Comment Wars

More often recently I find myself commenting in public Facebook threads. Some are predictable triggers for me like abortion but others I don't expect. Today's greatly offensive stream of comments surrounded the announcement that the average female dress size has increased to 16/18 US. Many comments were quite intelligent but it inevitably falls into the debate as to whether the "fatties are just lazy" stereotype is true and if it is should we be showing images to our kids that could support that lifestyle?

I for one certainly know that being fat is not just laziness. There are medical conditions which cause the body to misuse, over store or even expel extra calories. It's only supported as a medical fact however when a person is underweight. The Brazilian Science Academy did a great animation short of Diabetes back in 2011. Most Americans whether they tout the "lazy fatties" myth  or not, would probably be surprised to know that only one way of acquiring diabetes is actually due to diet and lifestyle. In great majority Diabetes comes from genetics and injury. Other conditions that cause excess weight and poor response to lifestyle change are of the endocrine type as well. Hashimoto's disease is one wherein the body has a very closed off metabolism which is almost completely resistant to change.

Indeed I had just researched this for myself because even my general practitioner was flabbergasted by the fact that consistent exercise and a tracked low carb/low fat diet of under 1,500 calories a day did nothing to my weight. This is over a period of a year straight and I have tried it for six months at a time before! So I looked at times in which my weight had dropped and along with a specialists website I confirmed that the type of exercise is as important to my actual weight loss as just doing it. Essentially endurance training and aerobic do nothing for me. The body set at it's Hashimoto's standard simply adjusts to relatively ignore the change in activity while holding on to every precious ounce of fat it 'thinks' it needs. The real trick is apparently to surprise or shock it using high impact training. This means inconsistent days and burstful routines that the body won't be able to adjust too.

So back to the insulting comment section, personal preference was absolutely running wild there. It's important to keep in mind what someone's goal is. It wouldn't surprise me if someone out there thinks I need to get under 140lb's even at my 5' 10" height. To me that is absolute nonsense and borderline disgusting. For one thing I have the old weight range chart from my family doctor out in Romeo, MI etched into my brain. The healthy measurement for a large frame woman of my height is 145lbs- 175lbs. For a male in same specifications, I believe it was up to about 200lbs.  In fact 200lbs is just about the weight for me to be in the healthy BMI categories.


As far as how my body felt and looked I would love to be in the 190's again but that would seem crazy high to some, yet my hips are to large to look proportional in anything under size 12. I'd be a guitar... or a pear. What is ideal for me in the female form is not frail or thin or even dainty. I like athletic, large and brazen which I probably picked up mostly because of my extra height as a teen. No way I was ever going to fit as petite or thin. I'm built thick and while my perfect image brings to mind Lucy Lawless of Xena, she's actually a bit small under all that armor. Great american singer Mae West is probably more true to my natural shape.