Why must it be?

[sascraps]

So I've been on this site called DailyBurn for about a week now, which I found after doing a search for something similar to what one of my facebook friends has been doing from her phone... Although I don't own a fancy phone that can use special apps or post things to the internet. But I noticed one of my friends has a work out app that posts her exercises to facebook and I wanted something similar to "brag" for me and help motivate me to continue fitting in some exercise every day. But it's a good thing DailyBurn doesn't update to facebook, because they INSIST you select male or female as your gender. Everything else can be left blank, but oh no, we have to know for a fact what's between your legs or what isn't! Grrr! And since I'm not 100% out yet... I don't know. I changed it to male anyway. My feed from previous days still has the female pronouns in it. Somehow I got a slight chuckle from thinking, "Let people be confused! Hah!"

[tekla]

I would imagine that the height/weight tables are different for male bodies than for female bodies.

[Lee]

Yeah, it's different when calculating calorie expenditure, but it still sucks to have to put down female. 

[sascraps]

I really just want to be a regular guy though, and go through life without the negative he-she comments, any question, anyone insisting that I need to present as female, and even without having to inform everyone I meet that I wasn't born a guy. 

And I want to be a mechanic though, I really do, because it pays above minimum wage and it's not a job where you have to be completely social and chatty. (I'm very much a quiet person IRL.) But I feel a little discouraged on that, not only because there aren't any real schools where I live to train as a mechanic, but I'm terribly not good with my hands at all. I'm sort of hoping that will improve with weight loss. Like maybe I'll be able to be steadier, concentrate better, and not fumble around because I'm paranoid that people are watching the fatty attempting hard labor and laughing at my awkwardness.

I was horribly uncoordinated all around as a kid, and the ability to walk without falling finally set in at about 14, and at maybe around age 26, I've been able to move my fingers independently much better, but still not fast enough to play guitar, but I have hope that my coordination will continue to develop.  (And yes that means I once wasn't able to flip someone off.) 

But yeah, I want to be just another guy out there.

[sascraps]

I would imagine that the height/weight tables are different for male bodies than for female bodies.

Yeah, a 5'5" man is supposed to be like 125 lbs, and a woman 100 lbs. 

[Mika]

That's a bummer about the app. Wish it at least would keep it off the feed :/

Hey sascraps, you might benefit from being more fat positive Big is beautiful, and fat phobic people can go to hell. I can relate to wanting to lose weight when for personal comfort and preference, but make sure you don't let society dictate how you view your body, and it's for you. This might be random, but my partner is a self-identified big girl, and she's sexy as hell. When society deems someone as "not attractive," it's an appropriation of diverse attractions and simply hateful and not true.

Also, I don't know if you'd be interested, but if you aren't out on facebook as male and would prefer "they" rather than female pronouns in the news feed, here's a video on how to change it. I did it and it worked, though it probably wouldn't apply to this app.

http://queerkidjess.tumblr.com/post/6061726188/if-anyone-is-looking-for-how-to-change-your-pronouns-to

[Lee]

Hey Mikah, thanks for bringing up that video.  I know pronouns on facebook comes up fairly often here.  If you don't mind, I'm going to post this video as a new topic.

[Mika]

Yeah, a new thread would be good, I bet it'd be helpful fr a fair amount of people. If you could link to the tumblr page, rather than the video directly, it might be good for those who use tumblr and would like to reblog.

[Lee]

Can do

[sascraps]

Female bodies, by virtue of naturally having less muscle, burn less calories than a male body. So if you input male, they'll tell you to eat more calories, which could stunt your weight loss quite significantly, and also it would overestimate your exercise needs, telling you that you burned more than you actually did.

For example, I'm female-bodied, not on T, so this is how it would affect someone of my size:

Female: 5'4", age 22, 180 lbs, sedentary lifestyle: I burn 1870 a day just by living.

Male: 5'4", age 22, 180 lbs, sedentary lifestyle: i burn 2070 a day just by living.

So there's about half a pound a week difference right there. Just basic; that doesn't include exercise differences either. I'd type that in too but my pet is on the keyboard trying to eat my fingers.

Wow really? Where did you find that out? You can burn 1870 calories a day doing nothing? I thought you had to work out all day long in order to "burn more calories than you consume", because sitting on your butt not working out doesn't burn a single calorie???

[Lee]

That is the basal metabolic rate or the number of calories your body spends in a day just keeping itself running.  When you exercise your body requires more calories than this number.

[sascraps]

That's a bummer about the app. Wish it at least would keep it off the feed :/

Hey sascraps, you might benefit from being more fat positive Big is beautiful, and fat phobic people can go to hell. I can relate to wanting to lose weight when for personal comfort and preference, but make sure you don't let society dictate how you view your body, and it's for you. This might be random, but my partner is a self-identified big girl, and she's sexy as hell. When society deems someone as "not attractive," it's an appropriation of diverse attractions and simply hateful and not true.

Also, I don't know if you'd be interested, but if you aren't out on facebook as male and would prefer "they" rather than female pronouns in the news feed, here's a video on how to change it. I did it and it worked, though it probably wouldn't apply to this app.

http://queerkidjess.tumblr.com/post/6061726188/if-anyone-is-looking-for-how-to-change-your-pronouns-to

I am fat-positive! I've actually always been attracted to big men. But if I seem like I'm against being fat, I'm really not. It's just that in this area, around WV/PA/MD/OH (as a lot of fat women here will try crossing state borders in hopes of employment), well they just do not hire overweight women around here. I've never had a job because of it, and I have a computer degree. If I could have gone for a job with a male name, I might have gotten something. But they only hire the minimum amount of women & minorities that they need to by law - 1 person per 15 employees. So that 1 woman has to be a bombshell to get a job around here. And I want nothing more than to get the money to get out of here, so I have to get down to a size that might be accepted by an employer. I think it will help loads if/when I can get the money to legally change my name. I could get away with being a big boy but to be known as female, no, they won't hire a chunky girl.

So it's just as much a practicality of getting the hell out of WV as it is for myself, because I do want to be tougher and to not be seen as a wuss and a pushover, and to not feel that way either because I do feel slowed down about 10% because of my size (even though people think I must be 100% immobile due to my size).

[sascraps]

That is the basal metabolic rate or the number of calories your body spends in a day just keeping itself running.  When you exercise your body requires more calories than this number.

Ok, really, no one's ever told me that. I found a calculator online. So I burn 2362.7 calories a day just existing? That would explain why I'm not 500 lbs, the way I used to eat. lol I've dropped from an average of 2500 calories a day (and that was on a dieting-but-liberal diet) down to averaging 1600 calories a day. I've lost 8 lbs in the past 18 days. Is that too fast, too slow, or just right?

[Mika]

I am fat-positive! I've actually always been attracted to big men. But if I seem like I'm against being fat, I'm really not. It's just that in this area, around WV/PA/MD/OH (as a lot of fat women here will try crossing state borders in hopes of employment), well they just do not hire overweight women around here. I've never had a job because of it, and I have a computer degree. If I could have gone for a job with a male name, I might have gotten something. But they only hire the minimum amount of women & minorities that they need to by law - 1 person per 15 employees. So that 1 woman has to be a bombshell to get a job around here. And I want nothing more than to get the money to get out of here, so I have to get down to a size that might be accepted by an employer. I think it will help loads if/when I can get the money to legally change my name. I could get away with being a big boy but to be known as female, no, they won't hire a chunky girl.

So it's just as much a practicality of getting the hell out of WV as it is for myself, because I do want to be tougher and to not be seen as a wuss and a pushover, and to not feel that way either because I do feel slowed down about 10% because of my size (even though people think I must be 100% immobile due to my size).

Good to hear  I must have gotten the wrong impression from comments of yours I've seen around, thought I'd say something in case it was relevant. Sounds like a really crappy situation where you are  I hope you can get out as soon as possible.

[sascraps]

Thanks! But yeah, I always have tried to stand up for fat acceptance, both for women and men. But yeah, there is a lot of discrimination out there, and women are especially judged on looks alone much of the time. And still, even though I'm trying to lose 100+ lbs, I don't aspire to be tiny and I will never understand the world's obsession with tininess. I think of bigness as manliness, strength, and capability. Extremely thin people seem so frail. I rather like my physical strength and wouldn't mind at all being 200-250 lbs. In fact, 200 is my lean weight, because yes, I am that massively muscular. If you could peel the fat off me, I'd be so buff I wouldn't need the gym.  Though I have been told that I could get down to 180, accounting for muscle loss that I might lose if I did lose 100+ lbs of fat and my body no longer required such power to heave itself around. lmao

[Nikolai_S]

Hey sascraps, you might benefit from being more fat positive Big is beautiful, and fat phobic people can go to hell. I can relate to wanting to lose weight when for personal comfort and preference, but make sure you don't let society dictate how you view your body, and it's for you. This might be random, but my partner is a self-identified big girl, and she's sexy as hell. When society deems someone as "not attractive," it's an appropriation of diverse attractions and simply hateful and not true.

It's not that I don't understand and appreciate the sentiment, because I don't think it's society's right to decide what is or isn't attractive, and I personally think some bigger people are really hot. But being overweight can have serious health repercussions. If your BMI is above an ideal range, it is a good idea to try to lose weight. Just like it's a good idea to try to gain weight if it's below a healthy range. And no amount of positive self image can change that fact.

That being said, I'm from the PA/WV border area and notice the average weight in the general population is fairly well reflected in employees, and in WV I think the obesity rate is well above the national average, so I'm kind of surprised that OP is running into any more problems than he might elsewhere in the country. Although I think at the level of morbid obesity employment anywhere might have some prejudices to deal with, and I don't know where you fall. Are there any studies that have been done on employment discrimination in the area as opposed to nationally?

[justmeinoz]

To fat is purely a health issue. I am on the thin side but because I chose the wrong parents I have high cholesterol and have to watch what I eat, rather than how much.
If you workout and lose fat, maybe wearing a T-shirt or similar to job interviews so they can see you are muscular would help. Especially for a manual job like a mechanic. Despite all the electronics in modern vehicles they still have to lift things.
Good Luck, Karen.
PS you can send any unwanted boob my way!

[tekla]

The trouble with being overweight is not the strength issue as much as its the stamina issue.

Potential employers, aside from issues like 'public image', see obesity as a money losing item under insurance for reasons of diabetes, hypertension and heart problems.


Then there is this stuff:
June 29, 2010 -- Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, with the No. 1 ranking going to Mississippi, where 33.8% of adults are obese, according to a new report, "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2010."

Other major findings in the report:

38 states have adult obesity rates above 25%. (No state had an obesity rate above 20% in 1991.)
10 of the 11 states with the highest rates of obesity are in the South.

The number of states where obesity rates exceed 30% has doubled in the past year, from four to eight -- Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

19.1% of people in Colorado are obese, the lowest rate of any state.

The number of adults who report they do not engage in any physical activity rose in 12 states in the past year.

Adult obesity rates for African-Americans and Latinos are higher than obesity rates for whites in at least 40 states and the District of Columbia.

Among adults who did not graduate from high school, 33.6% were obese, compared to 22% with college degrees.

12% of high school students are obese and 15.8% are overweight.

10 of the 11 states with the highest rates of diabetes are in the South, as are the 10 states with the highest rates of hypertension.

High rates of obesity are associated with lower incomes, race, ethnicity, and less education, according to the report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

So you are seen as less educated, and far less healthy.

[Brendon]

If your BMI is above an ideal range, it is a good idea to try to lose weight. J

This is not necessarily true. The BMI is a busted system. If you google "BMI NPR" the first link should be NPRs article about it. My favourite part is "The person who dreamed up the BMI said explicitly that it could not and should not be used to indicate the level of fatness in an individual", which is exactly what people try to use it for. 

The BMI does not take into account the fact that muscle weighs more than fat. It could be telling you you're obese, when really you're just muscular.

[Thrall]

i suggest you go on at least 2000 kcal diet. and if you exercise you might want to increase this number to 2250.
it's because if you get less, (it depends on the body, but about 1800-1700 might be the limit) your body gets the signal: "omg starvation!!11!1" and starts saving energy. that means, metabolism rate is slowed down. the first weeks and even months you might actually lose a lot weight, but later you just stop, and then even if you slightly increase the food taken, or have a piece of cheesecake "just this once", every single calorie is converted to body fat. not mentioning cravings, pms-like mood and memory going worse.

i completely understand, that you wish to drop the fat asap, so do i. but we didn't get fat in few months. in my case, it took several years. reversing the effect might take at least half of this time.


EDIT: this might be slightly offtopic, but i just wanted to say, start the daily contrast (hot-cold-hot-cold) showers right now. it's the only way to prevent having a loose skin after the weight loss.