Posted by Simcha on December 17, 2001, at 8:08:20
In reply to Re: STOP using antidepressants as an excuse !!!, posted by bob on December 15, 2001, at 22:36:16
OK, I attribute some of my weight gain to moving to Iowa. I know that stress and moving has caused me to crave comfort foods like pizza and ice cream. I layed off of these and started to exercise. Then my pdoc switched me from EffexorXR to WellbutrinSR and Celexa.
Since then, even with moderate exercise, and less ice cream and pizza, I have gained weight moderately. I have also added muscle more readily too.
I know that we have a problem with obesity in this country. I am not what I would consider obese.
There is this wonderful formula called the BMI. It is supposed to tell you with an easy calculation of a number then placing that number within a range if you are obese or the proper weight.
Well this handy tool places me very near the obese range. No one in my life considers me fat except me. I have been looking at the damn charts for so long that I have forgotten what my frame size is and what my genetics are.
People in my family are descended from good peasant stock. This means we have long barrel-chested torsos and short-sturdy limbs. I have a huge frame and very large bones. These bones are very dense. Honestly, ask the doctors and the nurses (three of them together) who tried to extract bone marrow from my hip. :-)
As I gain more muscle I gain more weight. Muscle is very weighty stuff. I have a large frame. Naturally it takes more muscle to cover that frame. As I lift weights I gain muscle almost effortlessly. This is my metabolism (and I believe that Celexa has enhanced this).
Why is it that those stupid weight/height calculations never consider body-frame or bone density when deciding what the ideal height/weight ratio is?
Even as a child (when I was not over-weight), I always tipped the high end of the charts. I'm a big guy.
I've decided to accept this. I've decided to allow myself to be my size. I've decided to ignore this stupid culture that places a premium on being the ideal body-type, weight, size.
I have decided that so long as I am in relatively good physical condition and shape, I am just fine. If it does not conform to what the docs or society believes is the "ideal."
I'm a big-strong-burley type of guy. There are advantages. No one on the street messes with me. I feel safe almost anywhere. I can lift more than most people and that makes me more useful....
So I thumb my nose at all of the doctor's stupid formulae. They don't really know sh*te!
poster:Simcha
thread:86818
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011213/msgs/87185.html