Doctors going over the top or not?

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I know someone that was 6ft feet tall and had a heart attack because he weighed 210 pounds. He was told by doctors to lose weight after his heart attack. When he got down to 173 pounds doctors told him he had to lose another 5 pounds and get to 168 lbs.


Do you think the doctors are getting a bit over the top telling him he has to go down to 168 pounds or not?

The man is in his 50s.

depending on his frame type, that equates to a BMI of 22.8, which is smack dab in the middle of the healthy range from 18 to 25. if the man is slight of frame [like me] most docs would err on the side of caution and recommend a lower BMI than somebody who is muscular or big-boned.

BMI isn't exactly reliable.

I was 24-25 bmi and within a normal BMI marginally but I had like 26% body fat according to my scale and pretty chubby...

I'm probably under weight now according to bmi and I currently have around 16% body fat but I'm still a little on the chubby side.

I probably need to drop down to 12% body fat to have a normal average body which likely puts me in anorexic territory on the bmi scale...


Just because you look fit doesn't mean you are either.

you can be over weight and still have a better fitness level than someone who's slim

my BMI is around 23 but I am what is called "skinnyfat." IOW I can't seem to get my body fat below 15% or so.

I am 5'7 and 140 lbs.

What's my body frame?

http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthywe ... lator.aspx

For women, allow 100 lbs for the first 5 feet and 5lbs for each additional inch. For men, allow 110 lbs for the first 5 feet and 5 lbs for each additional inch. so by that metric you are close to a proper weight.

What is skinny fat? I'm just fat fat. Skinny fat sounds better.

It's what you get when an unmovable object meets an irresistible force.

skinnyfat means you generally lack fast-twitch muscle fiber, have a relatively high bodyfat percentage [even if not technically overweight] and have generally poor muscle tone. a lot of that is a comorbid with AS. fat fat and skinny fat are both unhealthy.

I never really though of it like that before. Interesting.

starkid - funny!

Docs are nutters.

My dad has had heart attacks and a stroke. They want his cholesterol below 100.

That's insane for most anyone. The meds they could use to make it happen make him ill (and really aren't all that good for you to start with). He's already eating as he should to manage his cholesterol. My grandmother had high level even though she couldn't eat much of the foods that cause it (her body produced it naturally).

He's done better just watching his diet. He's struggling to not waste away because he doesn't eat enough.

Doctors just grab onto numbers and trends and don't seem to listen to the patient anymore.

I think my BMI is around 46 but no one calls me fat

PLEASE take better care of yourself. us aspies gotta stick together.

[good natured joking]

Why? Are they afraid you'll eat them?

[/good natured joking]