Quote from: Nygeel on August 31, 2011, 07:26:29 AM
Honestly weight is not a determining factor of health. It's that mindset that really messes people up. There was a tv show called bull ->-bleeped-<-. They created an athletic event featuring a guy considered obese, and others that were "normal" weight. They had to run around a track and do other activities, all of which the obese guy did the best.
I'm fairly okay with my size. I don't think I would look less curvy if I lost weight since my body fat would likely be lost proportional to my current shape.
I saw that episode, and that's oversimplifying it, really. I love Penn and Teller, but they're not exactly un-biased. The 'obese' guy wasn't really obese, they were just exploiting the stupidity that is the BMI scale. That guy was mostly muscle, built like an off-season football player (I believe he said he used to be an athlete even), he just had a gut, like most men do when they're above 15% body fat.
The fact of the matter is, that the more fat you have, the more your heart has to work to get blood to all that extra tissue that has no function. No cardiologist will tell you that being significantly overweight is healthy, because it just isn't. I'm not saying that there's no healthy obese people, just that they'd be healthier and less at risk for a myriad of problems if they lost weight.
I'm not some skinny guy who was always skinny either, encouraging people to lose weight when I've no idea how hard it is. I was 245 pounds about 2 and a half years ago, and I'm only 5'5".
http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h393/bahzi/beforeweightloss.jpg (boy, that's embarrassing, but there you go)
Due to depression and psychiatric medications, I gained over a hundred pounds over the course of several years. It was the prospect of transition and wanting to look good once I did that helped me get the weight off. After a bit more than a year I was 130 pounds, and although now I'm around 135, I'm trimmer and have more muscle, and only 10% body fat.
Jay, it's true that boobs aren't going to simply disappear with weight loss, but mine look distinctly out of place now with my pectoral muscles above them, and somehow that's comforting to me. They look like I just lost a bunch of weight, not so much like a female. I do think it'll help with surgery results too, even I can see where the muscle is behind the skin and little bit of breast tissue, and also, working out helps with blood supply to the area, always good for nerve re-growth and healing.
About the binding issue, I find that now that I've lost a lot of weight, binding is much, much easier. It's mostly loose skin, so they'll mash down better and it doesn't hurt to bind at all. Back when I was obese, binding was kind of painful because they weren't very pliable, heh. The muscle I've gained keeps tight binders from hurting my ribs, and I've got enough upper body strength to put on a tri-top with one hand(discovered that when I injured the left arm awhile back).
You can do it man, and Squirrel's right- baby steps. I did an intense diet and workout regimen to start, and lose 50 pounds in 3 months, but it also affected my health and gave me some reproductive issues (FYI, estrogen is stored in fat cells, so if you're prone to endometriosis or ovarian cysts, drastic, quick weight loss can make it worse, I wish someone had warned me.) A much better way of doing it is just making some alterations to your diet to include less fat, more protein, less refined sugars, and starting a light exercise routine. No need to hit the treadmill right away and injure your knees or put too much strain on yourself, but some light weight lifting, power walking, or if you've access to a gym, elliptical machine can help you get it off in a more healthy, less life altering way.
You can do it. If you can go through with transition, you can lose weight, it takes the same kind of resolve.
