My wife's father was 5'-11" (180 cm.) and only 130 lbs. (59 kg.), was crazy skinny his whole life but had a healthy appetite and did manual labor (worked on the boats, very hard work). Died of a heart attack in his sleep in 1970 at the age of 32. Yes, he had a heart condition but it wasn't considered terminal at the time. He was also warned repeatedly about his heavy smoking.

His brother, also very thin (his entire life, runs in the family), recently (as in the last 10 years) had open heart surgery but is still alive and very active in his late 70's or early 80's.

Thin people, even natural extreme ectomorphs, still need to lead a healthy lifestyle, especially those predisposed to having a heart condition.

But still, an unhealthy lifestyle (including obesity) can permanently damage your body, as it has mine (feet). I've noticed that the less I weigh, the more energy I have and the better my feet feel at the end of the day.

What is "healthy", anyway. I mean, the doctors' recommendations over the past 100 years have gone a full 360�. Not smoking, I think, is the one decision that offers the single biggest health reward (plus, you save money from all the coffin nails that you don't buy). Not drinking would probably be the second best advice, but I don't follow it because a life without the occasional glass of wine seems not to be worth having to endure longer.
I think we can settle these days for sugar intake to be the main culprit for obesity, and short of a paleolithic diet it's nigh impossible to avoid sugar, particularly with convenience food; so, stay away from convenience food, would be my advice #3 (and that includes breakfast cereals).
Some physical activity seems to be a key factor as well, but IMO it doesn't have to be regular nor particularly intense. NOT having a car and still going out to shop your groceries is probably enough of a physical base activity to keep you from withering away. Some extra sports doesn't hurt; my advice: Do it with a friend, and do it on a schedule. So you have the social pressure not to let the other down/not to let him win the battle of willpower.

From what I'm hearing, vegetarians die healthier (but also earlier).

On potato chips and similar snacks: I've made it a habit to have dinner before TV time. So I can settle for one or two pieces of chocolate, or a handful of grapes rather than a whole bag of chips (and potentially wanting more).

Timing: This seems to be the one thing that doctors haven't yet investigated, but I think it may actually be an important factor. I usually maintain a "no food" period of 14...15 hours, IOW, breakfast at noon and dinner in the evening, and maybe some afternoon cookies and tea or whatever you like better. Likewise it may actually be a smart idea to follow some old, traditional religion's fasting rules (doesn't seem to matter which one). I think that people from ancient times to the middle ages actually were good observers and tended to clad purely empirical rules of thumb into more or less convoluted religious rules. It doesn't matter much what the theological reasoning behind a "no fish between X and Y" or "no meat from Z to A, except on Sundays with a full moon" is.
The important factor seems to be that there is no absolute regularity in what you eat. Throughout all of our evolution this was never the case until we started to develop agriculture and breeding animals. You lived by seasons, like all other animals too. So there were phases of abundancy and phases of scarcity. That doesn't mean that you need to stay hungry, but that you shift your patterns of what you're eating somewhat with the seasons.
Most nutritional recommendations are based on a "daily average" which creates the (potentially false) idea that these are target figures for a daily intake. Instead, maybe our body simply expects more protein during early summer up until winter, and more fat and carbs during the other half of the year, etc.

I'm pegged a little younger than I am most of the time, but that's mostly due to wearing a grin 90% of the time and having a little jaunt in my step.

I smoke between two and fifteen cigarettes on any given day depending on attitude and activity, laugh, and generally act silly, as I figured out that while there are many things to take seriously, there is little worth worrying about.

F--k it, might as well just be happy.

Don't worry.



The Jedi Master

A couple more thoughts...

There's the idea that there can be "Health at Every Size" (HAES)...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size

I use to think this was just more "Fat Logic", but I think there's something to it, at least for some people (especially younger), that you can be overweight, clinically obese even, and still be healthy.

Personal experience, since 2008/09 (I'm 5'-9" [175.3 cm])...
[EDIT: Prior to losing weight in 2008, I was just under 270 lbs. (122.5 kg)]

I've crossed the line into clinical obesity many times (BMI over 30), a couple of those I went way too far before reigning it back in. But I never completely went back to old eating habits (sodas, fast food, giant servings at one sitting, etc.) and have always stayed physically active (at the very least, lots of walking).

There's a difference, for example, at being 220 lbs. (99.8 kg) while living a relatively healthy lifestyle, and being that same weight while not. My weight has yo-yo'd the past 8 years but the problems I had previous to 2008 have never returned (lack of energy, gout, headaches, nose bleeds, ED - the last three possibly due to untreated severe hypertension). I've *felt* allot better with the extra weight than before, while making somewhat of an effort to be healthy, and certainly had more stamina and energy at those same weights while living a healthy lifestyle.

Still, the extra weight pulls you down and zaps your energy compared to weighing less, no matter how healthy you try to live. I think it gets worse with age. I've also noticed that my annual physical blood work is always better the less I weigh, but I don't know if it's completely weight related or what I'm doing to lose the weight.

++++++++++

Strictly regarding appearances, I know what I would look like 5'-9" and trim, I only have to look at my older brother (by 5 years). Yeah, I wish I had that going on. I've always been the fatty in my family (wife just the opposite in hers).

There's lots of criticism against the BMI chart, but I think it's a good estimate and is useful for at least one reference to go by, other than a few rare exceptions. With the BMI there's a wide range of weights for any height, and I think most people should be able to plot their weight somewhere in their height range. For me it's 168 lbs. (76.2 kg) tops for not being overweight (obesity starts at 203 lbs. [92 kg]) and that to me seems reasonable. My brother likes to stay around 160 lbs (72.6 kg).

I say this because when I look back at old picture albums, by far most people look to be their proper BMI weights.

When I was younger, I played tennis in H.S. and college, 40 hours/week. I played baseball. In great shape. During law school, I lifted weights 4 days/week. Same thing.

Then I got a job that worked me 2600 hours/year. Scotch, beer, and 30 years later I'm not in so good of shape but not horrible. 6'0". 230#. Not ideal but not disastrous as a lot of the weight is still muscle but a lot of it is hamburgers too.

The good news is it's going in the right direction because I'm working way less now, and the kids are growing/grown, and I have a lot more time and am not eating out on the road as much.

Not a lot of 300# 80 year olds. Then again, I'm ready to go whenever. I just want to not be one of those guys who lives but can't hunt, fish, play with his grandkids, etc. (my in laws are like that). If it isn't nailed down, my in laws eat it and that's about the most they'll move is a T-Rex pudgy arm reach for more chips/dip.

If Mrs. Airdrop sees this I'm dead early, by the way!

Let's see...

First off, coffee and p-nut butter toast.

Did my homework from 0500 till about 0800 . Then I did 100 girly sit-ups, I have a double hernia that I am hopefully gonna get fixed in December, and 100 girly push-ups. Yeah, girly but I sweated.

Then I had a bacon on sourdough sammitch along with a couple of over easy eggs.

Then...I looked at some more homework, posted some stuff here and started working on my 4 in progress paintings. (Threw away one, gonna prolly throw away another and 2 keepers so far)

Lunch was a chicken salad sammitch on 24 grain decent bread with a small side of potato salad and a glass of apple cider.

Another 50 girly sit-ups and push-ups and it was either attack the neighbors visiting daughter(like 25) or take a nap...

Yep, Opted for the nap and here I am.

I've told my life story too many times here already, but I just wanted to say that if you have a partner/spouse who is on the same page, it makes it so much easier to keep at it. You take turns being the stronger one, sometimes talking the other person into making a better decision. And sometimes you both give in (like fried seafood or Mexican dinner out) but usually you keep each other in check. I'm actually better at food choices, wife is better at getting my fat ass up out of my desk chair to exercise.

It can even get a little competitive sometimes (in the most friendly way, of course). A quick story...

We were recently on our regular 1/4 mile walking track. She holds up two fingers to let me know we have two more laps to go. So we're rounding the last curve in a light jog (I usually lag a couple or so yards behind her) and she takes off. Oh, hell no! I take off after her as we're racing to the car. The race was a tie (that's how *I* saw it ), while I'm trying to catch my breath and not kill over. Sometimes I need that little bit of a challenge to make it interesting.

In February my BMI was 36 (obese).Today it is 27 (overweight).Not far to go now

Good work Chucky.

Excellent work Chucky. Did you cut out eating certain foods or do you just eat less overall now?

I eat less,but some things had to go (or at least be eaten in small amounts as a treat). That was cheese,take-away,bread,crisps,(chips) and biscuits.

Exercising daily helped a lot of course. I retired early (over 2 years now) so I have plenty of time to do these things.

Thank you.

Thanks to my childhood exposure to shows like Benny Hill and Monty Python, I learned early that crisps = potato chips and biscuits = cookies.

Does sexual intercourse count as exercise
I reckon It would, your heart beats faster etc.
I would like to say its made me fit but sadly that would be a lie.LoL

On the looking my age thing...

Chinese and British always think I'm 10 years younger. For the Chinese it always goes, "I thought you were xx". On the latter, most of the time it results to an awkward silence after hearing my age, followed by more awkward silence after I ask how old they are. After more awkward interactions, I get informed that I look young for my age.

Does this apply to people who have been married for a long time?

It is about half the intensity of jogging on average, and lasts 'not too long' in most cases. While it is exercise it isn't likely to be sufficient in and of itself.

Affectionately known as "sexercise", do your best to incorporate into your regular routine.

On a related note, there's a book called, "YOU The Owner's Manual." See "The Vascular System" (p.233 in my copy), also "The Male Dipstick" (p.234). Your 'performance' can be an indicator of your overall health.

I am fairly certain I am a heart attack waiting to happen.


Wheels

^ Asked by a newlywed.

Bah. The flame can burn for a long long time, even be reignited after the ashes have long stopped smoldering.