Does obesity have meaning anymore?
I’ve been overweight for my entire adult life, and obesity is a word that gets thrown around a lot when discussing weight. It’s one that is meant to have a specific meaning, but is as hollow and vague as overweight these days. And it’s the more upsetting sounding of the two, and so a lot of folks have a strong aversion to being called obese, even if it is clinically correct. But I think it’s really a problem of messaging. I’ve just now gone from Obese class III to Obese class II. I both feel like celebrating that and I still need to acknowledge that I cannot stop and smell the flowers here. I need to be visitor here at this weight category. I won’t even be considered less than obese until I’m under 200 pounds, something I’m not sure is possible at this point. I’ll keep working my way down there, but my meal plan is what it is at this point and the calorie deficit is less and less deficient every day. I won’t be considered “Normal” weight until 169 pounds, and that just seems silly actually. I haven’t been that weight since middle school probably. It sounds like a child’s weight to me because it was for me. I have no idea what weight I will settle at.
Obesity is on the rise. Severe obesity (BMI of 40+) is trending upward at a slightly lower rate, but that’s where I lived for many years. Now that I am in the regular obesity classes, I just feel like the language we use about these issues makes no sense. It does nothing to explain to a person like me that at 150 pounds heavier, it is hard to lift your legs and it might be hard to walk in a place that requires stepping over things. I have no such problem now. I used to think I had wide feet. Apparently I had fat feet. There’s such a world of difference between being 420 pounds and 257 pounds, but all of the health data lumps the two in together. It’s too broad.
[Walk #116]
