Re: Obesity

Yes, I'd forgotten about the BMI - Body Mass Index.

When I was doing weight training everyone in the club was well over what the BMI calculated we were supposed to be, not just Rugby players Baxter! stevmk2

Re: Obesity

I'd like to see someone try and remove me from my chip butties or step between me and a plate of food - they'd get crushed in the rush!!!

OK so powers that be want us to attend obesity classes - fair enough, I'll go along just for a laugh, since (they) have no idea what we eat or in what Quantities subsequently.

Re: Obesity

Rather oddly I find my appetite has just fallen away since packing in running. As long as I make sure I get all the necessary vitamins and minerals I think I will quite happily exist on quite low calories.

Marvelous to have a healthy appetite but another to be totally obsessed with food. Trouble is by the time something is done about an obese person there are long term repercussions should they manage to get a grip on things and lose weight - such as sagging skin. I have a beautiful niece, a real stunner, but for one reason or another pigged out on takeaways and other high calorie foods when in her teens and and a bit beyond, result of which meant she went really big. She has now lost over 3 stone but the more she loses the more her skin is collecting in various places, which, in a way, is causing other confidence problems. If only she had listened to her mother who is a vegetarian and is very slim. My niece is just 27 by the way.

Re: Obesity

Being vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean anyone will be slim I managed to get to 20 stone on a vegetarian diet - cheese, chocolate and sugar are all vegetarian foods

Re: Obesity

Yes, it is very much a misconception to think you will remain slim on a vegetarian diet. As you say there are plenty of high calorie foods available to make you pile on the weight.

Re: Obesity

What a very complex topic!! - different socio-economic groups - different income levels for survival - the big sugar companies who push their sugars into everything - good eating is not just an individual thing it's bigger than that and involves governments and listening to the researchers findings!

some recent research suggests that generally the West at least is becoming a narcissistic society

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/...n-ever/5457236

so young people at least are becoming 'obsessed' about their looks, their bodies etc.

Keeping fit and eating fit seems so simple to those who can do it as MKJ will attest - but for those who don't care, or want to or are narcissistic then they do their own thing as we say!

I see this great divide the starving masses in Africa and North Korea etc and the opposite in Europe and beyond - I have no answers I just see it everyday before my eyes.

and if we in the west are becoming more narcissistic then it means we are increasing unwilling to share with others - we have excess but will not share - the haves and the havenots - we need the wisdom of Solomon right now!

Re: Obesity

When I went to the GP in January for my annual MOT I was horrified to be told that I was 4 stone over the recommended weight for my height. Since then I have shed 2 stone and am hoping the rest will soon follow - but - it is my responsibility to make sure that it does. Not been on a diet as such - just eaten sensibly, reducing portion size and cutting out crisps and biscuits, as my GP advised. Now I am no saint and could not stick to a diet if you paid me - but I really wanted to lose the weight - and that is the whole point.

It is no use at all telling people what to eat/not to eat, it is no use at all telling them of all the health issues they may face, and it is no use at all the NHS paying for them to go to Weight Watchers or Slimming World - unless that person really wants to lose the weight.

Many of my friends are overweight and happy to stay that way. One has asthma and painful knee problems - both of which would be eased if she shed about 7 stone - but she is happy as she is and does not want to change.

Re: Obesity

Rather surprisingly, when it comes to Obesity the UK is behind Iceland and Malta of all places, and that does surprise me because my last experiences of the Maltese cost of living shocked me as it is really quite expensive there!

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2...-obesity-study

I realise that it's rather simplistic to say this but a great deal of the battle against obesity will always be getting people to really understand that they eat far more than they actually need.

Food manufacturers see a market that demands food at cheaper prices so they bulk them up with cheaper substances to fill that demand but if you could get people to fully understand that if they bought better-quality foods rather than the cheapest and controlled / reduced how much they ate they would definitely benefit, which is why I said that educating people is the key.

It's been proven time and time again that pumping aid food into Africa and other countries which are forever suffering with malnutrition and starvation of its people is pointless unless you can educate them into ways of helping themselves and the same principal applies with obesity believe it or not - educate them into helping themselves, don't dictate, humiliate or order them into doing something they do not want to do!

Get them to make the decision and support them.
stevmk2

Re: Obesity

I used to have a neighbor who was obese and told me that smokers should pay for their hospital care when they end up with a smoking related illness.
Smoking has decreased a fair amount. Obesity has increased dramatically.
It's a cruel world.

Re: Obesity

I think a person has to want to lose the weight but sometimes lack the motivation to do so. Also there are a great many people around who don't really know much about calories and how many they should be having daily or the calories each plate of food contains.
It is difficult to watch our weight with so many tempting foods around but moderation is the key - I really think we'd be foolish to ignore the obesity problem, it really frightens me, when out shopping, the amount of food in some trolleys much of it nutrition free.