Again, that is not what we are discussing and I have made no comment on that.
We are discussing how the BMI measurement is inaccurate and flawed. The Rock and Usain Bolt are used as examples of how a measurement such as the BMI does not indicate fitness or health and is therefore pretty much useless as a fitness indicator. Please read original post.
One of the major points is that a single measurement cannot be used across an entire population - there are too many variances across race, age, genetics, environment, sex etc for it to be an accurate usable measurement.
Yeah definitely stress eating is the majority of my issue when I overeat, which is not nearly as often as before (still).
Structure is the biggest thing for me — I make sure I have at least a few things I genuinely enjoy each day. Even if it’s just one slice of pizza for lunch and an iced tea, it makes it easier for me to discipline myself the rest of the day.
Funny enough, the stretch where I probably lost the most weight (15 lbs. in 9 months) was during our title winning season. In addition to running before each game since I was stressed out about the way we were grinding out results pretty much every week for the first half of the season, I would go run 6+ miles before the game because it made the watch less stressful (OCD/endorphins/etc.). Additionally if Liverpool won I would eat less than 2,000 calories for the day because I had nothing to mope about, lol. If they drew or lost, then I let myself have free reign, and that was just once of the first 27 games when I had Bojangles after Lallana’s late equalizer. And when you looked at how hard our team worked on the pitch, I found it was easy to draw strength (in terms of maintaining discipline eating).
As for exercise and motivation, totally get that. Even a half-hour of cardio will get your endorphins moving. A lot of times the hardest mile of a run is the first mile, in that (despite being “fresh” in terms of oxygen debt) your muscles and lungs aren’t fully up to speed yet. Get a mile in and you are moving along better. But most importantly for me, music makes the experience…again, songs you genuinely like make it easier to endure!
I used to run 3 or 4 times a week - an ankle injury put paid to that - I still limp on occasions.
Sometimes whilst running I would have a feeling of almost ecstasy - almost as if I were floating. I miss that. Afterwards though I would decline into a depressed state - I would go really really high whilst running then really really low an hour or so after stopping. I am guessing the endorphins leaving my system caused the depression. Never really worked that one out but it happened every time.
Totally agree about the songs - I used to listen to Hothouse Flowers a lot when running - a strange choice but it worked for me.
I like your methods. I doubt I could get that worked up before a game but fair play.
This last week I seem to have got my long missing determination back. I’ve got a couple of major hurdles to get over before I can see an opportunity to get my life full back in control, hopefully before Christmas. That should open the window to getting my head back into an exercise regime.
I used to run but came to it late in life. Beforehand it was all about football and rugby for me. I was happiest running after a bag of air. Running without chasing something was simply not attractive. I actively avoided it. I did enjoy cycling though. When I sort of fell into running I had already had a decent level of fitness and most importantly I was might lighter. That just made it a whole lot easier and I found it quite enjoyable. I also started running in Berkshire - it’s flat!!! By the time I moved home to North Wales I was in good shape to start running the mountains here. I did enjoy that, often taking a fishing rod and small small camping stove and running up the mountains to some distant lake, having a brew and a spot of fishing before running back again. Arrival of the little one put an end to those trips sadly. My body fat levels were really low thanks to a body scan I had when diagnosed with my kidney troubles. I still find it weird that one of the fittest periods of my life was also the time when I was closest to crocking it. And I was not far away. Scary really.
My aim is to get my weight down again and then start feeding in the running and cycling again. Maybe a little weight training too. I might even start climbing again. Problem here is hills. Once your fit they’re fantastic, but starting out is hard.
Anyway, I feel I’ve had a decent week. I’m feeling some progress without actually looking at any numbers. I’m controlling my hunger, mentally I’m coping, and most importantly I’m currently eating less that 1500 calories a day. A big thing is that I’m not eating any sugar, and refined carbs are also down. Having a framework really helps me, even though I hate calorie tracking. I’m using a phone App called Lifesum. It actually helps to track some nutrients like potassium which is useful with my kidney troubles.
Again, a screening tool is not supposed to be used in isolation to make medical decisions, but I already stated that in that post you responded to and you ignored it with the content of your response. You don’t get to use a tool incorrectly and then blame the tool when you end up with dumb outcomes.
As for waist circumference (even by itself, adding hips into the calculation provides no added benefit), it is pretty clearly a more mechanistically relevant measurement. You’d probably be surprised though of how challenging it is to measure reliably (getting the same number when remeasuring), and even then there isn’t universal agreement in the procedures with different approaches producing different values. That, and the significant ethnic variability that exists make it pretty difficult to use clinically in a meaningful way any better than you can eye ball the situation and decide is someone would benefit from losing weight.
There are reams of articles on BMI and its efficacy in contemporary healthcare. And you will find as many supporting the tool as you will frowning on it.
My view is that it is not an individualised enough measurement and is culturally, socially and gender inconsistent. Therefore its use by insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and the fitness industry is biased in favour of taking peoples money. And tools that alliw that are really not of benefit to society.
I run very slowly, trying to maintain an even pace. I was quick iver rwenty yards on the pitch but slow as a wet week on long runs.
I get fucked when someone like Thin Lizxy ir the Pistols come on in my playlist because it speeds my pace up!
Liam and the boys must keep you on an even keel!
The BMI measurement is not only inaccurate but it also demonises sections of society. It surreptitiously accords blame to certain groups for not conforming to certain physical measurements It particularly misrepresents black people and women.
To represent it as a screening tool is tenuous to say the least. It is often used, in isolation, by insurance companies and even some employers requiring medicals, to discriminate against certain people and groups.
There are better and more accurate measurements that can be taken that would go some way to ending this discriminatory process. The US Navy uses a variant on this method for recruits, which is a far more reliable indicator -
Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) is calculated by dividing your abdominal waist by your hip circumference. It indicates the prevalence of visceral fat, the dangerous internal fat which coats the organs. The waist circumference is measured at the abdomen level, just above the navel/belly button.
Body shape and fat distribution are important factors when considering health risks associated with obesity. Two people with the same height, weight and total body fat can have very different diagnosis in terms of metabolic function and cardiovascular risk. The main cause of obesity‐related deaths is CVD (Cardiovascular Disease), for which abdominal obesity is a predisposing factor.
To put it another way, adults who store a lot of excess fat around their upper body/waist (i.e. “apple-shaped” bodies) have an increased risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea and stroke, compared with those who have the same amount of body fat stored around their hips and thighs (“pear-shaped” bodies).
Gees I wish I could get away with that. You’re making me hungry.
I had a chippie yesterday (no fish, some veggie fingers things I had in the freezer). Saturday is our takeaway day. Other than that it was pretty controlled and I also manged a good walk that was well over an hour. Feeling I want to eat this morning though, but I wont, not until 1pm or so, maybe later.
All good at the moment. Just had a small lunch which came to 500 cal. I did not know houmous was so calorie dense.
I’m basically fasting but also restricting my overall intake. Physically it’s not too bad. Mentally a bit tougher. It’s not forever more a case of getting my weight trending down and my head in the right place.
Weighed myself this morning. 84 kgs on the most inaccurate, inconsistent set of scales known to human kind. That’s 1kg down in a little over a week. Happy so far, ultimately I’ll be more interested in my waist size and how much I can pinch but this is useful to at least see a direction and keep that motivation high.
Yesterday was a little odd but also feels like a bit of a breakthrough. I had to do a site visit / survey yesterday. Normally on the way back, especially if I need petrol, I’ll be raiding the sandwich aisle and coming away with a sandwich, crisps and all sorts. Today, I had some peanuts (not great) but that fully satisfied me to the point that even when I got home, I didn’t want anything.
I’m also starting to feel the urge to get some exercise going. Things are changing!
Time for an update and to add some more self motivation.
Now at 83kgs as of this morning. Still a way to go to reach my target weight but we’re going in the right direction. I’ve drifted off a little of the extreme fasting and had a couple of “days off” but overall I’m still eating less than I was before this. Worth noting, when I’ve had those days off I’ve felt awful the next day, bloated and a bit wrecked. Hungry as well.
Overall, I honestly feel a lot better physically, with more energy, less bloated, and generally more awake. Eating in a more reserved way seems to work well for me but there’s still a mental challenge to get through.
Just started a new book about Gut health and wellbeing. There seems to be overwhelming evidence that fermented foods are beneficial. Trouble is, I have yet to find a fermented food that actually tastes good. Saurkraut and Kombucha all taste bloody awful. How those Icelandic types can eat that rotten fish is beyond me.
