Fat Girl Gone Healthy

According to a study just published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (find the news article here),  being a little overweight may help extend your life.  The study concluded that being overweight was associated with approximately a 6% decreased risk of death. Critics say the study focuses on BMI and doesn’t address other issues that affect quality of life.

I try to take these studies that pop in and out of the news with a grain of salt. First, I think the study might be on to something but I don’t there is much information that’s concrete.   Second, I find the whole BMI thing to be a load of crap.  Maybe it’s because I will never manage to get my BMI into the healthy range and I’m jealous.  Ha!  In any case, I know people with a normal BMI and I could run circles around them in the gym.  My BMI tells me that I’m obese yet I’m in the best shape of my life and feel great.   I hope to get that into the overweight category but it doesn’t drive my decisions to lead a healthy lifestyle.

So what’s the lesson to be learned?  Use your BMI as an indicator of where you should be but don’t treat it black and white.  A few extra pounds probably isn’t going to kill you.  Focus on being healthy and if you are meant to be skinny, that will fall into place.