do you think its better to be.. overweight.. or .. underweight?
Is it better to be overweight or underweight
- Thread starter Dr.Who
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I think it depends on which you are!! 
I have crohn's with severe constipation, and I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I am not saying I wish I was underweight either though. Just wish it wasn't so hard. Have lost 29 pounds since 1st of the year, but will never be underweight. Only 27 to go now!!
I have crohn's with severe constipation, and I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I am not saying I wish I was underweight either though. Just wish it wasn't so hard. Have lost 29 pounds since 1st of the year, but will never be underweight. Only 27 to go now!!That is a good point. I have most definately lost weight in bad flares but not enough to cause a weight alarm since I have some to spare. I never really looked at it like that!! Thank you! It is hard with all my food restrictions to lose, but I am getting there slowly!!
Thank you! It is hard with all my food restrictions to lose, but I am getting there slowly!!
Archie is right...I had emergency surgery for a perforated bowel last year and lost over 60lbs in 3 months. I was slightly overweight before it all went down and I was still a scary bone rack by the end of it all. I can't imagine how skinny I would have been had I been thin to start with.
Very good point NikiB! I hope you are doing better now! Even at my weight really only needing to lose about 27 more, I would be in bad shape if I lost 60! I am also 5'10" though!
I am doing much better now thanks! In remission! I've gained about half of that weight back. Which is just fine with me. I just want to be as healthy as possible.
I was the same niki...but I WAS underweight, then had perforated bowel, and was 'anorexic' weight range after surgery. Then weaning Pred, my crohns flaring, then back on a high dose of Pred recently, I got to borderline anorexia, and started having sustagen hospital formula, all day. That helped slowly get back to normal, which is the lower end of normal weight range. Before getting crohns, I never wanted to be 'fat' and watched how much weight I was gaining, now I just don't want to be underweight.
Wow, that must have been scary. Crohn's sure does take a toll on our bodies. I remember thinking how weird it was to all of a sudden have this tiny body. Everyday I woke up I was skinnier and skinnier.I was the same niki...but I WAS underweight, then had perforated bowel, and was 'anorexic' weight range after surgery. Then weaning Pred, my crohns flaring, then back on a high dose of Pred recently, I got to borderline anorexia, and started having sustagen hospital formula, all day. That helped slowly get back to normal, which is the lower end of normal weight range. Before getting crohns, I never wanted to be 'fat' and watched how much weight I was gaining, now I just don't want to be underweight.
A few pounds of ' comfort ' is not a bad thing for reasons already mentioned. What i have found is that pre-op i lost 50 lbs. post-op i put it back on as i became not scared of food !!. Now in remission, I find that i'm working out so much that i'm losing again...27lbs since xmas. But it feels good. luckily i have clothes from surgery time. I'm guessing everyone on this forum has several sizes of clothes...always figured if i went missing and the cops looked in my condo , they'd think there were a bunch of us living there!!lol cheers
Lol! simon, its so true!:ylol:
DustyKat
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The things we wish for ay.
My kids are very much on the fine side, a bit like greyhounds :lol:, and I honestly wouldn't mind if they had some more meat on their bones. They are both in remission now but when they were first diagnosed and flaring bigtime they looked like POW's straight out of Changi. Man that broke my heart.
So my vote will always go to having that little extra put away for a rainy day!
Dusty. xxx
My kids are very much on the fine side, a bit like greyhounds :lol:, and I honestly wouldn't mind if they had some more meat on their bones. They are both in remission now but when they were first diagnosed and flaring bigtime they looked like POW's straight out of Changi. Man that broke my heart.
So my vote will always go to having that little extra put away for a rainy day!
Dusty. xxx
KWalker
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Wow that's exactly how it is Dusty! I've been trying to think of a word to describe my weight and "greyhound" is perfect! My stomach/mid section is pretty slim but I have decent leg muscles from riding bikes/running my whole life. (like a greyhound) lol.
I would much rather be over weight. Over weight doesn't mean unhealthy either.
I would much rather be over weight. Over weight doesn't mean unhealthy either.
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Ok I have a ? for everyone I just started goin to a new PCP and he wieghed me and took blood I have had Crohn's for 20 yrs, on the paper he gave me at the end of the appt it said obese. I am 5'4 and wiegh 190 I am also 41 almost 42 yr old. When I go see my gastro he never says anything about my wieght he tells me he would have me at this wieght and have a flare up(which I am in right now). My flare-ups get bad my very first flare up dropped me from 145 to 97 pounds in 6 months time I developed a cyst that if it would have ruptured it could have killed me. So do I just take what my PCP said and blow it off? It bothers me to have him say it but in away I feel like sticking my tongue out at him, lol. Sorry for the rambling .
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What Archie says is exactly what the dietician said to me in the hospital when telling me that my BMI is just into the overweight category.
P.S. My uncle in Oz who's always been a lean streak says ' you can't fatten a thoroughbred'!!
P.S. My uncle in Oz who's always been a lean streak says ' you can't fatten a thoroughbred'!!
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My IBD nurse has always said that she prefers her patients to be a little overweight. I usually am, but because I've been ill and was on a liquid diet for 10 weeks, I've lost around two stone since August and because I had some extra weight I haven't become underweight (I'm probably the correct weight for my height now!)
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I'd prefer to be overweight, as long as it wasn't into obesity - I'd rather be underweight than obese.
I've nearly always been underweight, and in addition to the potential health problems (I already have osteoporosis and hormone problems, which being underweight makes worse), it means I have to stuff myself with food everyday when I have no appetite or feel ill because I can't afford to lose anymore.
I think if you're overweight, at least you have the option of dieting (in theory, although I can't relate to it, I understand that for some people dieting seems impossible) - you can always eat less, whereas sometimes your digestive system just won't let you eat more. And if you're ill for a period of time and lose some weight it won't matter so much.
But I'd much rather be underweight than really obsese, because of the social stigma and especially if it got to the point where my mobility was compromised.
I have found there's a stigma being underweight too - people think I'm anorexic, and some strangers have shouted that at me in the street, as if it's an insult rather than an illness. Worse, doctors have assumed I'm anorexic on many occasions, and I've found that some doctors see eating disorder patients as people who just want attention and are wasting their time.
I've nearly always been underweight, and in addition to the potential health problems (I already have osteoporosis and hormone problems, which being underweight makes worse), it means I have to stuff myself with food everyday when I have no appetite or feel ill because I can't afford to lose anymore.
I think if you're overweight, at least you have the option of dieting (in theory, although I can't relate to it, I understand that for some people dieting seems impossible) - you can always eat less, whereas sometimes your digestive system just won't let you eat more. And if you're ill for a period of time and lose some weight it won't matter so much.
But I'd much rather be underweight than really obsese, because of the social stigma and especially if it got to the point where my mobility was compromised.
I have found there's a stigma being underweight too - people think I'm anorexic, and some strangers have shouted that at me in the street, as if it's an insult rather than an illness. Worse, doctors have assumed I'm anorexic on many occasions, and I've found that some doctors see eating disorder patients as people who just want attention and are wasting their time.
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I personaly would love to be thin but not underweight. Im too fat now.
unxmas - i see your point and i think its an absolute shambles that people would shout at you in the street just because your thin. Its horrible how some people get there kicks these days.
id say i was just about average weight for my height, im 6ft1 and about 14.5 stones. but ive been thin when i got diagnosed, i had lost 2 and a half stone but i looked and felt really unhealthy. i didnt like it atall. plus i had to go out and buy a full new wardrobe.
Then i got put of steroids and slowley the weight piled back on to the point i was over weight nand i was starting to worry, thats when i went to my doctor and told him i felt it was getting out of control, and he told me to ride with it because i looked much more healthy than before.
It took me nearly a year to loose the weight again and get back down to my usual weight, i didnt diet because i dont have the will power, i just ate my usual calorie intake and slowley went back down.
but if you asked me id have to say being overweight was slightly healthier and had less people asking if i was "ill"
Nicky
id say i was just about average weight for my height, im 6ft1 and about 14.5 stones. but ive been thin when i got diagnosed, i had lost 2 and a half stone but i looked and felt really unhealthy. i didnt like it atall. plus i had to go out and buy a full new wardrobe.
Then i got put of steroids and slowley the weight piled back on to the point i was over weight nand i was starting to worry, thats when i went to my doctor and told him i felt it was getting out of control, and he told me to ride with it because i looked much more healthy than before.
It took me nearly a year to loose the weight again and get back down to my usual weight, i didnt diet because i dont have the will power, i just ate my usual calorie intake and slowley went back down.
but if you asked me id have to say being overweight was slightly healthier and had less people asking if i was "ill"
Nicky
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I told my GI I was trying to lose weight (I was only about 10-15lbs over at that point) and he cautioned me and told me he'd rather me have the extra weight for flares or emergency surgery. About 2-3 months later I had an emergency surgery for a perforated ileum. I lost 15 pounds in 10 days in the hospital (a lot of that was probably water weight).
Of course I gained it all back at home cause I ate like crazy with this stoma. I was trying to get my weight back under control before my next surgery to reverse it at the end of January, however I've put my efforts more into exercising and getting strong before my next surgery versus loosing weight. I assume this next one I will lose a lot due to an extended time on clear liquids and soft digestibles. Maybe by the end of it all I'll be where I want to be
Of course I gained it all back at home cause I ate like crazy with this stoma. I was trying to get my weight back under control before my next surgery to reverse it at the end of January, however I've put my efforts more into exercising and getting strong before my next surgery versus loosing weight. I assume this next one I will lose a lot due to an extended time on clear liquids and soft digestibles. Maybe by the end of it all I'll be where I want to be
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I'd have to agree it's best to be a little overweight than underweight. At the start of this year, I was pretty much on the borderline of healthy and overweight for my height, then when I lost a couple of stones when my symptoms first showed up, several people pointed out how gaunt I looked in the face. I'd dread to think what I would have been like had I been underweight. Happily I've regained a stone of that since, and look more healthy again!
Cross-stitch gal
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I think that honestly neither would be better. Because, you could have challenges/troubles with either one. I myself am underweight and have always been. No matter whether I've been sick or well I've never been at a healthy weight for my size or age. However, I have a cousin who is overweight with UC and know that he struggles as well.
