Big weight doesn’t always mean bad health. In fact, it can be taken as a guarantee of longevity!

Psychologies: Many people check their BWI (weight in kilograms divided by a square of height in meters), which divides us into thin, ideal, overweight or obese. Is this system reliable?

Jean-Michel Leserf: Unfortunately, this formula is constantly exploited by the media, and is used by many doctors, although it tells us little about the individual. This indicator alone is clearly not enough. Doctors simply state that if the body mass index (BMI) is not too high or too low, there are usually fewer health problems. But these are too general conclusions! BMI does not take into account the history of this person, the evolution of his or her weight, the relationship between muscle and body fat, the localization of fat deposits (stomach or hip) … Meanwhile, these are the most important elements that determine the relationship between weight and health.

Is There an Ideal Weight for Each of Us?

No, this concept is meaningless. That’s why I’m waging a war against “obese people” who swear that we have to fight against kilograms. On paper, the ideal BMI is 25 in youth and 30 in adulthood, but that’s just statistics! Knowing it is certainly useful for promoting healthy eating, but unfortunately, doctors rarely adapt their advice to the individual characteristics of patients.

So You Can be Fat and Healthy at The Same Time?

Yes, you can. Overweight is not a disease! Health is too difficult to reduce it to your body weight. In particular, weight does not say anything about the percentage of body fat and its distribution, and this factor sometimes poses a threat to the health of the heart. One of the most important indicators is muscle mass. But muscles are heavier than fat, so weight as such is not a reliable indicator.

This may seem incredible, but people whose excess weight is concentrated in the lower body, especially the buttocks and hips, have a 30% lower risk of heart disease than the skinny ones! It increases the sensitivity to insulin and helps fight against insulin resistance, a metabolic disorder that leads to diabetes. Moreover, this type of overweight increases the level of so-called good cholesterol.

You don’t have to divide everything into white and black. Being thin or thick is not a determining criterion

If we talk about weight gain during menopause, it is a natural reaction to the lack of estrogen. In addition, it has been noticed that the “skinny” live less than people with “normal weight” and even with “little excess”.

So, What, Being Fat is Good?

It is not necessary to divide everything into white and black. Being thin or thick is not a defining criterion. Neither is good or bad in itself. People are seldom born fat: they become fat and then they get thicker (or not thicker). The dynamics of weight is important: is it stable or not? If the weight suddenly changes in any direction, it means that not everything is okay.

There is no need to worry because you are constantly overweight. Calling for “Let’s all be fat!” is as pointless as the current “Let’s all be skinny!” Of course, there are unacceptable extremes. If you are 1.5 m tall, 1.5 m wide and weigh 150 kg, you need to do something.

Let the kilos do not destroy health, but they reduce self-esteem. What would you say to those who suffer from their thickness?

Don’t confuse two things. If such a person thinks, “I am unhappy because I am fat,” it is probably a mistake. Will they really get happier by dropping their pounds? You don’t have to! All problems are not solved simply because a person has lost weight. You have to understand the situation, ask yourself: do you consider yourself fat or your spouse? Do you have any problems with your colleagues or loved ones?

It’s all important. When you start to lose weight, it is important to understand that the weight you are looking for is a compromise. It’s better to save a few extra pounds than to part with them and shorten your life. The ideal weight is the one at which the body and mind feel good, even if they are not always easy to reconcile with each other.

So, It Makes No Sense to Try to Lose Weight at Any Cost?

There is no worse way to lose weight than by the principle of “all means are good”! As you lose a kilogram, you need to restore balance, both somatic – bodily and psychological. After all, to lose weight means to lose balance, therefore, it is necessary to find it again.

Finally, the concept of “fat” should be considered in connection with age: a small excess weight is useful in youth and even more useful when we age. Leaving aside the two unhealthy causes of thinness – intense smoking and weight loss disease – it turns out that the mortality rate among the skinny is higher than among others. And the health of a fat, muscular man is at a much lower risk!

So it’s better to do more sports than starve yourself…

The harsher your diet, the thinner you get and the harder it is to break the vicious circle. But sports are a welcome thing to do: they eliminate excess weight, increase muscle mass and improve all your performance, including good cholesterol. The key to balance is physical activity, not diet. The diet itself is much less important.