Discussion Board

Great story. Thanks for sharing your journey.

way to go! I am a bit worried about my weight at 105 but I will get my blood work done in November when I go on Medicare so I will report then. I have everyone telling me I am too skinny so I am really trying to eat but it has been so hot here I haven't had much of an appetite! You look great and I am looking forward to your Star story! Congrats!

Dr. M must be very happy! I know I am happy for you!

Thanks, everyone, and OMG, I am going to share my story with Dr. M!!

Nancy, I hope that your blood work turns out OK and that your weight is good for you. Do you feel OK, and is it just folks telling you you're too thin that's bugging you? And the lack of appetite? Make sure to take care of yourself!!

it's just people telling me they are going to force feed me and that I am too thin! lol, I eat when I am hungry and as it gets cooler probably will eat more!

I just see so many people that are much larger than me and have all kinds of health problems and they are the ones that are always saying something about me losing too much weight! I feel just fine except for being older! We will see when I get my bloodwork done in November...

I look forward to your Star McDougaller story coming soon!

This makes me NUTS!!! I have a client who was doing that. I finally had to say, "You know, I don't understand why people think it's OK to tell someone they are "too thin," when if I told someone they were too FAT I'd get reamed for it!" She said she hadn't thought about it like that and hasn't done it since, thank god.

It's very annoying!

I agree!

Nancy I am sure you look perfectly healthy! People always tell me I look too thin, to which I reply "Fifty years ago I would have been considered normal, the overweight people of today would have been considered obese, etc."

A lot of the time the people telling me I am too thin are overweight and yes I agree with ETeSelle in that if I were to tell someone they were too fat I would get in trouble for it! I am sure I wont be able to keep my mouth shut forever though. Also being even moderately overweight increases your risk for so many diseases including heart disease and pretty much every type of cancer. What exactly are the risks for being underweight by today's standards? As long as women of menstruating age are continuing to menstruate I can't seem to find any adverse effects of being underweight and when I ask others - you know the people are quick to point out that I am underweight - they can't seem to name any adverse effects either! I think Jeff once said that women should not go below 10% body fat, men should not go below 5% which makes sense.

So Nancy I am sure you are just fine- it's them not you!

The problem is that so many people are now overweight that folks are getting use to seeing a fatter "normal." I was in a meeting the other day of 50 or so mostly women. I did a quick assesment--40 of the women in that room were overweight and of those, 25 or so were obese! That's a pretty high %. Very sad.

Thanks Adrienne!
I will feel better after I get the results of my blood tests in November but I feel fine right now! Haven't been to the doctor since last Oct. I think I am doing okay! Just wish I had more of an appetite!

Pain tossing clothes and replacing them! Turned cold for a few days and right now i am in pj pants with the waist turned over since I got rid of all the others, still too big on me! Was in Walmart the other day and they got the Danskin bike shorts back in so i bought another pair of black in an Xsmall and they fit just fine!

Estelle...got a funny story about the Food Bank that my friends went to. I signed up for stuff and could get up to 15 lbs of free stuff in the front room. I only got 8.4 lbs. But the funny thing was that since my other friends were much larger than me, they loaded me up with so many bags of groceries that it took 3 hours after we got home to give most of it away! Not the stuff I picked but all the stuff they added in the bags!!! i let Ed go thru it and decide what he wanted and what he didn't like but never saw so many loaves of bread and desserts!!! Everyone here at the rv park was very happy!

What is your BMI Nancy? Below 18.5 may be problematic.

not sure...last time I got on the Wii it yelled at me! Don't have a chart handy right now! Just looked it up...I am slightly under 18 right now. Oh well I will get yelled at by the doctor when I go.

I would not even worry if your BMI is a little under 18. Mine is under 18 and my doctor is not concerned at all and as long as I am menstruating neither am I. I know Jeff has said that BMI should be 18-22 but those are general guidelines. One study he cited in the optimum BMI thread showed lowest mortality with BMI of 17.5. Another found that men with BMI of < 20 did not have excess mortality regardless of age. You could always lift weights or do exercises to increase muscle mass.

Maybe the weight chart in this newsletter will be helpful:

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... weight.htm

And here is the BMI discussion in case you are interested:
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6916

thanks!

Your story is inspirational and well written.

Would you be willing to allow me to make some minor edits and, with your approval, send it out as a star mcdougaller?

Contact me at drmcdougall@drmcdougall.com

John McDougall, MD