To think excess skin removal should be available on the NHS?

[TheGoodEnoughWife]

I know being fat is seen as being self inflicted although I don't agree that it is and that people over eating should be taken as seriously as people under eating. But that isn't necessarily my point here..,

I am very overweight (about 6st overweight but am tall) and one of the things in the back of my mind is that if I lose weight my saggy skin will be awful. The reality is my 'strain' on the NHS being overweight has the potential to be great - surely encouragement to lose weight would cost the NHS less in the long run?
It would be helpful maybe to me and others who need to lose a lot of weight to know that treatment for excess skin would be available to them?

Now I may get flamed about self inflicted and so on but if I drive a car badly and crash I would be treated on the NHS, if I drink like a fish and cause myself illness I would be treated on the NHS, if I go about extreme sports and hurt myself I also would get treated on the NHS.
(I don't do any of those things!)

Any one see where I am coming from?

But why are there so many seriously overweight people around when in the past they were the exception? It has got to be due to a sedentary lifestyle and poor food choices. It seems to be a class thing too. In certain parts of a city you are much more aware of this. Massive bottles of fizzy drinks have a lot to do with obesity too.

If the idea of the unattractive body, negative health implications AND the potential for ending up with loads of loose skin is not enough to stop people putting on weight in the first place - then i don't believe that the availability of free excess skin removal is going to prevent or encourage much either way at all. And will simply cost the NHS a fortune it can ill afford.

In my opinion, it's not always "complicated" or a "complex issue". These are excuses.

@Laiste
I agree. The NHS is overstretched as it is / no pun intended.

Pilates and core strength exercises and losing weight slowly will help reduce sagging.
Do weight loss for yourself, not just to save the NHS money.
You can do it! There's a few support threads on mn to keep you motivated.

What about my situation then?
I had twins. I didn't plan for two, they just happened naturally. I'm 5ft1 with a small frame. By the time I got to 39 weeks my stomach was also 5ft1. Wasn't fat, but babies.

I have been left with a huge unsightly overhang of excess skin (10 yrs on) that's out of proportion with the rest of my size 12 body. I didn't eat and make my body obese, I did not plan for 2 children at once, yet my excess skin causes me no end of low feeling all the time.

I was so desperate that I planned for a private tummy tuck but chickened out a few weeks before.

your study supports what I'm saying

But also supports the statement "sugar is not addictive".

Which is what the previous poster, who I thought you were responding to with a link to a study, was saying.

there are many things about ourselves that cause us angst because we are not perfect - be it excess, thinning hair, mild incontinence, saggy stomachs, moles in the wrong places.
The NHS (which is stretched to provide all the services it is able to, to keep us alive) should not be expected to fix everything.

soft soft (((((((((((Hugs JenniferYellowHat1980))))))))))) Soft (((((((Hugs)))))))):'(

OP I've been through this and let me tell you the chances of getting an abdominoplasty on the NHS is minuscule.

I was 24 stone and lost 14 stone through diet and exercise, it took me just over a year. I'll be honest with you, I have damaged my body by doing this, I have a horrendous amount of excess skin on my arms, legs, abdomen and my breasts point to the floor.

I can't wear shorts, I can't have my arms out and I have to wear Spanx everyday as I can't fit into jeans due to the overhang the skin creates, I got fitted for a bra and can't wear any pretty bras as the skin just seeps out over the top so I had no choice but to go for a t-shirt type bra.

I'm in my early 20's and never imagined living this way.

I went to my GP who said that I was the worst case he had ever seen with regards to excess skin and said that he would make a referral to a plastic surgeon for a consultation but told me not to get my hopes up as the chances of getting it funded were minuscule and basically told me then and there it was a no.

2 months later I got a letter for an appointment with a plastic surgeon, went to the appointment where I had to stand there in my knickers whilst he manipulated my skin to see whether I was a candidate for surgery. Turns out (in his own words) I was the perfect candidate, ticked every single box and he was happy to perform the surgery. He said that he would apply for funding for an abdominoplasty for me.

After that, 3 months later I got a call from the GP saying I had been rejected and if I wanted to have any procedure done I would have to go privately. I was gutted.

I don't have the money (15k+) to fund the surgery so I've got to live with the choices I made every day which trust me isn't easy.

I don't regret getting to 24 stone as I was mentally ill and the only comfort I found was food so I can't regret something that I had no control over at the time, I feel better in myself but my life is hindered due to the excess skin; it isn't straightforward, it isn't pretty and it's not easy to live with.

Food we are buying is having sugar put in when it shouldn't have

That's why we now have food labels. Not all sausages have sugar in them of course, but the dangers of hidden sugars have been highlighted for years which is why manufacturers have to show what's in their food and why we should - as consumers - check that we're eating what we want to eat. The reasons are not 'complicated' - the reasons are excuses. We all do it to justify continuing to do what we want to do.

How much lean meat could you buy for the price of a packet of sausages?

8 own brand pork sausages from Asda - £1.50
Turkey mince - £1.50

I take your point though, and the price of cheap food and access to fresh food are certainly factors. However, you go to your average Asda and have a look at what's in various trolleys.

I am sorry to hear your story Not but thank you for sharing.

I think the sausages were about a pound. And actually not sure I could buy lean meat with a pound. I could maybe buy a bigger pack and divide it up but actually walking into a store and buying lean meat for a pound not so sure.

I did think twice before mentioning the sausages and despite me saying I know they are not the best food I now have got folk pointing this out to me! I was merely saying the food we buy is not the same as the food we had when I was younger- as a nation our sweet tooth is being forced upon us.

I did grow up in a household where food
was not cooked from scratch. It is easier if you have experienced this from a young age. It is all very well saying make better choices but if someone doesn't know the better choices that are available it really isn't that simple.

I have had some very difficult times in my life and I did turn to food when I wasn't sure how I would make it through the day - I am in a much better place now with a supportive dh and a comfortable life. I am trying to better my cooking skills, shop better, be healthier.

as a nation our sweet tooth is being forced on us

This ^

It's true.... Food is loaded with sugar where it's not required but as it will taste good, it's added. Keeping us hooked

Sugar addiction

Scary

Did you eat a packet of mini sausages as a meal or a snack between meals?

Sugar isn't addictive - see the link to the Ed Uni study upthread. However, it's ultimately up to us as consumers to take responsibility for what we eat.

Eating sweet food is not being forced on anyone. You have a choice.

Food we are buying is having sugar put in when it shouldn't have

You aren't forced to buy it.

My shopping trolley is filled mainly with single ingredients. Stuff that nobody ever saw an advert for.

And not becuase I am a kitchen wizardy paragon of virtue. I suck at cooking. I'm busy with work and other commitments. I'm often bone tired/floppy due to long standing low blood pressure, anaemia and a borderline under active thyroid....and have ADHD, so am fab at procrastination. But when you need a chemistry degree to understand what is in the (allegedly) foodstuff you are peering at in the supermarket... something has to give.

How much lean meat could you buy for the price of a packet of sausages?

In grammes ? It'll look small compared to the puffed up sausages. But that's OK, becuase most the weight you are buying in said crappo sausages, isn't meat anyway, or is bits of animal you'd rather not be eating.

So you take your small amount of "not sausages" meat and it becomes a tasty extra on top of a slightly larger portion of potatoes and veg. Or an ingredient in rice and veg. Or assault a can of pulses, defrost some frozen veg, hack up your meat and wrap it all up in the world's easiest pastry (flour mixed with yogurt).

One of things I don't like about British supermarkets is that they aren't forced to display the price per litre/kilo for products alongside the unit price. Over here they have to. That way comparison shopping is a realistic option for people.

It makes it child's play to see that the crappy sausages might look bigger, due to lightweight fillers, but are sometimes only a euro cheaper per kilo than an unfuckedaboutwith piece of meat. Or not even cheaper per kilo at all. By looking at the price per kilo tag as you walk along the cabinet, you can hunt down the "just meat" bargain of the day that offers way more bang for your buck, price per kilo wise, than processed options.

Personally that would be the first major change I'd make in terms of food legislation. It's not aimed specifically at obesity/health. More a case of being a consumer issue. People should be able to see at a glance what they are paying per kilo/litre of a product. So they can make a genuinely informed choice.It goes some way to curbing the extent to which packaging can create a less than realistic impression of how relatively economical a product is.

That study said sugar isn't addictive but the act of eating and the feel good factor from eating is addictive.

Regarding the sausages I don't need to explain if or why I ate them, whether they were for a main meal or a snack. I am fat so clearly I don't eat appropriately! I am not denying this.

I KNOW the sausages are bad for me - what I wouldn't expect is for them to contain sugar!

i wish it was ,as well as getting a old injury fixed.I have scaring on my shoulder/back if i lost weight i would have plenty excess skin.But they dont do plastic surgery for cosmetic issues =/

but i also understand what little money they have needs to be well spent its hard to judge were.To be honest i wish our mental health services were better funded.A lot of obese people are like that because of some kind of mental health issue not all are greedy.

I can see why they dont do it on the nhs as they are trying to work out were its best spent but on the other hand it can improve a persons quality of life if the excess skin is that great.

No, of course you don't need to explain why you ate the sausages - I asked the question in the context of the earlier question about the comparison between the cost of lean meat and sausages, ie a packet of what essentially is a small amount of meat, fat, cereal, and flavour enhancers would become a meal for more than one if you added loads of veg and a small amount of boiled potatoes for examply, but if you just ate them as a snack between meals then it would become a load of empty calories.

It is amazing what foods contain sugar - but unless you've been living in a cave in the middle of nowhere for the last decade you surely can't have missed the warnings to check your food labels.

It's not just food though is it, it's our whole culture now I think. As a nation we're conditioned to be pampered.
I've just got back from a weekend break at centre parcs. Sure there were all the families on an "active" weekend break, but the activities were like "exercise lite".
So a bike ride is round a flat complex, there are lots of trees and it's all very pretty but there is really not enough to challenge you enough to make it a decent workout. If you want to hike / run, again it's all flat and the distance is limited to how many circuits you can do before getting bored.
There was a gym but with no decent equipment, the pool was not for swimming it was a playzone. You're still moving but floating around the lazy river ride or sitting in a doughnut on the whirlpool ride isn't going to tone your body. There were branches of Starbucks and a bar in the pool, there were badminton courts surrounded by a huge sweet shop, vending machines, a cafe selling beer, fizzy drinks and fried food, the restaurants had really limited healthy options.
I asked for a side of green salad with no dressing to go with my roast chicken in one restaurant and they were completely flummoxed. I was asked what a green salad was.

I think what I'm getting at is that we are conditioned now to reward ourselves if we do anything that exerts us even slightly and normally that reward is supposed to be food or alchohol. So it's a vicious circle, you exercise and then eat / drink to "make up" for putting yourself through it....

I exercise a lot compared to my peers and it's always commented on but in reality it's probably only a healthy amount that just about helps to counteract the sedentary lifestyle most of us have.

what I wouldn't expect is for them to contain sugar!

I would have expected them to. Honestly, I'm more surpised if a processed food doesn't contain gobs of sugar. It's been widely disseminated information for a decade or more that sugar gets rammed in almost everything that is processed.

The only way that will change is if consumers vote with their forks. Read labels (where they are printed large enough to enable actual reading - I put down anything printed so small it is illegible cos I'm convinced they've printed it tiny because they are trying to hide something) and stop buying anything really fucked about with. If manufacturers and retailers are losing money becuase their sugar infested goods are unattractive to shoppers... then they'll stop jamming them full of sugar.

Because they get sneaky and use words other than plain old "sugar" on labels, people have to operate on the basis of "if in doubt, leave it on the shelf". Governements will never be able to set up legislation as effective as individuals making a fuzzy logic call of "not sure this isn't stuffed with crap, so I'm not buying it".

The only thing that really matters to food manufacturers and retailers is the bottom line, so hitting the bottom line is where change can be achieved. The consumers are the people best placed to provide that slap in the chops... at the till.

You were shocked at the sugar in the sausages. That lead you to reading labels, rejecting sugar infested sausages, yes ? One consumer lost, 10 squillion to go.

If the ten squillion remaining consumers act all shocked and betrayed at the news of sugar in sausages BUT don't change their shopping behavoir and keep eating said sausages anyway... then nothing will change. Not least becuase when push comes to shove, not enough consumers want it to. It isn't genuinely a priority for them, once the obligatory [shocked] face has been made and displayed.

Thankfully, you and I, consumers of the "I don't want sugar in my sausages" variety, still have the option to chose meat products that aren't sweetened.

That could be termed "taking personality responsibility" but I have a slight allergy to the phrase. Cos, while it may be true, it felt like a stick to hit me with all those years I was undiagnosed and had no clue why I was (am) so... crap at everything. So in order to make "personal responsibility" more palatable to my rather more warped vision of the world, I see it as Taking My Power Back.

I am not giving my money to people who will happily see me less healthy, less happy, less well off, less nourished if helps pay their new super yacht and a fresh bevy of escorts, gritting their teeth and girding their loins, at every port.

Fuck them. And their sugar infested sausages (or other dubious product). Not giving them my cash.

I did have excess skin removed on the NHS when I was 20 after going from a size 16/18 to a size 8. 2 years later and I'm left with horrible painful scars that I've been told wouldn't be there if I had gone private.

So it's not always a good thing.

I'd love to get this done. Unfortunately there's no way I could ever afford €6k for a tummy tuck, €3k for an arm tuck and I presume a similar 3/4k for thighs. Even if I somehow came into that kind of money I could never spend that amount of money on myself when I have two small children. I just mean because of our own circumstances btw, totally not judging anyone who does spend that kind of money on themselves. It's just not feasible for me.