........By looking through history this was very much the practice until the early 1900's, evolving into the current day, where being overweight is frowned upon for health issues.science tells us that by being overweight, you are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders and even more importantly you are cutting your life short, recent research from Harvard university suggests that you may be losing upto 9 years of your life  by being overweight!!but by being unfit, regardless of weight, you are also at risk of many of the same diseases. All this research brings me to the theme for today's column, can you be fit to be fat? I know it may seem numerous,but I'm serious, no matter what your waistline,  the fitter you are the healthier you are. By Improving your fitness levels, you will lead a healthier , happier and longer life. Fat is a taboo word , a word we hate to hear, a word that is so direct is has become nearly unusable ! What it is? Well fat is a nutrient, it's in most things we eat,  but it also describes someone who is overweight , with a waistline bigger than 34 inches for women and 37 inches for men if Safefood are to believed, or a bmi of over 25 if that's your preferred measurement. I love the mirror test myself:stand in front of it naked, shake your body a little and all that soft skin that is moving, that's fat tissue. The word fat itself arouses feelings of guilt and lack of self control, but take it at is meaning, basically you are overweight. Being overweight and unfit is the ultimate recipe for poor health. As 60 percent of the irish population are indeed overweight, there is a serious need for information and knowledge to help overweight people improve their fitness levels. Ideally weight loss would be important as part of any plan, but so many people are happy as they are, their weight is just something they don't want to know about or are afraid to confront. That's cool, but if that's the case you need to do your best to get fit . Ever notice how you get out of breath going upstairs ? Or walking from a carpark? This is your aerobic fitness level telling you that it can't move your body around as it would like. If you want to measure this properly, take your resting pulse rate. While reading this column,place your Index finger upto the base of your neck or wrist.count for 15 seconds and multiply by 4,what number did you get? If your number is over 70 you have work to do, keep track of this number and aim to get it as low as possible. My resting pulse at the moment is 38, lance Armstrongs is 26, but you can aim to get yours down below 60 if possible. To improve this, you need to Move more, such as walking, cycling or swimming, ensuring that your breath rate is elevated while your doing it ,this means that your heart and lungs are working hard enough for peak benefits. The next element of fitness you should be looking to improve is your strength levels of your muscles. The heavier you are the more pressure is placed upon your joints. This increases your risk of arthritis and Oesteoporosis. Weight bearing exercises are the best way to Improve the muscles of the legs and hips such as squats and lunges, even walking up a set of stairs will do.The stronger your muscles are the lower the risk of joint related problems in later life and the lower risk of falls .Ireland’s levels of bone related problems are worryingly high, if you can move more, regardless of weight, chances are you By getting fitter and stronger, you will reduce your medical bills,  Improve your life expectancy, and improve your health. Weightloss will help this even more, but if you decide that you don't want to lose weight, you need to ensure that you move more and sit less. This column will give you all the tools you need to assess your fitness levels, to measure it yourself and track your progress , now what you need to do is get out there, get active and get that number down. The tools are there, the benefits are there,the rest I am afraid, is up to you.