To question the Eat Well plate?

[TheGruffaloMother]

I know it can take an age to filter new evidence down into official advice but am really struggling to fathom why the Eat Well plate hasn't yet changed despite everything I keep seeing in the media suggesting we've known for a while now that eating such a high proportion of carbohydrate isn't necessarily healthy. Is high fat the way to go? High protein? Is the official advice wrong? Do the alternatives offer lasting ways to keep your weight under control?

Well of course it's subjective, just as all the comments on these pages are.

Saying that something "isn't boring" to someone who thinks that it is is a daft response though. Why is your opinion more valid than theirs? Because you're slim?

the Japanese on average consume about 2,800 kcal/day compared to 3,450 kcal/day in the UK

Am horrified that is the average?! I don't know anybody who eats that many cals! I feel like a fat cow if I (occasionally) eat 2500 cals, and that's a day when I've had takeaway plus lots of chocolate/junk/cakes!

Maybe I'm naive but I'm genuinely horrified people eat that much every day.

It's not smug. It's the unpalatable truth. It's unfounded to say that NHS guidelines aren't reasonable and then base it on carbs = sugar as an argument. It's a sensible guideline.

I'll rephrase....to me porridge and fruit isn't boring and to many other people it isn't either. And does your dentist tell you never to eat fruit?

Your attitude is smug though as it presupposes that the difficulties of weight maintenance are the same for everybody, when plainly they are not.

And I say this as a slim, fit person btw. There seems to be the assumption that anyone who points out the complexities of the issue must be fat and making excuses.

My dentist tells me fruit juice is the work of the devil and fruit should be eaten in serious moderation because of it's effect on teeth enamel.

I've always eaten like the eatwell plate. Grew up with my mum permenantly on slimming world so loads of "free" foods, low fat crap etc etc

When your tdee suddenly halves though, it's rather difficult to adjust.

"maybe they should have been eating the eatwell plate and reading the guide far sooner"

I honestly can't think of an insult that is worthy for that sentence. Suffice to say I'm sure it would count as a PA and be deleted though.

The reality is some people prioritise their health more that others. I would love to eat cupcakes daily instead of weekly but I don't want to end up with diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.

The vast majority of obese people choose their own immediate gratification over long term health. It's not coincidental that obesity levels are high in deprived areas and please don't tell me that cheap food is sugary and fatty when it's possible to eat healthily on a low income.

I do wonder at the NHS eat well plate too. I'm in Finland and always see posters in health centres showing what should be on your dinner plate - half vegetables, quarter protein, quarter carbs along with a slice of dark bread (so high fibre, low sugar) which seems about right to me. You'd get your fat from meat/fish/butter on the bread (vegetarians/vegans would have to add in fat another way of course)

Not PA and not intended sarcastically but as a challenge to the OPs rubbishing of a perfectly good food and health guideline.

Oh if only someone had told me that not eating cupcakes daily would cure my disabilities

I'm sorry obese people but you are obese because you consume too many calories. Lots of reasons why! but ultimately that's the truth of the matter

That's a vast oversimplification which doesn't help anyone.

I've said elsewhere, I've gained dramatic amounts of weight three times in my life - one in my mid teens, once in my mid twenties, and once in my early thirties. I've lost it each time, but every time the reasons for gaining weight were different and the weight loss methods differed too. And there are healthy and unhealthy ways to lose weight too.

You need to understand why you're overeating, what you're doing wrong and come up with a sustainable life plan to change the bad habits and replace them with good ones. And those need to be realistic. I mean, cooking from scratch so I can see what is going into my food works well for me because I like cooking and am interested in nice food and good flavours. It's been relatively painless. One of my best friends hates cooking and finds it stressful so it wouldn't work for her.

I've always been slim because I've watched what I eat

This may also be true for you, but I've seen some fairly interesting studies suggesting that slim people start off with a preference for different flavours and textures and food which make it easier to stay slim. Dunno how accurate these are, but I think you're making it sound easier than it is.

I actually think the world has gone mad, I see people at my gym terrified of a slice of brown bread, refusing to mango and eating 3 breasts of chicken a day, but come the weekend they'll be polishing off krispy kreme donuts and bottles of prosecco 'because its all about balance'.

At the point where you're worried about eating a potato is the point where you need to wonder if you have a disordered view about food.
Just cut out the crap.

If your disabilities are caused by obesity starry, then it probably would. Otherwise you are taking it entirely out of context and twisting what I say.

Or is it unreasonable to watch my weight to avoid complications due to obesity?

I am naturally thin and I think its bollocks that everyone who is overweight is overweight because they just don't try hard enough.

I also think weight is such a shit measuring stick, what about energy, health, vitality?

Ooh, goody. More people piling in to proclaim that them having never been in a position to deal with personal obesity makes them the perfect person to say how obesity should be tackled.

Slim people who've always been slim, listen up because I can't stress this enough: You may well be authorities on how to maintain a healthy weight but you're woefully lacking the insight to be an authority on losing large amounts of weight and the experience of obese people trying to do so.

I started gaining weight when I started In Healthcare doing shift work. Working out what I can eat at 6 in the morning that will keep me going for 12 hours because I was unlikely to get a break, grabbing chocolate during the day because I know it will give me an energy boost and having a takeaway when I get home because I'm too tired to cook. All a recipe for weight gain. The habits are so ingrained now but I maintained a healthy weight for years before following f the principle of the eat well plate.

BTW...I'm actually the OP. More accidental sock puppeting, sorry

Olympia What a hideous thing to say, you don't know anything about her life.

Some people astound me.

Great you are thin, no one gives a fuck, stop being such a preachy know-it-all and MYOB. Carbohydrates DO cause insulin spikes, and can make it much harder for SOME people to lose weight.

That is the issue with the NHS approach there is no one size fits all approach. Some people will gain if they eat mainly carbs, some people have low metabolic rates so a normal range of cals 1800-2000 will make them gain weight. Some people are more predisposed to heart disease or bowel cancer so should avoid saturated fats.

What works for you wont work for everyone else so don't presume it will. It is staggering arrogant.

One of the points of the eatwell guide is that it give a guideline on what parents should be feeding their children and portion sizes. If all parents followed these guidelines we would have far fewer overweight adults.

Max. If you are obese you are not healthy. The fat around vital organs is devastating to long term health.

It's a joke to say that slim people are slim because it's a natural state for them. Most have to work hard to resist the temptations around them.

I am not attempting to tell the overweight OP how to mange her weight, (or anyone else). just defending a well researched NHS approved guideline which she is rubbishing because it doesn't fit her agenda.

I see this has moved beyond cheese.

I haven't rubbished a thing have you read my comments or are you attributing the comments of others to me? I've said almost the same as Hairspray just did.