This Obesity Thing

It’s a mental illness and has to be dealt with as such.

It really isn’t. It’s a survival trait. Being skinny is a mental illness.

For those with hormonal problems you have my sympathy, low testosterone levels, hypothyroidism, diabetes etc etc is a genuine barrier to being able to do some of the above.

Thanks for posting that. When I became obese it was bloomin’ hard to find any cycling clothing that fitted.

A question for MrSmith – as I fall into the above category of having a health condition, should I wear a label or special clothing to ward off any insults from those who are ignorant/sit on a high horse?

It really isn’t. It’s a survival trait. Being skinny is a mental illness

You could argue that overeating, in the current environment of easily available food, is no longer the survival trait it might once have been.

Robdob, I’ve offered that kind of straight advice to plenty of drug addicts and alcoholics over the years.
I used to work as a custody medic and people with substance abuse problems formed the bulk of my clientele unfortunately.
When asked why they did what they did or why they choose to live their life all the excuses would pour forth, bad childhood, wrong crowd, lost my job, marriage break up etc etc…. does every divorcée become a drug addict then or every abused child end up a criminal?… Of course not.

It’s about choice, trying to say it isn’t takes responsibility away and allows people to blame their problems on somebody else and just carry on as before.
When asked why they don’t go into rehab and have a managed withdrawal to come off drugs\alcohol the reply would always be the same “it’s hard”…. of course it’s hard you plank, you’ve managed to get your body dependent on a substance it doesn’t want to give up now!

Weak people always take the path of least resistance, be that pouring another drink or ‘comfort’ eating.

You could argue that overeating, in the current environment of easily available food, is no longer the survival trait it might once have been.

Sure, but we’re still hard wired the same way as our cave-dwelling ancestors.

These threads are great for identifying the dicks on here 😀

Not sure I can add much more really.

It’s somewhat shocking and saddening for me to see how little empathy there is for a significant proportion of the population.

Of course if you are determined enough you can get to whatever body mass you want and make intelligent choices ( through detailed research)

But there is generally a lack of education on real healthy eating, poor/wrong guidance and a food industry that is not controlled. Until these issues are addressed the problem will get worse no matter how many times some posters on here tell people to “sort themselves out”

It’s about choice, trying to say it isn’t takes responsibility away and allows people to blame their problems on somebody else and just carry on as before.

Amazingly enough, it’s possible both to show compassion/try to understand the underlying reasons why people do harmful things to themselves, AND expect people to take personal responsibility.

It’s not an either/or black and white choice between the two.

Robdob, I’ve offered that kind of straight advice to plenty of drug addicts and alcoholics over the years.

It’s not ‘offering straight advice’, it’s being an arsehole lacking in basic human compassion.

Yes emsz – that starts to approach the heart of the matter. We live in an obeseogenic culture driven by advertisers and marketers, the whole customer and individual is always right capitalist society. Not to completely remove personal responsibility, the social world is at fault and individuals are being told conflicting things about how to manage their weight, at all points being sold products that doom them to failure.

Hugely complex issue. Yes there is a basic premise around ‘eat less, move more’, but there is a much more complicated interaction around the 4 main ‘lifestyle’ factors of diet, exercise, alcohol, and smoking.

Addressing smoking indicates that cultural / societal change is possible, but that was achieved using a range of fiscal, legislative, and public communications mechanisms. It has slowly resulted in changing ‘social norms’ relating to smoking (although this is not the case for all social groups).

The challenge is that it was easier to have a single hard-hitting message re ‘smoking kills’. It clearly stated that just one fag was bad, there was no complexity about ‘5 would be OK if they are low tar, but only 1 a day if its high tar etc etc’.

Compare that single hard-hitting message with the challenges of communicating re diet and exercise. ‘5 a day’ and ‘5 x 30’ are more complex. Also, there is problematic message which equates ‘thin’ with ‘healthy’.

The vast majority (about 70%) don’t do the bare minimum of exercise, nor consume a healthy diet, nor limit their alcohol level to an appropriate level. That means that most people are acting in unhealthy ways that cause obesity (and associated illnesses) so this is the ‘social norm’.

It is not an easy or straightforward task to address this, and yes much more needs to be done by everyone: individuals, business, and government. But there are many of us who are working long and hard on this, and have been for many years!

t’s about choice, trying to say it isn’t takes responsibility away and allows people to blame their problems on somebody else and just carry on as before.
When asked why they don’t go into rehab and have a managed withdrawal to come off drugs\alcohol the reply would always be the same “it’s hard”…. of course it’s hard you plank, you’ve managed to get your body dependent on a substance it doesn’t want to give up now!

Weak people always take the path of least resistance, be that pouring another drink or ‘comfort’ eating.

Did you try being nice to these people who are only obeying 1000’s of years of basic hard wired reflex actions ? After all it’s society/advertising/government that enables their addiction so it’s hardly their fault. Did the hug and an A4 fact sheet outlining the benefits of giving up crystal meth not work?
🙄

But there is generally a lack of education on real healthy eating

No. That’s not it.

I know drinking a bottle of red wine a night isn’t a great idea. I’ve done it on and off for years because I like it.

Fags, alcohol, drugs, food… the overwhelming majority of people know when they’re being unhealthy but they enjoy it. Being healthy isn’t any fun at all.

As for exercise! You have to be an idiot to do anything you don’t need to do. Or a masochist.

I’ve been part of a minority that people are often prejudged and generalised about but i’m a rational enough person to see that I don’t fall into the category thats causing the pant wetting. It seems if you are a fat person,for whatever reason then you’re so defensive that you cant see that this generalisation is true..

The majority of fat people are fat because they eat too much and dont move enough because its easier than MAKING yourself adopt a different lifestyle.

Plus how can a fat parent look their child in the eye and try and be taken seriously about weight issues. I see lots of people expecting their child to develop the strength of character to make their own path to good health.

Take responsibility and if thats the road you’ve put yourself on then more power to you.
If you’re fat because of some factor beyond your control then I wish you all the best with it.

MrSmith earlier:

Seems like you and deviant would get on really well actually. Perhaps you could get together and shout EAT LESS MOVE MORE at some fatties some time, and discuss how incredibly awesome you are?

The majority of fat people are fat because they eat too much and dont move enough

Wow, really? Why has no-one ever mentioned this before?

I’m not sure about this, but I think that maybe the majority of alcoholics drink too much, can anyone confirm? I think this could be a really vital insight into the problem.

Grum, I’ve got all the compassion in the world for people struck down with cancer, senselessly attacked in the street etc etc but I draw the line at feeling anything for people who choose their poison and then moan when they get fat, become addicted to drugs etc…

Perhaps you could get together and shout EAT LESS MOVE MORE and some fatties some time

Pain is weakness leaving your body.

Grum, I’ve got all the compassion in the world for people struck down with cancer, senselessly attacked in the street

So you only have compassion for people with cancer or who are senselessly attacked in the street? I think you’ve misunderstood the concept.

and how about people who’ve been trained for all their childhood, by parents who know no better, to eat huge piles of fattening food? sympathy for them? what about people who aren’t that smart and get sucked in by marketing and adverts?

you see where you’re drawing the line, it’s in the wrong place

Grum, I’ve got all the compassion in the world for people struck down with cancer,

what about people who developed cancer from eating too much red meat or even smoking?

Hands up, you win, you got me there.
Feel better now? Have a donut to celebrate, go on have another you know you want to.

Grum, I’ve got all the compassion in the world for people struck down with cancer,

Is your sympathay reserved for people with cancers not caused by their lifestyles?

Whilst there is an element of “choice” denying the influence of food marketing suggests there is billions being wasted on advertising and lobbying.

No Grum, you took my post literally.

The post was about genuine misfortune, when somebody develops a disease through no fault of their own or is unlucky to have inherited a hereditary condition. There is no choice made in those situations.
Likewise being on the receiving end of somebody’s dangerous driving, being mugged in the street, the kind of thing you can’t control.
My heart goes out to people in that kind of situation, stuffing your face and getting fat is not the same.

mrsmith gracious in defeat…….. 😉

The reason they don’t poor millions into marketing tofu is it’s bloody horrible. Chocolate on the other hand isn’t.

The post was about genuine misfortune, when somebody develops a disease through no fault of their own or is unlucky to have inherited a hereditary condition. There is no choice made in those situations.

What if someone was abused as a child and turned to drugs as a coping mechanism? Pathetic scum not deserving of any sympathy I suppose.

Is the kid whose parents are both drug addicts deserving of any sympathy if he ends up becoming one too? No, thought not.

Does every abused child end up on drugs then Grum?

…. thought not.

Choices choices.

mrsmith gracious in defeat……..

I’m comfort eating right now.

Does every abused child end up on drugs then Grum?

deviant earlier:

You can dress it up how you like – but you are just displaying the characteristics of an unpleasant person. Being incredibly judgemental and lacking basic compassion are not generally considered admirable qualities.

But rather than judging you I should try to be compassionate and understand what has caused your issues – did mummy not love you enough as a child? 😉

Mrs S is a GP and she often has really heavy people coming in saying that they only eat one lettuce leaf a day but are still fat. They ask for medication. Mrs S then says that she could give them medication that breaks down the fat as soon as it is eaten but, given they only eat lettuce, it would be a waste of money giving to to them 😆

Chocolate on the other hand isn’t.

Oh I dunno, cheap chocolate made mostly of sugar is crap.

And tofu? The raw ingredient has been productionised*, and soy is an absolutely mahoosive industry.

* I found that word in the ringfencing thread.

You never see young kids doing exercise, you see them having fun. Go to a playground and every kid who is running will be smiling or laughing. How many people a smiling when running on a treadmill in the gym?

Mrs S then says that she could give them medication that breaks down the fat as soon as it is eaten but, given they only eat lettuce, it would be a waste of money giving to to them

🙂

You can dress it up how you like – but you are just displaying the characteristics of an unpleasant person. Being incredibly judgemental and lacking basic compassion are not generally considered admirable qualities.

Grum earlier

I think your attitude could do with a some adjusting grum.

Maybe some exercise right now would mean you forget your obsession with winning an argument.

Are you one of the people who are fat but try not to be therefore boil like a kettle when generally true generalisations are made about lazy fat people?

The majority of fat people are fat because they eat too much and dont move enough

This is probably correct*.

Why are people eating differently than they used to? How can people best be encouraged to eat differently?

Why are people not moving as much as they used to? How can people best be encouraged to move more?

*I know fat people who exercise loads, and skinny people who are lazy and eat crap.

Maybe some exercise right now would mean you forget your obsession with winning an argument.

I’ve just been on a week’s holiday where I was snowboarding for at least 6 hours every day – I caught a bug on the plane home so exercising isn’t really on the cards I’m afraid.

Thanks for pointing out that I’m winning the argument though. 😉

Are you one of the people who are fat but try not to be therefore boil like a kettle when generally true generalisations are made about lazy fat people?

Yeah I’m fat – I didn’t used to be before I got ME/CFS though – still, judge away if it makes you feel better…

Funnily enough despite being fat and having CFS I’m still considerably fitter than many of the skinny people I know (i.e. I could jog further, ride a bike for longer, climb a hill easier/faster, etc).

*waits for someone to tell me CFS is a made-up condition*

I AM FAT
I AM OBESE
I DONT CARE COS I CAN RIDE MY BIKE LONGER THAN ANYONE I KNOW AND PROBABLY FURTHER AND LONGER THAN MOST ON THIS FORUM INCLUDING THE SKINNY IDEAL WEIGHT ONES

I AM FAT………. 8)

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24864-cutting-sugar-is-a-different-challenge-to-slashing-salt.html#.UtUi9fRdVI5

Wrong approach I’m afraid – what they need is for people to shout ‘EAT LESS, MOVE MORE, FATTY’ in their faces at every opportunity, as clearly they haven’t yet put enough effort in.

I would rather be fat than have a personality like yours.

Having been up and over the 140kg mark before, I’ll say that it’s hard to look back and understand why. I weight train 1.5hr in the morning the last 5 years, and the last 4 years I have gotten into biking (road and mtb), sprint triathlons and such for afternoon training. I’m training 2-4 hours a day now (much more than some of the really skinny people around me, but we are not created equal in some regards). my weight is around 95kg at around 12% bf now, which makes finding a wetsuit difficult (triathletes apparently are not supposed to have shoulders)

the biggest problem is understanding just how much effort it takes, and even at max effort it will take time to see results. I lost in chunks, 10kg at a time then one or two months off, in the off time I would sign up for races (5k runs, trail runs, road races etc) to keep working out but giving me a break from concentrating on my weight alone and focusing on something else.