Since I am fairly slim and towards the low end of the BMI in the healthy range, I read with a lot of interest the study by Katherine M. Flegal of the CDC that overweight and obese people lived longer than healthy people. Ouch! All the diet and exercise I did, I thought, for nothing. Why bother if I am going to die sooner and not be able to enjoy a long life? Not so fast, ladies and gentlemen, to start pigging out and sleeping on a couch your whole life. The reality is that no one knows, yet, why is it that healthy weight people die somewhat earlier and fat people live longer. There are hundreds of other reasons that determine how long we live, for example, our stress levels, or how hard we work, or how spiritual we are, or how strong our relationships are. It is definitely documented that overweight people, while living longer, have lower quality of life because they are more likely to suffer from all kinds of illnesses. So I would rather live a few years less and enjoy each day rather than live a long life in bed. So go out there and work some sweat and then eat a healthy meal of mostly vegetables and fruits.
My Life In Bits And Pieces in Massachusetts.