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AIBU?

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Original poster

to still be annoyed with Edwina Currie regarding fat people on TV over a week later

60 replies

entropygirl · 23/04/2012 08:51

She has pissed me right off!

What the fuck difference does having fat people on TV make? I want to lose weight because I want to live long enough to see my DD grow up, to achieve my ambitions and I don't want people judging me on my weight or any of the social embarrassment or day in day out indignities that being fat lands you with. Against that backdrop of motivation WTF does seeing people on TV have to do with it?

She can also stick the whole fat people are too stupid to understand that they need to eat less calories where the sun don't shine. I have a Phd in physics from Oxbridge so I think we can assume I get that (and of course so does everyone else).

Why aren't people interested in solving the real problem? That fat people with all the motivation in the world, who totally understand the concept of calorie balance are still struggling to lose weight?

Anyway it's nearly a week since she was on the radio ruining my day so hopefully a cathartic rant will get me over it...

OP posts:
Kladdkaka · 23/04/2012 10:36

My weight problems are caused by autism. It IS genetic. So until people have tried to walk a few steps in my shoes, they should adjust their judgey pants and keep their hatred and nasty, damaging comments to themselves. As Thumper the Rabbit says 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all'.

Original poster
entropygirl · 23/04/2012 10:36

ahhh I see....I only just got a radio (still don't have a tv) and am going through a period of painful adjustment on learning what idiot politicians think real people are like...

It certainly helps to know that everyone else thinks she is a joke too.

OP posts:
2ticks · 23/04/2012 10:39

What made me particularly angry with Ms Currie that time, was that she wasn't just talking in general terms to begin with. She was talking very specifially about a 16 year old girl who had been on TV and who she thought was overweight. She knew absolutely nothing about that girl and her relationship with food, so I felt for a broadcaster to make personal comments about a 16 year old girl about her size, is irresponsible. Has she no idea how insecure 16 year olds feel about their appearance? Horrible, bullying behaviour.

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 23/04/2012 10:40

I think that the research emerging that the use of plastics has a dramatic effect on some people's metabolic rate and how fat is stored needs further investigation.

Interesting. Is that something to do with estrogens in the food chain? Or estrogen imitating chemicals at any rate?

Agincourt · 23/04/2012 10:41

I am a carer for my daughter and have struggled with my weight and I do think it's to do with stress

manicbmc · 23/04/2012 10:53

I am not bothered whether people on tv are fat or not - makes no difference to me.

But I would like to see a whole lot less of Edwina Currie in the media. That would be a start.

Hoebag · 23/04/2012 11:09

it was OK, but the one bit that stood out at me was her assertion that obesity is the "addiction" of carers

theres a lot of truth in that Aswell as myself I know alot of carers who arte systematically overweight, I supposed its because we are too burdened to have drug and alchohol problems.

WorraLiberty · 23/04/2012 11:10

Being 'fat' doesn't shorten your life, being obese does, not having any exercise and so does yo-yo dieting (as well as a multitude of other activities)

It depends on where you're carrying the fat though.

If you store more excess fat around your belly than on your hips for example, that can interfere with your liver and insulin production...which puts you at risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes and premature death.

Aboutlastnight · 23/04/2012 11:15

I think shift work has something to do with it too, people increasingly are expected to provide round-the-clock services and it can play havoc with your diet.

I crave sugar and carbs after a night shift - although am only a few pounds overweight at the moment.

WorraLiberty · 23/04/2012 11:17

Night shift has the opposite effect on my DH

He feels constantly 'sicky' and can't eat at all.

Then again, he works 3 different shifts in rotation.

Abra1d · 23/04/2012 11:17

I still maintain, as a recovering eating disorder person, that an addiction to food is far tougher to shift than an addiction to drugs or drink.
You can survive without drink or drugs. You can't without food, so people like I was twenty years ago cannot escape being confronted with their 'fix' at least three times a day.

Aboutlastnight · 23/04/2012 11:18

yes I do that too, I find I lose a few pounds while on nightshift but then seem to crave sugar a few days afterwards - it's like my blood sugar is going up an down.
weird.

Maybe I should go to the doctor.

Hoebag · 23/04/2012 11:18

I think with carers is more the fact they have so much responsibility and so little time for themselves they act out/comfort through food as its the only freedom they have.

I'm referring more to young carers.

Birdsgottafly · 23/04/2012 11:24

If you store more excess fat around your belly than on your hips for example, that can interfere with your liver and insulin production

That needs to be enough fat to be seriously overweight, that is the distiction,not the usual tummy that women can have after childbirth or that the pill/menapause gives them.

In all studies done most women/girls put themselves at a higher level of over weightness than they were.

Likewise most people who are actually seriously overweight/obese minimised their weight.

We have polar opposites going on that the media should be making clear what it is that they are talking about.

WorraLiberty · 23/04/2012 11:27

I don't know really

The obesity pandemic affects people of all ages and in all walks of life

Therefore, it makes sense that a certain percentage of overweight/obese people will actually be carers.

WorraLiberty · 23/04/2012 11:32

That needs to be enough fat to be seriously overweight, that is the distiction,not the usual tummy that women can have after childbirth or that the pill/menapause gives them

Well according to the most recent report I read, there is no distinction because the NHS can't decide on exactly how much excess abdominal fat is dangerous.

I suspect it's more about hip, waist, bum ratio but then again I'm no expert.

Original poster
entropygirl · 23/04/2012 12:18

I think the real problem is a failure of empathy.

Take the comparison of being either a) obese, b) an alcoholic or c) a smoker.

In each case the solution to the problem is easy: a) eat less calories than you use until you reach ideal weight. b) stop drinking alcohol, c) stop smoking cigarettes.

The problem comes in terms of why people find this hard/impossible. While some progress has been made in terms of understanding why people find it difficult to quit alcohol or smoking and indeed the government invests in programs to help people who want to quit do so, there is almost no effort to understand why people find it hard to control their eating habits. And there is almost no investment in helping people who want to lose weight to achieve their goals.

I personally find it piss easy to have a single drink or none at all. I find it easy to not smoke. (I also find it very easy to be faithful to my husband unlike our friend Edwina). But I find it very very hard to control my eating habits.

OP posts:
helloclitty · 23/04/2012 12:25

hello because people watch TV and it influences how they think

That's exactly my point. If we have the majority of people on TV overweight or obese on TV it backs up the idea it's ok and normalises large sized people. That in my view is not a reason to have more overweight people on TV.
"Playing the bad guy" is a different argument all together.

Original poster
entropygirl · 23/04/2012 12:27

Over weight people are 'normal'. For this society at this point in our evolution.

OP posts:
Codandchops · 23/04/2012 12:32

I think in terms of obesity we need to look at how we have normalised large portions over the past 30 years.

We no longer have the same size dinner plates that we did in my grandmothers day for example. Everything is bigger and we fill it up accordingly.

I sat in on a mini MEND session once as an observer and they asked parents what a portion of pasta tubes for a 2-3 year old should look like ( if you are wondering it's about 5 tubes) nobody got it right and everyone including me over estimated by 100% plus. Everyone was shocked.

Original poster
entropygirl · 23/04/2012 12:38

cod I dont think plate or portion size is an issue. Some people manage to eat until they are full then stop, instead of finishing it all and then wanting desert too (like me being able to drink until I have had enough without needing to get plastered).

I am currently doing baby led weaning and it is very VERY clear when my DD has reached full. It doesnt matter how much you put in front of her....she will demand more till she is full and will stop eating the moment she is.

If I could do that I wouldn't be over weight (assuming that my 'full' gauge is set correctly which it may not be).

OP posts:
helloclitty · 23/04/2012 12:39

overweight people may be normal but it doesn't mean it what we should accept or be comfortable with. Plus I see loads of larger people on TV, I don't see the problem.

helloclitty · 23/04/2012 12:40

I don't think portion size for 2-3 years is a problem because in the main they eat until they're full. However, I do think it is a problem for adults.

Aboutlastnight · 23/04/2012 12:46

if i gave my two year old five tubes of pasta she would be howling with hunger and outrage.