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.

"""If everyone around you is overweight your view of size becomes distorted"
"vanity sizing"
Im a size 14 to 16 down from a 28 after losing ten stone and am sick of seeing this shit on here.
Don't hear it in RL funnily enough.
Oh and coming from an Italian family i call bollocks OP""

I used to think the same. The reality was that I was in denial about how big I was.

I've lost a total of five stone, I've got another stone to lose. People (even those at the gym) are telling me that I don't need to lose anymore, because I've lost so much, even though I clearly do. I'm in a New Look size 10, I dug out a suitcase of old clothes, from 2006-8 and I can just about get into my New Look size 14 shorts. I've got big hips, I was never less than a 12 (old sizing).

Mijas, there have been changes, In Liverpool, were I am. We have £1 bakery's that sell two pasties for a pound, packs of cakes etc. Costa and similar make up every main road. McDonald's push drinks, "Iced" that do have 600 calories in them.

As soon as most people calorie count, I use My Fitness Pal, it's easy to see why they are carrying excess weight and as soon as you start calorie reducing, you can't buy food whilst out, unless you are going to count that as your main meal.

Tbh honest I really don't think you can lift the eating / cooking culture of one country and apply it in another. Comparing France and scotland for example, it's apples and oranges. France is, historically, a large, rich country with much of its wealth derived from agriculture. It is also a deeply conservative country - it has not adopted 'foreign foods' to any great extent, not even from its own former colonies. Young French people generally cook and eat what their grandparents, great grand parents etc did. And they eat the same way - three courses; salad starter, modest portion of meat or fish plus veg / starch main course, and s small dessert.

Compare that with Scotland - a poor country, with a lot of marginal, sheep based agriculture. Very wiling to adopt new ways of eating especially from foreign parts (how many Scots these days would seek out a joint of mutton to boil up with root veg and a handful of barley like their grandparents did, to make soup then boiled meat with watery veg- not many!)

So it's not just as simple as saying we should eat like another culture does just because it appears to be healthier.

Thing is Birds im happy with the way i am . Ive lost ten stone. I have a fitted size 12 skirt from 2003 that is a perfect fit small waist. . But being a 34HH bra size i have to wear a size 18 blouse. t shirts size 14 There is too much judgement in here when you cant even see what someones shape.

And when ppl bang on about vanity sizing it belittles the achievements of those of us who have worked fucking hard to tackle the problem (though of course the next time someone bangs on about vanity sizing i could always say "Well that means its likely ive come down from a size 30 then rather than a 28 so even more of an acheivement)

when posters cant see someones shape

And when ppl bang on about vanity sizing it belittles the achievements of those of us who have worked fucking hard to tackle the problem

No it doesn't Helena

Facts are facts.

They don't change or belittle what anyone else has done to their bodies, whether that's losing or gaining weight.

Well i dont see many male posters on these threads pointing out these facts as eagerly.

We shouldn't be even thinking about what size clothes we are buying, though.

It's a brave thing to do for many, but we need to be looking in the mirror, naked.

I don't agree with "the French way", because their health isn't any better and that's why being obese is frowned upon. I personally can't see the point of working to get your weight down, if your going to adopt a lifestyle that give you the same amount of heart disease, strokes and Cancer, anyway.

I do have loose skin from the weight loss. So looking in the mirror i see what losing a lot of weight really looks like.

And yes i did excersise.

I agree Birds. But ppl dont see other indulgences like they see weight because its not visible. So therefore there is not as much judgement as this.

I have no idea most of the time who is male or female on Mumsnet.

I tend to remember usernames and whos male and whos female because they have said so on other threads

I can't keep up with all the name changing

Either way, vanity sizing is a real thing whether you're male or female.

Justwondering wtf "

"Compare that with Scotland - a poor country, with a lot of marginal, sheep based agriculture. Very wiling to adopt new ways of eating especially from foreign parts (how many Scots these days would seek out a joint of mutton to boil up with root veg and a handful of barley like their grandparents did, to make soup then boiled meat with watery veg- not many!)"

Really

Scotland a poor country .

Does anybody blame America for giving us all of the fast food crap.

A dish like curry for example is very fattening, Britain has acceapted food from others cultures just the fattening ones and not the healthy ones.

Obviously there a few exceptions but most overseas food we eat is fattening.

Wonder if OPs cruise took in the poor area of Naples.

I'm not sure about that...re: only accepting the unhealthy foreign options. Pitta and hummus is a healthier snack than a packet of crisps, greek yoghurt is pretty popular, people buy quinoa...

Having said that I think when you are making new/foreign foods you tend to go for the 'exciting' and often unhealthier ones....chicken korma vs. dhal, carbonara vs. pasta e ceci etc.

Stella Bet not as eaten in the U.K as Pizza, Korma, Burgers, Taco's etc

I think the main difference with the continent is they are just 20 or so years behind us. Don't you remember seeing fat Americans and thinking that's disgusting? How can anyone walk around with rolls of fat on their legs? How can they drink that massive coke? And free refills? Yuk. Well, it's all here now and it'll be across France Italy etc soon- it's already seeping in. All they are doing is eating traditionally still, rather than what big corporations sell them. But they'll be like us soon and we'll be like- well god only knows

Although I do recall the news a few months ago saying for the first time the levels of obese children entering school is falling- so hopefully the initiatives which have been in place for many years have taken affect.

Vanity sizing is definitely a real thing. But I know lots of people are in denial about it.

At my biggest, I would avoid shops like Topshop purely because I didn't want to buy a 14 rather than a 12. Much easier to feel good about myself when - at the same time - I was a 10 in the likes of Fat Face and M&S. And I was chubby. Not obese, but at 5ft 6 and 10st 12 I had a lot of excess flab. No way should I have been a 10 anywhere.

I know people who claim that Topshop, Miss Selfridge, River Island etc are "small fitting" and "don't make clothes for women with curves." At one point I would've said the same thing.
But after having lost weight and hit a bang-in-the-middle-of-healthy BMI, I can see that's bollocks. Although I have a big pregnancy bump now, my old Topshop 30" Jamie jeans barely stay up. It seems ridiculous that I once seemed proud of myself for squeezing in them at all.

The sizing in the likes of Gap and Dorothy Perkins is crazy. Pre-pregnancy, I was a UK 6 in some skinny crop Gap trousers I wore for work - yet when my MIL tried to lend me a size 12 vintage taffeta dress for a wedding, I couldn't get it over my thighs, let alone fasten it up.

Sizes are especially big in places targeted at the middle aged and middle class (joules, white stuff etc) IME, because they know these people have money and will be flattered into spending more if they can fit in wee clothes.

I do wonder where actually thin people shop now. If I'm a size 6 or 8 in some places with a bmi of 21, then surely slim people can't shop there at all?!

Secrets of the Polish - I got them.
We had a lady working with us - she was from one of those European countries.
This is what she did.
She exercised every morning - she did the five tibetans. I started doing those too.
She had a banana every day and herbal tea. When she felt her weight piling on she upped her exercise and looked critically at her meals. She tried to eat mostly raw vegs and fruits.
She did some tummy exercises everyday - 100 in the morning and 100 in the evening. These were simple as it just involves pulling the tummy in and letting it out. It sorts out any constipation problems.
She loved candles and scents and had nice smelling uplifting scents at home and at work too. This kept her mood uplifted so she rarely turned to food.
She ate less at night. Never saw her eating bread, she tried low calorie snacks and always had something healthy of the sort handy.
She encouraged everyone to loose weight - even the boss. We all lost weight and felt healthier. So she was never working on it alone.
She taught me some good fat burning exercises to shape the waist.

There's nothing wrong with a proper carbonara.... What the British have turned it into is pretty rank though. The tubs of carbonara sauce they sell in supermarkets are strange... Carbonara is just raw egg, pancetta and Parmesan pulled through hot pasta with lots of black pepper. It certainly shouldn't be swimming in a weird cheesy cream sauce.

Yanbu op I have noticed this.

In the past, yes Scotland has been a poor country compared to much if mainland Europe, certainly in terms of agricultural production. My mil (75 this year) still raves about her mother's boiled mutton / scotch broth etc but I don't know many people that make it these days.

I think the point I am clumsily making is that French people are generally happy to eat as their grandparents ate - home cooked, meat and veg based, traditional dishes. In the UK we've adopted a whole range of other dishes - curries, burgers, tex mex, sweet and sour, Thai - you name it - and made them our own. Personally I think it makes the UK a far more vibrant and interesting place to live, but the break in tradition may have helped a lot of less desirable eating habits to creep in.

Does anybody blame America for giving us all of the fast food crap.

No

People need to take responsibility for what they put in their own mouths, and the mouths of their kids.

And for how much they put in.

No point in blaming America/the men who made us fat/advertising/society/supermarkets or anything else.

Nothing will change if people keep passing the buck and blaming other people/things for what they put into their own bodies.

What Worra said.