Which Helps You Live Longer--Being Thin Or Being Fit?
Prospective new clients have told me from time to time, "I want to get in shape but I want to lose some weight first...."
That's a huge mistake!
From a longevity point of view, being in shape is far more predictive of a long, healthy life than being slim.
A meta-analysis of nearly 400,000 people found that being out of shape doubled or tripled the risk of dying prematurely, regardless of age or body mass index.
An aerobically fit person with obesity was about half as likely to die young as someone with normal weight but low aerobic fitness.
We all want to like the way we look but the good news is that just a little exercise can drop our health risks while we're working on that beach body.
Can we be healthy and overweight?
People with obesity are at greater risk for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, dementia, and overall more likely to die at a younger age than people of normal weight.
The Washington Post reported that being fit and active changes the equation.
Without weight loss, exercise dropped the risk of premature death by about 30%--roughly double the gains from weight loss by dieting!
Not surprisingly, the study found that obesity was strongly linked to mortality. People with obesity were about 3 times more likely to have died prematurely than fit people whose BMI was normal.
But people of normal weight who were unfit were about twice as likely to have died young as people with obesity who qualified as fit.
The study's senior author said, “From a statistical standpoint, fitness largely eliminated the risk of early death from obesity-related conditions."
Activity is easier to control than weight loss
It's easier to feel like you have control over your destiny when your focus is on activity instead of the scale.
The study's author suggested that simply adding brisk walks or any exertion that’s strenuous enough that you can talk but not sing improves fitness.
Focus should be on the things we know we should be doing: eating diets higher in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protein; getting regular physical activity, and spending time outdoors.
Some people have medically healthy obesity
These people are typically women who carry most of their fat in their lower body and have a narrow waist. Their bodies are sensitive to insulin and their fat tissue seems to function in a protective way.
Compared to people with metabolically unhealthy obesity, they have higher levels of physical fitness and lower body fat percentages.
While obesity might be "medically healthy," people with MHO still may face the consequences of carrying a large body mass over the years, such as sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gastroesophageal reflux, and urinary incontinence.
The latest obesity research offers a hopeful message—that health isn’t just about the number on the scale.