5 reps each arm. Or use the peanut butter jar for tricep flexes. My arms have almost no flub on them - they don't wave when I wave. Now, if I could make my belly button do lifts.....lol.

My bf commented on how strong I am yesterday. I had to run an errand for him, which involved a 5 gallon bucket of paint. I had to lift Mr. 5gal from grocery cart into my trunk. I don't have much leverage, being a short bodied person. All of that lifting came from my arms. All of it. hehe

Cutenoob

[Seshat]

Ya know, I've heard that repeatedly, and keep meaning to research the whyfors and howfors of that particular nugget of knowledge...

A summary with references

Squee! Archaeology reference!! <3

<grin>

I'm not going to stop the getting in shape train because I won't fit a mold of what I should look like by society's standards. If I did, I'd pack up and move elsewhere, where chunky women are considered true beauties and rule society. :P

Me either.

And you know what? A lot of "fat" status depends on WHERE you live. Like me. I have Le Tire around my hips. I call it insulation. People around here in Seattle call it fat. If I lived in Chicago or other Midwest cities...it'd be a non issue.

I think that was part of Lupo's and my point early on. There is a point where adipose tissue (aka fat) becomes excess healthwise, and also another point where you just plain don't have enough.

Anywhere between those two points is fine as far as I'm concerned. Everything else is social and cultural construction, of no medical significance. IMO.

Unfortunately, some doctors don't pay enough attention to the medical and too much to the social.

[Misanthropical]

My big guy is over 6 feet tall and built like a linebacker, so before he had his accident I would take him with me if I wanted to be left totally alone when out doing what ever.

It's amazing how much people will leave you alone when a big guy who looks like he could squash them like a bug is with you. My big guy is not a fighter, but they don't know that. Of course, I have to hear his short jokes when he is with me, because apparently he finds it funny that his mom is so much shorter than he is.