“Healthy Obesity” is Seriously Funny

(c) aliwak Fotosearch_k18013056

The term “healthy obesity” has gained some traction over the last several years, and I want to put that oxymoron to rest. When I hear it, I always ask, “What does that mean? . . . that you haven’t had a stroke or heart attack yet?” . . . that the ticking time bomb hasn’t gone off yet?
 

Just as “I’m not really that overweight, I’m big-boned” is a bunch of crap, so is being obese and healthy. The idea of ‘healthy obesity’ is a misleading concept in that obese people become progressively—and often rapidly—less healthy over time.  It is also a great rationale for someone to use when they don’t want to do the work involved to lose weight: “My doctor said I’m healthy.”  Yeah, OK.

Beauty may be skin deep. But fat deposits go all the way to your internal organs.

• It is not healthy to have organs enveloped and marinating 24/7 in visceral fat, which produces hormones and sponges up toxins, which leads to chronic inflammation.
   
• It is not healthy to have thick subcutaneous fat soaking up Vitamin D from sunlight, preventing it from getting to your bones, resulting in density loss.
   
• It is not healthy to have excessive fat promoting the over-stimulation of insulin as your body becomes more resistant to it.
   
• It is not healthy to have excess fat take up residence in your throat, shrinking your airway while you breathe and sleep, causing snoring, sleep apnea and intubation difficulties should you ever need anesthesia.
   
• It is not healthy to have excess fat affect the digestive process, resulting in acid reflux which over time can cause the cells in the esophagus to change.
   
• It is not healthy to have your skeleton carry around all that fat or to crush your feet.
   
• It is not healthy to have all that fat putting you at enormous risk for developing 13 types of cancer: breast, colon, esophagus, gall bladder, kidney, liver, meningioma (brain), multiple myeloma (blood), ovary, pancreas, stomach, thyroid and uterus.
   

I could give you so many more examples of how obesity is not healthy but, instead, I’ll ask you this question: Is there anything about this photo of visceral fat that looks healthy to you?
 

To say you’re healthy when you’re obese because you haven’t experienced any major medical issues yet . . . is like saying you’re healthy when you smoke two packs a day because you don’t show signs of pulmonary disease or lung cancer yet. 
 

If a person is obese and doesn’t care; if they like being obese, if they don’t want to make a change; if life is honky-dory for them the way it is, that’s cool. Live and let live. A person can be obese and happy. They can be successful. They can be educated. They can be rich. They can be powerful. But healthy? Not a chance.
 

When it comes to health, nothing good EVER comes from being obese, and the words ‘healthy’ and ‘obesity’ should NEVER be paired together.