When I was young in my 20's I never even considered health risks. Diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis and cancer never even entered my mind. Now it's all I can think about. What if, what if?

Although I have the same eating habits now as I did back then, my weight is greater, my joints are weaker, and I get frightened to death if I have a dizzy spell or when I realize that my belly has grown.

Anyone else suddenly afraid of obesity-related health risks? Is it too late to prevent these diseases or are we doomed??

I would not say I am "afraid" of them exactly, because fear is not the solution. But I am highly concerned about them enough to do what I can about it.

I DO have degenerative arthritis in one hip, and carrying all this weight is a big factor in that. I can't change the past but I can certainly change the future. I don't consider myself "doomed" and have, in fact, turned things around enough that all of my labwork comes back excellent, even though I still obviously have a ways to go with my weight.

We are only "doomed" if we continue on the same path of eating all this unhealthful garbage which most of our processed food consists of, and start giving our bodies good, regular workouts! And yes, if we keep up the same habits we could get by with in our 20s, we will suffer the consequences.

I was afraid of a lot of things when I was overweight... and had some actual things to be legitimately concerned about... although I freely admit to always being somewhat of a hypochondriac... but now that I've lost the weight... I've found other things to worry about when it comes to my health and what I'm eating... So now I'm just a skinnier version with a slight variation on that theme... but I'm OK with that...

And these days I'm more comfortable with knowing that even if I'm doing everything right that's no guarantee that I'm going to enjoy perfect health... so I'm no longer living my life in fear of "What if...?" so much anymore... and I can enjoy where I am at now...

I sometimes get really scared but its usually pretty short lived. I will have a strange pang or twinge that doesn't feel "normal" and then I get all paranoid that I am going to just keel over and die. (Maybe a little irrational....) I haven't been to the doctor for a physical in a long long time, and that is mostly because I really really don't want to hear whatever it is they will tell me.

I hate to admit it but I pretty much stick my head in the sand and try to ignore all of the obesity related issues (not the ones I already know I have...) and hope that all the things that I am doing to try to get in better shape and lose weight will make them disappear. I know better than to ignore any sort of serious issue that arises (some thing more than an unusual pang or twinge) to go to the doctor. Unfortunately, I don't actually have a "family" doctor at the moment, and am sick of the poor "service" at the walk in clinics...

Doomed, I don't think so. I am choosing to believe that the things I am doing are going to eventually make me a healthy person. I tend to just go with the flow and roll with the punches, and sometimes (I think...) Ignorance is bliss.

Fearful isn't the right word for me and obesity related illnesses. I actually don't know what the right word is. You see, I am, or I have, actually experienced them. My feet and ankles are trashed. I've got arthritis in both knees, the right one being the worst. I have high cholesterol and high triglycerides although both have improved immensely with my weight loss thus far. I was also teetering on the edge of diabetes and having almost daily hypoglycemic episodes. Fortunately, my blood sugar is now normal and I don't have those episodes anymore.

Instead of fearful, I think my attitude now is grimly determined. I really don't want my health problems to get worse and I'm going to do what I can to get better.

Grimly determined is a good way to put it. I live in fear of the future, mostly because I want my son to have a happy healthy fearless Mom, not a miserable fat mom. I have some blood tests coming up and I'm feeling very anxious about it.

It's weird, but now that I've fully committed to my overall fitness, I worry about those health related issues a more than I used to. Before, I just kind of burried my head in the sand about all those bullets I had been dodging, but now I find myself thinking things like "What if I started too late and the damage I've done to my heart will rear it's ugly head? What if I'm too late, the diabetes train has left the station, and I just don't know it yet?" Mind you - I don't obsess over those things, but I find it interesting that they bother me more after I've finally decided to do something about it.

Exactly. Burying your head in the sand is a good way of putting it. It's denial. When we are young we have the luxury of ignoring these health hazards. Some of us ignore them for a lot longer than others. My Father is in his 60's, has been a smoker for 45yrs, and hadn't seen a doctor as long as I can remember. He also loves high fat foods, eats very quickly and goes in for 2nds and 3rds and spreads butter about a half inch thick on his bread before he tops it with a half cup of jam. He also has a history of diabetes and heart disease in his immediate family. He's overweight but not obese. Of course we were all worried. We finally got him to a doctor last year, I think he was feeling optimistic after finally quitting smoking. Turns out he has a tiny bit high blood pressure but that's it, that's it! So now he's all entitled like "I'm healthy as an ox." I didn't want there to be anything wrong with him but I was hoping he'd have a bit of a scare and stop eating with such abandon.

I've just finished reading The Obesity Myth - and now I worry about this stuff less than ever....in terms of my weight. In terms of lifestyle...absolutely. Eat good food, exercise is the prescription for health.

There are risks with low calorie diets... perhaps more than the risks of living a sedentary lifestyle.

I am losing weight, but I am using an intuitive eating approach and I am exercising regularly. I got fat because I had an unhealthy lifestyle. I may always be 'fat' - I may always be 'overweight'. I don't care anymore - because as long as I'm not abusing food and I'm active my body will find a settling point. I have to keep working on this new lifestyle - because my ingrained behaviour patterns are wrong. And those were the patterns that lead to ill health...and also weight gain.

I don't dwell on it, but yes I have concerns. I already had some health woes from my weight- chronic back pain, a herniated disc, and joint pain. But I was starting to have chest pain as well (which turned out to be my stomach, but still it was scary). And of course I'm aware of things like diabetes. I know each pound I lose is helping improve my chances. Also, cancer runs in my family and being overweight not only increases my chance of getting it but would also make finding it (breast cancer) more difficult and treating it would be difficult as well. I

I am a CNA and see first hand what an unhealthy lifestyle can do to a person. I take care of lovely seniors who have had strokes and are paralyzed on one side, they cant roll over in bed, or get out of bed to use the bathroom. They have lost the ability to talk also. Many of them have to be fed, because they cant feed themselves. Its heart wrenching to watch them suffer so.

When I was younger I never worried about health risks, but I was thin at the time.
Now that I'm older and do have health issues I am scared to death, in a good way, to be more motivated to eat better, exercise more, and rid my spirit of unhealthy thoughts.

I never worried about any health risks, it was like I thought it happens to other people but not me. I don't know why I felt like that, maybe because (knock on wood) I never had any issues (so I thought) even at my heaviest?

It's a long story that I have posted about before but in case anyone reads this thread and never saw the others.

I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer last summer while trying to get pregnant with my first baby. I had no symptoms of "cancer", just had a tough period that I thought was due to stress. My doctor kept looking to find the cause (and my oncologist said I was pretty darn lucky, most OB/GYNs send a 36 yr old home never finding the cancer as it's so rare for someone my age).

While no one knows why someone and not someone else gets cancer, since I have no family history my cancer is directly related to my being overweight and my body producing excess estrogen via my fat cells and actually feeding the cancer estrogen. In essence, I gave myself cancer by gaining weight. I never had any idea this could happen and please know, I am not saying this will happen to you just because you gained weight (thin people get this cancer too but it's just more common in heavier women as it's estrogen dependent).

I have been tested 3x in the past year while trying to preserve my fertility. The first 2 tests showed cancer, the 3rd showed no cancer found (yay!) but I am on hormones that chase down the cancer cells and destroy it. I also have no doubt that my weightloss since last July has literally shut off the feeding tube to the cancer.

Regardless of the outcome of my cancer, the weight has to come off as I am now at a higher risk for breast cancer and of course heart disease. I am also at risk for ovarian cancer but my ovaries, tubes, everything will come out in the hysterectomy that I will have very soon if I can't get pregnant. (My body will actually protect itself if I get pregnant so I can carry to term without the risk of the cancer spreading. I pray to God this happens.)

I don't mean to scare anyone with this post, I am scared myself. I turned to food when I was going through a really tough time in my life and gained over 100lbs in the span of about 18 months. I thought the food made me feel better, but I literally poisoned myself.

I do have some major concerns. My over all health is not in a good place as I sit here at 26. Some, but not all related to my weight. I have high blood pressure spikes, panic attacks that can be pretty serious, troubles getting pregnant (lets just say over the year long mark) and back pain, plus more. Most, can be helped with some significant weight loss on my part, by choosing better foods, and exercising. I view it as a package deal with me.

Then I also look at the quality of life of family, some still here on earth and some not. Its a pretty grim indicator of what life could be like if I don't change.

I was actually sticking my head in the sand and also ignoring the ones I knew about. I told one doctor I tried to ignore that I have diabetes and she pointed out that diabetes isn't ignoring me.

I have some serious health issues, including (until very recently) uncontrolled diabetes. I'm now controlling it--that's a big change--and I'm hopeful that it will stave off complications. My cholesterol improved but isn't great--I'm hoping when they retest in August it'll be under control as well.

I've blown off issues with my knees and ankles--and am now hoping weight loss will relieve some of the stress issues with them.

If anything, I'd say I haven't been fearful enough.

I think because I have been blessed with good health and being able to be fairly active, even at my largest size (nearly 370 lbs), I wasn't worried too much about health related stuff. As I've gotten older (late 30s now), I do feel various aches and pains, especially for periods of less activity. I fell and hurt my tailbone last year and I became less active as a result, I could certainly feel the difference. I'm still considered healthy by my doctors despite being in the obese category but it is something to remain vigilant about because I know the tides can turn in the future.