Comments on: FAQ You All

By: shinobi

shinobi — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:17:50 +0000

I think a good answer for the what does it mean to be “healthy” question was this post: http://kateharding.net/2008/01/10/sherlock-speaks/
about engaging in Healthy Behaviors. I think that is a really good thing to focus on, because you can do as many of them as you can and there is always a net benefit.

By: Kelly L.

Kelly L. — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:07:21 +0000

I have heard “healthy 88 pounds” used before, but only in reference to dogs.

Agreed. My rottie/lab mix is right around a healthy 88 pounds. :)

That someone would say that was a healthy weight for an adult human being…unless they were very, very unusually short…*boggles*

By: Sniper

Sniper — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:05:05 +0000

Gahhh! After reading some newbie comments I have another: Why are all these fat people angry at me?

By: sweetmachine

sweetmachine — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:52:28 +0000

Pieta, I know that my parents used to go to a local drugstore that had a blood pressure machine — there might be one of those near you that you could try, though I imagine the cuff sizes are not for everybody on those.

And that’s a great — and hard! — question for the FAQ.

By: Pieta

Pieta — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 05:22:59 +0000

Thanks, Meowser! I’ll keep that in mind next time I visit. And my fiance’s starting a nursing program soon, so maybe I can get him to test things out on me… :)

I think the basic question still stands, though. What does it mean to be “healthy” – at any size?

By: Meowser

Meowser — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:28:11 +0000

Pieta, I think you might want to measure your blood pressure with a home monitor, if you can get your hands on one. “White coat hypertension” (blood pressure being elevated in the presence of a doctor) is a very real phenomenon, one that I’m sure would have occurred to your doctor had you been thin. And incidentally, even if your blood pressure is legitimately elevated, weight loss does not necessarily lower it. Nor does being fat directly cause hypertension. (My last BP reading, at the doctor’s office last week, was 104/68, and I’m nearly 200 pounds and in my 40s.)

Carol Johnson, in her book Self-Esteem Comes in All Sizes, described being found by a doctor to have high blood pressure, which runs in her family. She asked her doctor what he would do about her blood pressure if she had been thin. The doctor told her he would prescribe medication, and she requested he do likewise for her. He did, and her blood pressure responded nicely without her having to lose any weight. I think that’s a great question to ask any doctor who tries to blame Health Problem X on your weight: “If I was thin and I had this problem, what would you recommend?”

Also, please see Glenn Gaesser’s Big Fat Lies for an excellent analysis of how hypertension is riskier for thin hypertensives than fat ones.

By: Pieta

Pieta — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:40:49 +0000

This one just occurred to me, and I’m disturbed by the fact that I don’t know the answer.

How do I know if I’m “healthy”? – in ways that don’t have to do with my weight?

This question stems from my last visit to the gyno, when she noted that my BP was a little high and asked me what I was going to do to lose weight. Thus totally ignoring the fact that she was about to be putting things inside me, and that of course wouldn’t stress me out at all! But I don’t know that I’ve ever had a truly ‘normal’ BP reading (in a doctor’s office, because doctors scare me), and so I don’t know how to counteract the way my weight immediately gets blamed.

But I wonder sometimes whether I am less healthy than I could be, in ways that I could change pretty easily if I knew about them. And how I could find out without being told by yet another doctor that the first thing I need to do is lose weight.

By: Joyce

Joyce — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:00:00 +0000

I don’t think anyone has mentioned this, but exactly how many cough drops can I eat before I gain weight? :)

I would rather have baby flavored donuts to snack on than cough drops.

By: Moontyger

Moontyger — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:26:08 +0000

Under what’s hopefully a welcome question (and one I’m personally wondering about): What do you say to a good friend/family member who says their doctor told them they have to go on a diet? I mean, this site isn’t an advice column but I think it’s a good question for someone just getting into size acceptance and who wants to share it without being obnoxious.

By: Sniper

Sniper — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:43:14 +0000

How about some kind of meet market where Shapelings could introduce themselves? I say this having absolutely no idea how difficult it would be to carry out.

Also, you might want to put in a donations button.