Pleasantly Plump

Heavy - This is an old fashioned term for fat. Has also been called Big Boned, Big Girl, and Heavyset. (What does that mean, anyway? Heavyset? That has always sounded like a good set of crystal to me, therefore, a very high compliment. Hey, this is how I handle my dysfunction, okay? Don't knock it till you try it.)

Healthy weight - Okay, now that we have all been put neatly into a little labeled box, either as fat, obese, morbidly obese, underweight, pleasantly plump or heavy, we can get down to the terms we want to be associated with, sort of. What is a healthy weight? Generally speaking this is the best term in the world of rice cakes. This term means you are neither fat nor underweight. You are not heavy or plump, but at a weight that is considered healthy and viable for your height, frame, seat belt and clothing. This is a good thing, unless you like those little bottles of liquor, but, that's a different column.

So, if that is a healthy weight, what is an ideal weight? Well, actually, ideal weight is not heard as often, any more. Not since the man who coined the term was found in his trunk. Ok, not really. The truth is this term has become overused, and , eventually, less important in the vocabulary of managed care. This term referred to a list, actually prepared and maintained by insurance companies to determine their rates and fees, listing weight limits and ideal weights. In other words, a company who had no vested interest (yeah right) in making you feel unhealthy compiled a list of weights which they had no medical training to impose. So, you can see why it is not as fashionable a term, any longer. I am being a bit harsh here, and apologize. While it is true that insurance companies compile, utilize, and keep, ideal weight charts, they are neither malicious nor out to make us feel bad about ourselves, I mean, they're not the media, or anything. They simply do the best they can to make sense of all of these terms, numbers, figures (quite literally and figuratively) and to create an acceptable norm for individuals. The formula, generally, is like this: 100 lbs per 5

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