To think "hurrah" when Pauline Quirke admits that when she was huge it was down to general greediness!

[hubbabubbabubba]

Just sick of people not being honest!
i dont believe in people being a size 0 at all, but surely being that large is not good for your health.
She has done brilliantly!

But greed is such a wonderful thing. Such lovely food and it has to be sampled - all of it.

Ah so here's where all the judgy mcjudgersons went! Thought the smoking thread had gone quiet.

WTF is the for Yon

You are the one who wishes you were a stress non eater.

Bit fucking insensitive frankly.

Because you are taking my comment and this entire thread far too seriously. I meant it in a lighthearted way, not as a dig at people who can't eat when they're stressed.

It's so constipated and fucking judgey around here at the moment.

This whole thread is a insensitive to fat people really. And patronising.

I have not patronized or been insensitive to anyone with weight problems.

You have.

If its a lighthearted thread how can it be insensitive and patronizing anyway?

Its all a bit of a larf innit?

or isnt it?

make up your mind.

I think that excercise plays a huge part in weight management and as a nation we have become very lazy. Excercise not only speeds up metabolism, but also builds muscle which burns calories faster than fat. As humans, our bodies were not designed to move around so little.

I know so many people who do not do any excercise at all - not all of them are overweight but most of them are. I remember being out shopping with one of my friends and we were deciding where to park and she moaned because I was going to park somewhere that was 'too far to walk' (seriously it was a 10 minute walk!). Me and DH often go for walks at the weekend - even on a beautiful day there are often hardly any other people out and those that are seem to either be hardcore walkers or have dogs.

I am not saying that everyone has to slog it out in the gym for hours (who has time for that), but I am sure that a bit more excercise would help, food aside.

The thing is, many women are mothers, carers and workers so they turn to eating for comfort because it doesn't directly affect anyone else the way eg drinking does. There are far worse things than being fat and as long as you can move around and do normal things, what does it matter? I was in a shopping centre not long ago and two larger women were eating/choking down pasties because they obviously felt very, very guilty at eating them and weren't enjoying a single bite. Why should they be made to feel so bad about eating?
Pre pregnancy I was size 14 top and hips, 12 waist, which is fine at 5ft11 (I always ate whatever I wanted) and although I do want to get back into my normal clothes as soon as possible when I've had the baby, I certainly won't be starving myself to do it.

*I have not patronized or been insensitive to anyone with weight problems.

You have.

If its a lighthearted thread how can it be insensitive and patronizing anyway?

Its all a bit of a larf innit?

or isnt it?

make up your mind.*

I took this thread as lighthearted.

You took it as serious mindblowing stuff.

I said to you I am being lighthearted.

In response to your claim that I am being "fucking insensitive" my thoughts are if this thread is serious then it's patronising and insensitive.

I am choosing to take it as a bit of a larf as you put it.

I didn't ever claim you have been patronising or insensitive.

I was in a shopping centre not long ago and two larger women were eating/choking down pasties because they obviously felt very, very guilty at eating them and weren't enjoying a single bite.

dear lordie lordie lols.

Yes because the only reason a person gets fat is because they over eat. It has nothing to do with wider social and psychological factors in any single case

fuck off you simpletons

youarenotsilly - you make some very good points, but Hollywood actresses (and models) are getting smaller! I saw an old clip of Beverley Hills 90210 and the actresses were slim, but looked like normal teenage girls. Fast forward to the modern version and all the girls look like heads on sticks!

My DH has started teasing me that every time I see an actress on the TV I'm shouting 'Give that woman a sandwich!' but a lot of them really do look ill. I was watching Desperate Housewives recently, and Bree was wearing a low cut dress - it was minging, as all her rib bones were sticking out between her boobs and her collarbone could have cut steel.

Talking of people being honest though, my favourite was Julianne Moore, who said in an interview that all actresses basically lie in interviews when they claim to eat normally. Can't quote exactly, but essentially she said: "You can't eat normally and stay this thin. Actresses live on granola and fat-free yogurt."

I don't advocate anyone follow that diet, but surely it's a lot more healthy for women to realise that you don't stay super-skinny unless you starve yourself unrelentingly, rather than eaiting a generally healthy diet like a normal person and then feeling like failures because they're not ultra-thin.

Can I have cake too.

I dont do diets as for me they make me fat as in deprived of anything I want it all the more so dont.

I have kennels so I am out there all day cleaning usually. Still overweight but I dont care anymore.

Pauline good on her I say but she will sucumb to her bad habits as lifer life is bloody hard to do.

I took it as mindblowing?

Now who is being patronizing?

Undereating isnt funny.

Its serious and it has serious implications. Why is it ok to take the piss?

Because life is all rosy if you are a size 8 and you have nothing to moan about?

i wouldnt dream of making light of someone's weight issues or telling them lose weight if they were happy with their lives.

I dont even notice what size someone is unless they are supermorbidly obese.

People seem to notice my size a lot and feel free to offer me snippits of wit and wisdom.

Enormous fun.

OP, I find it bizarre that you have personal experience of how your weight can be linked to your emotions (ie you went down to a size 6 when you were grieving) rather than to your nutritional need for food, and yet can honestly ask "But how do you get big in the first place?". Do you genuinely lack the empathy to see that, while you ate less when you were having a difficult time, some people would react by eating more ('comfort eating')? Is that really so difficult for you to understand?

OMGBFP, it is really that simple! A good diet that's low in fat, and regular exercise, it really is simple.

It is being bandied around at the moment that a low fat diet can actually cause heart attacks.
And not everyone loses weight the same way, for some it is low fat, some low carbs, some calorie counting. What works for you might not always work for others.

*I took it as mindblowing?

Now who is being patronizing?

Undereating isnt funny.

Its serious and it has serious implications. Why is it ok to take the piss?

Because life is all rosy if you are a size 8 and you have nothing to moan about?

i wouldnt dream of making light of someone's weight issues or telling them lose weight if they were happy with their lives.

I dont even notice what size someone is unless they are supermorbidly obese.

People seem to notice my size a lot and feel free to offer me snippits of wit and wisdom.

Enormous fun.*

No it's not, neither is overeating, you are missing my point entirely.

Sorry if I have offended you, but I am not taking this thread seriously because it's too ridiculous, patronising and stupid. It's not that I think weight issues are funny. It's how stupid this thread is that's funny, and people saying silly things like the "large ladies choking on pasties because they are so obviously guilty about being so fat." I mean, there's nothing right about that statement at all!

Sorry you get so much trouble from other people commenting on your weight, but I haven't attacked you for it nor would I. I haven't attacked anyone!

Wading in here:

I am 16 stone and 5 foot 2. I am about a size 20. I am 44 and I look ancient. I am tired ALL the time. My hips ache as do my knees.

I have a problem with 'secret eating' that started when my mum banned me from eating any sugar to try and help my excema (sp).

I have done SW and WW but I get obsessed with 'bad' food and hide away and eat it in secret because it is banned.

I KNOW it is as simple as eat less, move more. I am currently training for the Moonwalk. This week I walked 13 miles at 17 mins a mile. I lost NOTHING. I have not increased my portion sizes. I am also trying hypnotherapy. DH loves me but I do not love myself. I feel like a failure.

BUT: to most who see me I am a fat, greedy, lazy, thick frumpy old woman. Thing is, I don't take it upon myself to think bad things about thin people.

"Some overweight people are just greedy but a lot have what is essentialy an eating disorder."

I became overweight when I hit puberty - in fact I think I was obese - I had pcos (is that the term) but I didn't know at the time. I had a very light appetite.

Then I hit 21 and went from a size 14-16 (at 5ft 1) to a size 6-8 in six months. The more I ate the more I lost weight. I was ravenous and I was losing lots of weight eating my usual meals plus now lots of snacks. It was very scary to the point my gp thought I might have cancer.

I was the same weight from 23 until I was pregnant and then had huge pregnancy (eating the same stuff) to the point they thought I'd broken my foot from the weight. Post pregancy the weight did come off and I went back to normal size 8 - I was 2 pounds heavier. Then when I turned 42 the weight piled on. I'm not huge at all and not overwieght but I honestly have the same life.

I think it's way too simple to think that all overweight people are greedy or have eating issues. I also think that even if you're plump but not technically overweight you are somehow criticised now.

It is a horrible thread which is why I was attempting to be supportive Yon

I hate it when people go on about weight. Its a bloody great stick that is used to hit women with, to make them feel crap.

It works.

I dont get loads of people going on at me about my weight and I am pretty sure I would get more if I was very overweight.

But its does hurt when people make rude comments, whatever your size. Unfortunately it tends to be women who are worried about their own weight who most often feel the need to comment. Women who I would consider perfectly fine looking.

Its the fake concern that pisses me off the most OMG MrsDV you looks so thin have you been ill? You have lost so much weight'

Not helpful, particulary if you have a bit of a thing about health issues generally.

It must be horrible to have people commenting on being overweight as well.

I am sensitive about people making light of stress non eating (or whatever its name is) because its quite a worry to me. It makes me feel guilty, perhaps in the same way that over eating makes other people feel?

I'm massively overweight, and desperately need to lose some of it. The GP, and a hospital heart consultant have offered me a gastric band - they have offered it repeatedly, every time I see them, and have never once offered me anything else - not an appt with a nutritionist, or dietitian or even those vile alli type pills or anything, just the gastric band. I have refused, but if I was the type of person who is now how to put it easily pushed into things, or not able to say no to it, I'd probably have one They obviously look at me and see a big fat helpless hopeless lump, who cannot possibly be allowed any time to lose weight, or offered help to lose weight other than by "force" and see the band as the only option...
Then the really weird part - apparantly, to have a gastric band op, the patient has to lose weight (I forget how much, about 6 kilos I think) beforehand. If they don't lose weight, they can't have the op... in what kind of fucked up world does that make sense?
Anyway, I'm still fat and refusing to be operated on.
(I have no idea what my point is, or even if I have one, just wanted to hang around and smell the cake for a while )

I made my point badly - I wrote about those women because I was disgusted that they should have to feel guilty about simply having something to eat, when I can't see why they shouldn't eat and, more importantly, enjoy whatever they want. I didn't think that someone would laugh at them.