Fat Can be GOOD!!

[warbirdlover]

Heavier players like myself have an advantage over you skinny athletic guys due to "built in" counterweighting. If you look at competitive archery, rifle or pistol shooting, etc. all put "counterweights" on their equipment for better balance during use. If you look at our pictures, we have a counterweight in our bellys and rear ends that "stabilizes" us more then you guys during the swing. Once we get our swing down we have the advantage. Just check out John Daly or Craig Stadler!!

[georgep]

I agree that that a little extra weight gives you a more solid base. Lots of women say they actually played better pregnant than they did prior to or after (at least until the last month or two). However, like about everything, it's a tradeoff. You get more stability, but generally less flexibility.

Right now, I'm in the "stability" camp, but I aspire to get back toward the "flexibility" group in the near future. I think the flexibility is a more desirable attribute in golf at least as far as consistent play goes. Just look at the elite tour players ... Lumpy, Daly and (to a lesser extent) Stads have never really been at the top of that pile for more than a week or two at a time.

[cdriver]

I started playing a little over 5 years ago at 155, 32" waist. I quit smoking about 18 months ago and got to where I was playing at 190, 38" waist. I am back down now to 170-something with a 35" waist. So, I have actually had it both ways. For my money, smaller is better. The flexibility factor is important, but also, my balance is better when I am not carrying those extra pounds. I feel more stable without the bookcase hanging out over my beltline.

[warbirdlover]

Was only kidding guys!! Obviously more athletic is better. But I can still try to justify my weight. (Started the nutrisystem diet and already lost 5 lbs. in three days.) Quit smoking a month ago.

[Jeepthrills]

As an exercise physiologist I see a lot of the stability people trying to become flexibility people.

Congrats to both of you for quitting smoking. It is the single worst of all the health risk factors. You can gain 50 pounds and you are still better off as a non-smoker.

[elivate]

Was only kidding guys!! Obviously more athletic is better. But I can still try to justify my weight. (Started the nutrisystem diet and already lost 5 lbs. in three days.) Quit smoking a month ago.

Congrats, that is a great accomplishment!

I think we are seeing a great trend in golf, the more athletic players are at the forefront, even though a few of the less-fit guys are still playing well (monty, lumpy, etc...) I especially like this trend on the LPGA tour.

[rembrandt]

I need to lose about 30lbs and stay there. The extra weight is a burden on hips and knees. Also the back doesn't like the spare tire pulling away at it's discs. Slender is the way to be and dag-gummit it is hard to accomplish!

[Jeepthrills]

I think we are seeing a great trend in golf, the more athletic players are at the forefront, even though a few of the less-fit guys are still playing well (monty, lumpy, etc...)

Don't forget Hefty...I mean Lefty. Look back at the guys who have been number one over the last 10 years. Norman, Tiger, Duval and even Vijay are big fitness guys.

[cdriver]

On the other end of the spectrum, you have David Duvall, who got buff and then got really bad... Does anyone know the story of what really happened to him??? Was his getting buff just coincidental to him losing his game?

[cdriver]

Oh, and I forgot, congrats WBL on quitting the cancer sticks.. I smoked 2.5 packs a day for 40 years and put them down overnight.. It happened to be the day they went in and put the stent in my circumflex artery... I smoked the last one on the way to the hospital and told my girlfriend (now wife), "That's it for me, I quit." She was very dubious, but I stuck to it. It is a lot easier when they back the hearse up to your door and let you smell the flowers that will be on your casket.. lol

[Jeepthrills]

On the other end of the spectrum, you have David Duvall, who got buff and then got really bad... Does anyone know the story of what really happened to him??? Was his getting buff just coincidental to him losing his game?

What I read about him was that he credits the weight training for helping him get into great shape about the time his game peaked. Then he went too far with the weights and started to get to muscular. He is a shorter guy than Tiger and has a tendancy to get too "thick". He started to change the way he ate and replaced the weights with Pilates and yoga. He lost a lot of muscle and got pretty thin. Somewhere in there is when he hurt his back. He also had a battle with vertigo. Combine that with getting married and becoming a father and you can see how his game could fall off. I have always been a fan of his and I really think he is the kind of guy the US has been missing in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

[cdriver]

I always liked him because he said what he thought. People were put off at first by the sunglasses and his stoic demeanor. Once he started to open up, he became much more likeable. I hope his game comes back. Like you, I think he could be an asset in the team competitions.

[warbirdlover]

There's a great article on David Duval in a recent Golf Digest and it explains the whole thing. You can read it on-line.

As far as losing weight, my wife's co-workers all started fooling around with the Nutrisystem diet and they're all losing 30 lbs a month etc. One guy lost 85 lbs. so far. So we (wife, college daughter and myself) all are trying it. Some of it tastes horrible but some isn't too bad. We cheat a little too. But the dang thing is working. I seem to be dropping 1-2 lbs every day I get on the scale. Kind of feels good. I (was) 6'0" 254 lbs and really pretty solid (other then the "tire"). Once upon a time looked like the "old" Arnold S. but then started putting on around the belly. If I can lose 30-40 lbs. I'll have no fat on me at about 220 lbs. Hope no one takes this as a spam. We go out to lunch once in awhile at work and the guys will order a pizza. I eat the cardboard and it tastes better then some of that stuff and probably just as nourishing, LOL.

[iacas]

It's unhealthy, many say, to lose more than a few (2-3) pounds per week.

I've never understood what's so difficult about dieting (this is not a knock on those who have tried them). If you expend more energy (calories) than you eat, you lose weight. So you either eat different foods, eat less, increase energy output, or some combination of the three.

But then again, I'm still in the "I can eat anything and not gain much" phase. People keep telling me it will end soon. I pray it doesn't.

[warbirdlover]

cdriver,
I SHOULD have quite in 1999 when they took bladder cancer out of me!! But I did cut back to 1/2 pack/day and I just quit.

Now when you quit smoking your body (which has been burning lot's of calories to get rid of the nicotine) slows down the metabolism and you put on weight, even eating less then you did before.

I'm not getting fatter (I refuse!!) and in fact want to get back to my perfect weight, 220 lbs which is why I'm trying that diet.

[cdriver]

It's unhealthy, many say, to lose more than a few (2-3) pounds per week.

Like you, I was always in the "eat anything and not gain" group. At 57, I weighed exactly 7 lbs more than I did the day I graduated from high school. I ate like a horse, anything and everything I wanted. Then I quit smoking and my metabolism must have slowed to a crawl because in what seemed like the blink of an eye, I shot up from a 32 waist to a 38 and I seemed unable to stop the gain. Finally, my body has started to adjust to the lack of nicotine and I have started to drop some of the weight. I have lost about half of what I gained originally.

I never had sympathy for people who were overweight and, just like you iacas, I thought it was only a matter of getting control of one's self. Let me tell you, I now have a better appreciation of how hard it truly is to make your body behave.

[Jeepthrills]

It's unhealthy, many say, to lose more than a few (2-3) pounds per week.

The 2-3 pound thing is generally true. However, when people start dieting they often lose a lot early on. Much of it is water. Ultimately, 2-3 pounds per week is a sustainable loss. When they lose too fast, the body will eventually catch on and can slow down the metabolism to make up for the loss.

I always tell my clients that the exercise is the easy part. You only need to get that right 3-5 times each week. With your eating, you are given the oppertunity to screw up 5-6 times each day, if not more. I use the term moderation, not deprivation. Try to focus on all of the stuff out there you can eat, instead of thinking about what you can't. I also reccomend the occasional cheat day. It is good for you mentaly and you can't do enough damage to out weigh all of the good days.

[cdriver]

I started walking when I play golf as much as I can. That usually translates to 3 or 4 times a week after work. There is a 9-hole course close to my office where I can run over and play pretty quick. The only thing that has slowed me down lately is the 100+ heat index we have been suffering under for the last couple of weeks. As soon as it is safer to walk, I will be at it again. I think that is why I was losing steadily, because since I had to curtail my walking because of the heat/humidity, I noticed my weight is static.

Pray for a break in the weather.