To be pissed off about the so called healthy eating advice we've been given for years ?

[Scarletohello]

I did the Atkins diet about 8 years ago when it was considered faddy and dangerous. Low fat was the healthy way to go. I got so much hostility about it, almost like I was a climate change denier. To my surprise,I lost 2 stone easily and quickly. Unfortunately I got scared by all the health warnings about how bad it was for you so eventually went back to a ' normal' diet. And put it all on again. Am currently watching the C4 doc about how sugar is bad for you. Of course it bloody is !!

Why can't the authorities wake up and realise its not fat that makes you fat? It's sugar and fast acting carbs.

It's time we had a major overhaul in our thinking about what really makes us fat...

yes I heard of studies showing that if you are stressed your ability defer short term rewards in favour of long term benefits is reduced, also bear in mind that (studies show) humans to be loss averse...we prioritize avoiding pain/discomfort.

We also give different weights to rewards depending on proximity in time.

A cake now is much more enticing than good health in 20 years time, even though, in reality, the suffering caused by poor health in the future would greatly outweigh the pleasure of the cake

That's really interesting re: the fixed amount of willpower.

I just hate the way a massive swathe of the population are tarred with the no willpower/lazy brush when they are probably putting a ton of effort into other areas of their lives.

it makes total sense to me.

Lazysusanne, I had a friend at Uni who studied "obesitas" which at the time was very niche (25 yrs ago), and she said what you said.

I have always remembered it, as it explains certain human behaviour!

The BIG question of course is: why is not EVERYONE obese then? How come some people are quite happy to not eat the cake?

As with exercise, there is an instant reward ( endorphines, or a natural "high", I always feel great straight after sport. Tired but also happy).

Anyway, so why are so many people NOT fat? we all live in the same society.

Genetic and epigenetic propensity to obesity varies from person to person.

Ability to defer gratification also varies as per the oft referenced 'marshmallow experiment'

Yes we all live in the same society but we all have different experiences, we are not identical robots.

Being fat makes you want to eat more, excess adipose tissue secretes abnormal amounts of various chemical signals which disrupt normal appetite controls

I gave up practically all sugar and most carbs about a year ago. I was slim anyway so didn't want to lose weight, just wanted to have a healthier diet. The positive results have been that my skin is much better - glowier and more velvety (but still get spots unfortunately), I sleep better, almost never get headaches anymore (probably because of sleeping better), and best of all a long-standing problem of chronic stomach ache has completely gone away. I would definitely stick with the diet for the stomach ache thing alone, as it was really compromising my quality of life. The skin thing was unexpected and striking - people commented on how amazing I looked quite often in those first weeks before they got used to it!

I haven't lost or gained weight, no improvement of PMT sadly. I do loads of exercise - cycle to work, run most days between 6 and 20km, play tennis 2 or 3 times per week. I have plenty of energy for all of this.

I find this paleo-ish diet quite easy. I did try to give up dairy to see whether it got rid of my not-very-severe acne altogether, but I missed it too much. I love a milky coffee in the morning, and almond milk etc wasn't the same. I might give it another go at some point maybe.

I don't think there's enough evidence available really to be sure what the effects all are of these different kinds of diet. Good that more people seem to be researching it though. Either way it must be true that ditching sugar is a good thing. I never give my kids juice, fizzy drinks or sweets, and things like ice cream and dessert are a rare event. We all have fruit though.

Agreed Suzanne, we aren't all robots! Also agree about the hormonal/metabolism aspect once you are overweight and eating a diet that is likely to be addictive and further disrupts hormones.

We also shouldn't discount the emotional aspect of food and eating. Food, especially sweet/starchy food, is (understandably) closely associated with comfort and love in many people's minds. Many others have very low self esteem/poor body image such that there's a feeling of being unworthy of eating healthily/taking care of one's body. Often, typically if people have been sexually assaulted or abused, being fat is, subconsciously or not, a form of protection, a way of being invisible/not sexually attractive (this can also be the case for some anorexic people). Thousands of people eat emotionally/binge eat for a myriad of reasons, sugar and carbs for many of those are just like drugs, alcohol, shopping or gambling are for others. 'More willpower' is not the solution for them.

It's an extremely complex problem!

I really can't get behind this willpower theory. I tried to eat healthily, do plenty of exercise, get enough sleep but year on year the weight crept on until last year I crossed the BMI line between normal and overweight. When I started low carbing the weight dropped off until I reached the weight I was at 25, bang in the middle of the normal BMI range, and since then my weight has remained stable. All I did was reduce my carb intake and increase my fat intake. I didn't suddenly get willpower. I was eating when I was hungry, I don't consciously limit my calorie intake. I didn't do any more exercise, indeed when I started the low carb diet I could barely walk any distance due to a pelvis issue. The only different I made to my lifestyle was to change my diet, and I lost two stone in five months. So in my opinion willpower made no difference to my weight whatsoever.

It's not the issue for me either StuntNun, for me it's definitely about the carbs in terms of what actually makes me lose weight. I can see how willpower has an impact though - last year I was doing well on low carbing then in the run up to some heavy exams I was also made redundant. With everything else I was having to try and push through I had no energy left to make myself eat the right things. Cos eating crap is easier, sadly.

I.e. I think you need willpower to keep you motivated and I think external factors can influence the amount of willpower you have at any given time, but if you are eating the foods that your body doesn't handle well then no amount of willpower is going to make weight come off.

Of course willpower is relevant.
You need to choose not to scoff a whole box of chocolates in one go. Taking two, then closing the box, requires willpower.
Using willpower doesn't mean that you have to starve yourself, you just need to make healthier choices. That may well include swapping carbs for fat, as part of a healthy diet.

I'm not sure you can say even in that example that willpower is behind that decision. I got a health scare last year with high blood sugar and have been eating low sugar and carb ever since. I genuinely have no desire to eat lots of chocolate now as it represents ill health to me. Plenty of other people have no desire to eat chocolate for many varied reasons. Sure, some people would absolutely love lots of chocolate, and don't eat it, so for them it's willpower, but plenty of people are just lucky enough not to want it in the first place. That doesn't necessarily make them stronger people.

Of course there are also the people who want lots of chocolate, eat it, and remain a size 10.