Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?
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I think there are a few factors. It's not like other generations didn't also eat and drink crap. Fish or savs in batter, potato scallops and chips aren't exactly healthy. Always been lots of chocolate and lollies around as well. Not to mention juice and cordial.
I'm skeptical of taxes making any difference, but it would be nice if actual healthy food was made cheaper. But then again there seems to be a fundamental lack of knowledge among most of the population about what healthy eating actually entails.
A sedentary lifestyle is also massive contributing factor. Particularly for obesity among kids.
Ultimately it's a pretty simple formula. Exercise more and don't eat shit. But some foods are very addictive and proper exercise can be really hard for some.
I've always thought a type of rewards scheme for people who do maintain a good level of health might be an idea. No idea how to enforce that though.
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@voodoo said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@reprobate said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@voodoo it is a massive, massive burden on the public health system - the biggest contributing factor to our biggest diseases.
I see it not as taking away the choice, just making people pay for the actual cost of that choice.
These are luxury items that nobody really needs, and certainly nobody needs to buy a lot of, and even with tax at 50% they wouldn't be prohibitively expensive. What about taking away the choice of buying fresh fruit and veg because it's more expensive than this crap?As for the lycra onesie, that is punishing those who have done nothing wrong. Which is pretty similar to not taxing it and the effect on the public health system now that I think about it.
I hear you. And I'm ok with subsidising fruit and veg.
I guess the only difference between this and smoking, is that only smokers buy smokes. Lots of non-obese folk (couldn't think of a way to use non zero there) buy sugary stuff . They shouldn't be punished?
That's my issue too. I shouldn't have to pay stupid money for the occasional treat just because others have zero discipline. And as I said, I'm not sure it would make any difference. Plenty of fat båstards eating food made with "healthy ingredients" as well.
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A subject very close to my heart due to a close family member having obesity issues, and my own personal "battles" with the fat.
It's very simple. You can't make anybody do something they don't want to do. If the person with issues doesn't want to do lose weight, it won't happen. And there are very different levels of the word want. I spent most of my 30's doing some sort of work outs here and there, jogging a fair bit with a couple of half marathons and essentially being really half arsed about it. I made internal deals with myself, that if I went for a run ,then it was open season diet-wise the rest of the day etc. Drank far too much, ate out at restaurants all the time, and really enjoyed myself.
And I don't regret a thing. Not a single thing. I was happy. I knew I was overweight, but I had a lot of things going well, so wasn't overly bothered.
Then one day in the mirror, it all changed. I was no longer happy because of what I was seeing. The fat guy looking back at me made me unhappy. So I signed up to a program (kenzai) that very day, and did something about it. I went from 96.5 kg (I'm 177cm short) down to around 87kg in 3 months. That's still overweight according to most measures, but I felt great, had loads of compliments so wasn't really bothered. I then re-took up running and really loved it. Like proper loved it. So that's my thing. I hovered up to 90kg over the next 2 years due to not enough running and a heathrow injection ... but then once started working / commuting again, ballooned up 95kg. Once again, was unhappy, so changed my life, and dropped to 90kg again by training for a half and changing diet.
That worked for a bit, but I'm a real yoyo these days .. and ended up at 94 kg again .. right when I got into the London Marathon. That was last August, and between then and April this year, I dropped down to 85kg with all the training. I think I was the only person to lose weight through lockdown 1! The problem was/is, that losing that amount of weight that fast, with all the training ... means it comes back on. I ran the second marathon 90.5kg (and was an hour slower) and sit here right now having just weighed in at 91.5kg.
However, this time, I'm not happy at this weight. I'm looking in the mirror at 91.5kg and not happy, as opposed to 94-96kg previous times. So I'm in the diet again, and on the exercise aggressively. It is more difficult without the natural exercise from commuting, but I have to make the effort - & as I'm at home, I do have the time. I remember on the marathon weight drop, when I weighed in at 89.8kg, I made a pact with myself then to never see above 90 on the scales again. I've blown that, and of course, have made all the excuses under the sun to my self (lockdown, no holidays etc etc). But I'm on the drop again now, so we'll see.
Bit of a diatribe sorry, but the point was and still remains. You can't make somebody lose weight who doesn't want to. And not only that, the level of want is just as important.
I'll share the story of my family member at some point too - its very different to mine, but just as full of learnings as my own journey ((c) Mitchell, John). She's now finally on the better path, but it's been a 25 year journey of mental breakdowns, operations and sleepless nights for those of us close to her.
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@MajorRage Thanks for sharing, I suspect just about everyone has a similar story to yours. I go between 85-95 with 100 being my peak. I recently had to go to the doctor and got on the scales and it was 95, I felt like shit and I know exactly how I got there. Not enough exercise and too much food. I have been having some back and shoulder issues and I know it is because of the extra weight and lack of strength. But I continue to put up with the pain and promise myself I will do better.
It really is a bizarre mind fuck the way we treat the very thing that keeps us alive. It would be funny if your body had a voice, I bet I would get into a lot of heated arguments about why I should be able to eat cake
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@antipodean said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
It simply comes to abundance. We produce "food" on unimaginable scale these days and it's cheap, plentiful and designed to keep you hungry. Look at photos of people back in the 80s they were still thin.
That's the thing - people are vastly bigger.
I've been browsing through an old book of the 1971 Lions tour and in the back it has all the players statistics. Their first choice backline was:
Gareth Edwards 79kg
Barry John 75kg
Mike Gibson 78kg
John Dawes 82kg
Gerald Davies 73kg
David Duckham 89 kg
JPR Williams 86kgMighty Mouse McLauchlan ended up propping in the tests at slightly less than 92kg!
I was too small in my youth to be a decent rugby player - but, now I'm big enough to have been a test midfielder in a test series I can remember!
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@chimoaus said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@gt12 Great post and an interesting insight into how a different culture approaches health. I am surprised so many Asians smoke though, is that not part of the health checks?.
It is - you get a hard time for it, and for booze, but as long as your other stuff is going OK, you seem to get by. However, even the smoking percentage is falling pretty rapidly now compared to when I first came here (in 1999).
Japan is pretty high in some types of cancers too, but generally speaking, if you live here you'll be in good shape. Fat fluffybunnies really stick out.
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Something that has become really prevalent in recent(wish) years and cannot help matters is the cheap supersizing of things. Small bottle of coke 80p, huge bottle of coke £1.05. Stuff like Maccy Ds. bigging up to nearly twice the stuff only costs a few pennies more. KFC the same. 6 pieces of that popcorn shit for £3. 12 pieces plus chips and a family size bottle of fizzy pop sugarade for £4.50.
Edit: I realise the actual prices quoted might be wrong but the underlying problem isn't.
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@Catogrande said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
Something that has become really prevalent in recent(wish) years and cannot help matters is the cheap supersizing of things. Small bottle of coke 80p, huge bottle of coke £1.05. Stuff like Maccy Ds. bigging up to nearly twice the stuff only costs a few pennies more. KFC the same. 6 pieces of that popcorn shit for £3. 12 pieces plus chips and a family size bottle of fizzy pop sugarade for £4.50.
Edit: I realise the actual prices quoted might be wrong but the underlying problem isn't.
To be honest, I find the healthcampaigns around Fast Food at completely the wrong approach.
To say you shouldn't eat something is ridiculous. It creates a counter-intuitive response of fuck you establishment. McD, KFC etc should be promoted as treats. I think I crave KFC about once every 6 months, and every time I crave it, I have it. The rest of my family is he same with McD. I can personally take or leave McD no problems,.
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@MajorRage said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@Catogrande said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
Something that has become really prevalent in recent(wish) years and cannot help matters is the cheap supersizing of things. Small bottle of coke 80p, huge bottle of coke £1.05. Stuff like Maccy Ds. bigging up to nearly twice the stuff only costs a few pennies more. KFC the same. 6 pieces of that popcorn shit for £3. 12 pieces plus chips and a family size bottle of fizzy pop sugarade for £4.50.
Edit: I realise the actual prices quoted might be wrong but the underlying problem isn't.
To be honest, I find the healthcampaigns around Fast Food at completely the wrong approach.
To say you shouldn't eat something is ridiculous. It creates a counter-intuitive response of fuck you establishment. McD, KFC etc should be promoted as treats. I think I crave KFC about once every 6 months, and every time I crave it, I have it. The rest of my family is he same with McD. I can personally take or leave McD no problems,.
Well it is called junk food. Surely that should create a few red flags.
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@NTA said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@gt12 said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
Fat fluffybunnies really stick out.
Usually in a dohyo...
Funnily enough, one of my old students became a sumo wrestler! He got fucking massive but most of those guys get small once they retire as they have to eat so much to maintain the bulk.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@MajorRage said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@Catogrande said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
Something that has become really prevalent in recent(wish) years and cannot help matters is the cheap supersizing of things. Small bottle of coke 80p, huge bottle of coke £1.05. Stuff like Maccy Ds. bigging up to nearly twice the stuff only costs a few pennies more. KFC the same. 6 pieces of that popcorn shit for £3. 12 pieces plus chips and a family size bottle of fizzy pop sugarade for £4.50.
Edit: I realise the actual prices quoted might be wrong but the underlying problem isn't.
To be honest, I find the healthcampaigns around Fast Food at completely the wrong approach.
To say you shouldn't eat something is ridiculous. It creates a counter-intuitive response of fuck you establishment. McD, KFC etc should be promoted as treats. I think I crave KFC about once every 6 months, and every time I crave it, I have it. The rest of my family is he same with McD. I can personally take or leave McD no problems,.
Well it is called junk food. Surely that should create a few red flags.
Exactly. Treat Food.
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@MajorRage said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@Catogrande said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
Something that has become really prevalent in recent(wish) years and cannot help matters is the cheap supersizing of things. Small bottle of coke 80p, huge bottle of coke £1.05. Stuff like Maccy Ds. bigging up to nearly twice the stuff only costs a few pennies more. KFC the same. 6 pieces of that popcorn shit for £3. 12 pieces plus chips and a family size bottle of fizzy pop sugarade for £4.50.
Edit: I realise the actual prices quoted might be wrong but the underlying problem isn't.
To be honest, I find the healthcampaigns around Fast Food at completely the wrong approach.
To say you shouldn't eat something is ridiculous. It creates a counter-intuitive response of fuck you establishment. McD, KFC etc should be promoted as treats. I think I crave KFC about once every 6 months, and every time I crave it, I have it. The rest of my family is he same with McD. I can personally take or leave McD no problems,.
And it tastes better that way too.
My ‘couldn’t give up’ food when I was trying to lose weight was Maccas - usually on weekends I needed it after big nights. So, I allowed myself to have it if I cut out the coke and had fewer fries (so a burger, med fries and sparkling water) and required myself to run at least 4kms. It was weird but I enjoyed Maccas much much more as a result.
I think you are right about personally wanting it though - I can only stick with my diet if I’m seeing results and feeling good. That usually makes the first 14 days the hardest, and now that I know that, its not such an issue. In 2009 though I’m not sure how or why I stuck with it. Honestly speaking, I think it was because my relationship was falling apart at that time, so running provided me with an excuse to get out of the house and talk with my friend (who was a runner).
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@MajorRage Isn't this the defence the fast-food industry pumps out, that you need a balanced diet, their food is a treat etc.
Yet they spend millions on advertising, lure kids with toys, characters and are open 24 hours a day with a store in nearly every city in the world.
I highly doubt the execs of Maccas are thinking about how to stop people eating so much of their food.The system we currently have is clearly not working as there are more fat fluffybunnies now than ever before.
I noticed our local Maccas now have their own fleet of delivery vehicles to make it even easier for you to access that once in a while treat food.
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@Nepia said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
Funny this thread appears today. I have an appointment with a dietician tomorrow.
I'm not a fatty these days but was back pre-2014 when I shed over 20kg and I've mostly been able to keep that off since.
But, I was getting a bunch of migraines through most of this year (1 or 2 a week at one stage) and studies have found that high cholesterol in older women is a possible factor in triggering them.
So I had a cholesterol test and it was crazy bad, worse than any pre-2014 one when I was a fatty eating lots of carbs and sweets. So they want to put me on meds, but first I have to have a dieticians appointment. Not sure what I'll get out of it.
Possibly an unpopular suggestion here on the fern but have you considered reducing the amount of animal products in your diet. I have no idea of your circumstances but it helped some people I know. Good luck getting it under control.
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@Catogrande said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
Something that has become really prevalent in recent(wish) years and cannot help matters is the cheap supersizing of things. Small bottle of coke 80p, huge bottle of coke £1.05. Stuff like Maccy Ds. bigging up to nearly twice the stuff only costs a few pennies more. KFC the same. 6 pieces of that popcorn shit for £3. 12 pieces plus chips and a family size bottle of fizzy pop sugarade for £4.50.
Edit: I realise the actual prices quoted might be wrong but the underlying problem isn't.
I swear a quarter pounder is much smaller than it was a couple of decades ago...
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@Bones said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@Catogrande said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
Something that has become really prevalent in recent(wish) years and cannot help matters is the cheap supersizing of things. Small bottle of coke 80p, huge bottle of coke £1.05. Stuff like Maccy Ds. bigging up to nearly twice the stuff only costs a few pennies more. KFC the same. 6 pieces of that popcorn shit for £3. 12 pieces plus chips and a family size bottle of fizzy pop sugarade for £4.50.
Edit: I realise the actual prices quoted might be wrong but the underlying problem isn't.
I swear a quarter pounder is much smaller than it was a couple of decades ago...
Pringles definitely are. And Mars bars.
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@chimoaus said in Fighting Obesity - Thoughts?:
@MajorRage Isn't this the defence the fast-food industry pumps out, that you need a balanced diet, their food is a treat etc.
Yet they spend millions on advertising, lure kids with toys, characters and are open 24 hours a day with a store in nearly every city in the world.
I highly doubt the execs of Maccas are thinking about how to stop people eating so much of their food.The system we currently have is clearly not working as there are more fat fluffybunnies now than ever before.
I noticed our local Maccas now have their own fleet of delivery vehicles to make it even easier for you to access that once in a while treat food.
Capitalism, is capitalism. In a free country, people have free choices, and companies have free choices to advertise. The same above (with exception of kids) applies to alcohol as well.
People are fat because of the choices they make (in almost all circumstances). If McD/KFC aren't there, then another avenue will be found.
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Excise tax on sugar and fat, spend the money susidising decent food and meals.
Related, families work and commute a lot more than 60 years ago, so have less time to prepare veges etc. That's a macroeconomic issue, but would be something I would personally work on (says the resident leftie).