Gandolfini Was Not "OK" Before Heart Attack

When I heard that Gandolfini had died I was not surprised. I know that sounds morbid but it's true. When I heard the rumor it was a heart attack I was not surprised either.

at 51, his death was at a relatively young age. When you're that age and you don't die of an accident, there is usually an underlying medical condition. Gandolfini's condition was not unknown to anyone who saw him for it literally right in front of him.

The news commentators were trying to be kind, but I knew that the gut that Gandolfini was carrying was the most likely "cause" of his death. Many men are carrying a lot of weight around their waists. It is known that for men, having such a large omentum is a sure sign of impending heart disease and diabetes.

We men need to take this issue seriously. That "big teddy bear" look may have some cultural cache in many communities but it is not healthy at all. Gandolfini wasn't always that big. He grew. I see this a lot among men and women. I see their high school photos and a vast majority of them, while not slim by any means were not as large as they let themselves get. And let me be clear, most of them let themselves get to whatever size they got to. They ate whenever and whatever they wanted. They avoided exercise. They made excuses and rationalizations for their increasing size. They did not take it seriously when they could not climb stairs without gasping for air.

These people are currently having their lives and health risked by so called "fat acceptance" movements by people who actually could not give a fuck about their physical health. Many have bought into the binary that says that either your huge or your anorexic. Few of them look at those pictures I mentioned earlier and see that there is a wide middle ground that they should be in.

Gandolfini did not have to die just now and if you are carrying a large gut you don't have to die prematurely because of it either.