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February 21, 2007
Health Is Not A Number On The Scale
"Is it possible, as a woman, to be too skinny?" asked Dr. Sanjay Gupta over dinner (in front of a lot of cameras and lights) on Friday night.
My answer went something like this:
Attitudes about weight are very culturally determined. I try to make my decisions about how much I should weigh based on scientific information and how I feel in my own body, not based on culturally determined ideas of what looks "right."
Most people who meet me these days don't think I'm too skinny. I still have, uh, feminine curves and plenty of body fat. But people who knew me when I was anywhere from 20 - 40 pounds heavier often think I'm too skinny now. And when you look at a population where 65% of people are overweight, half of those obese, being anything other than overweight puts you outside the mainstream.
The media likes the sensational sounding weights of some CR folks... it's very exciting to post that MR is 6 feet tall and weighs 115 pounds. But that's always taken a bit out of context: he weighed 145 pounds pre-CR, eating all the oatmeal and milk he could consume in a constant struggle to *gain* weight. Naturally skinny people will get even skinnier when they cut their calorie intake. Health is not the number on the scale. My tiny friend who weighed 90 pounds at my height but was sick every month or so is not gaining health benefits from her slightness.
I am in the habit of mentally "CR'ing" people. It's not unlike mentally undressing someone... you imagine what they would look like if they were missing an (unnecessary, in my opinion) layer. You take an already skinny guy, remove about 10% from his current calorie intake, and remove a corresponding amount of weight, and you get an even skinnier guy. And a healthier guy. Probably with better skin and hair. No excess fat, and if you assume that like all good CR folks, he'll be continuing to exercise to stay in shape, you get a guy who would be well worth mentally undressing. Take someone who tended to be a bit more plump to begin with, you might get a "normal" looking person once you mentally CR him. Personally, I like the skinny-turned-skinnier type, which explains why I only meet a man I find attractive once every few years. Lucky for me I got the best one! The pickins are slim, when what you want is skinny and geeky and you're in the market for something over thirty. Or rather, the pickins are rapidly gaining weight. With the obesity epidemic and the increasing popularity of laser vision correction, there are very few skinny guys with glasses left to lust after. I ran into one awhile back and it was downright distracting.
But before you all figure out that this whole CR thing is just a plot to get more men to conform to my ideal of physical perfection, onward to my point:
If you feel good, you are comfortable with the way you look (which doesn't mean it has to be ideal -- MR would prefer to be heavier if aesthetics were all that are at issue, but lucky for me, he's willing to compromise on his perception of looks because he wants to take his calories as low as he comfortably can), you're happy with your energy level, your quality of life is what you want it to be, you're doing your bone building exercise (you know who you are!) and your bloodtests are coming back great, then the number on the scale doesn't matter.
There's a great deal of psychological significance to certain numbers. Robin was concerned recently when she went below 100 as a result of an illness. I know I've always gotten a little nervous as I near the double digits. But the fact remains: health is not measured in weight. There are healthy thin people and unhealthy thin people. If you're healthy, and you're not anorexic, and your nutrition kicks some skinny butt, then I don't see any reason to worry about the numbers on the scale (as long as you're not losing weight too fast.)
MR rarely goes below 115 because he finds that's a weight and calorie level where he has all the physical strength he needs (enough to carry me around, do some serious exercise that keeps his gorgeous arm muscles gorgeous, and carry all of our groceries, including giant bales of cat liter). I don't know where I would bottom out... I've never gotten close to a weight where I felt like I was too skinny, and most people who have seen me would agree. My philosophy has always been that I'll take my calories as low as I can comfortably go, where comfortably means a) I feel great b) I'm not too hungry c) I'm still able to work in *occasional* eating out at really fabulous restaurants (but not frequent eating out at crappy restaurants!) It's the calories that count, not the weight. CR, it bears repeating, is not about weight loss, though weight loss is a side effect.
I think that those of us who start a little on the heavy side are the lucky ones because we get to enjoy weight loss! For anyone who has ever been even a touch overweight, you know what weight bias feels like. It's quite a revelation to become one of the thin girls. I was never much overweight, but I was always just a touch too plump for fashion. It's wonderful to be liberated from the demon of "Do I look fat?"
But in the end, if I get a bit too thin for fashion, I can live with it.
One thing I will never let determine my weight is the negative statements of people who see someone who controls her calories and is thin and scream "ANOREXIA!" There are some ignorant people out there (reality check: anorexia affects less than 1.5% of adolescent girls -- 65% of the adult population is overweight or obese! a little perspective please!) I get so mad when I hear about people picking on my bloggiegirlfriends about their weight. Don't let the naysayers get you down! If you're healthy (and that means getting your nutrition, doing your exercise, and monitoring your bloodtests) then tell those people to choke on a tofu macadamia nut smoothie.
In the meantime, I continue to gradually lower my calories. I've increased my exercise enough that my weight is remaining relatively stable, but if past patterns hold, it will probably drop a couple of pounds at some point soon. I'm feeling great, munching on a little 50 calorie pack of dried blueberries that MR made for me, and wondering whether or not I'll faint at my upcoming blood test.
I believe it was Twiggy who said, "You can never be too rich or too thin." As a CR'd union organizer, I disagree. If you got your wealth by exploiting others, you're too rich. If you got to be thin by starving yourself and being malnourished, you're too thin. But if you're doing what every CR'er should be doing (getting optimal nutrition, doing cardio and bone building exercise, getting your bloodtests and monitoring your health) you can be quite thin and extremely healthy. Healthier than those folks who say, "Eeeek! You're too thin!"
Health is feeling great every day of your life, so much so that you can't believe how you felt before. Health is having the energy to do what you want to do, knowing that you won't get sick with every bug that rotates through the office, and that you're very unlikely to end up in the cardiac care unit. Health is feeling good about yourself, whether your "skinny" or not.
Health is not a number on the scale.
Posted by april at February 21, 2007 8:17 AM
Comments
RIDE ON, April!
I espcially agree with your statement that if you make money by exploiting people then you're too rich and if you lose weight by starving then you're too thin....
Also - I wanted to tell you that not only do we seem to think alike about food issues, religious and leftist issues - we definitely have the same taste in men. Scott recently got glasses and I wanted to melt when I saw him wearing them.... :)
Posted by: joanna at February 21, 2007 11:50 AM
April, great answer to a question that seems innocent enough -- but the response can be slanted greatly depending upon the outlook of the person asking the question.
You're wise to always champion health above all else.
Al
Posted by: Al Nye at February 21, 2007 11:52 AM
I'm not sure that it was Twiggy at all. That quote has been attributed to Wallis Simpson (Dutchess of Windsor), Diana Vreeland (former editor of Vogue) and Morgan Fairchild. Regardless of who said it, it is applicable.
Posted by: Gina at February 21, 2007 12:56 PM
Thanks so much for this post. It seems like lately a lot of people around me seem to want to comment on how I look and how much I weigh. When I try to explain that *I* feel happy and healthy where I am, and that the number on the scale doesn't matter that much, they keep trying to convince me I have 'issues.' Amazingly, my 'issues' usually present themselves when I refuse to share dessert or have a second helping of something.
Posted by: Rachel at February 21, 2007 2:23 PM
The silly statement, "You can never be too rich or too thin" was made by Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. She was was the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor. The desire of the Duke, as King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, to marry the then Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée, caused a constitutional crisis in the United Kingdom and the British Empire which ultimately led to his abdication in order to marry "the woman I love". There now. Another bit of silly British trivia for you! JD ;-)
Posted by: Judith at February 21, 2007 2:54 PM
The silly statement, "You can never be too rich or too thin" was made by Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. She was was the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor. The desire of the Duke, as King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, to marry the then Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée, caused a constitutional crisis in the United Kingdom and the British Empire which ultimately led to his abdication in order to marry "the woman I love". There now. Another bit of silly British trivia for you! JD ;-)
Posted by: Judith at February 21, 2007 3:24 PM
I read that naturally obese mice put on 40% CR or so end up with all the health benefits including an extended life, but appear to be at a normal weight. I think that's really telling - it truly is the calories that count. A CR'd individual will be under his or her set-point weight, but that may or may not "look skinny" to others.
Posted by: emily at February 21, 2007 3:26 PM
Great post, April.
It's so true - CRON isn't about weight, it's about health. And what matters with CRON is not the number on the scale but the number of calories you consume.
That said, I *do* sometimes wonder if there's a minimum weight below which I dare not go. My restriction is so mild and I'm right around 100 pounds - thinner than I've ever been in my adult life. What would happen if I restricted more? I feel like there must be some point at which it would become dangerous for me to get any skinnier, though I'm not sure exactly what the danger would be if I were getting all my nutrition. Maybe it's irrational. I don't know.
A lot of my fears about going below 100 have to do with this vague feeling about some hypothetical minimum. 100 is just a convenient but completely arbitrary cut-off. But where *should* I draw the line? 90? 80? At some point I would have to stop or I would just disappear, I fear.
So you're right - health isn't a number on a scale. But I still wonder - is there a point at which weighing so little has some sort of negative impact on health? Could it actually negate the positive benefits of CRON? Is there any evidence - even in mice - that there's a minimum weight that must be maintained in order to reap the benefits of CRON?
I wonder.
-R
Posted by: Robin at February 22, 2007 8:56 AM
Robin,
I think that for women who are of childbearing age and actually interested in bearing children, an easy marker is whether or not you've hit amenorrhea. If you haven't, then I can't imagine what there would be to worry about (given nutrition, bone building exercise, etc.)
Interestingly enough, in the rodent experiments, the amenorrheic (new word?) girl rats, when refed after rat years of CR, started having liters of baby rats after their age matched non-CR'd litermates were elderly or dead. So who knows... maybe I'll decide I want kids at 70 or something. (JUST KIDDING MR!!!!! No rugrats for us! Maybe an iguana?)
For older women or women who don't want kids, the question becomes more complicated. But I do think that us itsy bitsy petite little things can get a whole lot lighter than would sound "normal" to most people since we're just so short and small framed.
Have you ever had your body fat tested? Might be interesting to know.
MR's cut off is all about physical strength. He could go lower on calories and still be comfortable, but he chooses not to. He wants to be able to open the jam jar and carry about the girlfriend.
a
Posted by: April at February 22, 2007 9:06 AM
At what % body fat for the rats did the amenorrhea cut in ?
Is it actually possible to measure the % body fat of rats anyway ?
Posted by: Lindsay at February 22, 2007 9:12 AM
Maybe MR can correct me on this, but in the medical litriture i've read the point where organs have a significant chance of failing is at a BMI of 11 for women and BMI of 13 for men. For whatever reason, this is whats called the 'critical weight' in that you are in danger. Although this is in anorectics or others that are starving of both calories and important macro/micro nutrients.
Posted by: matt - uk at February 22, 2007 2:00 PM
Thank you again April for such a wonderful and supportive column!!! I have GREAT GREAT news -- I am VERY thin and was diagnosed with osteopenia at the young age of 40 -- and I thought it might be because of my nutrition.... this coupled with all the comments I also get about how thin I am all the time really made me question my CR --- BUT in the last year I started to exercise and this year my bone density has IMPROVED!!! So sometimes it may not be the nutrtional component for those of us ladies who are small - but the exercise is just as important. (Plus I started to take Strontium THANKS to MR and April's wisdom!! - so that may have helped too!!).
THANKS April - you are awesome!
Posted by: Irit Gat at February 22, 2007 2:32 PM
I know when I finally saw videos of you two... you don't look like Prison Camp people or anything. You both look absolutely fantastic. People in America it seems are just so used to everybody looking so plump that anyone who is even close to being "skinny"... it sticks out. But I wouldn't even say you two were skinny. More like slender.
Posted by: Jake Silver at February 23, 2007 5:48 AM
Jake, MR is skinny. He was always very thin, from the time he was very little. He is a true ectomorph. He has also always been very healthy. I was really worried about him for a long time after he began losing weight as a result of following CR. However, he is just so damned healthy (both in terms of never getting sick and objective data from his blood tests, etc) that my concerns are now minor. April, on the other hand, is not skinny at all! She is really slender but very "girly", curvy and huggable! MoMR :-)
Posted by: Judith at February 23, 2007 10:08 AM
Thanks Jake!
For the record, MR is huggable too, though not curvy or girly. And he doesn't really let very many people hug him, but I can, whenever I want!
I am very huggable, but only by certain people. Friends, family, cats, mountain lions, iguanas, snakes, and skinny guys with glasses.
a
Posted by: April at February 23, 2007 11:52 AM