The FastDay Forum

@Tracieknits you make some great points. I have (or at least had before I lost 50lbs) the unhealthy obesity with the thyroid problems, insulin resistance and hormone issues. I need to have more blood work to see how the issues are now. But, I also know that if I were to stop fasting I would regain both the weight and any of the bad health issues that may have been resolved by a weight loss of almost 25% of my original body weight.

But, that NYTimes piece implies that healthy obese is only temporary anyway and will in most cases lead to the unhealthier version. I'm not sure what to make of all of it. Scientists do have biases and sometimes conflicts of interest that can affect results. So many studies prove later to be invalid or inconclusive. It happens often enough that it makes me take all of them with a grain of salt.

There actually are businesses and professions who could gain from spreading a message that obesity is not that harmful. (Frito Lays, PepsiCo, Hersheys, McDonalds, Doctors/Pharmacies/Hospitals, Drug companies who produce diabesity and blood pressure meds, etc.) I'm not saying that this applies to this study at all. Just that the potato chip, soda companies, fast food industries and even the pharmaceutical companies want us to continue buying their products. If a lot of people actually lost weight and got healthier there are some industries that could stand to lose their profit margins.

[carorees]

I think we may be straying off topic slightly (only a bit and the diversion is v interesting), so I would like to reiterate that IMO, the most important message from the research is not that maybe some people are better off staying overweight but that stability of weight is of utmost importance. Thus, setting a target weight that you will be able to sustain is key to long-term health.

It concerns me that some people with a BMI already in the healthy range appear to be pursuing even lower weights. Of course, BMI is a fairly crude measure and so it is entirely up to the individual to assess what is the correct, sustainable, weight for them, but please be careful not to overdo it! You should ask yourself, whether, if you have to (for example) combine 36 hour no cal fasts with 16:8 and excessive exercise in order to reach your target weight...will you be able to continue eating and exercising in this way for many, many years (could be 30-50 years)?

I think I've mentioned this in several posts but it fascinates me how people pick their "ideal" weight.

There seems to be a lot of ways of deciding a target but in some cases, it seems to be more about the actual number on the scale that's psychologically comfortable for the person, than how they would actually look or feel at that (possibly unobtainable) weight.

I'm just over 12 stone now but I appear to have got to a weight that's stable & sustainable with 16:8 and I think that's how I'm going to proceed, my BMI is 30 ish but my BP, which was the reason for this is back to normal and I'm continuing with my very interesting fitness journey, so this isn't the time to stress.

I've worried from the start about the people who mix and match diets to effectively eat very few calories, as the stress on the body is too much and mentally it must be very draining.

I think we have to be concerned that it's body image here that's the actual problem, not weight itself. Oh and when the control of food/weight loss becomes more important than sustaining a healthy (for each unique individual) weight.

I'm maintaining a weight I did not expect to find myself at, which happens to calculate to about 19.3 BMI and thus might be a cause for concern - but I have a small frame, have not lost all that much anyway, and do have arthritic hips to worry about. I am eating really well now and generally feel good, except when the hips flare up. I do not intend to put on fat to get to a more suitable BMI, but would be happy to build more muscle. The only downside is feeling the cold, which I always did anyway...
I console myself that statistics is at the heart of this study, so whilst it may apply to a small section of the population, this punk feels lucky!