Wanted: Fat Sailors

[SaucySailoress]

Hey Folks.... You were right all along. Cruising did it for me. I am finally back into the 62 kg clothes I wore in the second photo I posted on page 2 post #24. I have no idea if I weigh that little. The airport scales before Christmas all said 67.5 kg... But who knows maybe I have more muscle this time.

The biggest difference? In India there is hardly any decent chocolate, and virtually no condensed milk anywhere. I have been living off fruit for breakfast lunch and supper, simply cos it's so nice here, and a veg heavy dinner with noodles or whatever. And walking the dogs two or three times a day. And snorkelling, but not in India! And scrubbing. Hell, having had a maid for the 17 years before casting off, I had completely forgotten that scrubbing uses muscles!

Did I mention you were correct? Cruising rocks for your health!

[chubby]

ummm...


how's it going?

[SaucySailoress]

Erm... Not sure what I weigh now, but I'm back into the clothes I bought when I was 62 kg, so it's going good!

[jongleur]

If you're in Central California in a couple of weeks,
here's a nutrition conference with the foremost
obesity MDs in the country. It's open to all:

Central Coast Nutrition Conference

[s/v Beth]

Believe me, us MD's don't know how to cure the obesity mindset. We can change the way your body works, but that is a poor substitute. No I think SS has it right. Get out and go sailing. Change your environment. Live in a country of vegetarians

[jongleur]

That was a great conference! We had fun too.

We'll probably post video of the speakers.

[Azul]

If you ask people the question "how far do you need to walk to lose one pound of weight?" the usual response is two or three miles. At 4.5 mph, an average sized adult will burn 450 kcal per hour and obviously travel 4.5 miles. Therefore the answer is roughly 35 miles to lose one pound. Simple math as many have stated before.

Many overweight, out of shape people can only manage walking at a rate that burns 200 kcal per hour which would take 17.5 hours to burn off one pound of weight, assuming they don't reward themselves with a donut for all the walking they have done. It's a very complicated problem, compounded by all the fake advertising on television that makes people think they can lose weight rapidly. Any rapid weight loss (say 5 pounds in a week) from a fad diet is related to changing salt intake, like squeezing water out of a sponge. Wonky diets and starving yourself can also cause you to lose lots of muscle mass in addition to fat. Shoot for losing one pound a week, if you can't do this you are simply eating too much. Period.

A rough guide for normal daily calorie intake is to multiply your ideal body weight in pounds by 10. Your ideal body weight is a LOT lower than you imagine, think in terms of what you weighed as a healthy high school senior student. I noticed in Belk's Department store they don't even sell adult male size small dress shirts anymore. No wonder we have a health care crisis!

If you eat an extra meal at Wendy's twice (1800 kcal) you will gain a pound. Most people in the U.S. find it easier to eat two meals at Wendy's than to walk 35 miles.

Drink lots of water as sometimes people think they are hungry when they are only thirsty. There isn't anything else magical about water.

To follow your weight, it is probably better to put a tape measure around your abdomen at the umbilicus level (called abdominal girth) than to weigh yourself daily, but do both. Over 40 inches defines obesity for a man, 35 inches for a woman. Men should make getting this measurement under 37 inches a goal because it would reduce a lot of risk for medical problems such as diabetes.

Don't skip meals, you will just have less will power when temptation arrives.

Slow metabolism? Remember all those chunky Jewish folks in the Nazi concentration camps due to their slow metabolism? Neither do I. If I could follow you around with a revolver and shoot anything out of your hand you shouldn't be eating you would lose weight in a hurry even if someone has told you a slow metabolism is the culprit.

Portion control is a problem for most people. Meat servings should be the size of a deck of cards etc. A can of green beans will make you feel a lot fuller than a small cookie, both have the same total calories. for example almonds are healthy and have been suggested as an occasional snack or meal replacement. Seven almonds is a snack, 20 is a meal replacement.

Alcoholic beverages are completely empty calories, make you hungry and more likely to vegetate than exercise. Those craft beers that are so delicious have nearly 200 kcals each. Instead of drinking a glass of water after drinking one of those, go outside and walk an extra two miles. Remember you should be walking three miles a day if you are already fit, so that means five miles. Or seven miles if you drink two.

100 kcal a day added to your regimen will result in about a pound a month, 10 pounds a year, 60 pounds in six years. It is amazing we all don't weigh 800 pounds when you think about it! For men, I think pant size creep reigns us in. When you wear out your size 32's, size 33 pants are purchased etc etc.

[Hudson Force]

Right now I'm three pounds over mule riding weight, but I don't stray too far. About ten years ago I booked a trip for Nancie and I to ride the mules to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back to the rim. They will not allow you on the mule if you weigh over 200lbs and I was over the limit with a deadline not to be wasting my reservation money. I just made the weight limit, but I had to step on the test scales on a frosty morning in my swim suit. The mule riding limit is a good weight for my height so "riding the mule" as been my mantra for the last decade. An emphasis on this limit has helped me. We don't have scales on board, but the Publix grocery stores where we shop have weight scales. Nancie always asks me if I can still ride the mule when we are shopping. Actually, I think I could ride the mule today if I was willing to shop for groceries in my swim suit!

[Azul]

It is very important to remember that it isn't "all about the weight." Mark Wahlberg was in the news today because he lost 61 pounds for a movie role, going from 196 to 135. He is only 5'8" tall (some sources say 5'6".) At 196 his body mass index or BMI would be 29.6, nearly in the obese range, yet he has a six pack abdomen.

The abdominal girth measurement is the gold standard and avoids the pitfall of not taking into consideration muscle mass, or rationalizing such as "I look good at this weight, the fat fills in all the wrinkles." It is also much easier to keep a $1 tape measure on a sailboat than a digital scale. Abdominal girth is the measurement used to determine midline obesity, one of the five factors used to diagnose metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes.

People can make good decisions if they have good information available to them. It's very simple to move more and eat less, but sometimes simple things are profound.

[jongleur]

We have now posted the first of the speakers
on Youtube. Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University
Medical Center specializing in weight management:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbwU...ature=youtu.be

[pbmaise]

A fat crew member came aboard my boat and did all kinds of testing for free!

He tested the covers to the holds. Many failed. Reinforced them.

He tested the deck areas. Found good area to reinforce.

So I got to hand it to the big guy. He saved me lots of money in testing.

One story about him you may find semi-amusing.

I always point at myself and say this is what a fat person looks like. To most American's I am very thin. However, I still have a good size roll.
I told him this is what a fat person looks like. He thought about it and then asked
well what am I. You just want me to be honest. He said yes.

Obese I answered.

That didn't go over too well. He said he was
big boned and doctors told him he was just a big guy.

He sailed with me across Pacific and stayed with me in Thailand working on the repairs. After 2 months in Thailand and working under the hot sun for so long, I called him aside and told him I have something to tell you.

Your fat.

You should have seen the tears of joy that ran down his face. He knew I meant he was no longer obese. He knew I was honest.

[Neeltje]

I lost my 6-pack in my mid 50's, replaced it by a pair of love-handles and a belly that let me know exactly where my belt should be, and went on with my life thinking that if that's all it took for women to want me for my money, so be it.