Are you OVERWEIGHT? And does this matter?

Are you overweight?

The landscape has changed a lot with this topic in the time since I had a proper job and when I started in this PT/Nutrition game! (wink emoji)

Social media has us looking at ridiculously ripped individuals, telling us they are in the best ‘shape’ of their lives and you can be too, if you send £29.99 pcm!

But they don’t go into the lifestyle, the dedication and restriction it takes to get there!

Or the PED’s!!

Then we have the body positivity movement, and elements here claiming such a thing as ‘health at every size’ and you need to love your body, whatever level of body fat you are.

But what about the increased risk of a multitude of illnesses and diseases that come with higher levels of fat mass?

Now, as a rational person/people, most of the time, I/we/you can objectively deduce there has to be a middle ground, right?

Yes, there is!

I’ll come back to the title of this piece in a moment, but in the meantime let’s talk about single figure body fat percentage.

It takes A LOT of effort to get into single figures when losing fat and to be honest, from a health perspective, totally unnecessary. It is purely for an aesthetic look and after a certain point has no bearing on health. In fact, if body fat gets too low, it is unhealthy. Mr Olympia is not at his health peak when he gets on stage, he is at his leanest, there is a difference.

The notion you are in great ‘shape’ and the inference you are at your healthiest when your skin is as thin a tracing paper, is simply not the case. Getting super lean requires huge dedication and hard work, but also comes with some risks. There are real psychological considerations to be aware of when trying to get extremely lean:

• High rates of weight and shape preoccupation, extreme body modification practices, binge eating, and bulimia nervosa reported among male competitive body builders – (Goldfield et al 2006)
• Competitive female body builders share many features with women with bulimia nervosa – (Goldfield 2009)

As said, getting shredded is about the look, not the health. If this is your goal then have at it, just be aware there are risks to having ‘shredded’ goals. Be careful who you follow or aspire to be like on ‘The Gram’!!! Maybe a few Body Fat points higher and a sustainable more ‘normal’ lifestyle would be a better proposition. Think ‘Athletic’ over ‘Shredded’.

‘Shredded’ isn’t health focused, it’s getting lean focused.

At the other end and more on the title, we have higher body fat levels and where does this sit as far as health is concerned? And the question: Are you overweight?

When I first started out, I had a few biases to being overweight that admittedly, looking back, didn’t serve my clients as well as I would now. I was all about slow and steady weight loss and getting within a range of body fat that the standard norm charts deem ‘Normal’.

Now while that is still very much part of my service delivery for some clients, I have softened the edges towards other methods as my continued learning has become more in depth and my skills have developed.

And I find there is a modicum of truth in the ‘health at every size’ doctrine!

Let’s be clear, having excess body fat does, without a doubt, bring higher risk to developing disease and illness. Furthermore, obesity and its related conditions are killers of many, many people every year, costs billions to the NHS and is totally preventable. However, if the standard norm charts place you in the overweight bracket, but you are showing no sign of ill health or indication that health is being affected in any way, are you overweight?

Good health is not just about physical movement (Physical health) and good nutrition (Nutritional health). It is also about having a decent social group (Social health), being mentally stimulated (Intellectual health) and having good self-esteem (Psychological health).

Dieting to the extreme and weight gain to the extreme are clearly not good for you. But if you are allowing a weight goal to impact on the other facets to health mentioned above, in a negative way, are you healthy?

If you are carrying some excess weight, enjoy social time, in a job you enjoy, active and have no negative health implications resulting from some additional ballast, do you have anything to worry about?

Are you being pressurised by societal interpretations of health on social media etc to influence you to achieve a physique you do not need or want, because the fitness industry skews the norm to fit a narrative that health = abs all year round?

Would it not be better to enjoy your lifestyle in a balanced way maintaining health and be happy with yourself, even if that means a few extra pounds?

For a few, cutting weight to single figures, starving yourself and risking poor relationships with food and potential eating disorders is worth it for the look. And that is totally fine.

For others, the ‘non-dieters’ who promote ‘health at every level’ that’s fine. Until it impacts on health, then it’s not! Then you need to wind your necks in and lose a few pounds!

For the rest of us we need to find the balance, the sweet spot. In the main, ideally look to follow healthy lifestyle factors, but also allow for some time when you are not so ‘health’ seeking. If you are happy with how you look, have no health issues and are happy, who are we to advise you to lose some weight because you; ‘Have to have a BMI of <25’!

When weight becomes an issue at either end of the spectrum, something needs to be done, whatever the issue, whether it’s for psychological, physiological or any other reason. Weight gain, being overweight and obesity, for many people, is a huge struggle lasting many years. It is a highly in-depth problem that is not helped by a skewed view of health and what a normal body looks like, by an industry that ‘should’ be shining a light on what normal is, but sadly isn’t.  

Good health and being in good health has more than a few sides, which are not just about activity levels and food intake, but also cover mental, social and intellectual elements to our everyday lives!

If carrying a few pounds keeps you in good health overall, have at it! If, and when you want those pounds gone, book yourself into the gym and we’ll help. Click here.

Otherwise just book in to the gym and be active… either way, achieving sustainable good overall health and all that means should be our goal. Get that right and all the rest falls into place nicely.

Big luv

DT