#i say this lovingly: your weight is only important as an indicator of health problems if it is changing due to health problems.

[thespacesay]

hey, I'm hoping this is understood to be in good faith, but this sounds like you're speaking about the notoriously bullshit standard set by BMI (Body Mass Index). the BMI is currently the accepted tool for speaking about appropriate weight categories (ie, medically assigning an individual as "obese" or "morbidly obese"). however, if you look up pretty much any information on the formation of BMI as a scale... it's bullshit from the bottom up, and we don't have any science that really backs up the weight categories it produces as creating health outcomes.

beginning with the history of BMI development: eugenics all around! the creator of the BMI measurement was aiming to discover the socially ideal average man, not in any way connected to health. his work would then be referenced by Francis Galton, a very strong proponent of eugenics and creator of social Darwinism (literally: he was Darwin's cousin and one of the first few believers in evolution in his time and culture). around the 1970s, a paper regarding the search for a test of criteria for obesity determined that it was good enough compared to anything else they'd found - noting that it had significant limitations and was primarily only useful in comparison rather than as a direct measurement. interestingly, when the Big Obesity Scare of the 90s began, it had been reported that levels of obesity had sharply risen in America from the prior year... in between which, the BMI defining obesity was lowered.

as far as BMI's actual science and medical relevance goes, there's quite a lot of opinions! most seem desperate to cling to it despite very, very little evidence that BMI is a useful scale for anyone not in the particularly extreme ranges, and even then, defining "extreme" gets pretty dicey. BMI is not good at indicating what the weight itself is; muscle weighs more than fat, and BMI is not considered to be a good indicator of obesity in non-sedentary lifestyles (aka: anyone who works even a mildly physical job should not be judged by BMI, as it is statistically not a good indicator of their health). in addition, BMI statistically is useful as a comparative tool among specific demographics; my introductory stats class in college can tell you with ease that BMI is not meant to be used the same between different demographics, such as race, sex, and quite possibly many more factors.

further, all the things you hear about as "health" relating to BMI? cardiovascular events, diabetes, all that stuff? we pretty much have scientific consensus right now that studies are indicating an increase in weight as an early indicator of diabetes rather than diabetes being caused by higher weight. a variety of cardiovascular studies have found, to the clear confusion of the researchers and their biases, that cardiovascular events are more likely to be fatal in individuals not considered "overweight". I'd highly recommend checking out the referenced statistics on the Wikipedia page regarding actual health correlations, as well as the limitations of its use.

why is this important?

frankly, popular understanding of what obese, overweight, etc. mean is absolute shit and useless. your health is far better indicated by how you feel. attempting to lose weight when it isn't necessary appears to cause more harm than not - not a single diet has ever been found to consistently reduce weight in individuals for more than a year, while studies point to significant health problems being caused by the stress on bodies undergoing rapid weight change, such as that caused by on/off dieting. in general, our bodies seem to be pretty darn good at regulating to a weight that is best for them unless another medical problem is interfering. in those cases, treating the underlying condition is quite a bit more important for your health impact.

if you're interested in learning more about weight, obesity, diets, and the history of the social movements around them, I'd highly recommend listening to the podcast Maintenance Phase (or reading the transcripts, available via their site!), or reading the book Aubrey wrote - “You Just Need to Lose Weight”: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People. if you listen to Maintenance Phase, I'd say the big episodes to consider are below. all episodes list their sources, and independent research I've done after listening to episodes frequently leads me to believe they're just about understating the problems they've found, due to not having the time to get into some details.

School Lunches, P-Hacking and the Original "Pizzagate"

The Body Mass Index

The Body Mass Index

i hate how people use overweight as a supposedly ~inoffensive~ alternative to just saying fat. like yeah fat has negative connotations but it’s also a literal descriptor of a physical quality. meanwhile overweight by its fucking definition necessitates that we consider there to be an ideal weight and that the person we are referring to exceeds it unacceptably. i’m not over any goddamn weight thanks very much i weigh whatever the fuck i weigh. my body is not for you to fucking appraise

[seekerandthewizard88-blog]

Homecoming

By Kat

 Today feels like a homecoming!!! I didn’t want to make a big deal and draw attention, so I didn’t make a formal announcement beforehand, but I think I will say a few words now...

I worked my last shift last night at Roia, and I am so grateful for the experience it has brought me and the friendships I have made along the way. I am both terrified and excited for what is coming next, which is how I know I made the right decision. I still plan to continue a professional relationship and work events, so I will be there from time to time to check in. Never fear! I am always close at hand... 😉

My goal now is to practice being present and learning how to leave empty space for what is needed to insert itself into my life where it is most needed. For right now, my truth is that I need time to rest and to recover my health. I need to practice being still. I also need to remember the true power of community and opening my heart to those around me, sharing my authentic experience and allowing myself to accept help.

These past two years of battling an autoimmune condition while trying to work and go to school full time in NYC had utterly drained me. I had fallen into the trap of thinking I was this glorified “lone wolf,” trying to get the next thing done so that I could achieve my goals. I had to be focused and strong and not let anything distract me. I thought I was making progress, and of course I was, but it certainly wasn’t the most joyful and efficient way to go about it. So much was trying to reach me, but I was not open to any other perspectives or possibilities. I thought I had it all figured out. In essence, I became isolated in my heart, and also burnt out physically. I felt the stress and the weight of carrying the responsibility for everything upon my shoulders. Ironically, I was having shoulder problems as well as increasing difficulty with digestion, to the point where I amassed allergies to 13 different foods and could no longer eat anything that I didn’t prepare with my own two hands for fear that I might have a reaction....

A light switch went off at some point. I could keep thinking that I was getting closer to my goal... “just around the next corner,” is what I kept telling myself. “Just make it to Friday and then I can rest for a couple hours.” But I never rested. I spent my one day off a week doing chores and meal prepping, always racing the clock. I crammed in all my studying into one evening and then in the mornings on the train into the city, always arriving late to whatever destination I was headed off to.

But it was through counterintuitively increasing my meditation (despite having “no time”) and re-invigorating my buddhist practice that I remembered again that all we have is NOW. I felt the visceral truth of the power of the present moment, and how it is the only place life is ever found. I stopped planning to, “at some point be well and live a balanced life,” and I started FEELING the quality of my present life condition. What I FELT was so much stress, anxiety, and isolation. What had I been creating?? Was it any wonder my health was in such fragile condition? My body was trying to warn me, but I hadn’t been LISTENING. I decided from that realization to begin making changes that would anchor the fairytale version of my best life SOLIDLY in THIS moment.

Yesterday, I began a chinese herbal medicine protocol that I will be undertaking for an entire month, which will require adjustments and sacrifices. I will need to avoid stress, which includes both internal and external factors. It has been a brutally honest, introspective, revelatory, and uncomfortable last couple months to say the least... and undoubtedly this herbal medicine journey will continue to be all of these and more. But today, I felt the dawn on the horizon.

I am spending this first saturday of many future saturdays off by cleaning my house lovingly and thoroughly, all the unattended and forgotten corners, so that the light can now reach them. I will once again sit in meditation with gratitude for all that I have in my life to be able to make these changes to support my greatest good. And I will continue spreading encouragement to all those I am connected to, in hopes of inspiring others to stop waiting to accomplish the next thing before you start the business of actually living.

Take time to really listen to the wisdom of your body, take GOOD care of yourself, and know that the universe is taking care of everything else. The most important stuff will get done... it always does! And sometimes we have to be willing to be wrong. We have to re-examine our beliefs. We sometimes have to take what looks like a step backwards in order to move forward. We have to be willing to let go of how we think things should be. We have to be willing to cut our losses and start over. Logic shouldn’t always get to drive the car. Here is the trick: embodying your own beingness contains the all pervasive wisdom that supercedes intellectual knowledge. It really IS that simple...

I have been reading a book on Daoism and they have been repeating the importance of “harmonizing with the breath.” But what does this mean? I kept trying to analyze it, lol. OF COURSE. Classic Kat. And then I began to just notice.. I felt the softness with which the body takes in only what it needs. I felt the body letting go of that which it does not need. I felt how emptiness somehow has this quality to contain. I rested in the stillness of the absence of efforting. I realized that at all cost, this is what my spirit had been asking for through my body.

 “Only when the conceptual mind is ‘forgotten’ does the illumination of inherent nature become accessible. Consequently, deliberate meditation will not produce the illumination of inherent nature; it can only be achieved through an effortlessness indicated by the classic Daoist concept of nonaction.” - christopher cott & adam rock, excerpt from “turning the light around” in the secret of the golden flower.

Frantic energy being dispersed in 20 different directions cannot ever yield the results I am looking for. And yet, I must embrace all that I have been as the beloved fuel, the impetus for the fruits that now spring forth. RADICALLY EMBRACING who you are and accepting all parts of yourself is the only way to move in the direction of wellbeing. This illness and journey has been the FOUNDATIONAL cornerstone of the healer that I am meant to become. Which brings me to the intersection of spirituality and medicine that is so beautifully embodied in classical Chinese medicine, being based on Daoism.

“[...] the primary cause of all illness: a failure to accept the world in which we live as it is.” - Ann Cecil-Sterman

I must begin a new way, and I start that journey today. Sending love to all my fellow badass transformative spiritual warriors in flesh suits. We are all in this together! Thank you for journeying beside me!! ❤️

 Blessings, healing, and light,

The Wizard ✨