Breathe Easy, Weight-Enhanced People

[NW-Bound]

I prefer to be referred to as "statuesque".

It may not matter.

My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable,
Unphotographable
Yet you're my favourite work of art

Is your figure less than greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

But don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little () valentine stay
Each day is valentine's day​

My Funny Valentine - Richard Rodgers

 

[TromboneAl]

I've always been interested in the lyrics to that song. To paraphrase "You're funny looking, fat, ugly and stupid, but stay with me."

 

[Purron]

I've always been interested in the lyrics to that song. To paraphrase "You're funny looking, fat, ugly and stupid, but stay with me."

Yea, but it's such a great song! So many singers have covered it but this might be my favorite version:

YouTube - Linda Ronstadt My Funny Valentine

 

[NW-Bound]

I've always been interested in the lyrics to that song. To paraphrase "You're funny looking, fat, ugly and stupid, but stay with me."

It surely does not sound like a song for a suitor to senerade his subject, does it?

The first time I heard it, I sat up scratching my head too.

Well, it was only because the intro was left out when Chet Baker recorded it, making the lyrics even more curious than it already is (I recently posted Chet's youtube in the Love Song thread).

From Wikipedia:

"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms. It is now a jazz standard, appearing on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists.
...
The song reemerged in the 1950s and was performed by most of the jazz musicians and popular vocalists of the time including: Mary Kaye Trio,Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Bing Crosby, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Getz, Paul Desmond, Tony Bennett, Ben Webster, Buddy Rich, Anita O'Day, Shirley Horn, Mel Tormé, Sammy Davis, Jr. and many others.

The song made it to the top of the charts when Chet Baker released a very popular and influential version (released on the album My Funny Valentine / Blue Note Records). His soft, delicate and serene delivery introduced the world to his singing skills (he was previously known for his trumpet, also displayed on this recording). Baker is still associated more with "My Funny Valentine" than with any other tune.
...
Baker's version of the song leaves out the introductory verse and begins with the chorus ("My funny Valentine, sweet comic valentine"). As a result, many subsequent version also skip the verse. The most notable exception to this rule are songs recorded from the many performances of the musicals Babes in Arms and (in the film version) Pal Joey. (The verse is clearly a female voice speaking about her man, giving male singers an additional reason to omit it.)
​

Yea, but it's such a great song! So many singers have covered it but this might be my favorite version: Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt, Julie Andrews, and perhaps other female singers had reasons to include the intro, which takes away much of the oddity of the lyrics. So, guys are really the subject of the song, not gals. Now we all know the rest of the story.

Note the verse "Thy vacant brow and thy tousled hair conceal thy good intent". Some of us have no hair left (I know T-Al still got some, and I have plenty).

 

[CuppaJoe]

As Bob the cat sez, "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy"

How do you do it, Purron? My "Fluffy" is probably BMI 22, It's so un-cat-like.

And now a word from our hero, Cartman:

 

[brewer12345]

Or "You can't drive a nail with a tack hammer."

"The younger the heifer, the tighter they squeeze."


Its a bit of a relief to see this study. I know from talking to underwriters of LTC insurance that they much prefer to take the bet of people in the 25 to 30 BMI range than the sub 20 range due to issues of frailty. I also have almost given up with struggling with weight and BMI worries. I hit teh gym 3 to 5 days a week, am quite cardio fit (going running at 6,000 feet elevation tomorrow morning as a flatlander), and have seriously bulked up my muscle mass in the past year and a half. Yet I am pushing 200#, which puts me north of a 25 BMI at 5'11". Uncle. I am healthy and will stop sweating the scale.

 

[sander06]

Just a quick note since I happened to be passing by... The interpretation of this study apparently equates being alive with being healthy. The most wonderful thing about our bodies is that we can obviously abuse them tremendously and they will keep on working, not very well, but they will still keep on working. If your feeling great and not taking a handful of medications everyday AND your over-weight, all the power to you. My only concern is that 80% of our health care dollars go for preventable life-style choice illnesses that usually manifest themselves as being over-weight... and that means my health insurance premiums are sure to go up.

Nope, being fat won't kill you, but it sure can be expensive!

 

[Amethyst]

I am still trying to reconcile the study that Ha cites, with others that purport to show life being extended significantly (in monkeys and mice) through 30% calorie restriction There is even a Calorie Restriction Society, though its ranks are thin (sorry, couldn't resist!)
Research that will change your life! | CRS

I would worry about the female members of this society courting osteoporosis (which afflicts thin women far more than fat ones).

 

[TromboneAl]

Amethyst, my understanding is that the severe calorie restriction has an effect that is quite different from dieting. The idea is that the body is stressed in a way that causes changes that help prolong life. Something like creating supersized cholesterol molecules (beneficial).

This is based on my memory of a PBS program.

 

[haha]

My only concern is that 80% of our health care dollars go for preventable life-style choice illnesses that usually manifest themselves as being over-weight...

That is an unproven myth. Death rates are one statistic that can't be fudged or mis-used.

Do you think that people are fat and unhealthy all their lives and then somehow go on to live longer lives than their sleek healthy peers?

Take diabetes, one disease that is a popular target for bdyweight police. Supposedly the undisciplined bad people eat themselves fat and then get diabetes. Diabetes is a group of diseases with genetic roots. Type 2 is the form most commonly associated in the public mind with obesity. Nevertheless, 20% of those diagnosed are thin. Meanwhile, you can be fat as a barn, but without the genetic makeup you will still not be diabetic. Other forms of diabetes may be associated with genetics and viral attack, or other etiologies, but not in any way with obesity.

Of those who are both type 2 and obese, how do we know that it is not the genetic makeup of the person which causes both the diabetes, and the obesity?

Humans love to create goups, the "good guys"and the "bad guys". All our troubles are caused by the bad guys, right?

Ha

 

[Purron]

Humans love to create goups, the "good guys"and the "bad guys". All our troubles are caused by the bad guys, right?

Ha

I, for one, have always found the "bad guys" to be much more fun! Well, not too bad, just a little bit of bad sprinkled on for seasoning

 

[Alan]

Take diabetes, one disease that is a popular target for bdyweight police. Supposedly the undisciplined bad people eat themselves fat and then get diabetes. Diabetes is a group of diseases with genetic roots. Type 2 is the form most commonly associated in the public mind with obesity. Nevertheless, 20% of those diagnosed are thin. Meanwhile, you can be fat as a barn, but without the genetic makeup you will still not be diabetic.
Of those who are both type 2 and obese, how do we know that it is not the genetic makeup of the person which causes both the diabetes, and the obesity?

I and DW have quite a few really obese relatives - grandparents, MIL and her 2 sisters, my brother and both my sisters, my mother and 2 of her sisters .... None of them ever developed diabetes even though the Docs were convinced they would/will, and they get regular tests.

However, they all have/had a lot of other problems so I'm certainly not saying it is a good thing, but from my limited experience it appears that if you are not pre-disposed to diabetes, then you are not going to get it.

 

[Dawg52]

Great thread! I'm passing this on to my fellow Mississippian's. My state is ranked #1 in being the most obese state each and every year. Good to hear we are the most healthy state as a result. Sure glad I ate that pizza last night.

 

[TromboneAl]

My only concern is that 80% of our health care dollars go for preventable life-style choice illnesses that usually manifest themselves as being over-weight... and that means my health insurance premiums are sure to go up.

One study showed that if everyone stopped smoking, healthcare costs would initially go up, since people would start living longer. Could be analogous with obesity.

 

[Alan]

I and DW have quite a few really obese relatives - grandparents, MIL and her 2 sisters, my brother and both my sisters, my mother and 2 of her sisters .... None of them ever developed diabetes even though the Docs were convinced they would/will, and they get regular tests.

However, they all have/had a lot of other problems so I'm certainly not saying it is a good thing, but from my limited experience it appears that if you are not pre-disposed to diabetes, then you are not going to get it.

Well, "stamp me vitals", just heard that my brother has just been diagnosed with type II diabetes. He has probably been obese for about 20 years (he is 52 yrs old). Guess that changes my view somewhat, as I thought my family were pretty well indisposed to diabetes no matter what

 

[Urchina]

I prefer to be referred to as "statuesque".

This is EXACTLY what my OB called me one visit, when I was about 8 months pregnant with rugrat #1. Best compliment I'd heard in a while (from someone other than DH).

As for Rubens, seeing his paintings in person are some of the best self-esteem boosters a "statuesque" woman can have. A friend and I were visiting a museum one day, and were both looking at a Rubens canvas. The women looked familiar... and then I realized it was because I looked like them. My friend, also "statuesque," said out loud "Hey, those women look like us! We're great art!"

Aren't we all!

I just checked my BMI on this calculator. Kind of fun, actually.

 

[Zoocat]

BMI can be really misleading. A 5'5" 175 lb woman who works out with weights could have a BMI of 28, the same as a woman of the same weight and height who doesn't work out. But the fit woman's bodyfat is much lower and she wears two sizes smaller, a 12 pants size, rather than a 16, for example.

I'd assume the woman who works out would be healthier too, with lower blood pressure and cholesterol readings.

 

[freebird5825]

Yes indeed. I played sports all my life, and wore a size 14 when I was running track in high school at 125 lbs. My body build was always solid, not slender. I have 2 brothers over 6' tall, both with the same solid builds.
My doc says all that exercise will come in handy later in life, because my bone density would have always been higher than "normal" from the exercise instead of starving myself to fit into the perfect size whatever.
These days I weigh in at 182, which sounds like a lot for 5'7". I have yet to meet someone who guesses my weight correctly, especially medical staff. I laugh when I see them double check the weights indicator on the balance scale. They are obviously thinking I'm about 150 lbs. That never fails to amuse me.

In the head to toe picture in my profile, I weigh 170 lbs. Do you believe it?