It used to be that being pleasing plump was a sign of good nature and good times, but at some point in our recent past that belief changed. Now, it is commonly believed that in order to be healthy one has to be youthful looking and very lean. Not surprising, I suppose. Most of us have been dieting off and on since our teen years. We grew up being obsessed with diets, mirrors, and belly fat. It is hard to let go of that image.
Despite insurance company claims that we need to be rapier thin and have the blood pressure readings of a ten year old, the equation isn’t quite that simple. Researchers are saying that calorie cutting during those formative years has set us up for bone fractures, weak muscles, and ultimate weight gain now.
It is time to get a grip on our “cosmetic culture” and start using a little common sense. Researchers say that significant weight loss, whether intentional or not, can be life threatening after age 60. They aren’t referring to people who are morbidly obese, but to the average person who has never been able to achieve the perfect weight. It now seems that maintaining a certain amount of body weight will make you more robust and healthier later in life. Surprisingly, even minor weight cycling or yo-yo dieting (from 5-8 pounds) is not particularly good for you.
Losing weight means that you also lose muscle. Older adults have less muscle density and losing weight accelerates this process. If you lose 10 pounds dieting to fit into a dress for daughters wedding, you are losing 5 lbs of fat and 5 pounds of muscle. Less muscle can affect balance, flexibility and strength. Ergo, this is not a good thing. Then there is the bone density thing. If you are seeing your doctor regularly you have probably been asked to get a bone density scan. Older women, who have lost weight, also lose 5-32% of their bone mineral density. Your scale doesn’t differentiate between one type of pound loss and another. Most studies seem to refer to women but I have seen a lot of men who don’t look all that robust either.
So what do you do? You have been programmed to hate extra pounds, but you don’t want to do anything to threaten your health either. The best plan (Reader’s Digest Long Life Prescription by Sari Harrar and Debra Gordon) is to focus on eating for good nutrition and disease prevention, rather than on shrinking a dress size. I don’t need to tell you that exercising to build muscle and stimulate bone density is more important than just not eating. If you are determined to lose weight anyway you need to proceed with care. Your health care team is standing by to help you make the right choices.
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