Welcome to Obese Class I. Population: Me

Yes, the title says it all - - today I reached Obese Class I, with a BMI of 34.9.  For some people, that would be a terrible thing, full of tears, recriminations, and a high risk of developing health problems.  I, too, have a high risk of developing health problems, but this is a huge improvement from where I used to be - - Obese Class III, with its "extremely high" risk of developing health problems.

Yep, it's true.  My 2.5 pound weight loss this week puts me at a BMI of 34.9, which is the lowest category of obesity there is.  Another 30-ish pounds down from here, and I will only be overweight. 

I have to confess that I am sooooo close to hitting the 100 pounds lost mark that I upped my program this week to try and keep the weight loss going.  I took the elliptical up to 55 minutes and a crossramp of 6 (up from 5) with a tension of 5 (down from 8), and a stride rate of 130+ strides per minute (up from 100-120).  The new workout music mix, combined with the lower resistance, makes it much easier for me to hit the 130+ strides per minute rate, and I can certainly see my calorie burn has increased.

My steps per day have also increased with the new workouts:

Looking at the steps taken as recorded by my Fitbit over time, you can see that I started off averaging around 2,000 steps per day.  The steps started to increase in the summer when I got the elliptical to around 5,000 - 6,000 steps per day.  Now that I have increased my stride rate and lengthened my workouts, I am regularly exceeding 10,000 steps per day on weekdays.  I call that progress for someone who still has essentially a sedentary desk job.

I also took the free weights up to 4 sets of 12 reps at 6 pounds for the various dumbbell exercises that I do 3x per week.  I am definitely feeling it in my arms, so that's probably doing good things.

I noticed an ever-so-slight hint of clavicles this week, which makes me very happy.  Eventually I will have actual visible clavicles, and I will jump for joy.  It's still a long way away yet, but I am prepared to be patient and keep plugging away.

So far I have lost 97.5 pounds, which is almost 100, no matter how you count it.  I have to be prepared not to be disappointed if I do not hit 100 pounds down next week, because it's not reasonable to expect to keep these 2+ pound losses every week.  Overall I am averaging about 1.5-1.7 pounds down per week, which means that I should hit 100 pounds down in a couple of weeks.  Assuming that I stay on plan.

Fingers crossed! 

Now another reason not to visit the doctor...

 I have not had the best of luck with doctors.  I have moved so often that I find it easier just to go to the walk-in clinic rather than bother with trying to find a GP in town that is still accepting patients (and good luck with that!).  As with any walk-in clinic, sometimes you get a good doctor, and sometimes you get a schlub. 

Speaking of schlubs, a recent study has revealed that doctors have similar levels of bias against people who are overweight as the general public.  Further, physicians are likely not aware of their own biases.

Previous research identified weight biases in doctors, but the new study found that their level of bias is similar to that of the public.  The study included nearly 360,000 participants, including 2,284 medical doctors. The researchers used a computer test designed to measure both explicit biases, of which people are aware, and implicit biases, which people do not recognize they hold.

Results showed that female doctors were less biased against obese people than male doctors. "Even though there was a slight difference, bias was strong among both men and women," the researches was quoted as saying. 

On the positive side, obese doctors were generally more sympathetic to overweight people, the study found. 

And that's not all.  There were also reports this summer about a GP in Worcester, MA, who made headlines after she went on record that she was no longer accepting patients who were obese.  The doctor said that her new policy (which applies to anyone who is obese and over 200 pounds, or someone with a BMI over 30) is a way to avoid injuries to health care providers and the subsequent loss of productivity.  I think it looks a lot like this is an example of the aforementioned fat-bias at work. 

I have to say that these results do not surprise me in the least.  My most recent interaction with a specialist involved a neurologist who was called in to consult on my carpal tunnel issues.  Without even examining me, the doctor told me that there was little point of doing anything to correct the carpal tunnel until I had lost weight, because my obesity was exacerbating the carpal tunnel. 

At what point is my obesity itself a health issue versus a contributing factor?  I would have to think that it depends on the condition.  I cannot think that my obesity would exacerbate an allergic reaction, or a cold/flu, but it would definitely affect knee or joint pain or lower back pain.  My mother has told me that fat affects all the organs in the body, so it may even be possible that obesity aggravates my carpal tunnel.

It is a fact that there are many obesity-related health issues that can get worse with time.  Type 2 diabetes is one such health problem that leaps to mind.  Heart disease is another.  Asthma is a third.  Delaying diagnosis and treatment of such conditions can negatively affect an individual's health. 

The issue with the Worcester doctor's position - - and my neurologist's position - - is that by fat shaming patients, it can cause patients to delay seeking medical care, explicitly or implicitly.  Either patients will be told to lose weight before they seek medical care, or they will undertake to lose weight on their own before seeking treatment.  This delay can be dangerous at times, depending on the condition in question. 

And fat shaming has impact.  I haven't gone back to that neurologist who would not consider treating my carpal tunnel, and I haven't visited the walk-in clinic in years.  I am pretty sure that I could use a checkup and physical, but I just can't stand the thought of being told that my conditions are all due to my obesity when I am working on that very problem.  Especially since it will take more than a year for me to reach a normal weight.  I just hope that nothing breaks in the meantime.