On Being Overweight (Intro)

I am not overweight.  I am a 38-year-old male, 5’9” and 172 pounds with a BMI of 20. 
According to the US Army I should weigh 184.
Accoridng to Metropolitan Life Insurance Company I should weigh, at the very most, 167.
According to US National Center for Health Statistics I should weigh 178.
According to North American Association for the Study of Obesity I should weigh 161.
Those all average to 172.5, so I pretty much weigh what I should.

At my lightest at this height I was 155.  That was 25 years ago.
At my heaviest at this height I was 190.  That was six months ago.  And that scared me.

My husband is overweight.  Since we eat, travel, make plans and coexist with similar schedules in the same dietary house I have often wondered why he can’t seem to lose the weight that I was able to shed.  He attributes it to age (he’s a little older than I am) and metabolism.  While I agree those are compelling factors, he expressed his frustration to me about his weight issues and I told him I have ideas on things he can do.  I wanted to help.  He told me, point blank, that I’m unqualified to advise him because I Don’t Know What He’s Going Through.  This is true, but he’s also wrong.  I’ve been watching what he’s been going through for 16 years.

On the next few posts you’ll see lessons, tips, opinions, advice, perspectives and other things I wanted to tell him that might help with regards to the universal problem of losing weight. I don’t know if they will help him, but they helped me shed 18 pounds in six months.  I haven’t been able to lose the last seven to reach my goal, no matter how much I exercise, how much or little I eat, if I eat on a schedule or sporadically, if I drink some wine or don’t drink some wine...  Every time I hop on a scale it reads the same number no matter what time of day, what day of the week, before or after I walk the dog...  I thought maybe the scale was broken, but it appears that 172 is just my weight.  Still, I continue to persevere to reach 165, which is an arbitrary number that sounds like it would feel better than 172.  Maybe when I get there I’ll think otherwise, but it’s good to have goals to strive for, even when everything seems to be working out. 

Perhaps for someone who may be morbidly obese,  or maybe for someone who is uncharacteristically overweight for the first time, what I’ve written so far may sound like whining.  Poor me, 172, bitch bitch bitch...   Well, for anyone who’s ever tried to lose that last seven pounds you know what I’m going through.  For anyone who’s tried to lose 70 pounds, this stuff might fit too.

Again, my standard disclaimer applied: I am not an expert, I am not trained, I am not a doctor, I am not a specialist, I am not a therapist, I do not have a fitness device, a degree, backers or credentials.  But I do have a body and I do have a mouth.  Always seek advice from your health care professional before embarking on anything that may affect your body and health.  Don’t listen to me.

This essay was intended for my husband, but he wasn’t entirely interested.
Rather than waste the words, I decided to post them for you.
Do your best, love yourself and go for it!

MG