Back & Low Stomach Pain, Constipation in Elderly: Could Be?
Do you know an elderly person who’s complaining of an “inner tube” of pain around the trunk, mostly in the back, a little in the stomach, + constipation? (more…)
If Obese People Can Be Healthy, What’s Weight Cutoff for Unhealthy?
At some point obesity has to be unhealthy despite claims by plus-size people that they are healthy.
At what weight, then, does obesity go from being potentially healthy to always harmful?
When very overweight people claim that people can be fat and healthy at the same time, do they actually believe this is true for women and men who weigh over 400 pounds?
Cutoff Weight Between Healthy Obesity and Dangerously Overweight
“This is an off-shoot of the ‘fit but fat’ thinking,” begins Susan L. Besser, MD, with Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore; Diplomate, American Board of Obesity Medicine and board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
“I think staying fit is great!” continues Dr. Besser, referring to obese men and women who engage in structured exercise such as a step aerobics class and strength training.
“No matter how much you weigh, if you are fit, you will be healthier.”
This is relative to what kind of state a heavy body would be in if the individual did NOT exercise.
In short, structured workouts will benefit ANY body.
“That said, being overweight, even if you feel healthy, does have some risks associated with it,” continues Dr. Besser.
“The biggest problem isn’t the superficial fat (what you see), but what is called visceral fat. That is fat inside your body.
“Fat accumulates everywhere — in your organs as well as under the skin. The fat that is inside organs over time can cause health issues.
“For example, fat around your heart can increase your risk of heart disease and heart arrhythmias.
“Fat in your liver can cause a problem called NASH (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease).
“In this case, the fatty tissue disrupts the normal function of the liver which can cause liver problems.
“These are only two examples of potential long-term health issues from being chronically overweight (even if you feel healthy).
“So, what is a weight cut-off? We use BMI as an estimator of normal weight (and there are charts everywhere to measure your own).
“Realize, however, this is just an estimate (but very easy to do). This method doesn’t take into account the amount of muscle vs fat.
“So for example, a weightlifter might appear to be obese [via the body mass index number] even if he actually has a very low percentage of fat in his body just because this method merely calculates height and weight.
“For more sensitive testing, one can do a Dexa (an X-ray test) or bioelectrical impedance testing (using electrical voltage) or displacement testing (‘bod pod’).
“These alternative methods may be more sensitive but aren’t as generally available.”
If you belong to a gym, ask a personal trainer to give you a body fat percentage reading using skin-fold calipers.
Dr. Besser adds, “Most of us, in reality, actually have a good idea of whether or not we are overweight and know if we need to work on it.
“Always remember, obesity is a chronic issue — and a lifelong one — so get into good eating and exercise habits and keep it up!”
No One Number Is the Weight Cutoff Point. However…
The question of what is the cutoff point where weight is necessarily dangerous in any obese person can be viewed as snarky — or … as quite serious.
If we take a 5’5” woman, is the cutoff 300 pounds, after which anything over will threaten her health?
Is it 347? 413? 500? Is a 500 pound woman healthy simply because her blood sugar is normal, EKG is normal, blood pressure is normal and she doesn’t have cancer or liver disease?
Current status isn’t the be-all end-all. What about down the road? We can use smoking as an example. A smoker may be free of disease NOW.
But he’s at grave risk for heart disease and cancer in the future. Even if he doesn’t develop these illnesses, as Father Time marches on, his stamina will become severely compromised.
The cutoff point after which any more weight that’s gained makes a fat man, or woman, unhealthy has not been studied — simply because there are variables:
- Height
- Body composition
- Age
But it’s an interesting point to reflect upon among those who believe that obese people can be healthy.
Let’s reword this: Fat people can be free of disease or mobility problems at the moment.
Dr. Besser provides comprehensive family care, treating common and acute primary conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Her ongoing approach allows her the opportunity to provide accurate and critical diagnoses of more complex conditions and disorders.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/sirtravelalot
Can’t Do More than 10 Pushups? How to End the Embarrassment
If no matter what you do you can never do more than 10 pushups and feel like a weakling, there’s a solution that’ll turn your embarrassing pushups into power pushups. (more…)
Fatkini vs. “Deadkini” for Empowering Fat Women
Forget fatkini and instead opt for “deadkini” if you’re a full figured woman who wants to gain empowerment by doing something that few plus size women will ever do. (more…)
Can One-Arm Pushup Build Muscle or Is It Just a Show Move?
You may be struggling to build chest muscle despite all your bench presses and dumbbell presses.
But maybe the one-arm pushup can do something for you.
Why don’t you give it a try and find out? After all, it requires a unique pattern of neuromuscular recruitment to pull off. (more…)
Walking on a Treadmill Right After a Double Mastectomy
Ask your surgeon and/or breast care nurse if it’s okay to walk on a treadmill right after you get home from your double mastectomy.
First I need to qualify that this information is based on my experience with a prophylactic double mastectomy without reconstruction. I’m also a former personal trainer.
Prior to the surgery the breast care nurse told me that I will need to be walking as soon as possible after the operation – to prevent constipation.
I believe she anticipated that I’d be in enough pain to want a narcotic drug; these drugs can cause constipation.
However, I did not have pain, only a tolerable amount of soreness, but soon after the surgery I was wanting to walk the corridors.
There were no restrictions on how often I could leave my hospital room and walk the hallways, or how long each hallway walk lasted.
The surgeon told me I could walk all I wanted, based on my comfort level, once I got home the day after the preventive double mastectomy. But he said don’t use a treadmill incline higher than 20 percent.
The next day I took it quite easy, but the day after I was on my treadmill desk while using the computer.
And since then I’ve been using the treadmill desk – and my regular treadmill. Ever hear of the “sitting disease”?
Having undergone a prophylactic double mastectomy doesn’t exempt you from the dangers of prolonged sitting.
So I’ve been walking as much as possible on my treadmills as well as outdoors.
Guidelines for Walking on a Treadmill Soon After Double Mastectomy
Again, this information applies primarily to those who’ve had a prophylactic procedure without reconstruction.
• Don’t let the JP drains stop you from walking. They should be held in place by a miniature smock or apron that goes beneath your shirt.
• Drains can also be pinned to your pants and hidden under your top.
If you’re on a narcotic painkiller and hence feel dizzy or off-balance, it’s advisable to avoid the treadmill.
My guidelines pertain to those who are not on any medications that can alter balance, cause unsteadiness or dizziness.
It stands to reason that good posture should be a part of your surgical recovery.
There is no medical reason, then, why you should hold onto the treadmill OTHER THAN to steady yourself while sipping water or as a brief balance check.
But as part of the walking routine itself, you don’t need to hold on. A double mastectomy will not affect your balance and require you to hold onto the treadmill.
If your balance is wavering, however, then get off the machine and find out why there’s a balance issue. I understand that losing large breasts can make a woman feel a bit off-center.
But the best way to re-establish a feeling of balance is to force your body to adapt to a balance stimulus, such as walking on a treadmill without holding on.
GO SLOWLY. Start out at one mph. When I was a trainer I was always seeing people walking at high inclines and high speeds and clutching the machine.
Start level and slowly, and build up your speed from there. By not holding on you force your body to have good posture and correct gait mechanics, as well as maximal breathing efficacy.
If it hurts to swing your arms, then keep them at your sides with minimal movement rather than holding onto the machine.
If you lock down your arms by holding onto the machine, this lockup will do you NO favors as far as preventing things from tightening up around your shoulders and chest.
Right after a double mastectomy, walking on a treadmill will increase blood circulation which will contribute to the healing process.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/Microgen
Why Courage Does Not Mean Wearing a Bikini if You’re Fat
There are reasons why “courage” should never mean wearing a bikini no matter how fat you are.
The woman in the above photo certainly will not go down in history.
She will not make the news for bringing her plus-size body to the beach in a bikini.
I grew up thinking that “courage” and “brave” applied to acts carried out by firefighters or the military, dangerous motorcycle stunts or walking around in the city completely blind and trusting a dog to lead you.
Other things have been historically labeled as courageous, such as fighting a terminal illness, training for a marathon after losing a leg to cancer, rounding up people to fight drugs in the neighborhood and jumping between a snarling stray dog and your preschooler.
The Standard for Courage Has Drastically Been Lowered by the Body Positivity Movement
Putting on a bikini — even if you’re very fat — should not be considered an inspirational act.
Yet plus-size Instagram influencers are being lauded for being “inspirational” (read the comments to their photos) simply because they post images of themselves in bikinis or “daring” clothes.
You want to see REAL inspiration? Check out the images below!
For some people, courage and bravery mean speaking before a large group, skydiving for the first time or finally telling off one’s crooked workplace boss.
The men pictured below are no more or no less a bastion of courage, bravery and inspiration than is a 240 pound Instagram star who claims to own 52 bikinis.
The term “courage” is associated with Special Olympics, especially when participants with no legs are bench pressing 400 pounds.
But unfortunately, many women — and their children — now associate “courage” with wearing a bikini!
We are de-evolving!
The decision to put on a bikini, post a selfie or walk out the door and visit the beach is NOT an act of courage or bravery, nor does it even hint at inspirational.
Let’s not make this more than what it actually is: a fashion choice.
Sadly, we live in a society where very heavyset women, who preach body confidence, feed their ego by convincing other big women to wear a bikini or two-piece swimsuit.
Shutterstock/DenisProduction.com
“I wish I had your courage!” is a common post by followers of body positive influencers who regularly post themselves in revealing swimwear.
Have you yourself ever posted, “I wish I had your courage!” in response to a picture of a fat influencer in a bikini?
For all you know, that idol of yours is too chicken to speak up about a recurring injustice at the workplace; too skittish to speak up when a woman steps before her in a line; too afraid to tell her neighbor to stop letting his dog crap in her yard.
A picture is NOT always worth a thousand words.
It’s time for fat women to stop lowering their standard of what defines courage.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/DenisProduction.com
Wearing a Bikini if You’re Fat Won’t Help Your Self-Esteem
Lately there’s a movement sweeping the nation:
If you’re fat with poor self-esteem, you can cure this by wearing a bikini to the beach.
Preventive Double Mastectomy, No Reconstruction: Your Primer
If you’re about to have a prophylactic double mastectomy without reconstruction or just had it, here’s a bunch of information that applies specifically to you.
The Internet is filled with information about double mastectomies as a treatment for breast cancer, and especially such procedures being followed by breast reconstruction.
But there’s not much out there about the preventive (prophylactic) double mastectomy – minus breast reconstruction.
I’m a former personal trainer who underwent a prophylactic double mastectomy without the reconstruction — after learning my sister had breast cancer.
If you’ve been searching and searching the Internet for information on prophylactic mastectomies in healthy women and have not found what you were looking for, perhaps your questions will be answered by any one of the articles below — based on my personal experience.
CHECK THESE OUT …
How do you prepare your body for a double mastectomy? Here are guidelines for healthy women.
You might have read about pain horror stories post-op the day of surgery, but you should not let these give you anxiety. Here’s how it feels same day.
Restriction of upper body movement means you’ll need to hold off on any upper body workouts you had been doing prior to the surgery.
This can bring on the concern of unwanted weight gain. But there are ways to prevent this undesirable gain of excess fat.
Another big concern for some women is that of concealing a double mastectomy (minus reconstruction) from family members.
This is actually quite doable if you’ve always had small breasts, such as myself.
If your breasts were small, you can employ some tricks to keep family members from ever knowing that you had them removed.
You will need to deal with drainage from the surgical area on a daily basis, and may have questions about this, such as why it’s so warm.
If you’ve always been a strength training enthusiast, you’ll want to know why you must wait up to six weeks before getting back into your favorite exercises such as the bench press, overhead dumbbell press, deadlift, lat pull-down and bent-over dumbbell row. Here’s why this restriction is so long.
When you’re told that you can’t lift weights for six weeks after the mastectomy, you should ask specific questions about this to your surgeon.
After all, why can’t you work the LEGS when the surgery was on the upper body?
Your chest might start twitching after the operation. There’s a reason why you should not let this alarm you.
What if you live alone and don’t have anyone close in your life who can stay with you a while and help with your recovery?
This means you must be a self-caregiver. But don’t panic; here’s how to be an effective caregiver to yourself after a preventive double mastectomy.
You can look forward to getting back into your heavy weight training regimen once the restriction on lifting weights has been lifted.
Shutterstock/Miljan Zivkovic
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Shutterstock/siam.pukkato
Tricks to Hide Mastectomy without Reconstruction from Family
I’m 21 days postop from a preventive double mastectomy without reconstruction and have pulled a number of tricks to keep it a secret from my family.
Here’s how to keep family members from finding out you had a double mastectomy without a reconstruction. (more…)
