I tend to agree with what you've said, Woo. And again, I can draw from my clinical experience, as well as the experiences of friends, etc. I have yet to see truly outstanding labwork (that's outstanding, not just acceptable) from people who are obese. I've certainly seen numbers go down, either from appropriate medications, or from lifestyle changes. But I haven't seen the kind of aggressively low numbers that are now recommended. The latest Joint Committee (JNCV11) recommends BP levels be below 120/80, and HTN is diagnosed at lower levels (anything over 140/90), with a new category of pre-HTN, which is 120-139/80-89. So your BP needs to be <120/80 to be considered normal. As far as DM goes, we were usually happy to see A1C levels below 7%. But here again, lower is better, and most clinicians would be shooting for <6% in an ideal world. In addition, recommendations for treating dyslipidemia have tightened quite a bit, especially if the pt has DM or other complications. LDLs should generally be below 100, and for those at risk, the recommendation is to have them below 70! As I was told, you can't really get LDLs to low...the data supports very low levels. HDLs on the other hand, should be >50, and optimally, >60. My HDLs were in the 60s when I was fat, but my LDLs were also high, so my total cholesterol level was not terrific.

But really, this is all kind of secondary in some respects...I mean, you can walk around with dyslipidemia and HTN and feel just fine. Same is true w/high blood glucose levels. But chances are, if you're fat, you are going to get winded more easily, have a harder time fitting in airplane seats -- or the seats at my school, which are small! -- and if you have little kids, like me, you may find that it's tough to run around with them. I really feel my day-to-day quality of life is tremendously better now that I'm thin. I just get around so much easier. And Woo, I've also been a bit bemused when people on this site have tried to tell me what I'm doing wrong when in fact my stats are better than theirs! The passion is admirable, I suppose, even if a bit misguided. I do believe that eating fewer carbs is a good idea, especially if it means eating MORE veggies, berries, high quality proteins, and so on. I don't feel the same way when I see people eating boatloads of nitrate-laden bacon and sausage, and heavy cream. Technically, both ways are acceptable on DANDR, but I'd go for the clean eating over the cream and bacon. I realize there may be extenuating circumstances which make losing harder -- like if one has PCOS or takes corticosteroids -- but I think there are those who just still eat too much and exercise too little. It is possible -- easy even -- to eat too much on an LC diet. I never lost much on Atkins, and I followed it to the letter. But I ate too much, and after the first 10 pounds or so, I stalled. My current WOE is much better in every possible way, and my weight loss and labwork support that.

Ehhhh...enough rambling. I think I've made my opinions more than clear at this point! My children are driving me nuts...when does school start again??!!