Jabin said:

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Completely agree.

Part of my frustration in losing weight is with our medical system that constantly tells me to lose weight but gives me no guidance or advice on how to do so. Yet that same system is great at giving overweight people lots and lots of pills, medications and surgeries to deal with the complications of being overweight.

For example, at my last physical, my doc once again beat me up for being overweight. I replied that I completely agreed and asked him what the best strategy is for losing weight. He simply shrugged his shoulders and said that if he knew that, he'd be on Oprah and worth a billion dollars. Yet he's not only quick to prescribe but also constantly pushing meds for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and surgeries to remedy some of the ill effects of being overweight.

That really pissed me off. Don't tell me I have a problem unless you have a proposed solution to accompany it. And simply telling me to "lose weight" isn't a solution. It's simply restating the problem.

So the problem you describe that we're experiencing with Covid isn't unique; it's simply a continuation of what our medical system has been doing for decades.

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There's a reason why some of the most out of shape people I know are in the medical community. They just aren't the best for this type of thing. Docs probably know less about how to get safely into shape than the college student personal trainer at you local Globo Gym, which more of an indictment of the doctor than a compliment of the trainer.

wbt5845 said:

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I am thinking about starting a podcast about how guys over 50 can get more healthy.

And notice I didn't say "lose weight" - I said get healthy. It's my belief the key should be to get healthy and the weight takes care of itself.

I've lost close to a hundred pounds and didn't really try to lose weight. I did make some very drastic changes to the way I ate - which is the key over 50. You cannot outrun your fork. But I also got a lot more active as well.

I encourage all older guys not to give up. Start by getting hooked up with a good nutritionist. Then convince your wife to support your choices. If your wife nags you as much as mine did, you might think that's easy - until she realizes this will affect her eating as well.

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bingo! "healthy" is truly a lifestyle. It is a multi pronged designed way of life that includes every aspect of your life. What and when you eat, your sleep, how to manage stress, when, where and how you train (an exercise program with a purpose designed to make one more athletic and functional), how you approach work, family and all of life. Gone are the days of just eating whatever and saying you'll get to the gym and when you go you might walk on the tread mill. That's how one successfully "losses" the weight. They become an athlete and not a number. Look, if you are devout religiously, than you get what you must do to become healthy. It's psychologically a very similar mindset.

One of my favorite follows is Ethan Suplee. So awesome and how it needs to be done. Maybe it's a bit much for some but its truly the path to the absolute best health one can have in their life.

Jabin said:

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planoaggie123 said:

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Jabin said:

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Since 70% of Americans are overfat it would have been more helpful for the government to tell people to put down the fork than get the jab.

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Why not both?

In fact, it takes a long time to lose weight so us fats needed the jab in the meantime.

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We have had nearly 2 years of this pandemic and honestly it was pretty early on that there was clear indication that this virus was killing off overweight / obese / morbidly obese at MUCH higher rates. Let's call it 18 months of such knowledge....

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Well, not that long between certainty of that knowledge and availability of the vaccines. And I've followed this stuff pretty closely and for a long time it was not clear if it was the fat itself that was the problem or the ailments that are frequently associated with fat, such as diabetes.

And how long do you think it takes to lose 50 lbs, 100 lbs., or 200 lbs? You seem to think that it's an easy and automatic process. And are you allowing any margin for failed efforts?

I'm not advocating for vaccine mandates, but folks like you seem to have a visceral hatred of the vaccines in general. Why is that? Why are you opposed to the idea of the government encouraging people both to lose weight and to be vaccinated if they are overweight?

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It took me 7-8 months to lose 50 pounds.

planoaggie123 said:

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I did not mean for my tone to be that way so I do apologize for that....however....i do get frustrated that our government seems to only be pushing one thing, vaccine. They should be shouting from the mountain tops to improve health, however, they have not yet done so.

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Covid is no different than basically every other disease or ailment: if you've got a comorbidity, it will for sure hinder your ability to recover and/or survive the disease or ailment. Folks want to act like Covid is especially terrible on those overweight like it is an exception when in reality… pretty much everything that effects your body adversely is.of every controlled measurement around the dangers of Covid, the vaccine is THE biggest factor when it comes to preventing hospitalizations and death… and that's by a long shot. This is why so many roll their eyes at the vaccine 'messaging' arguments from the government like this one because ultimately whether intentional or not it is a red herring to the facts of the vaccine.

I get your frustration on improving things like weight for general health… but this is something that shouldn't be prescribed quite frankly and doing so is more disturbing to me than promoting a vaccine. If you really think Biden and Fauci and Trump before that needed to preach losing weight and it would be a significant change agent in society on that front… then you are basically saying America and Americans are only capable of being ruled in a nanny state.

I don't say 'prescribe' health mandates…I say promote them. Just general health. No rules. No mandates. We just don't get the information about how healthy living can in general lower overall cost of living through lower medical bills, less drug costs, etc.

I am not saying don't promote vaccine…just don't have it be the only message. Be clear how obesity is a major detriment in ability to handle this virus.

Both can be done in a way that doesn't mandate and helps lead to an overall healthy society.

WesMaroon&White said:

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https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/nurses-before-and-after-covid-19-photos-show-effects-of-weeks-on-ventilator/507-31394766-bbf4-432e-83fb-7101991e5115

Except for the nurse in the article Or a heavy equipment operator's 43 year old wife that I work with.

Generally, the article is correct in that the obese have a worse outcome with COVID, but I don't think it is that simple to say, if you lose weight you will be safe.

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You know what's incredibly useful about anecdotes when discussing trends? Absolutely nothing. With a large enough sample size, basically anything is possible.

People with healthy weights, good diets, and regular exercise that do basic things to promote their immune system are pretty damn safe. There is no point in life where anyone is entirely risk free.

It's funny that people are complaining that the govt hasn't encouraged people to get healthy enough to combat COVID when there's a multi billion dollar industry shoving fitness down our throats via every platform available. News flash: it wouldn't change behavior much even if they did, and getting vaccinated is a whole lot easier. Obese people are well aware they're more at risk for most disease already.

And for those trying to lose weight it's all about the kitchen. You can only do so much with just exercise.

I'm sure people who already hate all those folks would be totally receptive to being told they also shouldn't go to McDonalds