I shattered a heel five years ago and had a plate and nine pins in my foot. The surgeon was going to leave the metal in, and told me I'd get a medical card to get me through the TSA screens. I've since learned that such cards are virtually worthless, which makes sense because it wouldn't be difficult for even a Muzzie terrorist to figure out he could avoid a thorough search by merely forging a doctor's excuse if they did work. I am fortunately, I suppose, that I required two additional surgeries and on the third they pulled all the metal.
I hate to burst your bubble, but at 6'6" and 315 lb you are fat, with a body mass index of 36, which is well above the obesity threshold of 30. I have no doubt that you carry your mass well, considering. I have a BMI of 40, so I envy your relatively svelt physique.
Given the bullets in your legs, think about requesting a front-row seat with no reclining seat in front of you. Or, request a seat behind an exit row, as those seats don't recline. Just tell the booking agent you have a disability, and they will likely accomodate you. I usually request an aisle seat on the side of the plane opposite my bum foot, because its easier to get in and out of my seat with such an assignment. I've been accomodated more often than not. The problem I've had is the airline being overaccomdative by greeting the plane with a wheelchair for me (which I've never requested, but the word "disability" seems to trigger some protocol). I've always declined a wheelchair because I regard the walk through the airport as a form of physical therapy. I've only missed one connecting flight because of this.
Those who take cheap shots at fat folks are fortunate that they have a metabolism or an ability to stay active enough to keep the weight off. I gained 50 lb after being diagnosed with diabetes, much of that due to the medications. I stopped taking one pill for two months just to see if it had any effect on my weight, and I lost 20 lb without any increase in physical activity or any attempt to modify my diet. My blood sugar was sky high after those two months and I went back to taking the pill, but as my doctor said, "Take the pill to keep your blood sugar down and live longer at a higher weight, or forego the pill for a lower weight, a supposed higher quality of life, but plan on dying sooner." To tell you the truth, being lighter with a chronically high blood sugar isnt much of a quality improvement.
You may have been deceived about your medication for glucose control: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/193313.php
Forty years of diabetes treatment protocol has been invalidated with the confirmation that the medications were killing the diabetics at a much higher rate than the high glucose levels.
BMI is a scale that should be completely tossed - it’s really NOT a good indicator of health or obesity at all...
Three days ago, I had my biannual physical. I’m 1.83 meters (6 feet) tall, and just clocked in at 126.6 kg (280 pounds). Morbidly obese according to the BMI (and over here in China where I live half-time, and am presently reclining AND residing, I’m a freaking wall). I wear a US size 64 jacket. And a US size 36 jeans. I have 32-34” thighs, so I get custom made jeans to fit me. I’m just thick with a monster rib-cage. I do have 18” biceps, but with my oversized 16” diameter elbows and 10” diameter wrists, they look small. And anything smaller than my 19” neck would be pencil-sized on my frame.
It’s not from being a bodybuilder - workouts for me consist of huffing heavy gear around once or twice a week for half an hour or so, and a nightly walk for 30-40 minutes after dinner. My entire grandfather’s family was built this way, like overgrown dwarves, or shrunken cave-trolls if you will. We also suffer from short legs - I have a 28” inseam on a 6 foot frame - I have the legs of a man that is 5’ 7” tall, and the torso of a man around 6’ 5” tall.
I get the big, tailored jackets because my chest doesn’t fit in something that fits my waist (I can’t even get my arms in it, the jacket would rip across the shoulders), or if it fits my shoulders/chest I could slip another me in the waist.
I once “slimmed down” to 240 pounds, but when my hip bones and lower ribs started to show, it was clear that’s just not healthy for me. Sometimes people don’t just “carry it well”, they’re BUILT that way on purpose. In my case, I believe I’m built this way to make the local Chinese tailors sweat, and to serve as a living jungle-gym for the kids of my friends...:)
FWIW, my checkup revealed I’m in great health, good BP/heartrate, no cholesterol problems at all. EKG and stress test were all fine. Only issue detected was my hemoglobin count; for Caucasian men it should be between 135 and 170 grams per liter, and I clocked in at a doctors-record-high 192. Doctor’s prescription? She said I can take some expensive drugs, or give blood 2-3 times a month... I’ll choose the latter - I’ve got enough to share!
I think some of this thinness goes to extremes. My son is 6’1” tall, and he weighs about 215. He wrestles, and has a 32 inch waste. Let me tell you, the kid is solid as a brick sh*t house. In boyscouts, they play around, and its fun for him to get 4-5 other scouts on him and carry them around as they try and topple him.
Now, on to the story, his female doctor tells me one day that he is “obese”. She shows me some chart, and I’m looking at it, and in the normal range for his height is 135 lbs to 145 lbs or some such nonsense (I could be ten pounds off here or there, I don’t remember exactly what it was, so if your a doctor, please don’t flame me).
My kid would have a 12” inch waste if he was that thin. Further, when he was in 5th grade, they told us he was obese, because he was chubby. Well, I raised him like my dog when it was a puppy, he ate lots of protein, and he filled in that size. I bet if I starved him on wheat germ, tofu and bean sprouts as was suggested, he would have been malnourished, and not half as smart as he is now.
I’m not discounting the obesity problem, but I think there are more important things to worry about in life.
It started with the media portraying all women as 6’ and 95’ pounds, and now its on to the men as well. I’m sorry, I dont’ find anything masculine about a 6’ 95lb man, and would be hard pressed to take any such creature seriously if he threatened me. My wife says I look like Sean Connery, that’s the build I have, and I’m sure I’m considered obese as well by these medical experts.
Screw em all.
BMI isn’t completely accurate. I have a BMI of 23.5 now, but I used to have a BMI of 26 when I was heavily into powerlifting and had 55%-60% muscle mass.
ouch — though, doesn’t additional rigourous exercise help?
Anyone who believes in the BMI probably believes in global warming. The BMI is a joke. There are other, accurate ways to determine whether someone is obese.