http://mamavision.com/2008/12/05/half-assed/ Body Image, Eating Disorders, Proanorexia Culture Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:24:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://mamavision.com/2008/12/05/half-assed/#comment-11587 b Sat, 20 Dec 2008 01:14:06 +0000 http://mamavision.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/half-assed/#comment-11587 wow! how inspirational. it's so sad how people judge though. :( wow! how inspirational.
it’s so sad how people judge though.

]]> http://mamavision.com/2008/12/05/half-assed/#comment-11586 souris Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:24:14 +0000 http://mamavision.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/half-assed/#comment-11586 No, Michael Jordan is not fat. (Well, at least not at the height of his athletic prowess...nowadays, he *is* kinda doughy) I realize that you were simply pointing out the fallacy of the BMI formula of determining a "healthy" weight. It is accurate to say that MJ is/was *overweight*. He was not "overfat" - man probably had under 10% body fat. So yes, for athletes, BMI is not an accurate measure of fitness. While it's wonderful that Jeanette has a positive body image, the reality is that she is still overweight, and likely overfat, as indicated by the (admitedly imperfect) BMI formula. No, Michael Jordan is not fat. (Well, at least not at the height of his athletic prowess…nowadays, he *is* kinda doughy) I realize that you were simply pointing out the fallacy of the BMI formula of determining a “healthy” weight. It is accurate to say that MJ is/was *overweight*. He was not “overfat” – man probably had under 10% body fat. So yes, for athletes, BMI is not an accurate measure of fitness. While it’s wonderful that Jeanette has a positive body image, the reality is that she is still overweight, and likely overfat, as indicated by the (admitedly imperfect) BMI formula.

]]> http://mamavision.com/2008/12/05/half-assed/#comment-11585 sannanina Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:29:09 +0000 http://mamavision.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/half-assed/#comment-11585 "The freedom of mobility is the biggest difference. When I was morbidly obese I became exhausted walking half a mile from a concert to the parking lot. I wasn't able to walk up 3 flights of stairs without pausing on each landing to catch my breath." I don't question for one moment that this is how things were for Jeanette - but I think it is important to point out that this is not true for every fat person. I am anything but athletic, and I am currently in the worst shape I have been in in the last three years, but although I have a BMI of over 40 I still can easily walk half a mile, and walking up two or three flights of stairs without a break is usually not a big problem for me. In fact, about a year back I had no problem dancing for two hours in class, or doing an hour or more of cardio and I took a bike tour up a 3000 foot mountain. I did weigh about 30 pounds less at that point, but I still was very much "morbidly obese". In addition, there are actually fat people who are far more athletic than I am - dancers, triathletes, and all kinds of other athletes. I mention this because fat people are often not believed when they say they engage in sports regularly. Worse, many fat people think they cannot become physically fit without losing weight. There can be many reasons why planned weight loss is not for everyone - but there are many ways to become more active (and have fun doing it) despite of not losing weight. “The freedom of mobility is the biggest difference. When I was morbidly obese I became exhausted walking half a mile from a concert to the parking lot. I wasn’t able to walk up 3 flights of stairs without pausing on each landing to catch my breath.”
I don’t question for one moment that this is how things were for Jeanette – but I think it is important to point out that this is not true for every fat person. I am anything but athletic, and I am currently in the worst shape I have been in in the last three years, but although I have a BMI of over 40 I still can easily walk half a mile, and walking up two or three flights of stairs without a break is usually not a big problem for me. In fact, about a year back I had no problem dancing for two hours in class, or doing an hour or more of cardio and I took a bike tour up a 3000 foot mountain. I did weigh about 30 pounds less at that point, but I still was very much “morbidly obese”.
In addition, there are actually fat people who are far more athletic than I am – dancers, triathletes, and all kinds of other athletes. I mention this because fat people are often not believed when they say they engage in sports regularly. Worse, many fat people think they cannot become physically fit without losing weight. There can be many reasons why planned weight loss is not for everyone – but there are many ways to become more active (and have fun doing it) despite of not losing weight.

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