Irresponsible "Heavy" People?

[Correia]

I may look over weight. Looks can be deceiving.

I'm 6'5" 310 lbs. 56" chest. 40" waist. So I'm a big guy by anybody's standards (except for our amature sumo wrestler, Sir I salute you! ) Most people who look at me guess I weigh 240 or so.

I have a gut. I have always had a gut. When I got mono in college I dropped 40 pounds in 6 weeks. I still had a gut of loose skin.

When I was being fanatical. (martial arts, running daily, lifting 3x a week, eating 5,000+ calories) I still had a gut. When I went out for the police academy I got down to 275 and I still had a gut. I could do 50 situps in a minute and passed the stretch test with the score of a 20 year old girl, but I still had a big flabby gut.

My cholesterol is excellent. My blood pressure is superb. My resting pulse rate is abnormally low.

I'm a great sprinter for a big guy. Lousy runner. 8 minute mile is about as good as I can do. However I can do ten minute miles for an hour. (well I could as of a year ago, I haven't tried lately, usually do 2 or 3 miles and go home).

Now I operate a desk all day. I've gained a bit of weight, may even look flabby to some folks, but I can take your average skinny twit and pull his head off of his neck with out exerting myself too hard.

Never underestimate a big guy.

 

[TaxPhd]

"I'm talking about those who would depend on their CCW in a simple fistfight."

A simple fistfight is what happened in the school yard when you were 15 years old. There is nothing simple about a fistfight between adult males. In the schoolyard, you had to worry about a black eye and a bloody nose. Now, getting maimed or killed in a "simple" fistfight is a very real possibility.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I think if you give me any hassle I'll sit on you.

I'm not as capable at physical combat as I once was, but I think I'd still be able to give someone a run for their money. As a friend once told me, you've got hands, feet, elbows, knees, and a head. In a tough fight, use them all.

 

[bogie]

Heh - I've seen "simple fistfights" turn into full scale kickfests, ambulances called, etc... I've got one friend who got stomped, and stomped BAD. Coma for a while, didn't know if he'd live, permanent brain injury, seizures, had to rebuild half his face...

Many assaults, rapes, etc., are committed with no more weaponry than "fists and feet."

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Never underestimate a big guy.

I've got a friend named Scott who is probably pushing 500 lbs., and he's maybe 6 ft. tall. He looks like he's just fat. I once saw him lift a front end loader onto a trailer. There were 3 guys trying to help, but Scott just lifted it over our heads and onto the trailer. It probably weighed 800 lbs. I bet the guy could lift a piano.

Me, I weighed 125 lbs. when I graduated HS. Now, 35 years later, on a day with a lot of gravity, I might weigh 140. And I bet mine and Scott's diet are about the same.

Larry, sticking his tongue out and looking like a zipper.

 

[greyhound]

Hoo boy, soon as I saw the title of this thread this morning I knew it was gonna be a hot one.

Personally, I think the issue of weight and ability to fight comes down to the person in question's attitude. If you feel able to defend yourself adequetely at a given weight then your confidence will show through. If you don't, then maybe you should work on getting a little more in shape. I've seen some pretty agile heavy people (remember the actor Chris Farley? That dude could dance!). I guess maybe running ability would be affected but you adapt your defense strategy to this.

It stinks having to fight the weight battle. Eight years ago I looked in the mirror and didn't like what I saw. I lost 50 lbs with diet and exercise to hit my ideal weight. I could barely run 50 yards when I started but I didn't quit. Now I've hit my mid 30's and even more than ever I have to battle my slow metabolism (I swear if I smell candy I gain weight) So I've gained 10 pounds back since losing the 50 (in fact I've gained and lost that same 10 about 5 times in 8 years). Soon as I gain 10 I go back into ultra intense exercise and workouts.

I'll fight this battle all my life so my hats off to all those who share the same deal.

 

[gryphon]

"Fat" is a relative term. According to my doctor, I'm obese because I'm 6'1" and 250lbs, 29 yrs old.

What some doctors and most people don't realize is that I look big because I lift weights. At my weight I can bench 500, can run a 7-8 minute mile, and normally run 3 miles 3 or 4 times a week. I'm not ripped by any stretch of the imagination, but if you want to consider me fat, then that is the worlds perrogative. I like being miss-interpreted physically, as this gives me a huge tactical advantage over other people who think that I'd be an easy mark.

On the flip side, some people are just lazy(I used to be one of them before I removed my head from where the sun doesn't shine) and don't take care of themselves, and some are overweight for genuine medical reasons.

A persons health and fitness are things that they must take upon themselves to do.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Personally, I swear by the famous Häagen-Dazs diet.

 

[Thumper]

simple fistfight

Admittedly a poor choice of words. Perhaps common fistfight would be better.

The vitriol in some of your replies is telling.

The fact is, you are definitely much more likely to be faced with an angry empty handed assailant than an armed one.

"Nonsense?"

"Gibberish?"

Nah...but you insinuate that you'd shoot anyone confronting you physically.

If other options are available, THAT'S irresponsible.

They had it coming, huh?

Yeah, partner...good way to convert the fence sitters.

I can't believe some of you think that that's an acceptable attitude.

 

[spacemanspiff]

am i the only one that thinks thumper should sit down with a gallon of ice cream and adjust his attitude?


okay thumper, how about this:
i dont get into fights.
i dont hang around those who do.
if someone wanted to pick a fight with me, i wouldnt be drawn in by them. i can walk away without having my ego bruised. i can try to talk my way out of it. i can keep a level head. i think most of us who have chimed in here are in the same boat as far as that is concerned. (uhoh, boat is getting overloaded! throw all unnecessary items overboard!)

but if someone pressed the issue with me and threatened me with physical injury, i would have no choice but to draw my weapon out and defend myself. if they still advanced while my pistol is drawn, i'd have to consider how much i feel threatened.

i've heard others talk about getting attacked with fists/feet, but didnt draw their weapon because they didnt feel their life was threatened. thats not me. i cant read the mind of my supposed attacker, and determine if he/she just wants to give me a black eye, or if they want to cave my head in.
law enforcement often arrests BOTH parties involved in fisticuffs. that alone is incentive enough to never get goaded into a fight with my hands, if it is possible to avoid such.

lighten up. were on the same team you know. my mirror tells me i am fat. i dont need anyone else to second that, nor do i enjoy being called 'irresponsible'. it just drives a wedge between us who are supposed to be allies.

 

[444]

I have the same problem as Correia. When I was a kid, I would have been called overweight, not huge or fat; no one picked on me because I was fat, but I never looked "in shape" in my life. When I finished Army basic, I had a gut. I was sent to a doctor who gave me a profile that allowed me to weigh 30 pounds over the Army max based on a body fat analysis. When I got hired on the FD, I had to take an isometric strength test. I finished either first or second in every event. When I graduated from FD rookie school I was considered fat, but when it came time to carry a bunch of heavy stuff, in a hot environment, up many stories of stairs (high rise drills), I was always one of the first ones done. I also found that my body mass actually was a great benefit throughout much of the training; we had skinny guys in great shape that had problems because of heavy stuff and the friction of dragging long hose lays not because they weren't in shape, but because they simply wern't heavy enough. It is simple: if you wanted a guy to climb stairs dressed in 45 pounds of gear, with a K-12 saw slung over his back, two spare airbottles slung over his shoulder, and carry half the weight of a gas powered fan with one hand while another guy has the other handle which would you want, a guy that can run a marathon who weighs 130 pounds or a guy in decent shape that goes 220 pounds ? I am currently at my all time high weight, yet most days I work, I get on the treadmill and run three miles in 25 minutes, and have run a few charity five K races and such. A couple years ago, I was elk hunting in Colorado at an attitude of around 12k feet. There were three of us and one guy, a couple years older than us was really concerned about getting old. We were walking/climbing a hill of about 45-50 degrees and he suggested we race the last 100 yards or so back to the ATVs. I smoked both of them and one of my buddies there runs every day and has for years.
I am by no means an athlete. And I have been in a lot better physical shape, but I never looked the part. But don't judge a book by it's cover. Some of the strongest men I have known, and some of the people that I would least want to fight would be considered somewhere between overweight and obese. As a kid, I fought a few fat guys. Body shots were ineffective, and if they got hold of you, you were done.
What is all this about fist fights ? I haven't been in a fist fight since before I was a teenager. I clearly recall my last fistfight being when I was on the playground in the sixth grade. I agree about not hanging around with anyone who gets into fist fights. There are a group of guys at work that all root for the same football team, I am one of them. They get together and go to bars to watch the game and at least once a year they fly somewhere to see a game. After about the second trip with them, I refuse to go with them because one particular guy gets a few beers in him and wants to fight with someone; and he is a coward. One of the reasons he wants to fight is because he is counting on the rest of us to back him up. I am there to have fun, I have no interest in getting into a fist fight/getting injured/getting killed/ getting 86ed from the bar or game/ or getting arrested then paying a lawyer thousands to straighten it out.
I know a guy who most people would consider fat to obese. He tells me that he looked almost exactly the same his whole life including when he finished his year as an 11B in Vietnam.

 

[Thumper]

Monk- I must disagree. Please read Thumper's reply to my initial response where he directly and specifically calls me fat and irresponsible. He is rude and insulting and it is not by accident.

I never directly and specifically called you anything.

A lot of you are making this very personal. I'm sorry if the word fat offends some of you.

I'm neither "young," nor do I get in fights...not since my Army days anyway, and that was a long time ago. I could also stand to lose a pound or two.

Buying new guns is fun. Shooting is fun. IDPA is fun.

Physical training and eating right is hard.

Personally, I believe a person is responsible, as someone who carries a gun, to be able to retain that gun in a "roll on the ground" struggle.

Do you have a responsiblity to worry about someone who attacked you? Probably not. But for all of you who would come out shooting, remember, the cost is going to be high...to you and your family.

He's unarmed and you shot him? You're overweight so you had no choice?

Great, here in Texas your lawyer will probably get you off.

But your assailant's family is going to get Junior's college money.

Whatever...I'm truly sorry...really am...for making some of you so upset.

My buddy had a choice last night...try to maintain control of his gun and shoot, or try to hold out for help. He'd already sprayed the guy silly after chasing him. He held out for help and got lucky. He learned a hard lesson, and I bet he loses 30 pounds.

I'll try to get him to post about it later, but I doubt he will.

I'm gonna take spiff's advice and go have some Blue Bell. Mint chocolate chip.

Again...sorry for making some of you so angry.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Perhaps common fistfight would be better.

Again I would ask what sort of fantasy land are you living in? I am a large adult male. What sort of crack would a person have to be smoking in order to want to confront me physically in the first place?

Nah...but you insinuate that you'd shoot anyone confronting you physically.

I insinuated no such thing.

I said

Anything I do after you violate the above common sense and courtesy rules, you had coming in spades.

and

Somebody wants to start a fight with me, they are the ones being irresponsible. It isn't my job to help them play out their puerile fantasies.

I stand by what I said.

Do you have a responsiblity to worry about someone who attacked you? Probably not.

Probably not?

No. Not at all. If they wish to physically assault me, that is their problem, not mine.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

And one other thing. The "fencesitters"? them!!!

It is their lack of resolve, their lack of conviction, that gives punks the idea that they can assault a person without fear of reprisal.

And no, the fact that the punks of this world might not understand that I don't rely on fencesitters, and/or other dimwits, to exact that reprisal, is not my problem either.

 

[telomerase]

Stop thumping Thumper (or not?)

Thumper you deserve a medal for having the guts to start this thread (I think a Purple Heart...)

We evolved to eat a certain sort of fuel: meat, eggs, nuts, berries, fish, fruit, insects (think of them as small lobsters). If we eat these things we'll be smarter and stronger than if we believe the TV ads and try to live on colored corn syrup and trans fat. We'll also live longer, which is important in itself (surely at some point a 100-year-old voter must stop believing the politician's lies...) Eating Twinkies till you're 400 pounds is not heroic.

And now, I'll thump Thumper for a while (sorry, I play too much Illuminati). Thumper, if someone has attacked you by surprise and is "just" stabbing your eyes out with their fingers, I don't think that a policy of slow escalation is the way to go (remember Viet Nam). In fact, if someone "punches" you, you won't know till after the fight whether they punched you with a knife or a knuckle. The reason to stay within the specs of your Ice Age body is to think better and live better, not to emulate Bruce Lee (who, if you'll recall, advocated the .45 in "Enter the Dragon").

Now that I'm done thumping Thumper, I'll have to concede that he is still generally right. In my own life, I have thumped a couple of street punks instead of shooting them (and come to think of it, six weeks later they got out and stole my battery...)

(Full disclosure: I'm fifteen pounds overweight and just joined a new gym a month ago, so fanaticism is in full swing).

 

[Devonai]

I'm 26 years old, 5'10" and currently 217 pounds. According to tests I've taken on the Internet, I'm "severely obese," with a BMI of over 30.

Apparently nobody who creates these tests has ever heard of weight lifting. I've been lifting three times a week for almost exactly a year now. It's plainly obvious where at least 30 of those pounds are. I can bench my own body weight for three or four repetitions, which I couldn't do a year ago (not even close).

But like 444 and Correia, I still have a gut. It's not a beer gut, mind you, it's a Doritos gut. During high school I had no idea that eating an entire 14 ounce bag of Doritos four times a week was a bad thing. I was on the track and field team, but by the time I left for college the damage was done.

Then I suffered from the "Freshman 15." Only I LOST fifteen pounds my freshman year, due to a two week trip to London on a shoestring budget. After that I weighed 185 pounds, which on my frame looked downright skeletal. Even still, I had an inch or two of paunch hanging out over my belt.

Since then, lifting three times a week and leading a generally active lifestyle (both work and play) had kept me at a rock-steady 220 pounds for three straight years. Two weeks ago I became fed up with my appearance (at least below the sternum) and decided to start dieting for real. According to my research, I had to drop from 2400 calories per day (base) to 1800 calories a day. Doing so would make me drop 1.2 pounds per week, until I reach 185 pounds. Then sticking to 1800 kcal/day would keep me at 185 indefinitely. Running 1.5 miles adds 250 calories, walking the same distance burns 400, and my thrice weekly weight lifting adds 300 per session. So combining those exercises my daily average can actually go up to 2100-2400 kcal/day and still burn 1.2 pounds per week.

It's been two weeks and I've lost three pounds. So far it seems to be working. But unless I really hit the Ab-Slide, I doubt my gut will ever really disappear.

Now as to my combat ability: Yeah, my fitness level has held me back sometimes. In April 2002 my unit participated in 17 straight hours of assault training with the National Guard. I'm ashamed and embarrased to admit that I had to relieve myself and go take a break after 9 hours. Guess I was too fat.

 

[St. Gunner]

I can't believe you hurt my feelings.

I am 5'11" tall and weigh at present 245lbs, life insurance rates me high, the Army won't take me, but when I was swimming 3 miles per day and running a few miles every other I weighed 220lbs. I am just a big sob, they say you have a heavyset frame if when you wrap your fingers around your wrists you can touch them but only the tips, I lack about and inch and a half.

I'm carrying some excess weight at present because I have a tumor on my adrenaline gland, one of the side effects is a strange roll around the middle(all the way around, not a beer gut) My arms and legs are still rock hard. I worked out last semester and was doing one hour and 30 minutes on an eliptical at a 166 heart rate, would jump off and within minutes be down to 76. My BP is 130/80, but I am on meds because of the same tumor. My body dumps adrenaline into my system 24/7 and the reaction is higher bp, the weight, getting hot quicker, and some other things. Hopefully soon they cut that sucker out and I can get on with my life.

I am ashamed of what I look like, but after a trip on the Adkins that about killed me, I work outside all day long building fence and I would get dizzy and dizzy and farm equipment do not mix.

I think Thumper was dead on with what he said, it makes sense and if it shames some into making it right, good for Thumper.

The biggest hurt I felt was when a pudgy Army guy who had a higher body fat percentage than me told me I was to fat to be in his army. The cut-off was 200lbs for my height. I thought about beating him to death, but just walked away. At the time I weighed 220lbs and was swimming and running, could do about 100 pullups and who knows how many sit-ups and push-ups. Oh well, their loss, but it was something I wanted to do. Marines was the same run around. Didn't matter that I played Full Back and a ran a 4.5 forty, to them the scale said fat, so I was out of luck.

 

[Thumper]

(quote0Nah...but you insinuate that you'd shoot anyone confronting you physically.

I insinuated no such thing.(quote)

Vs.

"Don't pick a fight with a fat old man." He'll just shoot your...

Which is it?

I honestly didn't think you were the "fat old man" in question....to be more precise, I didn't think anyone would openly admit to such an attitude.

If the only trick in your self defense bag is to shoot, then yes, I think that's a problem...

 

[Thumper]

I think Thumper was dead on with what he said, it makes sense and if it shames some into making it right, good for Thumper.

God bless you, partner...I'm fighting for air here.

Hey spiff...My mint-chocolate chip was devine.

 

[Beorn]

(except for our amature sumo wrestler, Sir I salute you! )

Heh, heh... Thanks! Let me tell ya, amateur sumotori need more cardio than the pros. Professionals only wrestle once a day, and at the recent CA Amateur Championships I went through 5 matches to reach the finals (in less than 30 minutes).

I ripped my feet open on the sand Dohyo, and I forgot about the purifying salt... OUCH! I couldn't get my leverage in the ring, my feet hurt like hell, AND I was bleeding on the dohyo (a grevious Shinto faux pas ). So, I lost the CA heavyweight amateur championship...

Only got the Silver Medal... I'll have to reclaim my spot for next year. Though the US Sumo Open this Sunday will be indoors on a canvas dohyo, so no salt and easier on the feet.

passed the stretch test with the score of a 20 year old girl.

DUDE! You did... oh, never mind... I thought you said you did the stretch test with a 20 year old girl. You had me going man!

 

[winstonsmith]

We evolved to eat a certain sort of fuel: meat, eggs, nuts, berries, fish, fruit, insects (think of them as small lobsters)

But.. then I think of lobsters as large insects.. and I like lobster.. *vomit*



Anyway, I'm on Runt's side of the spectrum. I'm super thin, I try to gain weight as much as a possible. I don't eat well, I just eat anything and everything I can.I run alot and take hapkido class 5 times a week. I'm probably one of the most physically fit people I know (aside from my dad, he runs marathons for fun).

There is a gigantic difference between fat and not physically fit. Skinny people can be the wrong kind of skinny too.

And thumper, dude, waving people's largeness in their face is not the way to make friends or even get your point across. All they hear is you calling them fat, instead of your (very valid) point.

I don't know, just my $.02.

 

[Thumper]

And thumper, dude, waving people's largeness in their face is not the way to make friends or even get your point across. All they hear is you calling them fat, instead of your (very valid) point.

Not what I was trying to do at all. I think those who've followed the whole thread realize this.

My original thread title was a misjudgement, however, and I apologize.

 

[goon]

I will admit that I could stand to lose about 30lbs. I am planning on starting next week, but I am living it up this week.
Anyhow, I learned when I was a kid that being chubby has its advantages.
I have NEVER been knocked down in a fight. I don't attribute this to toughness as much as the fact that it is just hard to knock a fat guy over.
Weebles wobbles, but we don't fall down.

Also, to the rest of you fat guys out there, I have a question.
How strong are your legs. Eventhough I have never been a fitness nut (big suprise), I have found that I can set most weight machines having to do with my legs to the max and easily lift it several times.
My legs are huge, and my ankles look to be permanently swollen. They are just abnormally large. I have stepped crooked on them or lost my footing several times and have yet to hurt myself.
So, in conclusion, don't mess with fat guys.
Remember, just because you can't see my six-pack doesn't mean I don't have one.
I am sure it is there. It is just well concealed behind its protective outer packaging.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Hey Thumper!

(quote0Nah...but you insinuate that you'd shoot anyone confronting you physically.

I insinuated no such thing.(quote)Vs.


quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't pick a fight with a fat old man." He'll just shoot your...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How about sparing me your BS, and your phony apologies, and pointing out where I said "Don't pick a fight with a fat old man." He'll just shoot your...

Go ahead, show me. While you are at it, why not show me where I have ever, even once in my entire life, said that shooting someone is my only option, as you say in this little gem:

I honestly didn't think you were the "fat old man" in question....to be more precise, I didn't think anyone would openly admit to such an attitude.

Exactly what the hell is your problem?

Be absolutely certain that you use direct quotes. FROM ME!

 

[Thumper]

Wow...don't have a coronary on me.

I misquoted Saxon, not you. Already apologized to him in a PM.

What exactly did you mean by "they had it coming?"

And I like your interesting concept that, because you're so "big," no one would ever attack you.

Anyway...you're taking this way too personally. If you're upset by what I said, you're free to disagree.

BTW...my apology wasn't directed at you...If you're gonna continue to slam me personally, please take it to PM. I don't want the thread closed because you got frustrated.