Healthy Lifestyle: Can You Focus on Health Not Weight?

 When did being thin become the be all and end all of our lives?   We are bombarded with books, articles and media concerns every single day about what we should eat and how much exercise we need.

 

Is being a little bit plump really that bad?  Well maybe not.  The guidelines remain pretty much the same but it is hard to keep track of all of the studies that are being done.  Eat fiber. Avoid sugar.  Avoid saturated fat, and keep your sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams a day. I feel like I have to be conscious of every bite that I put into my mouth.  Do you ever feel like you need a PhD to navigate the supermarket?

 

Katherine Rosman wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal (Tuesday, April 27, 2010) that actually presented a case for carrying around a few extra pounds, and that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  It’s about time. 

 

It is now being suggested that there is little risk to carrying around a few extra pounds, and in some ways may even be good for you.  While experts agree that obesity is a serious health issue; there is a difference between carrying a few extra pounds around and in being obese.  You can be a few pounds overweight and still be healthy.  Eating healthy foods and exercising can matter more than the numbers on your scale.  Those few extra pounds generally manifest as subcutaneous fat and are carried on the hips, thighs and gluteus areas.  It is visceral fat (the fat attaching to your organs and often seen as a fat belly) that will do you in.

 

One study found that people in their 70s who were slightly overweight were less likely to die (over a 10 year study) than those of normal weight.  I suppose the thinking is that a few extra pounds will build you up to the point where you can fight off illness and injury as you age.  A few extra pounds also helps you to increase bone mass and strength your skeleton.

 

Women should not worry if they are 10-15 pounds over weight, particularly if the fat is not in the belly area.  As women age, those who are a little overweight appear younger as fat provides more structure for the skin.  Even gyms are starting to teach people the importance of being healthy over being thin. Trainers are starting to encourage people to accept their bodies and focus on health over thinness.  It is more important to have a sound body and mind rather than the perfect physical body.  Now haven’t you been waiting to hear that for a long time?