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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To have come back from Lanzarote feeling geuinely shocked at how fat the British tourists were?

654 replies

Illgetmycoat · 10/01/2013 11:44

I'm not talking slightly plump, I mean seriously, morbidly obese. A whole different race to the German, French and Spanish tourists.

What is going on? When did our country become like this? Whenever you heard a british accent, it would be accompanied by a 3ft wide backside. And whole families, too, all swollen to gargantuan size, with the poor kids unable to put their feet together because of the rolls of fat on their legs.

How has this happened? What the heck are the Brits feeding their children to get them so large? How can you feed an eight year old you love so much food that they become morbidly obese?

It can't just be blamed on poverty, because it's not cheap going to Lanzarote.

I was shocked.

OP posts:
ThunderInMyHeart · 12/01/2013 13:13

countrykitten - I know, I know! But I have a sweet tooth and did indulge over Christmas, so I have to wean myself off. Also, if I didn't 'give in to the urges' every once in a while, I'd kill someone. Further, the shit feeling of a sugar crash I get afterwards is a nice reminder of why I should stick to paleo. Before Christmas I had been absolutely sugar free (except fruits - not dried ones) for 2 months. When I had a muffin, I thought I was on speed.

I applaud you for being vegan! I've always wanted to eat as a vegan, but just don't think I could cope. Is it quite limited? What sort of things do you normally eat?

manicinsomniac - hmmm, possibly. I just find, as someone mentioned earlier, that information is confusing - 'eat protein...red meat causes cancer... etc etc'. Christ, look at the recent olive oil scandal that's erupted here! So, I find that 'going paleo' works best for me - no second guessing, no blurred lines. Dash to Tesco, grab fish and meat fillets and some veg. Done. Easy. Also, I am the kind of person who is all or nothing (yes, I realise the one MArs Bar contradicts that!) but if I start having grey area foods, that will usually lead to me thinking 'oh, fuck it. I've ruined my clean streak now, so I might as well have a blow out'

BegoniaBampot · 12/01/2013 13:15

"Was sitting in the car around lunchtime yesterday and two women walked past. One was fat. She was carrying a large bag of crisps and a sandwich and looked uncomfortable and harassed. The lady behind her was slim, strolling along eating an apple. Said it all really."

Why does that say it all? Like how the fat women was uncomfortable and harassed while slim apple eating lady was strolling, probably with the sun glinting off her natural blonde highlights. Bit of a quick observation. Maybe skinny lady had just wolfed down a curry with a pint of lager. Maybe larger lady could run rings round slim lady who chain smokes and never breaks sweat. I get where you are coming from but your observation just struck me as funny.

amillionyears · 12/01/2013 13:18

mancicinsomniac, I am definitely no expert on all of this, but I would have thought 1200 calories is too low?
I am of the opinion, rightly or wrongly, that sometimes the diseases we get are from what we dont eat, rather than what we do eat.
I presume you have looked into trying to make sure you are getting all the nutrients, vits and minerals and whatever else we need, to live as healthily as we can?

ThunderInMyHeart · 12/01/2013 13:26

*fuckadoodlepoopoo' ? nope, I said e.g. Cadbury's Dairy Milk bars were all wrong because of the supremely high vegetable fat and sugar content in them. A chocolate bar that is anything but chocolate, if you see what I mean.

Re your q about olive oil. This is why I don't say 'caveman', but prefer 'paleo'. Not sure if olives were there for 'cavemen' but the over-arching point of paleo is that you only eat things that are natural and in their original natural state. Olives are totally fine and oil is made directly from them. No weird chemical processes/methods.

I've long thought I was lactose intolerant ? never formally diagnosed, but I did notice that if I had a glass of milk in the evenings, I would always wake up feeling like arse. But, to answer your question, raw milk is allowed on paleo. Not sure of the thinking behind it, but presumably if it's raw, it's not messed with. I think paleo followers include milk because they love it too much or allow it as a treat. For example, caffeine is not allowed on it, but I need a morning coffee in my job! And life is only so long?

I agree 'paleo' or 'caveman' may be a pure marketing gimmick, but as a shorthand, it works for me and allows me greater clarity. When I'm shopping, anything that does come in plastic packaging I automatically know to avoid. Maybe they just called it 'caveman' because Cavemen didn't go to Tesco and pick up anything in packaging?! Who knows!

Re the fire thing ? no, I kind of more mean that 'going paleo' shouldn't be taken so literally as 'pure caveman'. A raw parsnip would taste 'orrible! Again, paleo gives you an easy frame of reference to start with i.e. get a vegetable, try not to pimp it up and eat it as naturally/unfussed with as poss.

Yes, I personally avoid butter - for some reason, when I look at it, I just gag. I can't taste it in sandwiches, for example, so figured it was needless calories. I also avoid salt (horrendous circulation and water retention issues for me) and unsalted butter tastes like an armpit. Additionally, my dad was in love with butter. When he put it on bread you couldn't be sure if it was cheese! So, maybe that's got something to do with it? No, I don't think butter is bad for people in moderation ? I just think the concept of 'moderation' is so, so skewed now ? again, it's this confusing grey area thing. So, by me totally ruling it out, there's no confusion left to be had. Butter for some might be like that Mars bar for me ? a little bit of the 'bad' keeps you from totally going off the rails. I need that little bit of 'bad' because my adolescence was spent gaining a lot of weight and so I know what a Mars bar tastes like and hence I have the knowledge of the craving/sugar, if that makes sense? If I had never tasted a Mars bar, I doubt I would crave it.

ThunderInMyHeart · 12/01/2013 13:29

fuckadoodlepoopoo - this link is a bit mumbo-jumbo, but may help explain on the dairy point:

www.paleoplan.com/2011/03-07/is-dairy-paleo/

ivykaty44 · 12/01/2013 13:33

garlic - you don't need to worry about iron if you up the pulses and lentils etc, the one thing you do need to worry about is vit b 12, reducing your meat intake to 5% may be an option.

I know someone who has followed a vegan no oil diet for the last 6 months - they have eaten meat at xmas and one other occasion, they have trimmed up but that wasn't the reason they changed their diet - it was to lower cholestral (lowered from 8 to under 5 without drugs in 4 months) and it worked, the side product was 10% weight loss if you look for Rip Esselstyn on youtube he has some interesting videos, his father is/was a heart surgeon and other doctors refused to send their patients to him but would also send their own family to him... they were happy to have their own patients money but sent family to someone else I wonder why. Both advocate vegan lifestyle for health for protecting the heart and reversing heart damage.

Rip is does iron man comps. Can I ask why your own health issues mean you have to eat meat? Can you not get the stuff you need from other sources? I don't know so it is a genuine question Smile

garlicbollocks · 12/01/2013 13:52

Actually, nobody knows all that much about optimum diet - and it's extremely unlikely there's a best-for-all diet. People of different ancestry have differing metabolisms, and I bet there are a bunch of other factors as well. I disliked Barnard's advocacy of veganism for everybody and was unsurprised to find he was selling stuff!

For myself, I can only go by observation. I get even more tired and pathetic if I don't eat meat - and it has to be red meat. My iron count without supplements is only about 7. With supps but no meat, I look & feel anaemic (haven't had blood tests specifically for this circumstance.) Eating meat and taking supps gets it up to normal. There's nothing wrong with my cholesterol, insulin, heart or blood pressure. Nobody knows what causes CFS or how to cure it but, obviously, I'm not about to embark on any dietary projects that might compromise the amount of nutrition my body gets from meals. I find I do best with a super-high protein breakfast - had a pheasant this morning, thanks to local poachers Grin A lentil wrap or somesuch doesn't deliver the same effect.

Physically, I'm the sturdy Nordic peasant type. I suspect (unscientifically) this tends to go with my good alcohol tolerance and high meat requirement!

MooncupGoddess · 12/01/2013 15:10

Agree that people vary in their metabolisms. I could probably live quite easily on grains, pulses, green leafy veg and parsnips plus a bit of meat and yoghurt. Not bothered about fruit except in the summer when it's fresh off the tree. So I guess that makes me a Celtic peasant!

garlicbollocks · 12/01/2013 15:45

Grin Grin Mooncup!

garlicbollocks · 12/01/2013 15:46

... we should get together for a goblet of mead Wink

ivykaty44 · 12/01/2013 16:02

Where as i am just a peasant!

countrykitten · 12/01/2013 17:45

garlic if you have CFS should you really be drinking any alcohol at all? I am surprised if you do as it plays havoc with that condition.

Chottie · 12/01/2013 18:15

When I first went to Disneyland about 25 years ago I was shocked at the size of a lot of Americans there. Now I see people the same size walking down my local high street all the time - it is norm sadly.

Bunbaker · 12/01/2013 19:20

"When I first went to Disneyland about 25 years ago I was shocked at the size of a lot of Americans there."

So was I. I believed that California only had slim beautiful people there. How wrong I was.

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 12/01/2013 19:23

30 years ago when we went to Canada my dad remarked on the enormous families we saw at Niagara. They would looks normal now.

Chottie · 12/01/2013 20:04

I think portion size has a lot to do with it too.

Where I live in south London there are a lot of overweight people. Whole families who have to lurch from side to side, it is so sad especially to see the children. But there are so many fast food outlets nearby.

oldebaglady · 12/01/2013 20:54

"Agree that people vary in their metabolisms"

mmmmmm your metablolism isn't fixed! you change it with what you put into an do with your body
one side of my family is convinced that they have genetically slow metabolism but honestly if ANYONE ate as much and moved as little as them their metabolism would grind to a halt too and would also "inherit" Hmm their obesitiy and diabetes and all the other lifestyle related diseases that "run" in that side of the family! And now they've all decided they're all wheat intollerant Hmm and everyone related to them should be tested for it! - argh I want to scream that anyone, ANYONE would have a problem digesting wheat if they ate such darn huge quantities of it!

So IMO whole families and cultures having different metabolims is more nurture than nature and down to what they've learned to do with their bodies from each other.

proof really is where you see culutures that are traditionally healthy with good metabolims who adopt crappy western junk diets and all get unhealthy and fat.

ahmnoclassyladybut · 12/01/2013 21:01

when you look at old tv shows like the goonies, the ones who were lambasted as being fatties in that look normal today.

multipoodles · 12/01/2013 21:28

Garlicbollocks I disliked Barnard's advocacy of veganism for everybody and was unsurprised to find he was selling stuff!

What's he selling? I thought it was only books, does he sell other stuff?

ivykaty44 · 12/01/2013 22:06

multinoddles - I thought garlic meant books

multipoodles · 12/01/2013 22:41

Thanks, books are fine in my opinion, an excellent method of education.

fuckadoodlepoopoo · 13/01/2013 00:59

Thunder. Thanks for the link, will look tomorrow.

So does the dairy in the mars bar make you ill?

garlicbollocks · 13/01/2013 02:48

oldebag, do you really have to extend your contempt for the lardy side of your family to posters on this thread? When you assert that whole families and cultures having different metabolisms is more nurture than nature, do you mean you know better than the geneticists who've explained racial variations in alcohol tolerance, dairy tolerance and wheat intolerance? Perhaps you'd like to inform researchers that the amazing Masai gift for walking huge distances is all down to training, not evolved physical adaptations after all? ... And so on.

countrykitten, I'm aware of that theory! But when you feel like you've always got flu, you fancy a drink of an evening. I noticed no improvement whatsoever during 8 months' sobriety, so decided it must be one of those things that may be 'generally' true but isn't in my particular case. I've cut down fairly drastically and now only drink vodka - both moves dictated by instinct. If/when I find myself looking at the vodka shelf with a face like Hmm, I'll know the 'general' has become personal ... and be Sad

garlicbollocks · 13/01/2013 02:50

fuckadoodle, I was dying to ask that about the Mars bar too!

spongebobsquareeyes · 13/01/2013 08:59

I know this thread has taken a different turn now but I just wanted to say thanks. I'm 12st 8lb and am 5'5". I am teetering on, if not in, the obese range. I was planning to lose weight but I had thought that since I wasn't that big I would put it off for a while. I've got a different perspective of weight loss now, and I've had to reassess how much weight I want to lose. I thought a stone would be enough but its more like 2 stone that needs to go.

I also realised that I was a size 16 10 years ago, but I weigh more now and am in a 14! I thought a 12 would be fine but again probably a 10 I'm going to aim for.

Its the snacks and mindless eating I need to cut oUt, and my portion size needs to reduce.

Also, am going to Lanzarote in May with DP haha Grin