Obesity and Autoimmune issues

I always joke I am not fat I am fluffy but the truth of the matter is I am obese!  I am trying to eat and live more healthy now days but the truth of the matter is this excess weight is causing me all sorts of worries and issues recently.   Being a few pounds overweight isn't a big problem but when you reach the point where I am it is a matter of trading quality years of life for that extra piece of chocolate.   Recently Chuck and I started on a journey to institute a lifestyle change after receiving some disconcerting news from our doctor that our health was being impacted by too many unhealthy lifestyle practices.  I am cooking lower fat, lower carb, and more health proteins in hopes to get some of the weight off and improve our health.   Chuck has started and exercise program and I do what I can with all my disorders. 

What is obesity?  Obesity as defined by Wikipedia, "Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have a negative effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems.^[1][2] In Western countries, people are considered obese when their body mass index (BMI),^[3] a measurement obtained by dividing a person's weight by the square of the person's height, exceeds 30 kg/m², with the range 25-30 kg/m² defined as overweight."  (I left the links in so you can go read it)

I decided to investigate this BMI thing further and Googled a BMI calculator and set to work to see what my BMI was...NOT good of course!  I am 5'3" tall and weigh about 209#.  My BMI was 37.02 (Chuck's was 33.3.)  On the BMI calculator site they said my BMI is between 35-39.99 (obese Class 2) and I am at higher risk for weight related health problems and even death.  Now my first inclination was to blow them off but kept on doing a little more research.

On the Celiac.com site this week they had an article "Does Obesity Play a Major Role in Triggering Autoimmune Diseases?" by researchers TelAviv University citing some research done on obesity and autoimmune disorders.  In the article it tells us "obesity erodes the body's ability to protect itself, triggering a pro-inflammatory environment that promotes the development of autoimmune diseases, hastens their progression, and impairs their treatment."  So years and years of unhealthy weight is taking its toll.  Immune related conditions they talked about included rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type-1 diabetes, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriatic arthritis, and Hashimoto thyroiditis just to name a few.

Now comes investigation into autoimmune.  What is autoimmune?  Medline Plus a service of the National Institutes of Health  that it is the body's immune system attacking an destroying healthy tissue by mistake.  The article says that there are more than 80 identified autoimmune disorders.   
The article sites the most common autoimmune disorders are:
(I left the links intact)

• Addison's disease
• Celiac disease - sprue (gluten-sensitive enteropathy)
• Dermatomyositis
• Graves' disease
• Hashimoto's thyroiditis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Pernicious anemia
• Reactive arthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sjogren syndrome
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Type I diabetes

That's the short list and I suspect new ones will be found as time progresses. 

Symptoms are vague and include fatigue, fever, malaise, joint pain, rashes to name a few.  Autoimmune disorders are chronic and not curable but treatment of symptoms, reduction in symptoms, and helping the body to fight off what it happening to it....

Okay...I am at an ah ha! moment here.  It is hard to change a lifestyle over night that brought on all my problems.  I am believing the hype on obesity and autoimmune disorders because I currently am the proud owner of several autoimmune disorders that don't seem to react to any medications favorably so I am trying to treat my whole system in hopes of slowing it down.  I am 62 years old and I would like to be here to see my new grandson graduate from high school in the future.  I will plan on blogging each week my journey to a healthier me again.  Follow along and/or join me on MyFitnessPal.com learning to eat and exercise.  I also joined The Fresh20 to help with the menu and nutrition.