Can You Be Fat and Fit?

I am considered " Fat" by the Chart at 164-167 for 5'4" but according to my bloodwork, I am healthy. I went from 14 medications to zero, I even beat hypothyroidism. I have lost over 120 pounds so, 164-167 with fluctuations feels like 120 pounds. I am still work in progress but, I refuse to beat myself up over a chart.

I am fat. I am fit.
Ok, let's qualify this. I currently weight 194 lbs and at 5'5" that is considered obese according to the BMI. My normal BMI says I should be 50 lbs lighter! (OMG) I have accepted the fact that me being 150 lbs or lighter will never happen. But that does not stop me from working hard to lose more and stay fit.

I am a Type 2 diabetic (yes, that came from the excess weight and some bad habits) but I have my sugars well under control and the bad habits are a thing of the past. 18 months ago I was diagnosed with bad hips and am scheduled to have them both replaced in six months. So I have some motivation to be in the best state of health I can be to help speed my recovery. All of my other health tests are 100% good! (BP, Chol, HR, etc.)

For the last 8 months I have been on an exercise program to lose weight and be strong for my surgery. I swim 1000+m three times a week. I ride my bike (stationary) and do a 45 minute Bowflex workout three times a week. And I rest one day. When I started this program of diet and exercise I was over 200 lbs. So things are heading in the right direction.

Ok, back to fat and fit. I do not believe you can be fat AND fit. Fat cancels fit. Fat requires the body to work that much harder just to maintain a BMR. Fat works against you by destroying motivation. Fat needs higher maintenance resulting in higher food intake resulting in, well, more fat as the body stores excess that is not used for activity. It is a downward spiral. I know, I was there. It took a lot of work to change my lifestyle and requires work every day.

Now I know that FIT cancels FAT. I have a new lifestyle of eating right (I still like ice cream) and being active. With my bad hips, I can't walk very far, but I can ride my bike without too much pain, build my upper body with my Bowflex and... swim like a fish!! What I found was that I have almost no hip pain when I swim so that is the focus of my workouts. Once I have my surgeries I know that my recovery will be short and I will be back on my mountain bike and most impor...

I weigh 196.2 lbs. I just started the challenge "Lose 5 Pounds In 30 Days In April!" I belong to the "Merry FITMAS Team, I'm the leader. I need to lose at least 40 lbs.
I'm ifey about the blog. Since my Dr. wants me to lose this weight, I think I should disagree with the video, on the other hand, I've seen lots of skinny people die. One is
my Parents. My Mom & Daddy were really strict on their diets. My Daddy had a massive
heart attack, after that Mom & Daddy started eating Cholesterol Free Diet. I think my Mom
was down to a size 4 and my Daddy was down to a size small shirt & size 30 pants. I've
lost 34 lbs., but this is all in about 2 or 3 years. I hope everyone has a Fun-Filled & Blessed Friday! LYL! (LYL means Love You Linda)

I am told that ideally I should lose 100 lbs but this is not an ideal world and I don't have an ideal life but I exercise on my bike or walk 5 days a week and my cholesterol is low, my blood pressure is still high but those are the only problems I ever had--Went off Cholesterol medicine about 8 or 9 years ago--I have osteoarthritis in my knees but I am still at the exercise and will be as long a I can possibly do it to control my weight

Having been obese as a kid, teen, and young adult, and being slender now ,all I can say is the difference between now and then is like night and day. I didn't have a load of health problems then, and I probably have few more now as a slender person, but I never felt good and I could not move in the way I can now. I have always been active.

I disagree with this video that you can be healthy and obese, and I especially disagree that not everybody can be slim. I used to think I would never be slender, but I proved myself wrong.

I walk 3-5 miles daily, am asthmatic and right now am close to 300 pounds. I usually carry a backpack which adds to the weight I am carrying.

I have lost 12 lbs in the last two weeks, and am working to keep on losing.

I have well developed thigh, butt, and calf muscles from walking, and have great abs under the flab. I have good bicep and tricep muscle development. But, the reality check, my crunches and push ups suck since there is so much flab in there on my belly, breasts, upper arms. I figure as I lose weight and keep my muscle tone/ build more muscle, that my crunches, pushups, etc. will improve. My incentive is better health.

Interesting information.

I so agree with this. I am overweight but very fit. I have rocked fit tests better than younger & thinner people. My blood pressure is that of a very athletic person & my resting heart rate is awesome, according to my doctor.

The only thing I've ever had an issue with, no matter what my weight has been, on blood tests is an iron deficiency. No matter what my diet, weight, age, stress level... etc. Now if only I could convince my 115 lbs, 6 ft tall, 27 year old boyfriend that he needs to go have a physical because he's exhausted all the time and sleeps 10+ hours a day and see if he has nutritional deficiencies from only ever eating high-fat, high-calorie, and high-sugar foods (and no vegetables, fruits, or water), we would be golden. LOL.

I am 230lbs my blood test come back PERFECT and my #s are a lot better than some of the thin people in my work dept. I do believe you can be of size and healthy. My problems are my tendons, both in wrist and feet which is from working in retail for years and my office job and bartending. So healthy hard worker here

I, too, believe in health at every size. I've lost weight countless times in the past but I never felt healthier when sllimmer, on the contrary. I'm quite healthy now, and if I want to lose any weight, it's because i can't afford to buy new clothes a size large.

Agreed! I weigh 260 and I can hike 20 miles about 3x as fast as almost any thin person I know. :-)

( Imagine what I could do if I was 100lbs lighter, ha! ... and there's the motivation!)

There is so much truth to that video and makes me feel better. Not that I can now go pig out but keep eating healthy. Had my cholesterol checked and it was way down and I too am not on any medication but a calcium pill and a Vitamin D pill. Not even an aspirin. The weight will come off if God wants it to..

Amen to all of your comments - I also have 100 lbs to lose but am on no meds, have great bloodwork, blood pressure and heart rate. Why? Because I walk a mile or more 6 times a week...it is encouraging to me that I don't have to be doomed to ill health because of my weight problems.

I think it is possible to be healthy at any size.