Dwayne Johnson: 45 yo, 6′5″, 260 lbs (obese)

Vin Diesel: 50 yo, 6′0″, 225 lbs (obese)

Tome Cruise: 5′7″, 55 yo, 170 lbs (overweight)

   I was at the local clinic getting a check up and my doctor asked me to do a fasting blood draw. I absolutely hate this because I am terrible with blood and I always feel nauseous and faint This happens to me every year because I am severely overweight and my doctor pulls out the BMI chart to show me how bad it is. I have weighed as much as 380lbs at a mere 6′3″ so my BMI reached almost 50 which meant I was dying. I have lost weight (I have not grown any taller though) and my BMI is in the 30s, but my doctor seems to think that I am dying at any moment and my liver function will halt completely with a slight breeze (my blood tests say otherwise every year). My doctor wants me to get down to a “healthy” weight according to the BMI, which would be between 150 and 190 lbs. At my absolute healthiest (23 and working out 5 days a week), I weighed 225 lbs and would have been considered overweight. I would have to be deathly skinny to attain that BMI set weight goal. I have come to terms with the fact that I am a really big guy and that I won’t be some fit actor. However, it occurred to me that fit actors might not be “healthy” either.

   Above are pictures of well known actors that I would consider in remarkably good shape, especially for their age. It is strange to me that both Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel would be considered obese. Even Tom Cruise would be considered overweight. I delved a little deeper and made a list of male actors and how they would be classified according to reported body stats:

Chris Evans (overweight)

Brad Pitt (borderline overweight)

Gerard Butler (overweight)

Daniel Craig (overweight)

Micheal Cera (healthy)

Chris Pratt (morbidly obese in Parks and Rec but down to overweight for Guardians of the Galaxy)

All James Bond actors would have been considered overweight or borderline overweight during the making of their movies

 This little research project actually raised more questions than answers for me (is the BMI wrong, are actors actually fat, are actors lying about their stats, should the BMI be adjusted, are actors not actually healthy), but one thing that I came away with is I should not to let a number define me. I am sluggish and can’t do all the things that I want to do so I want to continue to lose weight. However, when I get to a point where I am active and feel good and enjoy my life, I am going to stop no matter what the actual number of pounds or BMI points is. Let your body tell you what your weight should be and don’t let your self esteem be based on a number.