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Britain is overweight.

I bought a 1kg bag of Imperfectly Tasty Carrots from Sainsbury's today for 30p. I assume they were imperfect because they weren't covered in chocolate or crispy batter.
 
The issue is very complex and multi-faceted. A few points which are covered already I am sure, but add all of these up (and combine and any which way) you see why as a nation we are a mess, going to be a mess of a ranty post, but I am covering so many points!

#1 Education - people need to be taught how to
Meal Plan
Exercise
Basic Cooking /Home Economics
Make better choices

Fat is the new normal. It's almost glorified to be 'plus sized'
Cheap high sugar food is everywhere
people are fundamentally lazy (Exercise wise)
people are fundamentally lazy (Planning and cooking. Who writes a meal plan and sticks to it using healthier ingredients?)
Alcohol. As a nation, we have normalized and accepted binge/excessive drinking

It makes me so sad to see fat kids from fat parents, they don't stand a chance. The strain on the health service with secondary conditions triggered by obesity/bad diets.
 
Rooter said:
The issue is very complex and multi-faceted. A few points which are covered already I am sure, but add all of these up (and combine and any which way) you see why as a nation we are a mess, going to be a mess of a ranty post, but I am covering so many points!

#1 Education - people need to be taught how to
Meal Plan
Exercise
Basic Cooking /Home Economics
Make better choices

Fat is the new normal. It's almost glorified to be 'plus sized'
Cheap high sugar food is everywhere
people are fundamentally lazy (Exercise wise)
people are fundamentally lazy (Planning and cooking. Who writes a meal plan and sticks to it using healthier ingredients?)
Alcohol. As a nation, we have normalized and accepted binge/excessive drinking

It makes me so sad to see fat kids from fat parents, they don't stand a chance. The strain on the health service with secondary conditions triggered by obesity/bad diets.
Click to expand...
Spot on and if we try and identify when these changes started creeping in we need to look at ourselves and our parents.

This hasn’t happened overnight!
 
pauldj42 said:
we need to look at ourselves and our parents.

This hasn’t happened overnight!
Click to expand...

This bit!

Now I am a bit of a health nut, but my kids diets are still pretty crap (worse than mine!) But its about balance, I am not trying to be all preachy here, they have something with chip and beans at least once a week, Friday night is Pizza night and they eat Mcdonalds, KFC, occasionally. BUT, they also get a really balanced lunch every day, a non-sugary (as best you can!!) Cereal every morning and plenty of veg etc at tea time, even if its hidden blitzed up into a sauce etc.

Pudding is now once a week, rather than every (other) day, yogurts, fruit etc all available any time,

They have biscuits and crisps etc still, just not as much as they want! It is controlled. I think a blanket ban on something will only create resentment and defiance and or anarchy
 
On the issue of meal planning and fresh produce, lockdown has done me a favour as has the recent diagnosis. I now cook a lot. Curries and chilli is my speciality. Fresh meat, peppers etc. Wow!

They do stretch my willpower on portion size though.
 
Sugar, both refined and in natural and processed carbohydrates (potatoes, pasta, bread etc.) is cheap unfortunately. And the prevalence seems to be involved in all sorts of nutritional health problems.

I don't think it's all bad parenting though. A lot of bad or inappropriate food education is caused by the lingering effects of poor marketing and nutrition advice from the 50's and 60's. Primarily I'm thinking along the lines of the message that "eating fat makes you fat" is now considered to have been terribly wrong.

"Low fat" foods are banned in my house, I don't want my daughter growing up with that rubbish frankly.

It's also worth saying that eating disorders go both ways. Larger people can be healthier than skinny people too.
 
"Low fat" also banned in my house Jim!

One unwritten rule for me is:

If it has more than 5 ingredients and some of them you don't know what they are, you probably shouldn't eat it. (But I bet it would taste nice!)
 
Rooter said:
Fat is the new normal. It's almost glorified to be 'plus sized'
Click to expand...
It's crept up on us to the extent that thin people now stand out in the crowd.
First thing is to calculate your BMI, then your percentage body fat.
By being honest you might (should there be a problem) be on the way to a better life.
There is a correspondence between healthy weight and body fat, and happiness.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/

https://www.calculator.net/body-fat-calculator.html
 
Rooter said:
This bit!

Now I am a bit of a health nut, but my kids diets are still pretty crap (worse than mine!) But its about balance, I am not trying to be all preachy here, they have something with chip and beans at least once a week, Friday night is Pizza night and they eat Mcdonalds, KFC, occasionally. BUT, they also get a really balanced lunch every day, a non-sugary (as best you can!!) Cereal every morning and plenty of veg etc at tea time, even if its hidden blitzed up into a sauce etc.

Pudding is now once a week, rather than every (other) day, yogurts, fruit etc all available any time,

They have biscuits and crisps etc still, just not as much as they want! It is controlled. I think a blanket ban on something will only create resentment and defiance and or anarchy
Click to expand...
Again I totally agree, but go back and read just about every post and try and find anyone taking any responsibility.
99% of the posts are judgemental and pointing the finger at everyone else, none of us are perfect we all make mistakes, but society changed, governments encouraged these changes, closed sports pitches, cut backs to community centres etc.

The Society and Culture we have today we’ve created and it needs to be handled the way you say.
 
Rooter said:
If it has more than 5 ingredients and some of them you don't know what they are, you probably shouldn't eat it. (But I bet it would taste nice!)
Click to expand...

I confess I eat rubbish and enjoy it on occasion. ?

And I do eat sugary things, it’s the hidden sugars and pointlessly sweetened foods that bother me. It makes balance difficult to achieve and it’s just completely unnecessary.
 
Something else to think about which is taught at my gym is 'It's okay to have bad days. It's how you deal with that bad day after it's happened.'.

Last month two nights out for friends birthdays. Felt bad even though I'd eaten as healthily as possible. My assigned trainer said, you've still got to have fun. It cant all be give and no take.
That month I lost 5kg, so I know that as long as I'm sensible for majority of the time and only a few bad days then I'm probably going to be OK.
 
Paperboy said:
Something else to think about which is taught at my gym is 'It's okay to have bad days. It's how you deal with that bad day after it's happened.'.

Last month two nights out for friends birthdays. Felt bad even though I'd eaten as healthily as possible. My assigned trainer said, you've still got to have fun. It cant all be give and no take.
That month I lost 5kg, so I know that as long as I'm sensible for majority of the time and only a few bad days then I'm probably going to be OK.
Click to expand...

I go to a personal training gym. I know the PTs don't mind a "naughty day", as we all went out for their Xmas party last weekend, and everyone was very naughty indeed - the restaurant ran out of white wine, and had to replace vodka bottles mid-service.
I was expecting it to be a rather dry affair, but no, they really went for it, and I tried my best too :cool:
 
JamesR said:
I go to a personal training gym. I know the PTs don't mind a "naughty day", as we all went out for their Xmas party last weekend, and everyone was very naughty indeed - the restaurant ran out of white wine, and had to replace vodka bottles mid-service.
I was expecting it to be a rather dry affair, but no, they really went for it, and I tried my best too :cool:
Click to expand...

Ours is the same type of gym, ours is on Saturday :P
 
Paperboy said:
Something else to think about which is taught at my gym is 'It's okay to have bad days. It's how you deal with that bad day after it's happened.'.

Last month two nights out for friends birthdays. Felt bad even though I'd eaten as healthily as possible. My assigned trainer said, you've still got to have fun. It cant all be give and no take.
That month I lost 5kg, so I know that as long as I'm sensible for majority of the time and only a few bad days then I'm probably going to be OK.
Click to expand...
What might help is changing your thought process when it comes to “bad” days, they’re not bad days, they are just days when you haven’t gone to the gym or eaten particular foods.

By the sounds of it you are doing great, but we punish ourselves or go on guilt trips when we relax a bit.

Ignore your bad or naughty or whatever negative phrase we use to describe them and focus on the positives, try to look over a period of weeks or months rather than a day.(y)
 
pauldj42 said:
What might help is changing your thought process when it comes to “bad” days, they’re not bad days, they are just days when you haven’t gone to the gym or eaten particular foods.

By the sounds of it you are doing great, but we punish ourselves or go on guilt trips when we relax a bit.

Ignore your bad or naughty or whatever negative phrase we use to describe them and focus on the positives, try to look over a period of weeks or months rather than a day.(y)
Click to expand...

Yes that's what they try to instill in us. First time was a golf trip to Wales for 3 days, felt bad and said to my trainer and he said don't be stupid. But it's hard when you feel as though your not doing what you feel you should be doing.
 
Someone I read a blog of and this stuck with me, Eat well for 5 days a week, relax a bit for 2. Go on Holiday? all bets are off, do what you want and work it off after. No one wants to work out the Macro's while on holiday!

The key is in relaxing "a bit", is not to go nuts, have some self-control. And I suppose the whole thing depends on your goals. But anything that is so strict and restricts certain things is not sustainable. Want some ice cream? have some, just don't eat it every day!

I am still working on finding the balance, I can go hard for 3 months and drop 10kg if I need/want to, but end it and I will stick it back on. I am working on finding a 'happy place'
 
Rooter said:
I am working on finding a 'happy place'
Click to expand...

You could try the 'NHS'. The Natural Health Service.
All you need is a good pair of walking boots, waterproofs and an O/S map to discover a network of rural paths in your area.
You will find peace without pace and it will help regulate your weight..
Even winter walking is great. Have you been watching the series on TV recently?
 
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