By Louiza Patsis, Personal Trainer

People say lots of stupid things. Among them is “big-boned”. Next time someone tells you that you are fat,  you are just big-boned, tell them to go —  well, it’s up to you what to say. If someone tells you this, even if it’s a nutritionist or personal trainer, ask them if they are a [good] orthopedist who took an X-Ray of you.

This article by an orthopedist explains just what my intuition has “thought”:

http://www.youbeauty.com/body-fitness/ask-a-scientist-being-big-boned.

Some people use “big-boned” to attack others’ appearance, while some people use the concept to justify being overweight. A doctor writing for fashion magazine Glamour wrote that most people are not big-boned, and this should not be used as an excuse for being overweight. Most people, Dr. JoAnne wrote, are medium-built and a larger than usual bone structure accounts for only about a ten-pound increase in weight.

An obese person can have a small skeleton. The excess weight damages the joints. On the other hand, weight bearing exercise to  strengthen muscle takes away stress from the skeleton and makes bones stronger. This type of exercise also causes new bone growth by increasing the rate that osteoblasts cells bring calcium to bones to make them stronger. Running and jumping exercises can make bones stronger by increasing bone density. This does not cause bones to get “bigger”. A thin person may be big-boned, as can be determined by wrist size.

Remember, for fitness levels, you must take into account your weight AND BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, energy levels, blood work, endurance, strength and flexibility. In general, according to the American Council of Exercise, women with a body fat percentage up to around 30 may not be overweight. This depends on muscle tone and distribution of fat. The same holds for men at a 25 percent rate of fat.  Percentages vary with age.

References
http://www.maxwettsteinfitness.com/Library/Ideal%20Body%20Fat%20Percentage.htm
http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2007/09/your-doctor-big-boned

I am available for personal training in New York City and surrounding areas. Ask me for packages at louiza_patsis@yahoo.com. My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.authorhouse.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories. These two books are on my Web site http://www.louizapatsis.com.