Balding or Fat?

[stratofortress]

What we know about the lottery guy is:

- He has quite a nice girlfriend
- He has a thick mop of hair
- He's just won £45mil

Some people have all the luck, eh?

The hairstyle's fine- I'm just not a big fan of the beard- it does kinda make him look like he's auditioning for a nu-metal band.

He was with this girl before the win, right? He's just an average looking guy, but something else will have drawn this girl to him.

Maybe he's smart, charming-just really connected with her when they met...

[sausage]

What we know about the lottery guy is:

- He has quite a nice girlfriend
- He has a thick mop of hair
- He's just won £45mil

Some people have all the luck, eh?

The hairstyle's fine- I'm just not a big fan of the beard- it does kinda make him look like he's auditioning for a nu-metal band.

He was with this girl before the win, right? He's just an average looking guy, but something else will have drawn this girl to him.

Maybe he's smart, charming-just really connected with her when they met...

he is (was) a decorator, so possibly isn't smart, she worked in a supermarket.

[NotBelievingIt]

I was feeling down earlier today and remembered this thread for some reason.

I have a healthy body shape, am in basically good shape (could use more muscle mass and cardio ) and have zero intention of ever letting myself go and become fat no matter how down I may ever feel about my hair, or rather lack there of lol

Because generally, baring a physical defect, your physical condition and body shape is as much a statement about your healthy habits as it is about your self confidence.

[stratofortress]

I was feeling down earlier today and remembered this thread for some reason.

I have a healthy body shape, am in basically good shape (could use more muscle mass and cardio ) and have zero intention of ever letting myself go and become fat no matter how down I may ever feel about my hair, or rather lack there of lol

Because generally, baring a physical defect, your physical condition and body shape is as much a statement about your healthy habits as it is about your self confidence.

It does depend on your metabolism to an extent though. For some I understand it's a bit of a struggle to keep their weight down. For some it's a genetic thing. It can be controlled but it takes more discipline for those with a slow metabolism.

My diet is terrible, yet I'm still quite slim.

[NotBelievingIt]

It does depend on your metabolism to an extent though. For some I understand it's a bit of a struggle to keep their weight down. For some it's a genetic thing. It can be controlled but it takes more discipline for those with a slow metabolism.

Metabolism is a function of how effectively your body utilizes its caloric intake. There is a degree to which genetics plays, but for the vast, significant, majority of people it is a function of lean body mass and general physical fitness.

I bet if we polled people 50 years ago, majority could do at least 2 or 3 pull ups and 15-20 push ups. Today? Heh. An honest large enough sample I would wager that would be a no.

It takes a very long time for a genetic pool shift to occur. Just a skant 50 years ago there were far far less over weight people then today. Why? Terrible processed food diets and sedentary life styles.

My diet is terrible, yet I'm still quite slim.

Diet itself is important, but so is what you do with it. You are likely eating at maintenance or a slight caloric deficit but don't even realize it.

Eating at a caloric deficit to maintenance is basically all it takes to lose weight - for the vast majority of people. If you couple that with resistance training or even just cardio the weight will disappear. It won't happen magically in one or two months, but it will happen with dedication. The majority of people (myself included) have absolutely no idea how many calories they eat in a day. Some days I swear I'm probably only eating 1000 and others its clearly over 2000 - but I'm betting my guesses are low on both.

I will agree there is a segment of the population that has a genetic defect that prevents their body from proper metabolic processes. But those are people who are going to have been over weight their entire life. Not some healthy weight, body shape 24 year old who by the time they are 26 has turned the other way. Thats not genetics, thats lack of caring. Most people though take many years gaining pounds and they don't even see the changes from year to year, its only over multi-year they notice it.

Okay, enough thread derailment

[MacB87]

Haha, there's too many variables to just say fat or bald. Jack Black is fat, but he's a good looking, talented and funny guy, and Jason Statham is Bald, but he's a badass who dates models like Kelly Brook. When someone mentions the words fat or bald it's natural to just think of the worst case scenario.

Personally I'd prefer to be seen as somebody that keeps themself active, health and is physically fit over somebody that just so happens to have a nice head of hair. I have "fat" friends, and I can safely say (without sounding arrogant) that I do far better with women than them.

[DepressedByHairLoss]

I would much rather be fat than bald. If you're overweight, at least you can do something about it like exercising and eating healthy. At least if you're fat, you can do something to make yourself thin, yet if you suffer from hair loss, there aren't any viable options to regrow hair.

[MacB87]

I would much rather be fat than bald. If you're overweight, at least you can do something about it like exercising and eating healthy. At least if you're fat, you can do something to make yourself thin, yet if you suffer from hair loss, there aren't any viable options to regrow hair.

Depends how fat the person is. A lot of obese people suffer from body image just as bad as some bald people, going to a gym or running in the streets would be very humiliating for them. Some people are just naturally large, and for them to go from a fat 240lbs to an average 180lbs would be near impossible for them. Fact is you could apply the same effort in the gym and put on a good amount of muscle mass that would undoubtedly boost your confidence.

We have to be honest. Baldness itself is not life threatening, being fat is.

[NotBelievingIt]

...We have to be honest. Baldness itself is not life threatening, being fat is.

Until the aliens with flowing locks of hair from Follicalia come and reveal that the Great War of Dermal Pappilla in their year 3015 was made to exterminate the Alopecian race.

Then our lives will be threatened.

[DepressedByHairLoss]

Depends how fat the person is. A lot of obese people suffer from body image just as bad as some bald people, going to a gym or running in the streets would be very humiliating for them. Some people are just naturally large, and for them to go from a fat 240lbs to an average 180lbs would be near impossible for them. Fact is you could apply the same effort in the gym and put on a good amount of muscle mass that would undoubtedly boost your confidence.

We have to be honest. Baldness itself is not life threatening, being fat is.

I respect your opinion, and I very much respect you for that first post that you wrote about shaving your head. The thing that frustrates me is that even we have such limited options to treat hair loss. There are plenty of options that overweight people have with regards to losing weight. Even if going to the gym or running in the streets may be humiliating for them, they still have plenty of options. They can run or walk in less populated areas (on nature trails, for example) or even buy a stationary bike. I've seen very few examples of people who are fat simply just by genetics and not by choice. Yet I've seen countless examples of people who were fat and have lost weight.
Obesity may affect a person's life, but at least there is plenty that a person can do to lose weight. For hair regrowth, we have such minimal and ineffective options that it's absolutely pathetic. And although baldness may not be life-threatening, it drastically alters a person's quality of life, can prevent them for achieving their hopes and dreams, and can lead to much more serious mental issues as a result of the massive depression that it can cause.

[NotBelievingIt]

Don't forget:
You eat less (caloric deficit to maintenance) to lose weight - save $$
Exercise is free - or the money you save from above can be used to buy in home weight equipment or a gym membership!
-----
Finasteride costs $ - has potential side effects, done for life

Shampoos cost $

Rogaine costs $$ - has potential side effects, done for life

Decent hair pieces cost $$$ - if not high dollar value, have potential to be spotted, you'll worry more about making sure it looks okay. You've just shifted and added to your worry. The truly extraordinary good hair pieces cost $$ every 3-4 months. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CWCK9Jlu3Y

Transplants cost $$$$ - can be botched and cost even more $$ to fix. Can leave people even more concerned about appearance because the "fix" will be obvious. Over time you either get more of these done, or hope rogaine + fin keep up the rest or you'll end up with a really weird head of hair.

Unfortunately the best possible outcome someone truly concerned with hair loss means significant chunks of moneys are dropped before self esteem and confidence recovers.

[sausage]

We have to be honest. Baldness itself is not life threatening, being fat is.

It can be through depression. I have no idea how many people a year kill themselves because of baldness, it might be very low, it might even be zero. But I expect someone has at some point.

People commit suicide for all sorts of reasons, bullying, financial problems, unemployment. Personally for me hairloss is worse than all of those problems. I'd rather be unemployed for a long period of time than have no hair. Hairloss causes a lot of depression and has to be a reason why some ppl take their lives. I have taking hairloss very very badly but there must be people that it totally and utterly destroys.