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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To agree with Katie Hopkins?

325 replies

UnacceptableWidge · 02/01/2015 13:32

I know, I know!!
Turned on Radio2, initially had no idea who it was and found myself nodding along to every word.

As a 'fatty' myself I had to agree with all she said. I did this to myself. I like food, especially junk food waaay too much. I hate exercise a lot. Nobody to blame but me.

The horror of agreeing with her may, possibly, finally force me to get off my arse and do something about it though I will never in RL admit that she has made me wake up and realise this is all on me

All I would add, as clearly she cannot be completely right and understanding life in anyone else's shoes, that her circumstance is different to mine.

My weight crept on gradually over the years.
My mindset has never been to actively put weight on with the intention of losing it again, I simply developed bad habits over a long time.

OP posts:
ppeatfruit · 03/01/2015 17:31

No, true Helena but it is addictive like salty crisps and sweet cakes. Hard to give up. Your body gets used to salty and sweet stuff and everything else is tasteless.

If you look at an American recipe for a cake or pumpkin pie it is incredible how much sugar is in them, no wonder they have a higher rate of diabetes and obesity. than the Brits; but we're catching up Sad.

fatlazymummy · 03/01/2015 17:44

grays denying myself crisps worked for me. I was a proper crisp addict, gave them up completely for about 6 months and can now eat a just a couple, or even the odd packet without wanting any more.
I have heard the same thing works for some people with a 'drinking problem', which did apply to me also, but I'm too scared to test it out after being alcohol free for over 5 years now.

fascicle · 03/01/2015 17:45

WorraLiberty
But wont a crisp free January just make you want them all the more?

I'd worry about inadvertently elevating their status Grin

GreysAnalogy
A 'crisp free january' will just make you want to have even more come February.

You are both wrong Grin. I would never do it if it had that effect. I've done it before and the result is I get out of the habit of eating/wanting them, at least until the next time I decide to eat them. When I've reintroduced them, I didn't want any more than before. In fact when I eat crisps these days, I eat fewer than I did at my crisp munching best.

I agree that denial generally can magnify the attraction of whatever you're going without, but it's also an individual thing. I don't perceive my crisp free January to be denial.

HelenaDove · 03/01/2015 17:48

fatlazy im teetotal and have never been drunk and i am treated like an oddity.

WorraLiberty · 03/01/2015 17:57

That's great in that case fascicle, good luck!

Or you could just switch to Walkers as I don't think a bag of air can be too fattening Grin

FlowerFairy2014 · 03/01/2015 18:37

If you stop eating chocolate etc then you stop ever wanting it ever. That is how it applies to most people. Habits take about 3 - 4 weeks to break. I am not saying it is easy but that is the effect. It is similar for alcoholics - total abstinence works a lot better than trying to have an occasional drink as each drink/chocolate primes the pump and makes you want more.

The average height UK woman used to be about 9 stone. Now she is often 16 stone and we have NOT got that much taller, just a bit.

Sirzy · 03/01/2015 18:41

If you stop eating chocolate etc then you stop ever wanting it ever

Sorry but that simply isn't true. Just like with your alcoholics comparison and alcoholic never stops wanting to drink they are never "cured" they simply control it.

EddieStobbart · 03/01/2015 18:55

I smoked for 10 years and I'm completely cured. It can happen.

fatlazymummy · 03/01/2015 19:04

Eddie I smoked for nearly 30 years (with a few breaks) ,I've given up nearly 10 years and still occassionally fancy a fag. I often dream I'm smoking.
I was definitely addicted to smoking and to alcohol to a lesser extent. I don't see my relationship to food as an addiction really, but I do have to exercise self control in a conscious way. Everyones different though - some people can control their eating without even thinking about it (Katie Hopkins is obviously in this group) whilst other people compulsively overeat.

Sirzy · 03/01/2015 19:08

Exactly fat and I think that is what people are quick to lose sight of when judging others by their own standards. Not everyone is the same, not everyone will respond to things in the same way. I have been lucky to be able to take control of my weight but I dont judge others who find it harder or simply aren't in a position to make the changes needed yet.

HelloItsStillMeFell · 03/01/2015 19:32

She's a naturally very slim person who admits she found it difficult and stressful to eat the quantities and types of food needed for HER to become that fat. Did you notice how all of the weight gain was concentrated in her face and her midriff while her arms and legs stayed relatively very slim? At her fattest her BMI was probably about the same as mine, but the fat was not evenly distributed like it is on me, or most naturally plumper people who have struggled with their weight their whole lives.

And as soon as she stopped over-eating and force feeding herself she managed to revert relatively easily to her natural default position. So it's the exact opposite of the situation fat people find themselves in. They don't have to force feed themselves in order to get fat, and when they set out to lose weight they have to contrive to live a somewhat artificial existence that does not come naturally to them. Then as soon as they stop dieting and just relax and eat whatever seems 'normal' or 'natural' for them, the weight usually goes back on.

I remember hearing KH talking about what she needed to eat in an average day to pile the weight on and I thought 'bloody hell that's tons and tons of crap, I don't eat anything like that much! Shock

Also, when you are so financially and professionally invested in proving you can lose it again (as she was, this little project has effectively been her job and the media exposure has provided her with an income for the last 6 months) then the task of losing the weight becomes your full time job. You have every hour of your working day and every incentive to work speedily to prove your point.

Most ordinary people don't gain the weight in the way she has, and they certainly don't have the time, the help, the incentive or the opportunity to lose it in the same way either.

And fat or thin, she still looks like a horse that swallowed a wasp.

Vycount · 03/01/2015 19:45

It will be interesting to see how the people who joined her in losing weight get on won't it? I don't think they are historically slim.

EddieStobbart · 03/01/2015 20:45

I agree about addictions, I have bitten my nails since I was 8 - I'm now 42.

I had 10 years of failed attempts to give up smoking but last one was in 2005 and really have no desire ever for a cigarette. I have to do things completely through - I can't have things occasionally, I have rule them out completely.

Original poster
UnacceptableWidge · 04/01/2015 03:54

livegoldrings I love your posts.

I'm 7 years into my 'experiment' going to do the no pop, less junk, more walking thing during 2015.
7 years putting on weight, one to get to a healthier position and apart from the occasional frustrated outburst at some knobhead all done without being a nasty, twatty, goady troll like KH.

I already feel positive.

OP posts:
Original poster
UnacceptableWidge · 04/01/2015 04:06

helloitsstillme
I haven't seen her weight gain but very interesting points you made

I'd love it if the weight I had to lose was only from the face and belly. My arms and legs make me feel so sad and ashamed of what a knob I am to have let it get to this.
I'm old too so even when I lose weight, my once ok arms will be double bingo-wingy for a woman my age.
To be honest, the dreaded inevitable sag of my skin if its emptied of the fat that has stretched it out so far plays a major part in me having maintained a steady 16ish stone for the past 4 years. I want to be healthier but have got used to being squidgy, plump, warm etc.
I am worried about being slimmer but with dangly empty arms, belly, breasts and neck etc!!
Worried but sick of being unhealthy so we shall see Blush Sad

OP posts:
LePetitMarseillais · 04/01/2015 05:07

To be honest I take this whole thing with a pinch of salt.She only went a stone over her healthy BMI.

If as others have suggested KH has admitted she is under weight that is no better than being overweight imvho.There was a study recently saying neither end of the spectrum was good.

I've seen KH skinny and she doesn't look healthy,an obsession with being skinny/ running etc is an addiction in the same way as having an addiction with food.

I am the same height as KH.I eat what I like and bar working full time and walking/cycling at the weekend do very little exercise. At 10 stoneish I have always been in the healthy BMI and had a very good bill of health during my last health check.

I would never in a million years want to look like KH and really shouldn't aspire to.

< I eat Pringles too>

HelloItsStillMeFell · 04/01/2015 07:12

I would never in a million years want to look like KH and really shouldn't aspire to.

Well me neither, but that has nothing to do with her weight!

LePetitMarseillais · 04/01/2015 08:03

With me it is about her weight,I don't want to look like a rake.

Shockers · 04/01/2015 08:11

UnacceptableWidge, I had a personal trainer last year, and found that the sag didn't happen as I got thinner (I didn't lose much actual weight, but I did get thinner and tone up).
I stopped my sessions before the summer hols and haven't continued with them due to losing my slot (she can't fit me in at the moment) and I'm starting to feel saggy and soft now.

I think the right exercise is crucial to avoid the sag. I can't run because of a dodgy hip, but the PT found exercises that I could do safely.

fatlazymummy · 04/01/2015 08:56

unacceptable I lost over 4 stones at age 51, I don't have bingo wings because I exercised very hard. I use weights and go swimming, and my body isn't bad at all, even though I've regained a stone and a half after going through menopause (which I'm determined to lose again). You can make the most of your body at any age really.

rookietherednosedreindeer · 04/01/2015 09:06

I watched both programmes last night as DH was out [guilty pleasure].

I found it quite hard as I'm pretty close to her after measurements at the minute, and whilst I feel I'm a bit plump, I don't go round feeling utterly disgusted and horrified by my body at all times of the day. However I do exercise so my weight is more evenly distributed and I have a big build.

She obviously doesn't like food very much so clearly it's easy for her to switch the off switch again, so I'm not entirely sure what her programme proved. I have to agree with her though on the basic point that it surely must be healthier not to be vastly overweight and I was a bit Hmm at the rather large "fitness instructor" that she took issue with.

I don't know if anyone remembers a similar exercise with Claire Sweeney a few years ago - at least in that one you could see that for Claire it was a real effort to keep her slim figure and she had a ball going on holiday with her friends and for once drinking the Pina Coladas and having that bag of chips.

At the end of the day I'd rather be me than KH no matter what weight. She seems so deeply insecure and frightened to reveal any true feelings.

paperlace · 04/01/2015 09:20

I thought both parts of the documentary were shite!! No real analysis, loads of filler stuff. Didn't drill down into any of the overweight people's reasons for being overweight, was just confrontation after confronation with no substance. Also KH contradicted herself several times. Very unsatisfactory.

On the main question of whether she's right or not - well yes durr of course she is re calorie intake/burning, but as the majority have said it's not as simple as that and the 'experiment' was nothing of the sort.

kim147 · 04/01/2015 09:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

paperlace · 04/01/2015 09:50

kim - no not at all.

She was monitored physcially, she had run ins with some 'fatties', a crap pyschologist, a larger ladies beauty pageant, some women who'd been fat/thin/had weight loss surgery - but there was NO cohesion, no conclusion, no analysis. I didn't take one single thing away from it - it was devoid of, well, anything.

paperlace · 04/01/2015 09:51

I mean some of the overweight women and the heavily botoxed and really not very eloquent psychologist said she was demonising fat people and she disagreed and they got exasperated but that was really that. No interesting arguments even.