The "skinny fat" epidemic

For many of you out there you probably think that it is impossible to be conisdered "skinny fat". It simply sounds like an oxymoron, at least that's what I thought, but then I came across research that clearly states that it is possible to be skinny and fat at the same time. Crazy huh? Let me tell you about it...

There is a new conditioned call normal weight obesity also known as NWO or "skinny fat". Research done at the Mayo Clinic found that more than half of adults in America with normal body weight in accordance to their BMI (body mass index), suffer from high body-fat percentages which comes to approximently more than 20 percent for men and 30 percent for women. They also found that these individuals have the same risk for developing coronary disease and diabetes as people who weigh a lot more than them. That's because those who are "fat skinny" have been found to have both heart and metabolic disturbances.

Want to know how the study was done? Well I'll tell you how the Mayo Clinic came to these results. This particular study included 2,127 adults, half of which were men and half of which were women (equally divided) who all had a normal BMI. For adults that would be between 18.5 and 24.9. After factoring in variables such as age, sex and race the researchers found that those who participated with a normal weight obesity had much higher rates "of some alterations in their blood chemistry that can adversely affect hearth health". That included the following:

• Altered blood lipid profile, such as cholesterol
• High levels of leptin, a hormone found in fat and other tissues
• Higher rates of metabolic syndrome (a cluster of conditions, such as high blood pressure, elevated insulin levels and excess body fat around the waist, that increase risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes).

What does this all mean? Well the findings from this study suggest that instead of focusing on "maintaing a 'healthy weight' to reduce cardiovascular risk, the focus should shift to assessing percentage of baody fat to get a more accurate reading on an individual's risk for heart disease," according to Mayo researchers. So basically just because someone looks thin and like they may be in good shape that may not neccessarily be the case. The saying is so...sometimes looks can in fact be deceiving.

I would like to apologize for how late today's posting is. Today was a rather busy day. I got up this morning and tried a new church for the first time since I've been in Norman and afterwards met up with my friends family for a late lunch (they were in town because they had been at the OU vs. Baylor game yesterday). After lunch because it was such a beautiful day today my friend and I went jogging/speed walking to and around campus.

Not to get all religious on those of you reading, but today just felt like an amazing day. I think that by having a clear mind and by being surrounded by positivity it helped me to be more positive. I was in a cranky or at least emotionally uptight mood all weekend and today really helped me end my weekend on a much better note. I'll be honest I'm stressed out about this upcoming surgery and all that it entails so it has been a little rough lately, but I just keep reminding myself how worth it this is going to be and that at the end of the day I will prevail. I will because I'm stubborn and thickheaded sometimes. But really I just tell myself, you got this ;)