VIDEO: Can You Be Fat and Fit?

[Tom Rankin]

Video is here.

Interesting results:

Obese / fit men live longer than normal-weight / non-fit men.

Obese / Fit women do NOT live longer than normal-weight women, regardless of the normal-weight women's fitness levels. They do live longer than obese / sedentary women.

 

[Little Rickie]

Then I should live to be 120. O, Ihave to be fit too!

 

[csprague]

Makes me wonder if I really want to work harder to get down to my "ideal" body weight.

Given my family history though, I suppose the answer is yes. That and after gaining a few pounds over the past couple years the thing I've noticed the most while hiking is a certain loss of agility.

Oddly, I weighed quite a bit less back in 2008 and found backpacking a lot harder then, though I found day-hikes to be easier. What's up with that? Does it have to do with the pack weight being a smaller percentage of my body weight?

 

[skiguy]

Oddly, I weighed quite a bit less back in 2008 and found backpacking a lot harder then, though I found day-hikes to be easier. What's up with that? Does it have to do with the pack weight being a smaller percentage of my body weight?

My guess is at the lower weight you may have had less muscle possibly in your legs, gluts and back to carry the load of a pack. Muscle is heavier than fat. When slimming down it is tricky for most to just loose fat and not muscle too. Proper diet and resistance training during weight loss is critical to maintaining muscle mass. Only a guess..I'm no major authority on the subject.

 

[Bigfoot]

Did you ever read or watch Covert Bailey? He wrote a book called Fit or Fat. I really enjoyed his PBS shows. He broke food and exercise down into little biddy parts. One thing he did not understand was offensive lineman in the NFL. They were fit and fat.

One thing he did say was that ice cream was not food. It is medicine. Ever see anyone eat ice cream and say they were not feeling healthy?