It's Coming Together

My van finally got here yesterday!  Just in time for Hubby to run his car into a curb in the rain and need the tire repaired.  So I'm still carless today but at least it's here.  This was our first experience having movers move us instead of doing it ourselves.  While I'll take this over the alternative any day, it's not without its challenges.  Feels like you do a lot of waiting and if you're an impatient person (such as myself), that's tough.  I've only got a few boxes to go in my office and I should be good to go in there.  Then we're down to the "What the heck do we do with this?" boxes.  I hate those.  I also have an organizational dilemma in the girls' bathroom.  They have one of those sinks without a cabinet or drawers underneath.  I have no idea what to do with all their bathroom crap...lotions, powders, hair ties (oh lord...the hair ties, headbands, barrettes....am I the only one that seems to horde these things?), etc.  Any suggestions?

I did alright with food yesterday.  Dinner could have been better but portion was good and still no snacking.  My water intake improved also.  Slowly but surely folks.

Let's share the love a little bit this Friday.

Holly at 300 lbs Down was interviewed for The Revolution of Health for the guy from the Biggest Loser Ranch.  You can check that here.

Chelle is going through a rough spot with the declining health of her grandma...please send her some hugs here.

And another addition of "In the News with Panda..."  I know I did a segment yesterday but this was too good to pass up.  This isn't a news article but an opinion piece on CNN regarding advancing the rights of fat people...fat acceptance if you will... Full article is here and, as always, my comments are in blue.

Another recent study found people who were "metabolically healthy" and overweight or obese had no higher death risk than metabolically healthy "normal" weight people.

I take an interest in the topic because I'm fat and because I don't have a death wish. I'm also interested because, like so many fat people, I've encountered weight discrimination when I seek routine medical care. I was 26 years old when I was denied the right to purchase health insurance. I had no significant history of illness or injury. I was just fat. That day, I became a fat rights activist.

A fat rights activist?  Really?  I'm not saying discriminating against fat people is good or ok (I've ranted about this before) but talk about fighting a losing battle.  

As a fat activist, I help as much as I can, but I'm no federal agency.

One woman called in the middle of the night, hoping I knew of an MRI she could use for an important test. The machine at her local hospital, which she'd used before, was being guarded by a technician who strictly enforced the weight limits. The tray that slides in and out of the machine could break. Instead, she was denied potentially life-saving information in a crisis. How many of the deaths blamed on weight are actually caused by medical equipment -- everything from blood pressure cuffs to surgical instruments -- that fails to accommodate fat people when we need it most?

I'll never forget the teenage girl who was told by a nurse practitioner that her complaint would go away once she lost weight. Luckily, she had the nerve and the parental backup to get another appointment and the prescription necessary to treat her condition. How many of the deaths blamed on fat actually happen when people are diagnosed as fat instead of being diagnosed and treated for an illness?

For the sake of argument, how many normal sized people would be denied life saving tests if this woman had broken the MRI machine?  Medical equipment is sized for average people.  I understand how humiliating it is.  I do...truly.  One blogger I follow was once told to go to the ZOO for a medical procedure because it was the only place with a machine big enough.  Are fat people animals?  Absolutely not but is it everyone else's problem to figure out a way to accommodate us or is it up to the individual to know where to go in case of an emergency?  Just as I knew which restaurants didn't have chairs Hubby or I would fit or if they only had booths, etc...we need to know which hospitals can accommodate larger folks.  As for the second paragraph...I agree, the diagnosis should never be "you're fat."  However, the article doesn't tell you what her ailment was...slightly high blood pressure?  Borderline diabetic?  Maybe instead of jumping to a prescription, we should try altering the lifestyle FIRST.  Just a thought. 

Then there are the fat people who did everything their doctors recommended to lose weight ... and died from dangerous diet drugs, from starvation diets, from mutilating weight-loss surgeries. I also hear from many people who live with the devastating physical and psychological consequences of such weight-loss attempts.

"Mutilating weight loss surgeries?"  I don't feel mutilated, thank you very much.  Would you call someone who has had knee replacement surgery or has a scar on their head from brain surgery "mutilated?"  Didn't think so...and you talk about fat bias? I have no issue with the other points.  Oftentimes, doctors suggest unhealthy remedies to lose weight.  I am of the belief that doctors don't know squat about nutrition and if they've never been obese, they really don't get it.  However, no doctor FORCES people do these things.  These are most likely people who feared for their health or REALLY wanted to lose weight and went to their doctor for help.  The docs did what they thought was right.  These doctors aren't doing the research on diet and exercise and metabolism.  Bariatric doctors and nutritionists do and even they're wrong a lot of the time.  No excuse for putting people's lives at risk to lose weight.  No excuse at all.  The article continues on to talk about medical professionals' personal opinions of fat people and the biases there.  Again, no argument.

These biases don't improve medical care. Two pioneers of the Health At Every Size approach, psychologist Deb Burgard and health promotion expert Lily O'Hara, analyze existing data to point out that using BMI as a proxy for metabolic health mislabels 51% of healthy people as unhealthy. Meanwhile, 23.5% of the thin people with risky indicators will not be screened or treated early because they "look" healthy.

I've talked about this as well.  Thin does not equal fit and fat doesn't necessarily equal unhealthy...yet.  I'll get to that at the end.  We all mostly agree that BMI is crap also.  

Here's a finding from the recent research that didn't make the headlines: For people over 65, being fat wasn't associated with increased risk, not even for the fattest old people. When do most people die, in our increasingly long-lived society? Over age 65, perhaps?

She links just about every other study for her statistics except this one.  Is it because she made it up?  Or is it because the study was crap from the get go.  What did they consider fat?  Was it just fat or was it morbidly obese?  There IS a difference.  She also doesn't say what they're at risk for...falling, complications of surgery often needed past the age of 65 (knee replacements, hip replacements, etc.  Anesthesia for fatter people IS riskier...sleep apnea anyone?), death?  I think she means death.  I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

I also learned this week that a highly accurate way to predict a person's risk of dying is to see how easily they can get up from the floor. I'm trying to imagine how different our health care system would be if, instead of focusing on weight and weight loss, caregivers did the sitting-rising test instead.

Sorry...this is just stupid.  How many of you at 250 lbs + easily got up off the floor?  One of the hardest exercise for me is sit ups.  Also, at 230 lbs, I could not just sit up when laying flat and guess what, at 168 lbs, I STILL CAN'T!  Am I healthier now than I was 70 lbs ago???  OF COURSE!  

Some closing comments.  For every research study she lists, I could list one that counters it.  Statistics can be manipulated to make a case for any side of an argument.  Do your own research.  Also, she was 26 with her first run in with medical bias with fatness and her other example was a teenager.  The longer you're obese, the more problems you'll have.  My father was fine until he was in his 50's...a triple bypass and Type II diabetes diagnosis later...not so much.  To say that you can be fat and healthy isn't necessarily wrong. But to say you'll ALWAYS be fat and healthy is unlikely.  This woman isn't doing anyone any favors.

Alright...I've ranted enough today.  How about a New Year's Friday Funny?