To think if we eat and adopted some of the lifestyle of the europeans we would not be the fattest country in Europe.

[WonderWendy1]

I went on a med cruise two weeks ago we stopped in Portugal, Spain, South Of France and Italy.

I think of myself as a fairly fit size 12 (14 in some things). I would say i'm on the slimmer side in the Uk. I go to these european cities and the women (and men) are much slimmer then me and dh.

I was then in Paris for a few nights a week ago and I can only say my gosh nearly everywomen I saw had the legs of Taylor Swift.

Aibu to think we need to be doing what the europeans do to avoid becoming the American country of Europe.

I don't have much to add to this (interesting) debate, except to say that being active in everyday life, if possible, is such a good habit to have. My parents have always walked a lot, have never attended a gym in their lives, and are extremely fit and healthy (and yes, slim).

Personally I hate gyms and when people say they need to lose weight and vow to join a gym (despite not enjoying gyms) then I can see they are doomed to failure.

I think walking is massively underrated. My mum for example walks probably 5 miles a day and has excellent bone density for a woman her age. Get a dog!

I'm much fitter as a SAHM than I was previously in an office job simply because I am on the go all day long, walking big distances and, for example, walking to the shops and lugging all the food home. But then I am one of those (probably annoying) fidgety people who can't stand sitting still :)

yy re everything said about snacking. Unless it matters due to other plans, we don't really even have meals at set times. Occasionally I do feel dizzy/ weak with hunger, but when I do it's because I've been focused on something else and have skipped a meal or more, which then reminds me to eat. As a result it balances out times I eat for reasons other than hunger. I believe that when you are genuinely hungry your body is more likely to make you crave what you actually need, whether that's something fatty, carby, protein, veg etc.
As for eating healthy, I think it's as cheap as junk, if you know how to cook and are generally in the habit. Eg we're having burgers on buns with cheese, mushrooms onions etc with salad and wedges tonight. It will take 10 more mins to prep than throwing ready made ones in served with nasty burger bun and cheap cheese slices. And my version will be healthier and cheaper and more filling. Ditto many other meals, I can fillet a chicken and coat in homemade breadcrumbs for a lot less than buying kievs/ nuggets etc, cheese and potato pie, quiche, chips, pies etc etc the homemade version is cheaper and more filling and healthier than the nasty cheap junk version.
I don't get the time issue either, most week day meals we have are 10mins prep. And to me that's like showering and brushing teeth, something you automatically build into your routine however busy. And for meals taking longer to prep and when dd was little, I'd often just prep them the night before or cook a batch load so we had ready meals. Something most of my friends do too. And as well as the general culture of cooking being lost to adults, we aren't teaching our kids to do it. If dd wants a hot lunch or old fashioned tea before late dinner, she'll make pizza on pitta bread, proper noodles, pasta salad etc rather than a pack of crisps or micro chips, rustlers etc. Or like yesterday when she and her friends went on a 4 mile round bike trip to greggs for a pastie lunch. And as a nation we're losing both the routine and skill to cook from scratch. Fine if you can afford healthy prepared food, but if not you need to actually cook. And recipe books are useless, none of the common ones have cheap easy meals, and it requires some knowledge to know what you can or can't substitute.
As for exercise, it needs to be lifestyle. I can't imagine setting aside a specific time to do something I didn't particularly enjoy. It needs to be automatic to walk/ cycle etc more, and a form of exercise that is something you do for pleasure not duty.

I used to get the light-headed thing - low blood pressure the GP said, but it did seem worse if hungry. I think eating protein for breakfast helps me feel better for longer.

The cycling and walking are "nudgeable" by government/ local authorities planning for it.

My estate was built with hardly any pavements - something I'd been incredulous at in the US.

fuzzpig
I'm a gym bunny. I do batches of 10 full pressups to warm up.
To gain a kilo of muscle is bloody hard work for women.
I carry 19kg of fat because I eat too much.
If I cut the booze and had smaller portions, I would be leaner.
My exercise is already far more than most Western people do.

I always wonder if all the people commenting on how gorgeous the obese women in those videos and blogs are actually think so? Because when I see them I don't think they look gorgeous at all, I just think they look enormous and must surely find many everyday activities (like walking) really uncomfortable.

It's usually only young, attractive people that end up doing those blogs.
90% of the population don't look (and will never look) like the people in those videos and blogs.
They're very misleading.

As I said in my previous post (without all the typos this time):-

A lot of those Obesity Promoting videos on Youtube are very damaging in my opinion and do more harm than good
Has anybody noticed that they are nearly always done by very pretty, very young people.

If you're young and pretty, you will look good anyway (no matter what size you are) and of course you will get lots of 'likes' and 'positive comments' -
Youth in itself is beautiful!

The truth of the matter is, that not everybody who watches those videos and thinks ''well she's let herself get in that state and looks really good so I will do the same'' is necessarily going to end up looking and feeling good - like those girls in those videos. When most people get to that size, the reality will be much different.

The majority will end up feeling ill, with various medical problems, such as odemas and heart problems, they will lose a LOT of their mobility and will more than likely end up bloated and puffy, constantly out of breath, with weeping sores and they will look and feel ILL.

When you're young you should be able to take your children to the park, go swimming with them, go bike riding, run around and play football with them etc.
Hell, you should be able to do those things anyway. What person in their right mind wants to lose most of their mobility at such a young age?
And lets face it - they can deny it all they like, but the girls in these blogs CAN'T do a lot of things that most normal sized people can.

I went for a family bike ride last Sunday, through the most beautiful countryside trail. There were loads of people, young, single, couples, people with families . But they all had one thing in common - None of them were obese. Obese people can't do stuff like that.
I never ever want to get in a situation where I can no longer get out there and do things like that.
I understand that people get ill and can no longer be mobile - but to set out to purposely make yourself immobile? I can't get my head around that.
Why would you choose to stuff and abuse your body to such an extent that it can no longer do the things it was 'designed' to do?^

But as they are fond of saying ''It's my body I can do what I want to it''

Well if we can get some Mediterranean weather to go with it that would be nice so we get cheaper healthier food and nicer weather to go out and do things.

We need to give global warming a nudge, whose with me ;)

You are a wimp, breakingdad!

There is a Norwegian saying: There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.

A reasonably hot summers day is 13 degrees, and it is positively tropical if the temperature reach 20-23!

It is too hot to hike up mountains if it is any hotter than that!

Thats s in the north, of course!

I'm not sure how healthy all the thin people are round here (Mediterranean France). I look thin (size 10, 1m73), but have a body fat percentage border lining on what you'd find for someone classed as obese (31%). So in actual fact we may not be any healthier than you lot (backed up by life expectancy figures mentioned above).

LaChatte
Size 10 means nothing as sizes are random
your body fat is 31% : you are therefore not slim.

The people I saw in croatia had absolutely no flab around their ribs and hips : THAT is slim

I honestly don't think this is about any kind of "lifestyle". It is about what is available on a seasonal basis and being able to cook.

Lurked I don't think it's at all uncommon for ballet dancers / jockeys / ultra-lean athletes to risk their long-term health for more immediate performance goals. When shaving a pound off your weight gets you more races or means you are faster up a hill on a bike, or when the future of your career depends upon you conforming rigidly to an ultra-lean body shape, the pressure is always there and people do some quite dangerous stuff to get where they want to be. That's why ED are so common within ballet and why a lot of jockeys dangerously dehydrate themselves before weigh-ins. So I wouldn't hold up these particular groups as great role models for health and fitness, although I'm sure there are some within these groups who happen to be perfectly healthy at very low BMI.

As I said before, BMI is a very flawed measure. It's far more useful when looking at the health of large groups of people than it is for individuals. Of course there are some people for whom an 'underweight' BMI is healthy and normal and of course the averages will vary across different populations. We're a very variable species. If you are healthy at a low BMI then that's great.

If we're talking about guidelines though, and what people should be aiming for, we need to look at averages and statistical outcomes. If you are going to talk about 'the healthy size group' it's worth pointing out that most people would not be healthy with a BMI below 18.5 and that there is growing evidence that 'the healthy size group' are those who are currently labeled 'overweight'.

I'm healthy so me and most people like me aren't popping up in any stats.

Well of course you are! For example, the study Helena referred to followed a large cohort over 10 years - elderly people with BMI's across the range, both healthy and unhealthy individuals.

Forgot to say that anything which is in plastic and costs less than its component parts cannot be healthy.
Just think about it.
Also the snack culture. Who needs to snack? What is a snack? Just eat a combination of breakfast, lunch and supper to suit you.

Its getting incredibly hard for me to stay on this thread My loose skin could easily be mistaken for me "being flabby"

www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/body-image/the-dark-side-of-horse-racing-weight-control-in-jockeys

Talkin size ten from the 90's (when I left the UK), no idea what that is in current sizes but visually I look thin, no flab or fat, but I am in fact fat, you just can't see it.

Plenty/Helena. I'm not saying bmi of >18.5 is the ideal, just that same as any other bmi range it's not always indicative of health. And many people of bmi 18 have a healthier fat % than many who fool themselves thinking a bmi of 23 indicates healthy fat.
With jockeys you're also lacking the full picture. Starting out in flat the weights are super low, but so low that you need to be small and wiry to even consider starting out as a flat jockey. Try googling jump jockeys weights, or even job adverts for exercise riders on jump yards. Trainers really aren't scrounging for stocky people inclined to fat to starve to jockey size. It doesn't require dodgy eating let alone an ed for the majority to hit the mark. Also I should point out that what a jockey does to shed pounds for the weigh in, is entirely different to normal lifestyle. It's not fat they shed 24hrs before a race. And common sense dictates permanent dehydration would leave you non functioning for sedentary life, let alone as a pro sports person. Being slightly dehydrated for a short time pre race is a different ball game. You also don't seem to be aware if your body runs out of energy doing anything that vigorous, it will break down lean muscle before fat cells. Which is hardly going to be general practice for pro sports people. Not to mention that in many races lead is used to top up a jockey not hitting the mark, and balanced human is far preferable to dead weight from a speed perspective. Unless you've got personal experience of the racing industry then you aren't in a position to criticise the eating habits.
I'm not as knowledgeable about ballet and cycling, but common sense dictates the same would apply. The health risks of any are injury and joint/muscle etc damage, not low body fat %.
plenty heard the phrase lies, damn lies and statistics? I could no doubt find stats to back up any mad theory I liked, it wouldn't make them factually representative.

Lean can be utterly inspirational
www.alleles.ca/michelle-salt-gets-back-up-on-stage-for-the-first-time-after-her-accident/

Well, I went out tonight and I saw loads of really young girls who were a good size 18.
And you know what? They didn't look out of place.

I seriously think that fat people are going to be the new normal in future.
Slim people will be seen as being 'wrong'.

Sign of the times.

I seriously think that fat people are going to be the new normal in future

in that case the new normal will also include a decline in life expectancy and rising levels of the various health problems associated with obesity

I'll risk being seen as deviant and stick to being lean!

I think a polarization is more likely
those prone to obesity will grow ever more so but there will still be a sizable lean minority.

a weight-loss clinic that (for an eye-watering sum of money) put you on a protein-powder only diet alo with a ton of supplements. The weight falls off at incredible speed. Then the patients re-introduce normal food and 80% put it all back on again

what a money spinner, obese people make the perfect cash cows

it really is designed to keep you fat and destroy your health, preying on those who are cant resist the lure of a quick cure for a problem which has been intractable for them