Fat stigma?

[medic417]

Back on topic, as long as you are able to perform your job, carrying extra weight is not likely to cause problems with your co-workers.

Granted, you may run into the opposite problem. I lost a lot of weight and have increased my strength. Before I lost weight people rarely questioned my ability to lift, now the FFs insist on doing it for me all the freaking time....men....

If you can't bend over to intubate, they may have some issues....From looking at your picture I don't think this is you, so you should be fine.

That being said, it is really easy to put on weight working for a private company. You sit between calls, and most people don't eat well. People also tend to snack and eat impulsively (cookies at the ER, a candy bar from a vending machine, soda from the gas station...etc).

Good points. Especially the food part. If busy way to often you grab what ever is easy which in most cases ends up something with tons of fat and little nutritional value. Then even though busy you are not active enough to burn off the calories. So you need to train yourself to choose better items and even better bring fruit or other healthy food with you.

Another big problem is that many people drink sodas instead of water. Two problems with that. 1. Tons of corn syrup or sugar = fat on the person. 2. They actually can lead to dehydration so you feel thirsty you grab another soda and the cycle continues. And don't get me started on diet sodas just know they are bad. If you drink a soda a day I challenge to stop drinking all sodas stick to water for a month and you will be surprised at the % of weight you will drop in just one month. Honestly you will find you eat less because you are drinking water and often what many decide is hunger pains is actually their body saying it needs water.

Here's an interesting video on the amount of sugar in soda I found on the internet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F10EyGwd57M

[YOUTUBE]F10EyGwd57M[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Aidey]

All very true. Even if you can grab something quasi-healthy, it probably has too many calories for what you really need (Subway).

 

[FLEMTP]

I chew gum and drink water to help with the urge to snack. I try and eat approx 5-6 times a day, smaller portions, and healthier food choices.

I know its not easy being fat... i was quite fat myself... at one point I was 260lbs, 42 inch waist, and 36% Body fat percentage at 5'8 in height.

Over the course of a year I lost 80lbs of it, dropped to 17% body fat, and a 32 inch waist.

My blood pressure dropped to an average of 106/60 from 130/88, my resting heart rate went from 70's to 50's, and I felt like a new person.

I also looked like a new person.

I have since gained 20lbs overall weight, muscle of course, but stayed at about 15-17% body fat.

I feel that i can perform my job better, and will be able to do it longer ( as far as longevity in the field) than my fat counterparts.

I also feel giving anyone health advice is very hypocritical when I am not a healthy person.

It took a lot of motivation and a drive to change not only my activity level, but my diet. The diet is the hardest part, because its not a temporary change to lose weight, it needs to be a permanent change to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.

It is also hard, because I am a stress eater. It was a huge help to be able to recognize this and overcome it

I limit my caffine comsumption, I try and limit consuming ANYTHING with high fructose corn syrup as a main ingredient, and I make sure I maintain a healthy balance of carb/fat/protein.

You also need to watch your caloric intake. It helps if you can go someplace that can calculate your resting caloric burn rate, it tells you how active you need to be, and how many calories to consume.

Oh, and one more thing. Fat is Fat. Call it what it is. yes, when you are not willing to accept the reality of a situation, it can be personally offensive to have someone call you fat, but sometimes the truth hurts. You cannot fix a problem until you're willing to accept that there IS a problem.

If you are using clinical terms, then yes, fat is inappropriate, and obese/obesity/morbidly obese are appropriate terms. You have to be able to recognize when use of one is appropriate over the other.

 

[medic417]

Oh, and one more thing. Fat is Fat. Call it what it is. yes, when you are not willing to accept the reality of a situation, it can be personally offensive to have someone call you fat, but sometimes the truth hurts. You cannot fix a problem until you're willing to accept that there IS a problem.

If you are using clinical terms, then yes, fat is inappropriate, and obese/obesity/morbidly obese are appropriate terms. You have to be able to recognize when use of one is appropriate over the other.

Excellent points.

 

[harkj]

I have worked with a few people that are over weight and it has never been a problem at all. In fact there have been times I was glad they were there, for one they (meaning the people I have worked with) were able to lift more weight than me (me being 5'9 175 and lean) and some of our trucks have one man stretchers that when we get a 350lbs plus pt (and we do have a lot of those) they have the weight behind them to put the stretcher in the truck. I personally really don't see the problem if you can perform your job and can handle the work load then you will be fine. Some people just have a little extra meat to their bones.

 

[medic417]

Some people just have a little extra meat to their bones.

And that is how the obesity epidemic began in America. Not many decades ago there were very few fat people. Then people just started saying they have a little extra meat or they are big boned or its a gland problem or its............... Thus it became easier to justify being fat rather than doing something about it. Fat is the one health correction that the majority could remedy themselves by making changes in what they eat, drink, and do and thus avoid the many horrible ways to "live" that we see caused by "having a little extra meat on their bones".

 

[wyoskibum]

Thank god for the Fat Police!

And that is how the obesity epidemic began in America. Not many decades ago there were very few fat people. Then people just started saying they have a little extra meat or they are big boned or its a gland problem or its............... Thus it became easier to justify being fat rather than doing something about it. Fat is the one health correction that the majority could remedy themselves by making changes in what they eat, drink, and do and thus avoid the many horrible ways to "live" that we see caused by "having a little extra meat on their bones".

But now we have the Fat Police to remind people that are fat, just in case they couldn't tell by looking in the mirror or stepping on the scale. Soon, we will shame those people from stuffing their pie holes so we can once again become a nation of skinny people. Because we all know that if they had any will power or self respect, they would be so fat. I know I won't rest well again until I know that are no more fat people out there.

 

[medic417]

But now we have the Fat Police to remind people that are fat, just in case they couldn't tell by looking in the mirror or stepping on the scale. Soon, we will shame those people from stuffing their pie holes so we can once again become a nation of skinny people. Because we all know that if they had any will power or self respect, they would be so fat. I know I won't rest well again until I know that are no more fat people out there.

It is not about shaming people it is about keeping them from seeing the reality when they look in the mirror. When we make PC comments that make people feel there is nothing wrong with being fat we enable them to continue the behaviour that led to being fat.

 

[Sasha]

But now we have the Fat Police to remind people that are fat, just in case they couldn't tell by looking in the mirror or stepping on the scale. Soon, we will shame those people from stuffing their pie holes so we can once again become a nation of skinny people. Because we all know that if they had any will power or self respect, they would be so fat. I know I won't rest well again until I know that are no more fat people out there.

How did we make the jump from "people justify being fat" to "We want all fat people gone!"... The only one who made such a comment was you.

 

[46Young]

It is not about shaming people it is about keeping them from seeing the reality when they look in the mirror. When we make PC comments that make people feel there is nothing wrong with being fat we enable them to continue the behaviour that led to being fat.

That sounds accurate. The human body holds fat as an energy resereve in case of a prolonged period of famine, like back in prehistoric times. Here, in our country, there's no shortage of food, at least not for the obese. As such, there's no reason to hold an extra 40, 50, 60 lbs or more of body fat.

Where I live, a good number of residents are public safety, CIA, FBI, and military (Quantico is right here, and Ft Belvoir isn't too far away). The average person here is in better shape than most. I see mothers dropping their kids off at the gym's day care area so they can go train. Many of them are in great shape. I see 40 and 50 year old men and women in great shape as well. People in these careers understand the need, yes need for regular strenuous physical activity. The human body isn't programmed to be sedentary, eat fast food, and have no productive outlet for stress, as in moderate to strenuous physical activity.

It's about lifestyle choices. There's no rationalization for being obese in an envronment that has no threat of a food shortage.

When I worked EMS in SC I was frequently mandated to stay at work, typically for 36 to 48 hours at a time. Since my "normal" schedule was a 24/48, my wife wasn't cool with me going to the gym on my off days, maybe I could go one day a week, two if I was lucky. So what did I do? I bought two 28 kg kettlebells from lifelineusa and knocked out 20-30 min metcon sessions in the parking lot of my apt, with a set of renegade rows once an hour out on the balcony if I wasn't busy. Swings, snatches, clean and jerks, thrusters, turkish get ups. My kettlebells are my portable gym. I usually take one or two on vacation.

It's about lifestyle choices. Anyone can spare a half an hour a day to participate in strenuous weight training and metcon. There are crossfit WOD's that take 5-10 minutes for crying out loud. Do a pushup, then a squat. Then two pushups and two squats. Three and three, on and on to failure. Grab a kettlebell or dumbbell and do a tabata. 3 minutes and 50 seconds and you're done. It's not hard. Do the 1&1, 2&2, 3&3, etc every time before you take a shower. It takes only a couple of minutes to do two cycles of that. At the end of the week, it's equivalent to doing a whole cardio session or two. Bring your lunch to work in a cooler.

A female could buy a 26 lb kettlebell, do 10 sets of 10 swings with a minute rest for a few workouts. Then 10 sets of 15. then 10 of 20 and so on. Eventually, add in the clean and press/clean and jerk, and train towards doing renegade rows. You need two bells for this, of course, maybe a set of 15 or 20 lb dumbbells would be better for the rows. Do this workout every other day, or two on/one off. Two hours a week coupled with a solid fuel intake (you have to think of food as fuel, which it is, not so much a source of pleasure) and watch the fat melt off. You'll also be firm from top to bottom. It's not difficult to plan, although effort is required. Look on youtube for kettlebell workouts, metcon, bodyweight metcon, and so on for ideas.

No excuses for taking the steps to treating your body properly.

 

[el Murpharino]

I bought two 28 kg kettlebells from lifelineusa and knocked out 20-30 min metcon sessions in the parking lot of my apt, with a set of renegade rows once an hour out on the balcony if I wasn't busy. Swings, snatches, clean and jerks, thrusters, turkish get ups. My kettlebells are my portable gym. I usually take one or two on vacation.


A female could buy a 26 lb kettlebell, do 10 sets of 10 swings with a minute rest for a few workouts. Then 10 sets of 15. then 10 of 20 and so on. Eventually, add in the clean and press/clean and jerk, and train towards doing renegade rows. You need two bells for this, of course, maybe a set of 15 or 20 lb dumbbells would be better for the rows. Do this workout every other day, or two on/one off. Two hours a week coupled with a solid fuel intake (you have to think of food as fuel, which it is, not so much a source of pleasure) and watch the fat melt off. You'll also be firm from top to bottom. It's not difficult to plan, although effort is required. Look on youtube for kettlebell workouts, metcon, bodyweight metcon, and so on for ideas.

Kettlebells are a FANTASTIC workout. We use them here in Iraq with great results, both in regards to strength and cardio. With the advent of many at home fitness programs, there is no reason people shouldn't be moderately fit. Noone's looking for everyone to be an Adonis...

 

[46Young]

Kettlebells are a FANTASTIC workout. We use them here in Iraq with great results, both in regards to strength and cardio. With the advent of many at home fitness programs, there is no reason people shouldn't be moderately fit. Noone's looking for everyone to be an Adonis...

All this kettlebell talk got me excited. I took one of my 28 kg bells to the gym this evening and did the following:

TGU x 3 each side, 3 sets

Complex: H2H russian swings x 10, 2 handed american swings x 10, one hand C&J x 5 each side, then snatch x 10 each hand. 1 min rest, 5 sets.

Next, 10 one arm thrusters each arm into 20 2 handed russian swings, 1 min rest, 5 sets.

Then, 6 sets of 10 burpees, 30 sec rest between sets.

And then, three sets of 10 each side contralateral bulgarian split squats in the rack position.

Three sets of 10 on medicine ball power overs.

Last, I did three rounds of frisbee walks with pushups. The frisbee is a ghetto version of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1YXrZF3Y64&feature=channel

Try the kettlebell circuit. It sneaks up on you quick.

I've ordered a 40 kg "bulldog" kettlebell and this for early birthday presents:

http://secure.monkeybargym.com/power-wheel