This Obesity Thing

That’s great – I highly doubt that you’ll be able to keep up doing a food diary/’exercise prog’ long term though.

Everyone loves an optimist.

Edit: Just to check. Has the OP actually been back to the thread?

Everyone loves an optimist.

I aim to please. 🙂

Not meaning to be negative, but virtually everything you read and personal experience suggests that ‘being on a diet’ and a ‘program’ isn’t something you can keep up long term – you need to make lifestyle changes instead.

you need to make lifestyle changes instead.

Yay ! ‘we’, this merry little band of us here on STW. Established this fact years ago, back in the days when Molgrips would have arguments with iDave, of biblical proportions. Which seemed to go on and on and on and on and on and on, etc.

I think we do have personal responsibility to think about what and above all how much we eat and how much exercise we do.

Yes, but for many people they haven’t a clue what they should be eating, because of all the bad information fed to us as LMP says.

Edit: Just to check. Has the OP actually been back to the thread?

Could this be the most successful troll of all time?

Not meaning to be negative, but virtually everything you read and personal experience suggests that ‘being on a diet’ and a ‘program’ isn’t something you can keep up long term – you need to make lifestyle changes instead.

Hugely true and very important.

Sad to say, I’ve watched people yo-yo diet on every program that has appeared over the last 10 years, and I know one person who has succeeded using Weight Watchers. The rest are fatter than ever.

It’s the stupidity( maybe too harsh, but…)that amazes me. I had a conversation with a colleague trying to lose weight for his wedding, a long, in depth talk about the way he would need to really think about what he was eating, about the way that doing more exercise would be important. 2 hours later he was half way through a packet of biscuits, only 30 minutes before lunch. He was bigger on his wedding day than 2 months before, and is now bigger still.

Yes, but for many people they haven’t a clue what they should be eating, because of all the bad information fed to us as LMP says.

Oh, they know alright, they just keep on with the cakes and the biscuits and the chocs, even when I stand up and take the stuff away someone will go and get it half an hour later because ‘You can’t have a coffee without biscuits!’.

Yes chubby, you can…

One last try

This link Diet and Health[/url] takes you to a downloadable magazine-its free. If you read “a calories is not a calorie” and “Sams 5000 calorie experiment” you’ll start to understand how it can be easier than you think ( if you ignore most of the government advice) and how eating better can mean that you don’t even need to feel hungry to lose weight.

That’s great – I highly doubt that you’ll be able to keep up doing a food diary/’exercise prog’ long term though.

Or you might be unlucky like I was with using My Fitness Pal, and end up losing the weight but having an eating disorder instead.

many people they haven’t a clue what they should be eating, because of all the bad information fed to us

This. I’m a clever person, I’ve a degree in Chemistry but i find much of the information conflicting. Low fat vs wgaf about fat. Eat carbs vs carbs’ impact on insulin responses and fat storage mechanisms. And with much of the info being fed to us by people with a vested interest, whether it’s the food manufacturers or people with a diet book to sell. How the average time strapped person makes sense of it I don’t know.

What i do know is that there are several different ways to skin this particular cat. Some seem to be better than others, some might actually not be beneficial at all. There’s no one size fits all approach, it needs to suit the person. And whatever you choose, it needs to be a sustainable choice (so cabbage water is out I’m afraid, despite being brilliant at letting you drop a dress size in 7 days or whatever it says). And last but by no means least, just owning the book or having the knowledge of what to do is SFA use unless you actually do it.

and how eating better can mean that you don’t even need to feel hungry to lose weight

If only there was some kind of ‘satiety index’ to guide us toward food that helps keep us feeling full for longer periods of time.

Oh, wait…

As a woman who does not enter into diet talk, doesn’t care about calories, and will have a dessert if she wants one, I am something of a social pariah among women in my workplace who are always dieting, breaking the diet, or about to start a new diet. Putting butter on my toast seems like a political act, in this setting. They continually wonder why I am not overweight or the same size they are. They say it’s not fair and I must have a fast metabolism or something

Do they also read ‘heat’ magazine and know exactly how many pounds a particular celebrity might have gained or lost in time for some beach holiday in st tropez before getting two divorces and having six babies?

Tell them you’re on a “modified atkins”, or the “three weeks to whatever” diet, or something.

Oh, they know alright, they just keep on with the cakes and the biscuits and the chocs, even when I stand up and take the stuff away someone will go and get it half an hour later because ‘You can’t have a coffee without biscuits!’.

Aye but the thing is, eating lots of cakes, biscuits and chocs (which everyone knows are bad) is made much more likely by eating lots of the stuff most people think is absolutely fine, like bread, potatoes, rice and pasta.

Oh, they know alright, they just keep on with the cakes and the biscuits and the chocs, even when I stand up and take the stuff away someone will go and get it half an hour later because ‘You can’t have a coffee without biscuits!’.

There’s a team in the office near where I sit that’s entirely like that – lovely people, all quite large, and all always on about whichever diet or exercise program is currently top of the headlines. And then they’ll take it in turns to bring the biscuits in, or someone will make cakes. Like – do one, or do the other, because I don’t think you can do both without a massive effort (and they don’t make massive efforts).

Yes chubby, you can…

How will this approach stop god-knows-how-many-millions firstly stop gaining and secondly losing weight? Y’know, only, it’s not worked so far. We’re getting fatter all the time. Should we just shout it a bit louder?

but virtually everything you read and personal experience suggests that ‘being on a diet’ and a ‘program’ isn’t something you can keep up long term – you need to make lifestyle changes instead.

I agree but surely the diet and the programme are the lifestyle change. i am not sure how you change your behaviour without changing your behaviour
I guess you just get used to what you do and it stops being a diet/programme?
Dont most fail because
1) they dont stick to them
2) they stop them when they have lost weight

I also agree with crikey some days I feel hungry we need to get used to not satisfying it with a biscuit and some pop. I rarely have any snack food in my house, if i want to eat I have to actually cook something
if you cannot be bothered then I am not really that hungry – I would eat some biscuits if i had any though

Oh, they know alright

Sorry – who’s they in this sentence?

Do they also read ‘heat’ magazine and know exactly how many pounds a particular celebrity might have gained or lost in time for some beach holiday in st tropez before getting two divorces and having six babies?

Bang on.

I just say I don’t diet. Social isolation be damned – I hang out with the guys and talk about sports instead.

if i want to eat I have to actually cook something
if you cannot be bothered then I am not really that hungry – I would eat some biscuits if i had any though

I agree, i can polish off a packet of hobnobs in half an hour, so i don’t buy hobnobs. You can’t eat what’s not there. If i want a snack i have a yoghurt or a bit of fruit, if there were crisps and biscuits in the house i would eat those, but they are not so I don’t. When people go to the shops does everything they have ever been told about healthy eating go out the window? I’ve never been to a class about healthy eating, it’s just common sense (to me at least, full of sugar and fats, stays on the shelf.) Food is fuel, you wouldn’t put dirty petrol and shite in your car, why do it to your body?

I agree but surely the diet and the programme are the lifestyle change. i am not sure how you change your behaviour without changing your behaviour

If you tell yourself you are ‘on a diet’ to me that seems by definition to be a thing that you are doing for a bit, but will then give up when you don’t have to do it any more.

I guess you just get used to what you do and it stops being a diet/programme?

Hopefully yeah but it’s just a subtle mindset thing for me that actually makes quite a difference.

I also agree with crikey some days I feel hungry we need to get used to not satisfying it with a biscuit and some pop.

I’m not arguing with that either, but you definitely get hungry a lot less by eating less sugar and refined carbs, IME.

I’ve never been to a class about healthy eating, it’s just common sense (to me at least, full of sugar and fats, stays on the shelf.)

Nothing wrong with the fat, just the sugar. 😉

Sorry – who’s they in this sentence?

Oh you know.

You need to have your activity included in your daily life, or it has to be something you really really like. Otherwise you won’t stick to it, it’s that simple. I ride to work, and have the dogs to walk. Also, I live alone, so everything that happens in my home is happened by me.

Don’t call it “exercise”, instead for example, get a brochure on the Lea Valley Park and call it “going for a walk to see if we can see a Tufted Duck”.

As for what to eat/not to eat. Well, how confusing! I just try to eat things as close to their natural state as possible. I’ve always eaten a high-fat diet, I like it (60kg @ 5’4″, a state which I am completely happy with).

And hunger, hunger that has to be instantly satisfied. It doesn’t kill you to be hungry (not what we call hungry in the West anyway).

I was in IKEA the other day. The woman behind me had a small girl with her, who became fractious at the wait. The woman offered the child a “snack” and explained to her companion that the child might be hungry. Rewarding bad behaviour and introducing bad eating habits.

We’ve got too much food here. It’s everywhere. All refined fats and sugars and colourings. Lovely bright packets with slim happy people and funny-faced cartoon animals.

When people go to the shops does everything they have ever been told about healthy eating go out the window?

Isn’t it obvious? Because they are hungry!

Hunger affects people’s brains massively. We’re not rational computing machines, we’re driven by a soup of chemicals. So the presence or absence of some of those chemicals causes the other ones to do strange things, and our actual neural network is at the mercy of them all!

‘They’ are the people eating the cake, biscuits and chocolates.

It seems to be ok to say ‘Ooooh, it’s complex, Ooh, it’s really hard not to eat sweet things, Ooh, you’re not helping by telling us to eat less and move more, and you’re calling us chubby’, while the biscuits and the cake and the chocolate get eaten by people who would like to lose weight.

Personal responsibility will have to kick in, and as with smoking, drink driving, Class A drug use, a little social stigmatising might push people along a little…

Personal responsibility will have to kick in, and as with smoking, drink driving, Class A drug use

Along with all the taxes, legislation, criminalisation, etc.

‘They’ are the people eating the cake, biscuits and chocolates.

Ok so the advice to get a grip and stop stuffing yourself with pies and living in denial is aimed at those people who are in denial and stuffing themselves with pies. Ok. You need to be specific.

Personal responsibility will have to kick in, and as with smoking, drink driving, Class A drug use, a little social stigmatising might push people along a little…

Well since fat people have been stigmatised for decades, perhaps we should conclude that it doesn’t work?

Well since fat people have been stigmatised for decades, perhaps we should conclude that it doesn’t work?

Funny that the rise of fatties per capita coincides with us being more PC and not being allowed to stigmatise them any more. Essentially permission by inaction.

Don’t be ridiculous. Fatties are pariahs as much as ever. Still just as many OMG celebrity cellulite stories in the rags.

Maybe if we’re even nastier to fatties the world will be a better place 🙄

Fatties are pariahs as much as ever.

Casual Fatism.

The worse kind of fatism.

are chip butties really bad?
I hope not, I may have to go for another ride…. 🙁

That’s it!!! It’s all the fault of the PC Brigade!! 😆

Funny that the rise of fatties per capita coincides with us being more PC and not being allowed to stigmatise them any more.

Yeah, this thread is really good evidence of the fact that you can’t stigmatise them isn’t it. 🙄

andyrm – Member
Funny that the rise of fatties per capita coincides with us being more PC and not being allowed to stigmatise them any more. Essentially permission by inaction.

well it also coincides with lots of things, mobile phone use, online shopping and the popularity of strictly come dancing

Don’t forget the rise in piracy.

I blame gok wan……..telling us fatties we look nice naked….the lying get.

I blame…. I blame, err. The rising of the tide !

That’s it!!! It’s all the fault of the PC Brigade!!

Everything is the fault of the PC brigade.

That’s it!!! It’s all the fault of the PC Brigade!!

It is, though.

Time was when I could call someone a [Nope!-Mods]

Everything is the fault of the PC brigade.

Tru dat.

Anyone seen any of the senior officers of this brigade? They’re ruining our very way of life.

Anyone seen any of the senior officers of this brigade? They’re ruining our very way of life.

Well there is you, Junky, project etc etc….. 😀

I don’t remember ever being commissioned. Hmmm… 😕