I had to go back to the doctor on Wednesday so that my new clinic could get a baseline physical for me. It was fine, and I was also looking forward to finding out why after three weeks I still wasn’t feeling better. We got that all squared away and then the comedy began. The doctor turned to me in all seriousness and told me that I was borderline obese. Overweight in the absolute, and very near to being clinically obese. I cocked my head sideways and raised my ears at him, like a dog that doesn’t understand what you’re trying to tell it. Uh, what? Yeah, he says, based on your height and weight you’ve got a BMI of 28, and 30 is obese. Well doctor, I’m happy to inform you that I’ve lost 15 pounds since last year so you mig… oh, well you were definitely obese then but you’re in trouble and we’d like to see you get down to a BMI of 20.
I didn’t really ask for details on what it would take to get to 20 but it seems to mean loosing another 40 pounds if the online calculators are to be believed. Or I could grow taller maybe – that might be easier. It’s weird because I feel pretty good about myself right now, at least compared to 15 pounds ago. There’s more work to do but I don’t think of myself as remotely obese now, nor did I consider myself obese when I was 15 pounds heavier.
The doctor says that’s because our impression of what is normal is getting ever more skewed towards the fat. So it doesn’t really matter what I think, because the numbers don’t lie. That’s just good science.
It’s such a screwed up system of measurement. Take your height and weight, ignore gender and muscle/fat ratios, and arrive at a number. You’re a health risk! Orly? Cuz I could walk out of this office right now and run a decent 5k, or ride my bike 50+ miles and climb any mountain within a 2000 mile radius. That would seem to suggest I’m not entirely unfit. I could certainly be more fit, and I’d like to be, but obese? Obese. He tested me for diabetes. Like, what?
The more I think about this, the more I’m angered. I acknowledge that I don’t have a model’s physique, but obese, really?
Then I was at the pharmacy picking up my meds and I was scanning around and I was like, goddamn America be fat.
4 responses to “the new face of obesity”
Doctors can be a pain ! I generally come out of the doctor visit feeling worse than when I went in.
Remember; they are only PRACTICING medicine.
Test results came back negative for the diabeetus, obviously. And my cholesterol levels were top of the class. So I’m in real trouble on the health front.
I put my money where my mouth is and rode my bike 50 miles this weekend too. In your face, obesity.
Tell that guy your are so phat!
sounds like you are well above average on the “gets out and is active” front and it’s not as though you eat like a typical american frequenting the McD’s shack on the corner of indian pond.
congrats on the 15lbs btw