To wonder what exactly middle class and upper class Mums do to be skinny

[Humpy84]

I am a Mum of a two year old turning three July. Not an age that he can be packed up for long walks in buggy.

I have gained weight and feeling overwhelmed by everything.

I have noticed and I think it is obvious that middle and upper class Mums tend to be slimmer.

I want to know if you identify this and if so what is your weekly shopping routine, meal plan, how do you exercise with or without toddler/s, tips and tricks etc, diet plans, etc etc.

"Class has nothing to do with it"

It's academically proven that it does Doskant. It's not a matter of opinion.

@Gwenhwyfar academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/27/2/234/2929356

I’m all for science. But you’ll find studies that support either side of any argument.

It doesn’t alter the fact that there is an obesity problem in every “class”. And there are dozens of factors that have nothing to do with class that can also contribute. There is a huge industry for wellness gurus promising a quick fix and we buy into them. Because to take a genuine course of action to change the things we don’t like takes creative thinking, action and time, and people - irrespective of class - can’t be bothered and then wonder why their juice cleanse or meal replacement shake diet hasn’t paid off.

As I said before: If you don’t control what you put into your body and how you move said body, who does?

There was a programme on the truth about super foods, it tested standard fruit and veg against the fancy brands.
You could as much nutrients from either products they tested, reducing the cost massively.
I don't know the answer to the obesity issue, as long it is blamed on everything but eating to much it won't be solved.

Or maybe it's just this

www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/health/genetics-weight-obesity.html

@EmeraldShamrock Exactly. There seems to be this assumption you need “posh” expensive superfoods, gym memberships, nutritionists, fancy gym gear etc to lose weight. It’s simply not true, unless you have a rare medical issue that requires professional help. Weight loss is big business and has created this illusion you can’t do it on your own, so better have everyone else do the thinking for you and you just have to pay up and will be miraculously instantly thin. The reality is, standard fruit and vegetables, grains and other staples are just as healthy as so-called superfoods and cost a lot less than buying processed packaged foods. A gym membership and fancy gear doesn’t guarantee health or weight loss. And for the person who mentioned skinny rich women buying smoothies and shakes... they’re actually not really healthy anyway as a rule. Full of sugar. And easy and cheap enough to whizz up at home yourself anyway.

Exactly doscant

Our family’s diet of mostly fruit, veg, pulses and grains costs hardly anything. Especially as it’s bought at Aldi or Lidl! It’s the treats that I add to the trolley that pushes the prices up. It’s far cheaper to cook from scratch than to eat takeaways and ready meals.

And while my dog costs money, the daily walking I do with her costs me nothing more than a pair of welly boots or old trainers.

Terrific post doskant, I agree with every word.
I think some people just don't want to face up to the fact that eating properly and exercising requires a bit of time and effort, and this attitude seems to becoming more common.
You get mocked on this forum for suggesting that someone makes some lentil soup (apparently we're all supposed to love shitty Mcdonalds food) or portion out a chicken correctly or even shock horror walk a couple of miles to a decent supermarket. And lets not forget the BMI deniers.

Where've you been? Haven't you heard about this country's obesity problem? I knew it was bad, but not that bad. The majority of my family and friends, and my DS's friends and their parents are a healthy weight.

Our family’s diet of mostly fruit, veg, pulses and grains costs hardly anything Mine too. But some see that as boring even if I have tried to jazz to Ottolenghi standards.

It's academically proven that it does Doskant. It's not a matter of opinion.

No, this is incorrect. Income and obesity are correlated but causation has NOT been proven. BIG difference.

I was a working class girl who became a teacher and married a nice lower middle class DH. We did well at our chosen middle class professions:- teaching and journalism and most people would say we were middle class now.

I have observed a wide slice of society and what I notice do is that the middle classes practice some qualities quietly which give them massive advantages on the financial and health fronts.

They ‘delay gratification’, are self disciplined and can forgo pleasures for other benefits. They are able to make themselves do things they do not want to do like study or work hard, save money or go without treats. They choose their goals and go for them relentlessly.

This is not attractive and so it is not advertised. Kate Moss summed the attitude up when she said, ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.’ She was criticised universally for being so honest as it made all the less disciplined people feel bad. Nice people give in, nice people are fecklessly generous, nice people eat too much to make others feel good, nice people are weak.

Or put it the way that society presents it, weak people are nice.

Thin, clever, rich people are the enemy. But, of course, they are not and everyone envies them.

So, I have given away the secret and anyone can do it.

crummy, I agree with you, the women I know who are very very slim live in a very shallow world of botox and competition, it’s not an enviable life really.
I hope you find a way of balancing your self esteem and weight, don’t let other people’s view of you take over your life.

I suspect noworklifebalances in laws are of south Asian heritage and are eating their lentils with lots of ghee with a side order of bread also fried in ghee.

Like everyone else, it's a calories in calories out matter so eating like that is going to make people overweight unless portions are tiny.

this is incorrect. Income and obesity are correlated but causation has NOT been proven. BIG difference
Exactly. Correlation and causation is two different things. As is cause and effect. The tabloids are especially good at using this general ignorance.

If class caused people to be fat or slim, you would have no or very few fat rich people, yet there are plenty (and vice versa).

You also don't have to cook from catch to stay slim. You just have to adjust all the time what you eat to stay within a weight zone you're confortable with. As soon as you cross that line, you either reduce the portions, stop any snack, take aways, meals out, fizzy drinks, cakes, alcohol etc... or you take on intensive exercise regularly (or a combination of all three). There are options that doesn't have to mean resorting to learning how to cook lentils dishes that taste amazing.

Cooking lentil soup is really easy though.🙂

Brown lardons in pan.
Add couple of chopped onions and couple of carrots and stir. Can add a chopped pepper if want.
Add 500 ml vegetable stock, salt and pepper.
Add couple of cloves of crushed garlic.
Add a couple of table spoons of tomato purée
Add a drained tin of lentils
Simmer for half an hour
Liquidise
Serve.

Chopped carrots.

I'm definitely not middle or upper class and I'm slim, as are the kids and DH.

We are lucky enough to live near the South West Coast Path so at even the sniff of good weather, summer or winter we get out of the house and walk, walk, walk. The kids are happy enough with a 5 to 8 mile walk and yesterday my dad and sister took them swimming whilst DH and I nailed 20 miles (I hurt today).

Also, DH is very much into his cooking and enjoys making tasty healthy meals from scratch.

That's the thing that I really don't understand. That cooking healthy food with pulses and vegetables in the UK is seen as some niche middle class pursuit, too aspirational for many working class people, even with cheap basic ingredients, and limited space and equipment.

Whereas in other countries, where people are typically poorer - say what you like about poverty in the UK, food is cheap here and we don't have the levels of extreme poverty and destitution that other countries have, food is just food that is eaten by everyone, rich or poor, whatever their background.

Like when Jamie Oliver was derided for suggesting that a cheap quick and easy pasta meal could be made with pasta, some tomatoes and a tin of anchovies, it was seen as unrealisticly aspirational for many low income people in the UK. That seems to be the problem and one that I really don't understand why it is 'different' here.

It’s psychology m. Even though obesity is a modern disease it has been observed long ago that the lower class would not always choose to eat the healthiest food with their budget. I think in part it’s to do with if you have a lower income spending 50p on a packet of biscuits is far more satisfying then spending 50p on an apple. If your rich money doesn’t mean the same to you. You would look for quality.

BarbaraofSevillle - it’s all in the mindset, but if you’ve gone without food, had to rely on food banks ie no choice at all. Food becomes more of a thing than it should be in people’s minds

It’s this I think barbara-

“Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you are underfed, harassed, bored, and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty'. There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you.”
George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier

Like everyone else, it's a calories in calories out matter so eating like that is going to make people overweight unless portions are tiny.

Exactly my point BarbaraofSeville!
With many bemoaning the lack of vegetables and home cooking the point is that how you cook them, what you eat with them and the portions are so important.
It's all about the diet.

I have joined a running club that is two days a week and is suitable for prams. It's a build up course so it starts with walking. I'm probably middle class I guess, I honestly wouldn't know the criteria for what class people are!

the women I know who are very very slim live in a very shallow world of botox and competition, it’s not an enviable life really.

Wow, very different from the slim men & women I know!

EssentialHummus
That extract from George Orwell's Wigan Pier just "gets it" I'd say.
Brilliant.