With reference to obesity *being* a disease, I don't know how many of you have encountered the movement Health at Any Size? The contention is, that while obesity can coexist with certain illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, obesity in and of itself is not a causative factor.

I think there is sense in this thinking. Losing weight in and of itself will not necessarily cure conditions such as heart disease and diabetes - the Atkins diet will make you lose weight but low carb diets that are full of saturated fat, will do nothing to help heart problems, quite the contrary.

I've been mostly vegetarian now for about a year, maybe more - I say mostly because I have sometimes eaten fish during that period. My diet is also low in refined products like sugar and white bread and high in wholefoods like brown rice and pulses. From blood tests, my cholesterol and blood pressure are nada, I've had no indicators suggesting diabetes, in fact I'm in the athlete range for blood pressure, I attribute this entirely to my diet which being primarily vegetable based and high in wholefoods, is of course low in saturated fats and simple sugars.

Up until fairly recently I had asthma and I'd also started exhibiting signs of arthritis, cutting out dairy completely eliminated all joint pain I'd starting experiencing and my asthma completely cleared up too. I've reintroduced dairy subsequently at a low level with no recurrence of joint pain and only minimal signs of asthma compared to previously.

I'm not a fat advocate of any kind, I'd really rather be back to my normal size which is many dress sizes lower than at present! But even so, presently I have no fear for ill health associated to being fat. It's just a drag not fitting any clothes, and feeling hotter under all the layers of insulation!