Beware the Furniture Disease! I Have It – My Chest Has Fallen Into My Drawers!

I  can’t deal with it – having an untucked shirt touch my midsection when I stand up.

It’s a condition that has added to my indigenous grumpiness for the last few years.

I’m venting because it reached a new peak of seriousness this last week when I decided to order some new T-shirts from “Nordy” (for you Oakland Raiders fans and residents of Douglas, Wyoming, that’s suburban WASP-speak for Nordstrom’s). It’s their annual “customer appreciation” sale.

I have always hated shopping, especially for clothes. Those who have had the misfortune of live, personal contact with me can attest to that.

Online shopping hasn’t changed that feeling.

Committed to the mission of replacing tattered, ten-year-old T’s, I found some Nike and Adidas (cheap) T’s that looked good but then faced the decision of sizing before hitting the “buy now” button.  So I referenced the sizing guide offered by both manufacturers which suggest sizes based on a range of chest sizes.

Forever, I’ve been “XL” but have lost a little weight so decided to drag out the cloth tape-measure from my bride’s sewing box (which came as a wedding gift 49 2/3 years ago and has been opened four times since) and measured my chest.

Check. I know what size to order.

But, since I was standing there half-naked, I seized the opportunity to drop the tape to the “part that can’t stand to be touched” and measured my waistline.

It hasn’t been pleasant to be in the same area code as me since I made that mistake. It would have been better around here for the aforementioned bride if I hadn’t taken that second measurement.

Chest: X inches. Waistline: X+3 inches.

Ugh! On two levels:

  1. Ego, vanity, arrogance – really bad post-shower frontal and side view in the mirror.
  2. Health, metabolic-syndrome concern.

That little T-shirt event spurred me to go back and refresh my memory on the downsides of those prevalent “love handles” so many of us walk around with these days. With 65% of us American males overweight and 24% obese, we’re showing our naivete about what that collection of mostly white adipose fat (WAT) can mean for us long term.

I wrote about this topic on 1/13/2018 – click here to read that post. 

You see, if it’s showing up around the middle, it’s likely present around vital internal organs – like the liver, pancreas, and others  And that’s not a good thing.

Love handles are part of the “metabolic syndrome.”

You’ve probably heard of the “metabolic syndrome.” Mayo Clinic defines it as:

“- a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. These conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels.”

Heart.org offer this:

Metabolic syndrome occurs when a person has three or more of the following measurements:

  • Abdominal obesity (Waist circumference of greater than 40 inches in men, and greater than 35 inches in women)

  • Triglyceride level of 150 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) or greater

  • HDL cholesterol of less than 40 mg/dL in men or less than 50 mg/dL in women

  • Systolic blood pressure (top number) of 130 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or greater, or diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) of 85 mm Hg or greater

  • Fasting glucose of 100 mg/dL or greater

I’ve been aware and watchful of the components of the syndrome for decades and watch each component carefully. That is until I didn’t – and let the “abdominal obesity” slip through my calorie-rich-and-processed (C-R-A-P) food-stained fingers. Along with a little help from COVID isolation and no access to the late, great 24-Hour Fitness.

In my refresher trip, I was reminded, at the site Healthfully.com, that the waist-to-hip ratio and body-mass-index (BMI) were more important than the chest to waist ratio.  When you click on this site, you’ll find a very simple BMI calculator.

It didn’t get any better when I did the waist-to-hip ratio. Or the BMI calculator.

Disclosure: Normal BMI is under 25 on the index. I’m solidly in the overweight category at around 27.

Temporarily!

40 and 35

Those are the maximum waist size numbers for men and women respectively to avoid having that extra white visceral fat create cardiovascular or cerebral problems down the road. That’s tougher to do past age 50. But vital.

Oh, and don’t play games with this and say that you are good because your pant size is under 40.  Doesn’t work that way, fellas. Your waist size is going to be, at a minimum, 3″ larger than your pant size. I still can squeeze into my 36″ jeans with a waist-size 4-5″ above that.

Do you have the visual I look at every day now? Not pretty.

COVID is exposing us.

So, why all the drama about belly fat?

I wrote two weeks ago about how 40% of people who died with COVID-19 had diabetes. Among the deaths of those under 65, half had the chronic condition.

Obesity = Type 2 diabetes = vulnerability.

For the last 3-4 decades, we’ve been heading in the wrong direction. Collectively, we are 20 pounds heavier than 20 years ago but no taller. Wikipedia states that as of 2015, there were approximately 392 million people diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes compared to around 30 million in 1985 – tenfold plus.

Yikes!

Here are the culprits:

If tying your shoes has become an aerobic event, it’s time to shift some lifestyle.

I’m shifting mine because it’s way too close to an aerobic experience.

Share a comment. It’s great to hear from you – thanks for actively participating in the discussion.  Join our email list if you haven’t already by going to www.makeagingwork.com. You’ll receive our free ebook “Achieve Your Full-live Potential: Five Easy Steps to Living Longer, Healthier, and With More Purpose.”

Stay safe!

Just a quick side note:

Exactly three years ago today, 8/17/2017, I began this weekly diatribe. A few of you have hung in for 152 blog posts. I hope you know that I deeply appreciate that.

23 replies
  1. Phil says:

    Gary right on the spot our minds must be on telepathic synchronization about our belly busting bad eating habits. To cope with my girth I now wear sweat or exercise wear over traditional clothing makes it easy to dance stay active walking, stairs FitBit helps out with analytics. My nutrition lesson came from my late high-blood pressured and heart diseased father who did exercise in the US Army but then slowed down by a congested heart that led to his death from a cerebral hemorrhage. Another lesson was taking a mandatory nutrition class for my teacher credential. Learned about sugar, salt, veggies, fruits, drinking water yet very hard to get a nutrition class in your typical public k-12 school. Because of lack of nutrition and health education prevention we have arrived at our dismal state of health with people over 50 collapsing at the first signs of Covid-19. Eating 100% healthy vegan is not a guarantee but but yeah but I lower the risk meaning I can stay active healthy in life. Unless I hit the lotto or get someone to buy my website for a billion bucks I do not expect any retirement so like Gary said gotta stay actively healthy.

    Reply
  2. Craig Brauer says:

    Get outside and hike anywhere! Uphill or downhill doesn’t really matter which. It also motivates me to do other exercise. Like adding weight to a backpack and run, mostly walk up a hill. It helps set goals like hiking a mountain trail or climbing a 14er (mountain over 14000 ft in elevation), or walk a golf course or maybe just around the neighborhood!

    I am a young 63, in the normal BMI range, and my t-shirts don’t touch my belly when not tucked in (Gary thanks for that indicator of health!) So go take a hike!!!

    Reply
  3. Walter Wilson says:

    Gary,

    I have been a runner for 40 years. Not fast, but always finished upright. My left knee went “out” 4 years ago, had a total replacement last November. I was told “You will never run again!”

    After months of PT and pain, I started running again in June. At first, quite literally, around the block. Last Sunday I did a 6-mile loop. Again, not particularly fast, but I finished upright. My plan: run until they put me in the box. Why not?

    And, as we used to say in the IT business, “GIGO”, as in “garbage in, garbage out.” I have not eaten a french fry or a hamburger in 20 years. We all get exactly one (1) body–it makes sense to take care of it.

    Reply
  4. Susan Rooks says:

    Oh, boy, Gary! I just found out that my waist is 35, but … I thought it would be even smaller since I’m only 5’3″ and at the exact weight my doctor told me I should be. And it’s summer, when my weight is typically its lowest. My dogs and I walk 4+ miles every day up and down the hills of the small village we live in, weather permitting. Guess I need to be even more vigilant since summer’s flying by, right?

    Heck of an article, so thanks!

    Reply
  5. Mike Drak says:

    I used the BMI calculator and I’m border line obese. Writing two books over the past two years resulted in me putting on 53lbs. To correct things and get back on track I’ve decided to sign up for an Ironman in Nov 2022 when I turn 68. It’s not going to be easy as currently I can’t even run around the block but like they say “go big or go home.” It should be an interesting experience and that is what keeps retirement interesting.

    Reply

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