Of course, whether or not someone is fat is a very subjective call -- and, of course, these days a lot of people think it simply isn't cool to call yourself or anyone else fat, but I'm going to just plow right ahead in spite of such people. It's a subjective call. Myla Dalbesio
has often been referred to as a "plus-size" model, which I think is cuckoo-bananas. Recently, like since a week ago maybe, I've become aware of some widespread anger at the fact that some call her plus-size. I have no idea whether this anger may have been widespread long before I became aware of it.
Let's take another case: Brian Shaw, one of the world's leading competitors in strongman competitions:
Some would call Shaw, 6 foot 8 and over 400 lbs, a great big fat guy, some would not. I would not.
But when it comes to myself, I just don't know. And for most of my life, I haven't known how I've looked. Maybe I have some sort of self-image problem similar to those people who literally starve to death because they think they're fat. Except I'm definitely not starving to death: my weight has stayed around 300 lbs for quite a few years now. Now, there's are some men who are 6 foot 3 like me and weigh 300 pounds and compete in strongman competitions, and there are some who have the same height and weight and are in very bad shape.
I exercise every day. I take the stairs instead of the elevator unless I have absolutely no choice. But do I look like one of the guys in one of Brian's Shaw's regular gyms, or more like a walking heart attack? I really don't know.
But, for example, 3 weeks ago today, I went to the emergency room with what was probably a panic attack, and one of the ambulance guys was talking to me and asking about my routine lately, and it came up that the day before, I had been doing crunches, and I did 75 before I stopped counting. One of the ambulance guys, a young slender guy who looked to be in excellent health, mentioned that that was more crunches than he had done the day before.
Given that I exercise every day, there may just be a chance that I look like someone who exercises every day, and has for a very, very long time, since I have, even though my cardio is not always off the charts.
Did I mention I'm 57 freakin' years old? Maybe I can give myself a break more often, and worry about this sort of thing less often. Maybe just relaxing in general is the sort of thing a guy who suffers from panic attacks should look into. Enjoy life more, judge myself less. Wacky stuff like that.
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