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.

But the bariatric surgery is probably cheaper than diabetes so in the long run likely saves the NHS money. It's a proven solution to obesity.

To be honest, i don't care as such, however, I was raised on good quality, home made food and it's what i prefer. The rest of my family struggle with weight. There's no reason socially/culturally why i should be different. The difference certainly isn't that i care.

god but cheaper than both is not having many people eat so much of the wrong thing that they either need invasive surgery or develop a life-changing illness.

I care, but to be honest just feel that it's lucky I am not fat, not superior eating habits ..... and deliveroo do not deliver to our street.... and can't really afford takeaways anyway

On MN people always say that excercise does not help with weightloss, and that goes completely against my personal experience, so I wish there were more studies about this!

Exercise helps you sleep better, for example = less tiredness= less sugar cravings (in my non scientific opinion! )

I did the 45+ NHS health check, and the nurse said that by not being overweight, I was in better shape than 60% of people my age (45+)

I said all my friends are slimmer/fitter than me. But she said we all select friends with similar interests, and that I probably make friends through sport so have a skewered view (true)

Always feel there is a very fat person inside me, wanting to come out. I love food! I would hopefully never feel the need to lecture others on their diet/weight, as imo it is just a matter of luck I am not obese myself.....yet

Because most of us definitely live in an obesogenic environment, there is tasty food everywhere, easily available, delivered to your door (or just a walk away), and we all work so hard and are so busy we take shortcuts.

I care about what we eat (family of 3) I'm just the same as most people I know I suppose,80% homecooked food with veg and salad etc 20% binge worthy junk on weekends/special occasions

Key to success is this: no food is bad. Nothing is off the menu. Ice cream, cake, bread, pizza biscuit sweet chocolate. You can eat these things. But not every day. Perhaps once a week you can have something indulgent. So you never say to yourself, sugar is bad, I can't eat sugar ever again. Such messages doom us to failure. Another key to success is- donut together! If you are in a relationship it's very hard if one of you remains committed to junk esting. The other key to success is, eat normal portions that include lots of veg and fruit. I'm 61 and have yoyo'd from size 10 to 20 and back. I can't do that any more. I don't want to be a fat ill old person. So I'm eating like a normal person. And have lost 2 and a half stone since January. Effortlessly! Because we both did it, and because I'm not restricting what I can eat. I'm eating three meals a day. I'm weighing certain foods to get a clear idea of what a normal portion of rice or pasta or oats looks like. I'm eating fish and chips or something I really fancy once a week. And I'm very happy.

Do it together, not donut lol!

Something I found very interesting recently - and it’s just an observation- is that when my mum recently went into a nursing home for people with dementia not one of the old people very overweight. They were all incredibly slim. Underweight if anything. Of course that may be due to their dementia / other health issues. But it just struck me that you see so many younger, fatter people walking about and yet the older people that seem to live a very long time seem to be very tiny. Is there a correlation? Is it better to live fast and die young or get very old and suffer dementia / etc? Is it even that simple? Of course it’s not, I know that, it’s just something I couldn’t stop wondering (as someone who is about 2 stone overweight myself).

I would prefer to donut together @joystir59

I care but I’m not a martyr about it. I do 6 or 7 training sessions per week on top of lots of walking, an active job, and caring for my breastfeeding 8 month old. If I want a bit of cake or a burger I can afford to eat it. My weight is healthy, I’m strong, and I know I’m in pretty good shape as I’m of a reasonably competitive standard when I go to races.

I think people genuinely believe they are ‘too busy’ to eat well and exercise. In most cases I think that’s absolute rubbish but unfortunately our society doesn’t value exercise and activity enough that it is seen as a priority.

People with dementia forget to eat. That's why they are often emaciated. I used to run an art session in a supported living unit for people with dementia. They'd eat up the biscuits I took with me as if they were going out of fashion and had often completely forgotten to eat lunch.

Just adding to what I’ve said, the popularisation of things like HIIT and insta-fitness culture are definitely symptoms of a society where we need shortcuts for everything. Everyone just expects to get fit in 20 minutes rather than actually putting in the effort.

I care because it cost. It costs the nhs and it costs families of people, and it costs people themselves happiness.

Fatter people have on average fewer years of healthy, active life than fitter thinner people. Say 10 years, but it’s hard to est8mate the effect of every such problem separately, as you are more likely to be fat if you are poor.

And that correlation should not be ignored. Because poverty is not only f8nacial. It robs you of hope and motivation and saps you of energy. So when people can’t understand that probably means you haven’t walked a mile in someone else’s shoes.

I am thin enough and not poor, this is not excuses for me. And I know richer people get fat and poor people can be thin.

I live in a very hilly place and the only old people I see out and about are wiry and thin. The hills were killer before I started losing weight. I knew I either had to change my eating habits or die because I couldn't bear dragging my fat heavy body around for the foreseeable future. I kept weighing up (ha!) how little my thin friends and family members ate. It took me time to remember that I too used to eat much smaller amounts of much healthier food. Eventually it was my partner, after a gigantism Sunday roast, who said we needed to change. She was not obese like me but had definitely put weight on, and we'd both been eating her preferred diet of heavy stodgy food while she used to scoff at my love of salad and veg. Her stomach had grown and limbs were heavy, whilst I sported a truly vast stomach. We were both ready to embrace the change. That has made it easy. As soon as we started eating normally we started reaping the benefits, which has also made it easy. I still have a stone and a half to lose but I'm relaxed about it and feel as if i, we both, have got our lives back.

@GodolphianArabian I was very fat until I moved out of home at 17, I changed my diet and started exercising. Since the age of 18 my BMI has never gone above 22 and my body fat percentage hasn’t gone above 14, I’m now in my thirties and eat around 2,700 calories a day.

Everything in moderation is my opinion. I'm not going to miss out on all the bad things I love, but I also do really like fruit and veg (DS and I snack on cucumbers all the time). Give me some hummus and veg sticks any day!

I think time is a big factor in the way. I cook nearly every day, but I work remotely so I don't need to commute and this has freed up 3-4 hours of my day!

yet the older people that seem to live a very long time seem to be very tiny. Is there a correlation?

there is something called anorexia of ageing.

www.todaysgeriatricmedicine.com/archive/SO17p14.shtml

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.)
It's fine to be chubby. 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) and gradually got to the point of being an unhealthy weight, which wouldn't have happened if they'd stayed a bit chubby.

I lost a bit of weight recently by going back to a more physically demanding job. The downside is my mild arthritis hurts more now I'm wallking so much.

There have actually been studies showing that past 60 or so, it is better to be of a higher weight, maybe not obese but not too thin either, most studies show a bell shaped curve for mortality, and the point increased with age. (in BMI)

Hummm I think a great proportion do care .... but our modern lifestyle is just not helping.
Think about it... working all week in an office, out from 8-5, sitting down most of the day. Getting home to DC & partner all hungry for food and your attention. Who can be blamed to look for the easy options for food than you are tired of its late when you have finally time to do exercise or relax.... it's choice, convenience and TIME that will make you choose the easy things.

Link to study on above here jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1555137

Also, fuck right off those of you whining about the 'cost to the NHS'. The NHS money worries are due to the greed of the rich and government austerity - the type of propaganda that gets the stupid complaining about smokers, drinkers, fat people especially lower class people is done on purpose. If you can insist that people's problems are all their own fault, it means the rich don't need to pay enough taxes to fund public healthcare...

My mum is 80 now. She’s 5ft 3, was always a slim woman (deliberately). In her 60s she went up to a size 14, biggest she ever was, but as she got in to her 70s her appetite just dropped right off. She eats like a little bird now, if we go to stay with her we have to hide cereal bars in our rooms because the portions are tiny. I’d be surprised if she was a size 8.
She is incredible, full of vigour, walks 5 miles every day, no medical issues, no medications, all of her own teeth and the happiest person you’ll ever encounter. I think she’ll go on forever but to our eyes barely eats enough to keep a sparrow alive.
As we age, our metabolisms slow right down and we need far less fuel. The people who listen to their bodies tend to stay slim, those who ignore the signals and overeat by sticking to the diets they had when they were younger are the ones who become fat, which tends to lead to joint and mobility issues and all manner of complications.

She’s been a vegetarian for decades, don’t know if that has anything to do with it.

I don't think it's necessarily that people don't care, but too many other factors take priority.

I'd describe my diet as decent, there is more room for fruit and veg. My family all maintains a healthy weight. We haven't eaten well this week. I deliberately hadn't overstocked on fresh food as DH was going away, so after kids' evening activities we have been to the chippie, a McDonalds and a supermarket cafe followed by catching up on the shopping. While shopping, I bought a family sized cottage pie, because at £5, I'm not going to make it cheaper myself and it works out better value on time and portion size. Home made would be better quality and have more hidden veg. I'm fortunate to generally have time in the day, however one DC is very sensory about food, particularly the soft, wet type of foods that I'd love to sling in the slow cooker earlier in the day, so it ends up that the evening meal is wedged in to the time of day when I struggle most for time which does affect the level of healthiness.

Lack of time, costs, avaliability, energy, and external pressures all mount up. It's not necessarily that people don't care, it's just that constantly, in the moment, people continuously make the choice to keep them going. I think there are very few "bad foods", it the overall balance long term that matters and it's so easy to realise that there has been a series of poor choices causing a lack of balance.

BMI is a rule of thumb and mostly useful, but can be flawed.

I measured my height in cm the other day and realised that I have been incorrectly rounding my height in inches down rather than up for my whole life to date! As I am on the normal/overweight borderline there was a distinct difference in messaging when I put this into the NHS bmi calculator.