TBH, I’m not sure I’d like to put that to the test – I adore chocolate & put me in that environment & I may just do a ‘Mr Creosote’…

molgrips – Member
I’d guess you have a genetic predisposition to be extremely skinny.

Sounds like wurms to me… 🙂

molgrips- of course I like chocolate, cake and other junk food, and I don’t have a perfect diet. But, I have long experience of intermittent depression, and I work hard to manage it so I use willpower to not over-indulge because I know what makes me feel better in the long-run.

You’re aware though of what can happen to willpower at times..?

I spend half my week in London, and half in the North.

My observation is that people are generally slimmer in London. I attribute that to three things: everyday much more self-propelled movement, a younger than average population, social convention.

I stay fairly near the office. Walking to and from work and doing nothing else/going nowhere else easily gets me 30 mins of brisk walking.

What I’ve noticed as I spend more time there is the desire to walk more: so, if I’m going somewhere (meeting/social activity) I’ll consider walking as the first option or design in a longer walk. When I take the tube I stand.

I’m also much more conscious that I’m overweight vs the significant majority of people I work with. When I return to the Northern offices I see many more fat people. As far as I can work out the demographics (class/age/etc.) aren’t materially different.

Because I can’t exercise meaningfully these days, I’m on a long term change to my eating habits. One stone down, two more to go….

Molgrips- of course I am aware of what can happen to willpower at times, including my own.
The point I’m trying to make is that if I exert certain amount of willpower that allows me to eat a certain amount of junk but not too much, it is good for me!

Walking to and from work and doing nothing else/going nowhere else easily gets me 30 mins of brisk walking.

The other thing that happens in London is that people don’t just walk, they speed march everywhere. It’s bonkers. And not a bad workout either.

The point I’m trying to make is that if I exert certain amount of willpower that allows me to eat a certain amount of junk but not too much, it is good for me!

Me too – until something changes and I’m back in the doldrums…

Different people with different lives, different bodies, different genetics, different ages, different tolerances. You can paint with a broad brush but there’s no one size fits all solution.

Are we talking about the City of London, or ‘London’ here? No one lives in the middle bit – there’s 10million buggers gathered around the edge, and I can promise you, the high streets are literally crawling with fatties

I’m usually in the middle, the City. A lot of the people you see are indeed affluent commuters, but there are also plenty of locals around who seem slim. Perhaps the fat ones are all on the sofa watching telly so I never see them.

I know people who can eat a cake at a coffee break and are still skinny as hell.

Hiya.

The other thing that happens in London is that people don’t just walk, they speed march everywhere. It’s bonkers. And not a bad workout either.

That’s me too TBH. Maybe that’s why I’m a runt. (sic)

jimjam – Member
Different people with different lives, different bodies, different genetics, different ages, different tolerances. You can paint with a broad brush but there’s no one size fits all solution.

True, but we’re generally talking about eating a bit less crap food, and doing a small amount of daily light exercise. That’s a ‘one size fits (almost) all’ solution, which will have big benefits for most people, regardless of lifestyle, genetics, age, location etc. You’d have to be pretty unusual for that not to benefit you (and before the pedants leap in, I understand that some people are physically unable to exercise due to disability etc, but they are the minority, which is kinda my point…)

WillH

True, but we’re generally talking about eating a bit less crap food, and doing a small amount of daily light exercise. That’s a ‘one size fits (almost) all’ solution, which will have big benefits for most people, regardless of lifestyle, genetics, age, location etc. You’d have to be pretty unusual for that not to benefit you

And yet despite this all being common knowledge 61% of adults are either overweight or obese according to the NHS and it’s rising steadily.

How can that be when virtually every adult knows why they are fat? Why do so many people adopt a diet, lose some weight, then fall off the wagon and get fat again? Why are there so many overweight people on a cycling forum? many of whom cycle long distances to work everyday?

I think there are a huge number of factors at play here and oversimplifying it misses the point by miles.

Have a watch of this. Just for a talking point.

I think there are a huge number of factors at play here and oversimplifying it misses the point by miles.

Good luck, jimjam. I’ve been down this road before… 🙂

There is more than one factor at play, but denying that some simple changes such as walking a bit more, using the car a bit less, and showing some restraint with your diet can at least help most of us, is a negative attitude.
Over-complicating it puts you in a mindset that it’s too difficult.

I’m 48, had 2 kids, work full-time with a sedentary job, have had a problem with my back since I was 17, but I’ve chosen not to be defeatist.