Thanatos's Tharmturges Present: Tropical, Tipsy, and Typically Random Banter #127

[Zeb The Troll]

I don't know about anyone else's official definition for where to tape the waist and hips, but I know in the US Army we did it the way Serpentine describes and it can vary wildly amongst women.

Waist - the narrowest part of the trunk between the top of the pelvis and the bottom of the ribcage, typically very near the belly button. This loses significance the larger a woman's middle gets. When the trunk extends beyond the pelvis and ribcage with no obvious narrowing, use the belly button.

Hips - the widest part of the woman's body below the waist. This is typically around the top of the pubis, but saddlebags can make this even lower sometimes. Note that the widest part is not necessarily side to side on woman built like J-Lo. This means "find the place that will give you the biggest number when you wrap the tape around it".

Side Note - Serps is NOT fat, judging by the pics I've seen of her. Shame on mom. SHAME!! *winks playfully at Serpentine*

[Serpentine]

Thank you Zeb I am overweight, though BMI of 28.73/"overweight" and last time I measured HtW I was something like 0.8. So ner

[Coidzor]

Well, overweight and fat are two different things.

I'm not fat because I'm tall enough that my frame doesn't show it as long as I'm clothed. But I am overweight considering I have a slight, lean build as far as skeletal systems and musculature go.

[Zeb The Troll]

Thank you Zeb I am overweight, though BMI of 28.73/"overweight" and last time I measured HtW I was something like 0.8. So ner

Be that as it may, you're still someone that I'd find attractive at a gathering. As it happens, more of us are overweight than aren't. I'm all for someone recognizing that there is room for improvement and taking steps to be more healthy. What I am opposed to is people having a poor self-image based on outward appearances or on some arbitrary number like weight or size. I get all agitated when I hear someone say things like "I'm gross because I'm 10lbs heavier than some chart in a fashion magazine tells me I should be for my height." Even that's not as bad as the magazine itself for arbitrarily assigning these unrealistic goals for women (especially young women) to attempt to achieve.

To the specific point of the word fat, it's a pejorative and demeaning term whose sole purpose when used to describe someone is to be mean and make them feel bad, even if it's used to describe one's self.

What Zeb doesn't like to hear - "I need to lose twenty pounds"/"I need to get down to Somesuch Weight"
What Zeb does like to hear - "I need to eat better"/"I'd like to tone up a bit"/"I'd like to be in better shape"/"I should exercise more"

Even the first couple phrases wouldn't be that bad in the right context. Take Pyrian's recent accomplishment. My view of the way things went down was that he'd made a decision that he was not as healthy as he should be. In order to get healthier, he needed to set himself a goal to achieve. This weight goal was not for the purpose of being a certain weight, but a means to an end of being a healthier person. Mission accomplished, job well done.

@Pyrian - If I've got this wrong, I apologize. It's just the way that I interpreted the way you talked about this goal and achieving it. Feel free to straighten out any incorrect assumptions I've made.

[Coidzor]

Though, I have to admit... When your tummy starts to jiggle of its own accord and you first notice it and then something wrenches you so that you feel the torque painfully from it.

That's... that's pretty trippy. Then again, it's pretty painful to be thrown around like that in the first place.

...Gah, this is reminding me of how depressingly weak I am. I'm sick of having only an 8 in strength...

[Pyrian]

@Pyrian - If I've got this wrong, I apologize. It's just the way that I interpreted the way you talked about this goal and achieving it. Feel free to straighten out any incorrect assumptions I've made.

While I appreciate being given the benefit of the doubt, the truth is I did it for the women.

More specifically, I was frustrated with multiple instances of women adoring me way too much, way too platonically. No friend-bin sort of thing, just straight up told me they weren't attracted to me. Also, I felt hypocritical because I felt I didn't live up to the standards I held potential mates to.

I don't think I was ever so fat that I really needed to diet for health reasons. Health is much more strongly linked to exercise.

[Zeb The Troll]

While I appreciate being given the benefit of the doubt, the truth is I did it for the women.

More specifically, I was frustrated with multiple instances of women adoring me way too much, way too platonically. No friend-bin sort of thing, just straight up told me they weren't attracted to me. Also, I felt hypocritical because I felt I didn't live up to the standards I held potential mates to.

I don't think I was ever so fat that I really needed to diet for health reasons. Health is much more strongly linked to exercise.

Ah, see, I read (somewhere) that part of your goal accomplishing was working out for 10 hours/week. So the appearance, to me, was a concern for overall health as opposed to merely reaching a specific weight.

As far as diet goes, I think I disagree with you on a point of semantics. Calorie counting isn't as much related to being healthy, but a proper diet is very much linked to healthy living. Subsisting on one Twinkie per day, while meeting a caloric limit, is not a healthy diet. Conversely, eating an extra 500 calories of fruit and vegetables will not often garner the ire of a nutritionist.

[YPU]

I’m sure sombody else must have pointed this out before, but I haven’t seen it anywhere. Now that Disney holds marvel copyright, what does that mean for the next generation of kingdom hart games? Keyblading wolverine to death anyone?

[Serpentine]

What Zeb doesn't like to hear - "I need to lose twenty pounds"/"I need to get down to Somesuch Weight"
What Zeb does like to hear - "I need to eat better"/"I'd like to tone up a bit"/"I'd like to be in better shape"/"I should exercise more"

I'm aiming for somewhere between 70 and 75kg for these reasons: in the middle of high school, I weighed 68kg, I looked "slender", and I was smack-bang in the middle of "healthy weight" in the BMI chart. Since then, I've most likely grown, both vertically and... shapely, so 68 might be a bit on the thin side for me now. Basically, "I need to lose 30 pounds" because that's when I can be logically certain that I'll like the way I look (at least body-wise), and will be healthy

I hate "diets". There's really only one: Eat the amount of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and so on that your body needs, normally by eating lots of fruits, vegetables and wholegrains and some meat and fish, with small amounts of "bad" stuff occasionally. I'd ask "is that so hard?", but I know from experience it kinda is <.<

[banjo1985]

I think a lot of people say "I need to lose this amount of weight" because they need a target to work towards, some kind of goal that they can tangibly see when they get there. As for me, I don't need to lose weight, but I do need to tone up...if only I could afford gym membership...

[Destro_Yersul]

I need to gain some weight. Muscle would be preferred, but that's not likely. I have skinny-man muscles.

I have also just returned from day 1 of new job. I have decided two things.

One: I'm going to start taking a book with me.
Two: I look awesome in uniform.

[Phase]

I hate "diets". There's really only one: Eat the amount of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and so on that your body needs, normally by eating lots of fruits, vegetables and wholegrains and some meat and fish, with small amounts of "bad" stuff occasionally. I'd ask "is that so hard?", but I know from experience it kinda is <.<

My "diet" is no seconds, only fruit. The portions I take are always reasonable, so when I'm finished with them, and I'm still hungry, taking more is just going to be indulgent. I don't eat nearly enough fruit (though I'm fine on vegetables), so I'll have a banana or apple instead of more sandwiches or pasta.

[Nameless]

I'm aiming for somewhere between 70 and 75kg for these reasons: in the middle of high school, I weighed 68kg, I looked "slender", and I was smack-bang in the middle of "healthy weight" in the BMI chart. Since then, I've most likely grown, both vertically and... shapely, so 68 might be a bit on the thin side for me now. Basically, "I need to lose 30 pounds" because that's when I can be logically certain that I'll like the way I look (at least body-wise), and will be healthy

I hate "diets". There's really only one: Eat the amount of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and so on that your body needs, normally by eating lots of fruits, vegetables and wholegrains and some meat and fish, with small amounts of "bad" stuff occasionally. I'd ask "is that so hard?", but I know from experience it kinda is <.<

Dieting is hard work. Good luck Serp. (Although I don’t really think you need to diet at all. >.>)

[Serpentine]

No! No "diets"! No artificial restrictions of dietry intake! Only one good diet! Point of whole post = lost

[Dr. Bath]

No! No "diets"! No artificial restrictions of dietry intake! Only one good diet! Point of whole post = lost

The mistake you made there was to assume that people (Nameless) would read more than the first few lines before getting bored and chasing a squirrel.

Oooh! A squirrel!

We lost pretty bad at the quiz. It was music based, but music from a different era. Pah! Pah!

[Coplantor]

Or pieces of candy, they are quite distracting

[Cristo Meyers]

Or pieces of candy, they are quite distracting

I would warn against taking candy from strangers, but you're probably stranger than any stranger...

...there was a clever joke in there somewhere, I swear...

Well, we finally got that flooring laid in the kitchen, it's kinda bright but it looks a hell of a lot better than the 30+ year old peel & stick tile that was there...

damn if my legs aren't sore as hell, though...

[Nameless]

The mistake you made there was to assume that people (Nameless) would read more than the first few lines before getting bored and chasing a squirrel.

Oooh! A squirrel!

We lost pretty bad at the quiz. It was music based, but music from a different era. Pah! Pah!

GTFO mah squirrel! >:O

[V'icternus]

*Kills the squirrel* There, now that that's settled, I think we can return to our usual level of insanity, instead of the squirrel chasing level that is reserved for Hippies and Homer Simpson.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Wut? Noo, not mah squirrel!

*finds a new squirrel*
Oooh, squirrel! *chases*

[Jack Squat]

My "diet" is to eat whatever the heck I want. I seriously can't gain wait, and it's annoying. I'm in decent shape, but I'm still 5'11" and 135 lbs.

I suppose I could start taking supplements and benching weights (as opposed to my normal workout routine), but I know that if I stop I'd just shrink back to normal, so it'd feel kinda artificial.

EDIT: I should really stop posting here while in class. I missed the boat by about 10 minutes.

*sets trap for squirrels, starts fire*

[Mauve Shirt]

Weight Watchers is working pretty fabulously for me. My tummy jiggliness is down a lot, and several pairs of pants don't fit without a belt anymore.
I'm an unhealthy weight with a history of obesity in my family, so I'm doing this for health reasons!
Nah, just kidding, I'm mostly doing this for guys.

[Cristo Meyers]

Weight Watchers is working pretty fabulously for me. My tummy jiggliness is down a lot, and several pairs of pants don't fit without a belt anymore.
I'm an unhealthy weight with a history of obesity in my family, so I'm doing this for health reasons!
Nah, just kidding, I'm mostly doing this for guys.

She said as if there were a better reason

[Alteran]

I think the only big thing keeping me from becoming overweight is the fact that I have to walk to school. Every day, 30 to 40 minutes each way. Without that, I'd really get almost no exercise. My diet is okay, but not fantastic. I certainly eat too much not-good stuff, and I could stand to have more vegetables.

In other news, it's the first day of school today. I should be leaving pretty soon.

[Cristo Meyers]

I just keep falling off the wagon with my exercise routine, really. Especially recently. When you've just planed the ever-loving crap out of the bottom of a door the choice between exercise or shower-then-bed really isn't much of a choice.

[V'icternus]

Hey, not all guys require their girls to be skinny and/or have certain body parts bigger than monster trucks and the rest smaller than their brains.

...A lot do, though, I admit.

But the best ones (in my opinion. I'm not exactly an expert on what makes a good guy...) actually like you for, get this, purely non-physical reasons unique to human culture, such as bleeding personality.

[Mauve Shirt]

Taking weight training has been good for me too. Though I still do much more aerobic than weights.

[V'icternus]

My physical training consists of mainly walking from one end of my house to the other (big house, so that's actually worth mentioning. Sometimes I pack meals for the journey...) and occasionally lifting a really bloody heavy weight a couple of times instead of lifting one I find pathetically easy a couple of hundred times.

On, and my brother likes to fight, so that's some physical conditioning. Fighting a hyperactive child who took Karate and doesn't know when to block and when to try to hit.

[Jack Squat]

Hey, not all guys require their girls to be skinny and/or have certain body parts bigger than monster trucks and the rest smaller than their brains.

...A lot do, though, I admit.

But the best ones (in my opinion. I'm not exactly an expert on what makes a good guy...) actually like you for, get this, purely non-physical reasons unique to human culture, such as bleeding personality.

True, but there is something to be said about physical appearance as well. If nothing else, looking good has the connotation that you care enough to take care of yourself and have the responsibility to do so.

[Alteran]

Hey, not all guys require their girls to be skinny and/or have certain body parts bigger than monster trucks and the rest smaller than their brains.

...A lot do, though, I admit.

But the best ones (in my opinion. I'm not exactly an expert on what makes a good guy...) actually like you for, get this, purely non-physical reasons unique to human culture, such as bleeding personality.

Nobody's suggesting otherwise. Somebody is allowed to like you for your personality and still be attracted to you. Attractiveness, while not the most important thing, is pretty huge, at least for the purposes of making a first impression. Before a person gets to know your personality, they'll see what you look like. Even when they do like your personality, attractiveness is a bonus. It never hurts, even though it's not necessarily a deal-breaker.

For what it's worth, it's also totally subjective. Like you said, not all men are attracted to skinny-except-for-the-chest women, and not all women are attracted to musclebound men. There's no need to feel that you must conform to some arbitrary standard of "attractive" if you feel fine about the way you are.