Normal-weight-obesity

I have always been thin.  Yes my weight has fluxuated over the years but to the average person I have always been thin.  However, I haven't always been fit.  Not always healthy.  Before I started running I referred to myself as a "skinny fat person".  I was thin, at one time dieting down to my jr high weight, but without exercise.   I was winded from walking up a single flight of stairs or strolling around the block.  I looked good but I wasn't healthy.

This week in the Wall Street Journal there was an article validating my "skinny fat person" idea referring to it as "normal-weight-obesity".  The mayo clinc did a study examinging the idea that you could weight less but have a higher body fat than someone who weighed more but had a higher muscle mass therefore producing a much higher risk for heart attack and other weight related diseases than someone heavier but with a lower body fat.  Interesting.

They told a story of a woman who might be me:

"Monika Sumpter, a 34-year-old training manager at Equinox Fitness in New York City, says she once weighed 170 pounds and had a body fat percentage of "a little over 30%," a high reading. She says she lost 45 pounds with diet and some aerobic exercises, but reduced her body fat percentage only to about 25%. So, over the past 18 months, Ms. Sumpter says she added strength training and other exercise to her cardio workout. Although she has put 20 pounds back on, her body fat percentage is down to 14%, she says."

She started 10 pounds heavier than my heaviest but ended at the same weight I ended at.  I wonder what my body fat would have been when I was 125 yet never had a consistant exercise routine ever in my life.  I too have put on about 15 of those pounds and am now exercising regularly.  But I just started doing regular weight training with the body pump class.  I have been doing it consistantly twice a week for about 2 months and I really feel so much stronger.  In fact one of the instructors called my name out as being one of the "experienced" students that should do the harder moves at a recent class.  I feel so much stronger and healthier than I ever felt when I was just running.

Now I sort of wonder what my body fat is.  I have always tried to tell myself not to focus only on the number on the scale but this article really brings that home.  Some days while working out I think to myself, "do I really have to do this the rest of my life?"  I realize the answer is Yes and when I remind myself of all the reasons it is important it keeps me getting up and heading to the gym each day to find those endorphins and give me the strength and energy to get through another day. 

Plus as I stare down the barrel of 40 I realize I am entering a stage of my life where I really am at risk for things like stroke, heart disease and various cancers.  If getting up and lifting weights a few times a week keeps me healthy and alive for many years to come then it is double worth the effort.  After all, I had my first baby young and fully expect to live to see my great grandchildren.  And if they get to work maybe even a great-great grandchild???

(I know you are all thinking how intellectual I am to be reading Wall Street Journal but in fact I heard about it from one of my actually intellectual friends.)