Most horrifying facts about obesity?

[Colourmix]

I’m obese and looking for something to really shock me into losing the weight. I know that it’s unhealthy and it can cause stroke and diabetes, but they all feel like distant far off issues and it just feels like it’s far too much work to lose weight with my mobility issues.

Does anyone know any gruesome, horrifying facts about obesity and the effect that it has on the body? We all know that fat = bad but I don’t think it’s discussed in detail nearly enough. It’s far too easy to just bury my head in the sand and convince myself that I’ve got years and years before it happens to me.

I've never met anyone who did positive things out of self-loathing.

I never said anything about self-loathing

For some people, shock tactics can be really effective. It doesn't mean they struggle with self-loathing

So today I've had 5 scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and broccoli.

Might have a large prawn and crayfish salad for lunch with an oily dressing (unsurprisingly I'm still very full ) and planning a roast chicken tonight where I'll skip the roast potatoes for a bed of sliced leeks roasted under the chicken plus green beans, Brussels and cabbage.

Im not counting calories, beating myself up or restricting food.

By the end of the 8 weeks I'm confident after the initial weeks loss of 5-6lb (mostly water) I'll lose 1-2lb a week.

I also relate to @Wanderingowl ’s posts. For too long I’ve used all the “You’re beautiful as you are” stuff as an excuse not to get fit. I need to hear the truth about what will happen if I don’t take things in hand. And do it NOW, not tomorrow or next week.

All the positive propaganda in the world about how my life will improve if I adopt a healthier lifestyle just doesn’t work on me. It’s not that I don’t agree I would feel better. It just allows me to procrastinate, because that approach implies it’s a ‘nice to have’ rather than ‘do this now or bad things will happen’.

I’m going swimming this afternoon thanks to this thread. I’m a quitter, so there’s no guarantee I’ll stick at it, but it’s a start. And I’ll have a go at putting my face in, thank you @Vallmo47

I needed this thread today, started the morning thinking 'well actually 1 day won't make much difference I'll get back in track tomorrow'. But it isn't one day I came home from work late last night and ate 4 pieces of toast because I couldn't be bothered to make a healthy meal.
I get what others are saying about self esteem and positive, but that would've got me another day of eating rubbish and thinking it will be ok.
I know my personality type I need harsh truths not like the examples on here.
It's not for everyone I get that, but yeah there is a place for reality and not burying your head.

@WeakAsIAm

A great saying I find helpful is:

Day one, or one day.

Instead of looking for horror stories, could you find things that you like about yourself so that you want to cherish your body. Don’t try and make radical changes you can’t stick to but add in small ones. Glass of warm water before each meal. Add some nuts and seeds to a smoothie or sprinkle on your meal. Take a decent quality omega 3 supplement (bare biology are amazing) and try and add some gentle exercise- like go for a walk etc.

I saw a sign once that said ‘exercise should be a celebration of what your body can do, not a punishment for what it can’t’ and thought it was a great philosophy!

exercise should be a celebration of what your body can do, not a punishment for what it can’t

I LOVE this

I find this thread quite sad as it makes me think of my Mum.

She's early 60s and has recently moved into a nursing home. She's been obese her whole life. I'm not sure of her weight but she wears 22-24 clothes.

Due to her obesity she developed Type 2 Diabetes, poorly managed it, and now her mobility is so bad she can't live at home anymore and lives in a nursing home with people decades older than her, and/or with advanced demetia. She is also doubly incontinent. This has all stemmed from her diabetes, that stems from her obesity.

She can no longer be the gran she wanted to be to my kids, the wife to her husband, the friend, sister, or the mum to me and my brother. It's a sad existence now.

Could she have done more to help herself? I don't know. It's psychologically rooted for sure. It didn't stop the anger I held onto for a long time. Now I just feel sadness and pity.

Meant to add, she was diagnosed with dementia a year ago. Almost certainly brought on by her diabetes and related health issues.

have also lost 65kg

Picking up on this because I way 54kg or 8st 7lbs size 8 5'6". So this person lost the amount of me plus two heavy shopping bags. Prior to that it's like they was piggy backing me plus bags around all their days every step they took. How can that not affect the body? Congrats on losing it by the way.

interesting photos of the skeleton with body shape Fraaahnces thanks for posting them

@junipermarten sorry to hear about your mum. If it’s any comfort, my mum was a fitness fanatic; always at the gym, denied herself treats like any cakes, drank the recommended amounts of water, etc etc. She worked so hard on her health, fitness and appearance that she looked amazing and had the body of someone a decade younger.

She died of cancer aged 58. She didn’t get to be the gran she’d have loved to be either, and we lost the wife, friend, sister and mum. Life isn’t always fair.

And to be honest, I think my lack of fitness is partly down to my mum’s example. She worked so damn hard on it; it was all encompassing. I’d love to look like she did and have that energy, but I couldn’t dedicate so much of my time and effort to it. It was monumental. I’m sure there’s a middle way, but my point is it’s always put me off.

I guess we’re all influenced by our parents’ actions, one way or another!

Instead of looking for horror stories, could you find things that you like about yourself so that you want to cherish your body.

That's exactly it. Come at it from a place of self respect, not self loathing, and you're much more likely to treat yourself properly with healthy choices. If you hate yourself and think you're already doomed to terrible health, you're probably not going to make positive changes or feel it's even possible to lose weight.

I saw a sign once that said ‘exercise should be a celebration of what your body can do, not a punishment for what it can’t’

And that as well. Nobody sticks to exercise if they hate it, so find the activity you enjoy and do that.

@VenusClapTrap - I'm a bit like your mum, I guess. The thing is though: for me, being fit and healthy is its own reward. I'm sorry your mum died so young, but would she have done any differently if she had known? None of us know what's in store for us, but I want to enjoy life and do what I can to maintain my quality of life for as long as I can.

I actually enjoy exercising and I prefer healthy food. I didn't always, though - I used to have to push myself to get off the sofa, and battling my carb addiction wasn't easy. But once I got used to exercise and real food I started to enjoy both. I'm in my late 60s and fitter than many women half my age. It's so worth it.

You honestly don’t have to “dedicate” a lot of time and effort into looking good and being healthy/fit. It only seems like an arduous uphill struggle to those who are unfit and overweight. But if you are slim/fit/healthy, it’s just maintenance.
It’s like cleaning your place regularly and keeping it clutter free. You just have to keep on top of it and you’ll find it’s just a little bit of your time every couple of days. But if you let it go and live like a hoarder and everything is messy, you’ll have a very hard time to reach the level or order and cleanliness of other people’s houses.
And in a way it’s laziness. If you are not willing to put the effort into something then it ain’t gonna happen.

The fat cells aren't benign. They actively produce hormones, ones which make it harder for you to lose weight. The fatter you are the more of this there is going on. Look up metabolic syndrome. The fatter you are the more likely you are to have it.

I used shock tactics to help me give up smoking. Looking at pictures of smokers lungs was quite an incentive to give up and it was the only thing that worked for me and I haven’t smoked in over 20 years.

@Colourmix I don’t know if you would be able but I have heard good things of people knitting for weight loss. I saw it on a diet show and there is an article here:

diyeverywhere.com/2016/09/15/what-knitting-is-doing-to-your-health-that-you-probably-never-knew-about-/

It also says it can help with chronic pain.

I just popped back in to say that they believe that by 2030, Diabetes and Obesity-related illnesses will amount for more deaths than cancer in the western world.

The calorie part, health professionals would usually recommend somebody (of the profile I made up) to slowly reduce calories, cutting out 2000 calories a day all of a sudden would also be massively risky.

And yet the medical professionals who perform bariatric surgery recommend a calorie intake of between 300-600 calories a day initially and it generally doesn't go up much above a 1000 calories at a year post surgery.

would she have done any differently if she had known?

Hmm well one the last things she said to me was “Eat the bloody cake Venus; fat lot of good all this healthy lifestyle did for me” because she was pretty bitter about the way things had turned out. She probably didn’t mean it though - she loved the gym.

You honestly don’t have to “dedicate” a lot of time and effort into looking good and being healthy/fit. Well, my point is that she did. She described it herself that way too. It was a total way of life and raison d’etre for her. I’m well aware it doesn’t have to be, but it was enormously off-putting to me. Or maybe I am just lazy.

OP have you had help with your CFS or were you diagnosed then left to get on with it without being taught how to manage it?

There is a middle way between total dedication to fitness and depriving oneself of enjoyable food on the one hand, and being a total couch potato who binges on sugar and carbs.

Unfortunately many people think that exercise is both boring and arduous. The trick is to find something you enjoy and keep doing it, whether it is running, swimming, cycling, weight training, pilates, yoga....... the options are endless.

As far as food is concerned, I'm a great believer in "eating food, not too much, mostly plants" - plus moderate amounts of lean protein. Virtually no ultra-processed foods, sugar or refined carbs. No snacking other than a bit of fruit, nuts, seeds or carrots. No snacking after dinner (okay, maybe a spoonful of yoghurt or a few grapes...). I also reduced my alcohol intake and now I only have a glass or two at the weekend.

I found that as I started to eat really healthily, my taste buds changed. Previously they had been assaulted - there is no better word for it! - by excessive amounts of sugar, salt and fat. Once I cut these from my diet, I started to appreciate real food. The subtle taste of carrots, broccoli, beans, etc. The delicious freshness of fruit.

Two strategies helped: Intermittent fasting and shopping only once a week. Much easier to keep to the straight and narrow if there's no crap food in the house.

Sorry for the sermon. Maybe someone finds it helpful 😆

To be fair, I think the clue is in the title. 'Horrifying' being the operative word.

Left to get on with it. My GP is incredibly sympathetic and will send me for every test under the sun if I get a new symptom but all my tests come back clear and he has no idea how to help me, the fatigue specialist just told me that I need to pace and get some CBT.

I think I’ve mostly figured it out on my own, but as I said I get so ill when I go into a calorie deficit. My body gets really shaky, I have to crawl along the landing if I need the toilet, I feel really confused and my vision goes all funny, I can’t string a sentence together and I feel like I’m about to faint. It’s very manageable so long as I eat enough and don’t overdo it though.

FGS if 'most horrifying facts' isn’t enough of a a trigger warning, then there’s no hope. It’s not up to other people to mollycoddle you. We have responsibilities to ourselves.

Years ago I signed up to a stop smoking group at my GP practice, it was quite good initially, lots of peer support, then someone asked the nurse a question about if your lungs would recover if you stopped smoking and she basically said 'no, the damage is done, they will never recover' and I looked around that group and she lost at least three quarters of them with that single statement. It took me another 5 years to give up !
That is what bothers me about the ' if you have a high BMI, you are doomed to an eternity of obesity' statements. Is it because it is an actual scientific fact or is it that research has been funded by those who may have a financial interest ?