Canada Gains Weight.

CBC News: Canadians getting dangerously fatter, study says

Well... I guess that was inevitable. The panic-fueling stories from America weren't enough to scare Canadians into losing weight so now Canada gets its own front-page fat study.

Yeah, we get it. OK?

According to most BMI calculators, I am considered obese -- in fact currently, after losing weight, I am just shy of the class 3 level of obesity mentioned in the article.

And yet, I can walk up several flights of stairs without (completely) losing my breath; I fit into a clothing size that is widely available; and I see a lot of people walking around every day who are clearly heavier than me.

I think the problem is that it has become more acceptable to be dangerously overweight. When I was a teen, I could barely fit into the largest size available in most clothing stores -- size 15. Now, most stores include up to size 18 or XL; it's only sizes 20+ or XXL+ which are most often banished to the plus size outlets.

Of course, there's the whole issue of "fat acceptance" -- on the one hand I feel very strongly that overweight and obese people should be free from discrimination, but I start to waver when someone sues the airlines because they can't fit in the seats. It's a thorny issue at the best of times, and not one I care to mull over too closely here.

***

At any rate, since starting to supplement my diet with 5-HTP about two weeks ago, I have been able to cut back on evening snacking (always a danger zone) and get enough sleep that I don't feel like having two carafes of coffee in the mornings. In that time I have also lost 5 lbs. Yay, me!