To think most people don’t care about healthy eating, exercise, etc

[Notcontent]

We keep hearing about rising obesity levels, diabetes, and how sugary/processed good is responsible for a lot of it, etc.

But it seems to me that most people are completely ignoring those messages - either because they think it’s all nonsense or because they think “oh well, I want to enjoy my food and drink and I don’t really care what happens when I get to 50”.

I completely agree that we need to have treats and enjoy food because that’s what life is all about. But a lot of it is just simple stuff, like having water instead or sugary drinks. Why is that? Yes, I know some people can’t afford healthy food, but most of us do have some choice about what we feed ourselves and our families.

"i see more people obsessing over diets.wanting to lose weight.being unhappy with how they look.celeb obsessed.guilt laden.always dieting and not setting a good example to their kids at all!
i see more unahppy and body shaming people than people who are eating too much"

Do you live in a high income area? Your social circle doesn't sound like the norm for the UK.

I need to spend 2 to 3 weeks in the UK soon and I am not looking forward to it.

For real? I am lookijg forward to being back in England next month. There is a lot of choice in the shops and between shops. Veg is affordable, meat fine, fish lovely. Miss that Scottish salmon!

In contrast, I can't get quite a lot of food in New Zealand, and it's all overpriced here.

"Again: most of the advice on how to lose weight is bullshit. Much of it is deliberate bullshit (diet peddlers want you to fail so you keep coming back to throw more money at them.)"

No, sorry, I just don't buy this 'deliberate bullshit' thing. Diet companies have enough return business without having to create it in that way.

" One of the most damaging things is people who started out a bit chubby, got shamed into dieting, lost some weight, regained it and put on more (because of what happened to their metabolisms on some stupid fad diet"

It's been debunked that dieting lowers your metabolism.
It goes down as you age, which might be why people find losing weight increasingly difficult.

"Can you bollocks buy some seeds and nuts and eat nothing else for 2 meals a day 🤣 what a bloody weird post"

Maybe she's a bird?
I personally don't have enough teeth to eat nuts.

PlainVanilla there's tonnes of fresh food in UK supermarkets.

With regards to "A lot of people do not know how to cook."

There has never been a easier time to learn. Most people have the internet right at their fingertips, with millions of simple step-by-step tutorials.

Unlike in days gone by, when you had to go and get a recipe book from the library and follow some rather puzzling instructions, with little to no pictures at all.

And that's if you were lucky enough to find a book with recipes you actually liked.

YANBU.

Encouraging people to stop smoking helped make them fat because the need to soothe themselves orally led them to overeat food instead.

Not saying smoking was good, btw. But those skinny women in the sixties had a lot of the same emotional baggage as we did but turned to cigarettes instead of doughnuts. Or wine (with all the sugar in it).

"You only need to stick to it long enough for your tastes to change, or until you start to feel the physical benefits of exercise, then it becomes much easier."

I made some progress when i started jogging on the treadmill. I still have to really psych myself up to going though and only really enjoy the feeling of being finished with it. I know I won't stick to it for life and I'd like to find something more enjoyable.

I absolutely hate organised exercise.

Then I found something quite by accident. It was the Wii Fit I got my kids years ago.

I got addicted to Wii Sports, especially the skiing slalom and this other weird game where you were balancing on the board and splatting penguins and fish as they jumped out of the water

All I wanted to do was beat my previous scores and the kid's but then I realised when I tried to get out of bed the next day, my stomach muscles and thighs were really tight and sore.

The Wii Fit as long since disappeared but I'm going to order a secondhand one from Ebay and see if I can get back into it, to tone up.

@WorraLiberty

I think we would all be the better for it if the dance mat made a comeback

DulcieRay oh god yes, I forgot all about those. Even the dog used to get involved!

I know there is always a risk that we could be leading a super healthy lifestyle but drop dead at 40. But in general, that’s not how it works. That’s what I am hoping anyway!!!

I know I'm late to the party but this hasn't been the case in my experience. I've worked in care for ages including community work so I haven't just met people requiring assistance but their friends and family also. I honestly believe it's luck of the drawer. Obviously a healthy lifestyle puts the odds slightly more in your favour but I think for the most part things like dementia, cancer etc are more "if you're gonna get it you're gonna get it".

I've actually looked into my service users health and their previous lifestyles and haven't found any difference between those with healthy and those with unhealthy lifestyles. Purely annecdotally one aunt and uncle of mine had a really healthy lifestyle, never smoked, rarely drank alcohol, ate healthily, plenty of water, kept very fit - even ran marathons. They've ended up in a care home due to falls and general mobility/health deterioration. My other auntie and uncle of the same age have always eaten and drank what they like, didn't take regular excercise etc and they're perfectly well.

I wouldn't class myself as really healthy. I walk a lot, drink plenty of water but also love pop. Have a relatively balanced diet etc. I've been fat in the past though (size 14 at 5ft 5) but I got over that pretty quickly and keep to sizes 8 and 10 outside of pregnancy! That said I used to do a lot of drugs and had an addiction in the past so I'll probably still die before a certain age although I don't think it's a bad thing, people live so long now!

With regards to "A lot of people do not know how to cook." There has never been a easier time to learn. Most people have the internet right at their fingertips, with millions of simple step-by-step tutorials.

YES! I'm so happy someone brought this up. In 2019 most people who say they can't cook or don't know how to cook just can't be bothered to learn. YouTube literally takes you step by step if books aren't your thing!

Exactly Water. You can even Youtube how to boil an egg.

'I don't know how to cook', is a really really outdated excuse now.

Haven’t RTFT so apologies if I repeat things.

Our lifestyles are different now than what they used to be. A lot of us are in sedentary, insecure jobs working longer hours. A lot of parents now both have to work, so it’s common to see parents dropping kids off at school (in the car) then going to work. It’s time more than anything. There are a lot more kids in single parent households and a lot of single parents have less free time to cook healthy meals and even less time to go to the gym 3 times a week. We are more depressed as ever, anti depressant use is much higher now, and depressed people are more likely to turn to food for comfort. The cost of housing in cities - where most of the jobs are - is so high now that people are having to move further and further afield just to afford to live. This usually means more time spent in a car, bus or train. A longer commute means people have to get up earlier, are more tired, and tired people are even less inclined to want to exercise at the end of the day.

Finally, a lot of women gain weight during pregnancies and maternity leave and never shift it. Which is not surprising considering women are still more likely to be doing most of the childcare and housework, and shoulder the mental load, the difference is now that they usually have to work outside of the home too.

So it’s not really surprising is it, that a lot of us have enough going on in our heads without having to change our lifestyles and mentalities to healthier ones.

Managedmis

Another shout out for homemade soup. Endless varieties, almost anyone can make it. Wonder stuff.

No need to cook healthy meals all the time.

Bulk cook. Make a sandwich with a couple of lettuce leaves and tomatoes (or whatever) thrown in to moisten the bread rather than mayonnaise. Eat an apple rather than half a pack of biscuits.
If you do want something quick and warm, eggs are amazing - poached, boiled or pan-fried (not scrambled - if fried, they don't absorb fat).

Squash, diluted fruit juice (apple juce mixed with sparkling water is amazingly refreshing) etc. rather than commercial fizzy drinks if you don't like water.

No need for the gym.

Get a stationary bike (or, if you have the space, a treadmill) and use it in front of the telly or while reading a book/ mumsnetting/ whatever. Far cheaper than an annual gym memberhip and readily available when you have a few spare minutes. Easy to do when the kids are in bed.
Go for walks with the kids - even young ones can walk a few miles. My 2-y.o. ran almost the whole way for the two miles it took to go to the shop yesterday and could easily have done more.
Cycle in parks. Housework is great exercise. So is DIY and gardening. All possible to get kids involved in, in age-appropriate ways. And a massive way to bond in a positive way and build their self-confidence.

Lay off the snacking. 3 meals per day. None of this Starbucks-on-the-way-to-school, which seems so prevalent where I work.

@WaterOffaDucksCrack, research disagree with you. Of course you can get a stroke or heart attack being slim and active, but the odds are that you are much more likely to do so if you are unhealthy.

Like the vast majority, I rarely enjoy exercising as I do it, it's to me no different to the daily chores we gave to get on with. I don't like washing my clothes, putting them up to dry and ironing them but I love wearing nice smelling well tailored clothes which make me feel good. I feel even better when they feel nicely loose on me because I've kept my weight down.

Keeping myself healthy if I can is a bonus.

Broadly true, but resistance training / weight lifting is so important for your bones and metabolism. No exercise bike by the telly is going to do as much for you as a few basic weights sessions a week with simple moves (deadlifts, squats, lunges, bridges, bench press, chest flies, military press, shoulder raises, tricep kickbacks, French press, bicep curl variations, back rows, back flies, plank, Russian twists, bicycle crunches, all easily googleable). 2 x 10kg adjustable dumbbells and Bob's your uncle.

I think this thread shows just how much conflicting advice there is out there. I don't think people don't want to sort out their diet and exercise, but often they are just thoroughly confused as to what that looks like.

I agree with @cadburyegg

Capitalism has a huge role to play. Not saying that we don't have some personal agency, but when our supermarkets are heaving with junk food, our jobs taking up more of our lives than ever and cars allowed/encouraged almost everywhere, it's not a great surprise that so many of us end up obese or unhealthy.
Plus many British people have become habituated to using alcohol to destress, which doesn't help either.

But water , you're only seeing people who were unlucky enough to need care- there are lots of people out there leading healthy lifestyles and avoiding care homes Statistics show that being overweight leads to a higher risk of several diseases and conditions. Anecdotal evidence of healthy people dying young and fat people being healthy into old age is all very well- but the real evidence says otherwise.

I think the 'dont know how to cook' is more about not being confident to cook and be sure the family will eat the results. Families on low income can't afford to make mistakes. Takeaway, processed foods, ready meals remove that risk.

Let’s not forget that food is a source of pleasure and comfort. If you’ve had a rough day, it’s all too easy to cheer yourself up with a nice nosh. And it’s a form of self-medication that leaves you capable of getting on with life and taking care of others, rather than reaching for drink or drugs. Another factor is eating as a reaction to tiredness. If you’re weary, whether from shift work, long commutes or from looking after young children who wake you in the night, and don’t get much chance to rest properly, it’s more likely that you’ll reach for food as a boost.

Everything involved in keeping a healthy weight and being fit should be simple - it is straightforward - but the realities of many peoples’ lives don’t allow for this. I know I find it a real struggle to find good eating options when travelling for work, and to motivate myself to exercise when I’m tired and fed up. It’s fear of the negative consequences of not doing so that is driving me on. And I am glad to be fitter and more active and to be wearing a smaller dress size, but it would be so easy to take the path of least resistance and slide back.

If it was that easy to maintain and lose weight the diet industry wouldn't be what it is. Shakes,pills,plans,meal replacement, syns,points, fancy scales,waist trainers, powders, apps,rings,belly belts and a hundred more other things that I'm not even aware of.