This is interesting. It's fun, but don't base life-altering decisions on the number you came out with. :laugh: :laugh:
First I did my own and came out to 86.
Then I did it for my parents, as if they were 65. My Mom's came out to 88, but she died last March less than 2 months after her 75th b-day. She smoked a pack a day and was diagnosed w/ small cell lung cancer just after she turned 75.
My Dad, well his came out to 73. He'll be 78 in April and he's going strong!!!
As for those articles about how many years being overweight takes off of your life. I'm no health expert but I LOVE numbers and I know that statistics can be 'massaged' and presented in many ways. If you consider that obese people are at higher risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes, of course their risk of dying is higher than somebody with a lower risk for these ailments. BUT, if you are overweight and don't have these ailments, your life expectency should not be dramatically reduced.
My grandmother calculated at 84. She died 3 years ago from complications after a fall (head injury) at age 96!! She smoked until age 76, she was 30 to 70 pounds overwieght from her mid-20s until her death. She LOVED sugar and always baked or bought pastries and cakes. She used 4 tsp of sugar and REAL cream in a dainty 'bone china' cupful of coffee. She ate lots of low-fiber 'white' pasta as well as heart-healthy fish and olive oil. She lived on the top floor of a 3-family house until she was 75 and hated to stay home, so she got good exercise climbing those stairs. She also owned her own business (first a hat store then a small shop doing clothing alterations) until she was 74.
So you see, not everybody falls into the stereotypical statistics!
