What’s So Bad About Being Fat

What is so bad about being fat?  Why the big push to turn us all into size 7′s with hour glass figures?   What if I like my fat?

Societies obsession with being thin is just that, an obsession.  Fat is not an embarrasment. It is stored energy.  It is not a bad word. It is just a word.

I want to start by just getting the word itself desensitized a bit.  Just say the word until it doesn’t mean anything any more.  Try it.

Fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat. See? It’s just a word.

Right now I am tipping the scales at 251 pounds.  Well, that is a bit too much weight for comfort.  But every ounce of it belongs to me.

Once many years ago I was on a diet and had a number of credit card bills that I was paying down.  I woke up one morning and had the awful thought that I did not own my house, my car, my refridgerator, my furniture and I had just lost 5% of my body on that silly diet.  I got so sick that I could not get out of bed for 3 days!

So, let’s take some of the serious edge off being fat.  Anyone know any fat jokes?

Determining What Is Right For You

Our survey is running well and we are getting some very good data from you that is being used to create our Fat and Over 40 community. Thanks to all who have participated so far. As we still need more results, I am encouraging each of our visitors to take the survey and pass on our link so that others can take it as well. We have a great new site under construction that we hope will incorporate your needs and wants.

I wanted to talk to you about my philosophy of health. I may be fat and over 40, but I have successful eliminated several serious health conditions from my life in the past and have helped others (as a lay person) to do the same. I have found that it almost always comes down to some very basic data which if known and applied can not only relieve symptoms but… (oops, I almost said the “C” word which is illegal if you are not an MD) alleviate the condition.

The first thing that I know about health is that you have to want it. You have to decide that it is possible to have it. And then you need to determine exactly what is your current situation. The old addage, one man’s cure is another man’s poison, definitely applies here. Some can stay healthy by eating carbos because that is what their body metabolized. Others are vegans. Still others profess that a high protein diet is the key to health. The key here is understanding your own body and metabolism.

Once you’ve done that, it is important to determine if you have any significant underlieing health/medical conidtions that may be detracting from your body doing the job that it already knows how to do.

Here is what I have done in the past and recommended to others:

1. Go to the doctor or other health professional who can order and interpret tests. Get the data and ask lots of questions. Don’t just take their diagnosis and treatment without getting the answers. I never accept drug or surgical treatment unless it is an immediate life threatening emergency.

For example, when I was falling down blue with asthma, I received emergency treatment from an MD so that I could breath. Once I was out of danger I went to a homeopath and nutritionist and got the data that I needed to handle the asthma. I was successful and have not had to use an inhaler in about 10 years.

2. Take the data that you get and go home with it. Study it. Search the internet for more data on your condition or symptoms. Find out if you have any more questions.

3. If you come up with any more questions, ask them. Try asking them of a second health professional. Getting data from a doctor and then having it reviewed by an nutritionist or herbologist is often a good strategy. The opposite may also be the case.

4. Now, make your own decision. Regardless of what others have told you, it is up to you to determine what you have found in your investigation and to use that data. Whatever you decide to do, try to stick with it as long as you are getting positive change. Workout any needed lifestyle changes so that you can maintain your health into the future.

It is not very economical for each of us to spend days, weeks or months to research and find the treatment that is right for us. By creating the Fat and Over 40 Club, it is my hope that we can pool our resouces, help each other and maybe have a little fund along the way.

I am Fat and Over 40

Hi.

My name is Lallah Rowe and I am fat and over 40.

Acually, I am over 50 but that is neither here nor there for my current purposes.

I have been fat most of my life and have long since given up ever being able to look and feel like the energetic Jane Fonda types who bounce all over the aerobics videos. But I am starting to get worried. People are living longer nowdays. The life expectancy of women in the US is now about 75. By the time I get there it will be higher. If 40 is the new 30 and 60 is the new 40, then I am looking at the next 30 to 40 years in poor health with bad knees!

I don’t like the proposition. I am tired of the aches and pains. I am tired of doctors who tell me that I need to take this prescription or that one and that I need to take them for the rest of my life. I am tired of not being able to do the things that I used to do and feeling exhausted all the time.

I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.

That’s it! I am determined to do something about my health! But I have so much to do. Where do I start?

Let’s start with naming the conditions that I want to change.

I do want to loose weight. Not so much for my looks, but because I think that less weight would make the struggle easier on my frame,

I want to be able to walk up hills and stairs without a cane or lots of rest every few steps.

I want to have the energy that I had when I was younger.

I don’t want to have to lean on my shopping cart like it was a walker just to get around the supermaket.

I want to be able to eat a diet that is healthy, tastey and is easy for my lifestyle without getting all wierd and compulsive about it.

I have been diagnosed by well meaning MDs as having hypoglycemia, hashimoto’s disease (an auto immune thyroid disorder), chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, tinnitus, candida, over active bladder and a few other things that escape me at the moment (I wonder if one of them is short term memory loss?)

Oh my God! This is just sooo much to try to handle when I barely have the enegy to sit up in my chair and type this article.

But, here we go.

I will be posting my daily diet and exercise on this site along with what ever remedies that I try and the results.

Part of being able to handle my own health is to help other fat and over 40s to overcome their own weight challenged situations. You are welcome to comment and give your opinion and suggestions or your own stories. If you have a question or need help, perhaps I or another reader can assist.

So here we go! Let’s make fat and over 40 something that is a stage of life that can be improved upon and enjoyed rather than a life sentence. 

I hope that I can provide you with a bit of humor and perspective while also helping you find your way to health in your middle and later years.

Best,
Lallah