Boris declares war on fat

[Weallhavevalidopinions]

Boris has said his being overweight contributed to his problems with Covid-19.
Stories this morning suggest he will wage war on fat...

What type of help do you think might be suggested?

Have you decided to lose weight due to Covid-19 worries?

YABU - no I will not lose weight due to Covid worries
YANBU - I will lose weight due to Covid worries

Mumsnet is mad about weight, split between the one lettuce leaf a day makes them full brigade and the aggressively fat is beautiful types. I am a normal weight, so is my husband. We have 2 kids, one of whom is frankly horribly fat. The fat one has no off button for eating. We have tried everything to help and it is all thrown back in our faces. I really do not know what the solution is but the idea that the the problem could get worse makes me cry. I truly hate all those people who continually offer snacks and junk shit to kids. I hate people who normalise fat even more. Being obese should not be treated as a lifestyle choice but rather should be acknowledged as a medical issue and treated.

I'm obese. Have been overweight most of my life - always been bigger than my peers, even as a child.

At 42 it is so much harder to lose weight than it used to be, however right now I do have some more time than usual. I've been doing my 10k steps a day for the last few weeks, eating better & lost a few pounds. Hate exercise but will find it easier when I've lost a bit more & know I need to start YouTube videos or something so it's sustainable in winter.

If my BMI got to 30, that would be a dream come true but it's a long way off. I think it's fine if Boris to say that & lead by example.

Also agree that the immediate threat of Covid is scarier than other diseases for some reason. It had made the need to lose more urgent-for me, that's over guilt as nhs so stretched & don't want to leave dc without a mother. However, I also love my wine & have struggled just to keep it limited to weekends. Currently considering a sober weekend which is a very sobering prospect indeed.

For god sake. No wonder we are a laughing stock. Imagine any of the worlds press picks up this thread where British people are TRYING to get fatter in the middle of a Global health crisis, because they don’t like the PM and “You’re not the boss of me you can’t tell me what to do” mentality.

Embarrassing.

So Boris has declared war on my arse

This may the only time he has ever talked sense? I'm not sure he ever has in any other context?!

I'd read about obesity being a factor in covid-19 hospital admissions a few weeks ago and have tried to lose weight since. When I googled it there was research from the US, Italy and the UK. Read some anecdotal accounts from hospital staff too.

I have a stone to lose after my last baby, it's not shifting the way it used to, probably due to self-medicating with chocolate and other treats after looking after two small humans! I'm late 30s so it may be peri-menopause. Either that or the biscuits. At least it has stopped going on, but struggling to lose it.

Good luck to everyone!

I look forward to seeing Boris lose weight as he is as wide as he is high at the moment.

How much money is he going to spend ensuring we all do just that?

I bet he'll recruit a load of people like the preachier pp on this post to go around telling us all that overweight is bad and overweight people need to eat less, like that never occurred to anyone before. And then they will tilt their heads and wonder why that didn't work after all.

Obesity is a big problem generally, but if anyone attempts to tackle it in a public campaign they are accused of fat shaming.

Obesity has a sole cause, excess calories, but people consume those excess calories for various reasons, stress, anxiety, poor mental health, lack of desire to cook, low willpower due to things like low self worth, not wanting to feel hungry. There isn’t a one size fits all, each person needs help to identify why they choose to consume excess calories, only then can a plan to move forward be formulated.

Is it going to be like the biggest loser series, will we get to watch Boris slogging away on the treadmill and being shouted at by Jillian 😁

There's a big link between poverty and obesity.

The Tory party have been happy letting families spiral deeper into miserable, grinding poverty for years. They can't tackle the obesity issue without working at the root of it which is often a lack of resources, poor, mental health and an all round feeling of worthlessness brought on by not being able to give your kids what they need so you end up saying yes to a 50p packet of 5, gooey, jam filled donuts in Morrisons.

What type of help do you think might be suggested?

Well, for a start they could:

• put in a proper network of cycle lanes nationwide to enable safer cycling;
• make food/nutrition/cooking an essential part of the national curriculum;
• make sure councils have a ring-fenced budget to provide leisure facilities to their community and ensure that all school children have access to sports facilities (many schools don't have playing fields or any outdoor space for games);
• tax junk food and slap health warnings on it in the same way they slapped health warnings all over cigarette packets;
• ban junk food advertising. Just think what a difference it would make if you never saw adverts for crisps, fizzy drinks, chocolate bars and convenience foods.

@chockaholic72 you are about the same as me. I'm 50, 5'6" and now just under 14 stone. BMI a bit over 32. At the start of lockdown I was 14 stone 9. My weight had crept up and up over years, and I've been perimenopausal for over 4 years now. I've tried halfheartedly to lose weight before, but never really managed much. The change now has been having the time/motivation to go for walks during the day. Normally my days were busy and the evenings spent ferrying kids around between activities. And my sleep is very poor. Very little exercise. Under lockdown, with days and evenings free, I've been walking twice a day. I have known for a long time that I needed to lose weight. I'm on high blood pressure medication and have bad knees due to the excess weight. But I'm loving the walking and its doing me the world of good. I'm really hoping I can continue it post lockdown.

I have a walking app and signed up to a 'walk 500 miles in 2020 challenge' which helps motivate me. I'm just hoping I can continue like this and not slip back into my old ways post lockdown.

yes, it's made me lose weight.

My 1st shock was how difficult I found it, before I reached 60, I only had to eat sensibly and I would lose weight. Now, I have to be more thoughtful. So I really cut back on wine. Previously, my DH and I would normally finish a bottle between us over a meal. I also really cut back on butter and mayonnaise. And my weight is gradually coming off. I'm also exercising a lot more.

It isn't something that can be cured overnight. It's a cultural thing. Sports facilities exist. Walking is free.
Does it help that to get in most supermarkets you have to walk past the special offers bins, which are usually donuts, cakes, buns, etc? All very cheap.

- make food/nutrition/cooking an essential part of the national curriculum;

Surely that's already on there - my kids do this at school, and I did when I was at school. It didn't help some of my contemporaries from being hugely overweight.

Boris declares war on fat

If it's anything like the war on drugs we're all fucked

I am fat and need to lose weight but I am doing this for my family, my health and my self esteem not specifically covid.

Refusing licences to the dozens of cheap takeaways you now see popping up, and also to the drive-thru MacDonalds, Costas etc that sprout on empty land would be a good start.

Make apps such as 'Just Eat' illegal to remove the temptation to order fast food on a whim.

Stop all advertising of fast food.

But I somehow doubt that when it comes to it, Boris will put his new quest ahead of something he can tax.

wotsits. I've just read your post, and I was the same (except a decade older). 14 stone 9lb at the beginning of lockdown, now just under 14 stone. Height 5'7".

I'm cycling most days now, and doing yoga with Adriene every morning.

Strangely, I've also stopped biting my nails.

And I'm feeling great.

For god sake. No wonder we are a laughing stock. Imagine any of the worlds press picks up this thread where British people are TRYING to get fatter in the middle of a Global health crisis, because they don’t like the PM and “You’re not the boss of me you can’t tell me what to do” mentality. Embarrassing.

This exactly 👏🏻

Imho the biggest issue about obesity is the social confusion about it.

Many people and organisations talk about fat being somewhat like an MH issue and even self harming. On the other hand often the same people glamorise it and actually encourage it by making the "fat is beautiful" agenda louder.

But it can't be both. If it is an illness and even similar to self harming, we should not be making it glam. We wouldn't go and call a properly underweight person glam. We wouldn't go and glamorise someone with hands full of self harming scars. We would try to help them to get better, not make them into something people will applaud to and go "omg so glamorous" and shout down anyone raising concerns. So if obesity is indeed on par with these and is an illness like that the glamour should be completely disregarded and shamed if anything.

Or. If people want it glamorous and in adverts and on posters and shout down cancer research for "fat shaming" then they shouldn't turn around and say "You are cruel, it's basically form of self harming" when it suits them.

People fought decades against glamourising of unhealthy and frankly dangerous super skinny looks and even fashion weeks started minimum BMI requirements. All that trying to prevent people starving themselves to death for that "perfect image". We need to do same with obesity. I think it's tolerated just because it kills slower than extreme underweight. Nevertheless, it kills.

I need to lose about 3 stone but as we are shielded I can't even get out for a walk. I used to walk 30 miles a week...

I'm hoping that they really push using bicycles. I'm always jealous of how popular they are in places like the Netherlands and Sweden. They are just the norm there.

I was overweight from about the age of 19 onwards, generally around BMI 29 or 30. Two years ago I hit BMI 33.5 and rising, and decided I really must sort it this time.

I did low carb and lost nearly 4 stone, and I feel so much better. Sleep better, don’t go down with every cold and infection that’s going around (and shake it off much more easily if I do), not so achey, loads more energy, love the way my body feels moving though space. Cost a bloody fortune in having to replace my entire wardrobe twice, though, as I also went down four dress sizes. I’m now around a BMI 24.

In lockdown I’ve managed to maintain just about, though I’d love to lose some more and get down to about 22. Chocolate has been my downfall, and I’m trying to manage that and start to lose again.

I always thought I was destined to be overweight/obese forever, it was my metabolism and genetics, I ‘needed’ all the empty carbs and comfort eating... and it was actually only when I truly realised that the overeating was really a form of self-harm that something switched in my brain and I managed to stop it. This was helped massively by the fact that low carb enabled me to feel satisfied and not hungry on around 1400 calories a day. I now think of eating well as self-care and cravings for junk food as self-sabotage, and that helps me stay on track, not least because it’s obviously true if I pay attention to how I feel the day after eating healthily versus overeating or eating crap.

Make apps such as 'Just Eat' illegal to remove the temptation to order fast food on a whim.

So no one else can enjoy a takeaway/fast food just because others have no self control?

Boris could repeal the smoking ban - nothing like a cigarette for suppressing hunger pangs.

They need to bring back mandatory and simple cooking lessons.

Not the stupid ones they have now where already skint mums are having sleepless nights wondering how the hell they're going to find the money so Jimmy can make katsu curry or whatever.

But simple, nutritious meals that are cheap. So many people don't have a clue. Also how to find and use cheap spices that often make all the difference. Hell even locating and using the reduced / cheaper section. And how bulking out using things like lentils can help make things go a lot further.

I've currently got a pan of soup on the go. It cost probably well under £1 to make and consists of a cup of lentils, bag of carrots (( wonky carrots so 40p )), 1 onion, a stock cube and some coriander. It will feed 3 of us for lunch with some leftover for tomorrow. Took 5 minutes to put on (( I don't peel carrots )) and will take 20/ 30 minutes until it's ready to blitz. So much cheaper than a pack of 30p noodles or even a crisp sandwich for everyone.

But I'm lucky I know how to cook tasty, cheap food. Hell, some people won't even have the cooking facilities let alone the knowledge. And that's what needs tackling.