Does having a High Frequent Flyer status make you fatter?

[Fantic125]

If I'm travelling for more than a week I'll usually take gym clothes with me and use whatever equipment is available in the hotels, but if its a shorter period of time I don't bother. When I'm home I usually go to the gym every weekday, so I tend to stay around the same weight/bmi anyway.

 

[NinaG]

Thought MH was responding to my earlier post when I got an email a few minutes ago entitled:
Great news for those who always tip the scales
But it was just telling me of the 10 kg increase in luggage allowances!

 

[Chuq]

I'm assuming many of the high FF level people here are FF's due to business - flying in and out, working in offices, living in hotel rooms?

I find that when I fly it's for pleasure rather than work, and often to large cities, so I spend a lot of time walking. e.g. when I was in Philadelphia for a day last year, I was basically on my feet from 9am until 8pm. (I was making the most of the one day I had there!) My day job is at a desk, so as a result I probably notice the opposite effect to most of you!

 

[totd]

We can always argue post hoc ergo propter hoc (one comes after the other, therefore the former caused the latter). It's logic and, thus, irrefutable

 

[Princess Fiona]

I think Mal has got it completely correct.
It's lifestyle which causes the biggest fluctuations in weight.
As a data point I'm within 2kg of my weight in 1st Year Uni (many moons and FF years ago )

 

[totd]

As a data point I'm within 2kg of my weight in 1st Year Uni (many moons and FF years ago )

Now that's something to be proud of. I weigh less than during Uni (I blame the cheap food they serve in colleges/dorms) but staying down takes a *lot* of work. Well done Fiona! (and I do mean that with all sincerity.)

As a side note, what do people do for gyms while they're away. I'm with Anytime Fitness which has the benefit of having some North America locations, but no where near as many as I expected (or would like).

 

[pshepvic]

Body Mass Index (BMI) would be good measure to go by.

According to BMI, every AFL footballer is morbidly obese. If you want accuracy look at % body fat, waist size relative to height, blood glucose levels, cholesterol ratios. Weight and BMI are not necessarily good measures as to how healthy someone is.

 

[wingspan]

According to BMI, every AFL footballer is morbidly obese. If you want accuracy look at % body fat, waist size relative to height, blood glucose levels, cholesterol ratios. Weight and BMI are not necessarily good measures as to how healthy someone is.

But most of us AFFers are probably not going to measure our glucose, cholesterol, visceral fat, and so on, and so forth. BMI is something that we can do at home and report back!

If we're going to nitpick our measures, then frequent flyer status isn't a good measure of how much we fly, what kind of travel we do, or what cabins we fly in / hotels we stay in. It's just something that we can use that's feasible!

PS I might just use this as an example in my research methods lecture on Monday!

 

[drron]

Well to adopt a more serious tone those with a BMI 30-35 which has been classified as obese do no worse than normal BMI folks when it comes to all cause mortality but do better if you have a chronic disease such as Diabetes or heart disease-the obesity paradox.
theheart.org: trusted cardiology news and opinions

 

[whatmeworry]

Some consider waist-to-height ratio a better simple measure of health. IIRC I read somewhere that Brad Pitt would classified as overweight and George Clooney obese according to the BMI.

Health-calc - Waist to height ratio

Indices of abdominal obesity are better dis... [J Clin Epidemiol. 2008] - PubMed - NCBI

A systematic review of waist-to-height ratio as... [Nutr Res Rev. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

 

[totd]

I heard once that BMI was based on short Belgians in the 1800's. A quick google showed up this page: http://www.theopavlidis.com/HealthIssues/bmi_0.htm

But it sounds like we're all agreed that the BMI isn't a really useful measure

Still, as wingspan notes, it's what we technically call better than nothing.

 

[chrisb]

Being stuck in hotels alone in the middle of nowhere does it for me. There's not a lot to do but eat. In the mornings it's the hotel buffet or nothing. At one point we were staying in serviced apartments and I actually packed food to take with me in order to be a little healthier. My manager thought I was nuts for not expense claiming my meals.

That said, my weight issues started long before the flying. If i was flying more I'd definitely need to figure out a solution.

 

[Anna]

I swear by using a calorie counter app. I got an app about the same time as I got WP, and now I'm the same weight as I was at uni too.

 

[medhead]

My BMI = 30.2

 

[mella2007]

I think overall lifestyles in general can make people overweight.
I don't drink alcohol or eat fast food, but have struggled the last 10 years with my weight. I do exercise, however the general lifestyle I lead (late nights, eating at weird hours, sleep patterns all over the place etc) all don't help the situation.

 

[Cynicor]

While people can argue that BMI doesn't always get it right, I would like to think those on here who measure up as 'obese' could tell if they were fit like a footballer/movie star or suffering from abdominal enlargement...

It works perfectly for self identification of obesity, and you'll find some people who only lift weights, weigh a lot and are obese on BMI also have very little cardiovascular fitness anyway, and are also at risk of being unhealthy too.

 

[browski]

A couple of points here.
1. I think it is not so much Business Lounge usage which adds flab; it is more the long haul in J (and especially) F. For 14 hours+ you are continually plied with booze and rich food. It should be notes that I often return from trips lighter, but fatter; I think there is muscle loss to consider in the equation.

2. On the road, depending on the type of work you do, I tend to eat more food; and exercise much less than if I'm at home. So now I attempt to make 2 adjustments. The first is to stay in Serviced Apartments rather than hotels. A quick trip to the supermarket on day 1 certainly pays dividends by weeks end. Secondly, (and it seems easier to do this if you are male) I remove breakfast or lunch from the work day.

 

[wingspan]

Some consider waist-to-height ratio a better simple measure of health.

But we do have to be careful to note that we're not trying to measure health, per se. The OP was interested in fat. Health is a much harder 'thing' to measure.

 

[wingspan]

Secondly, (and it seems easier to do this if you are male) I remove breakfast or lunch from the work day.

Don't you feel sluggish doing this? It would certainly slow down your metabolism!

 

[browski]

Don't you feel sluggish doing this? It would certainly slow down your metabolism!

No, I don't feel sluggish, but I feel that missing lunch is better than missing breakfast