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

My self discipline comes from the fact that I realised I will die in my 40s if I won't shift any of my 20 something stones.

I wish you luck with your weight loss/weight maintenance.

But the fact remains, not everyone has your self-discipline - it's great that you have been able to find whatever it takes to develop that self-control, but not everyone can do that - if they could, there'd be no overweight people other than the minority who actually enjoy being overweight for whatever reason.

I feel it could do with a slogan:

Be a healthy weight
Protect the NHS
Save your own life

Or

Stay Alert ... for too much sugar, salt, fat

We already have the bmi calculator - does it have colours?!

We should wage war on obesity. Aside from increased risk associated with Covid, it costs the nhs billions each year causing strokes, blood pressure problems, diabetes. As well as clapping the nhs as a nation we should stop crippling it

IncrediblySadToo great post, but people will not want to hear it! incidentally, have you thought about increasing your fasting to alternate day fasting or extended fasts (with medical oversight of course given your diabetes), I say this because 16/8 is probably best for maintenance, and one meal a day can easily turn into a caloric deficit diet which can tank your metabolism if you don't manage to eat enough in your window, maybe worth considering?

All those sleb idiots with their fad diets motivate people to lose weight
Maybe, but I can't see many being inspired by Bojo - mind you, Tom Watson's weight loss was seriously impressive.

I am overweight, had lost some, but definitely but a bit on again over the last few weeks.
Just back from a drive thru covid test - bit scary; regardless of result, i'll definitely be taking the weight loss stuff a bit more seriously.
Driving through central London is so quiet it's quite freaky,

So it wasn’t visiting corona wards and shaking hands with sick people, it was being a chonky boy?

Yeah right!

Johnson will hire a personal trainer and tell his chef to alter what he cooks.

Johnson will then say if i can do it, anyone can.

And we get a new narrative of the 'undeserving fat' who should lose weight or be barred from NHS treatment (to save money).

Without any real thought or resources given to changing lifestyles, improving cooking styles, education on portion control or the marketing of 'healthy food' (which when you read the label isn't).

The war on fat people is just another of 'Boris's Bridges' or 'Boris's Bikes'. Its a hobby horse he's actually interested in unlike the rest of governing which he finds dull and tedious so he can't be arsed with it. But he won't put in the leg work with it even then. It will be deligated to others with him trying to take credit for it all (before it falls flat on its arse as an unworkable plan with too many flaws).

In this wonderful world that some posters inhabit, nothing would need to be illegal, because everyone would have the self-control to avoid doing wrong. Just think - no police, no prisons, honesty boxes rather than tills in the supermarket.

That's not anywhere near to what we said! You cannot compare food to heroin ffs. You cannot compare obesity to heroin addiction. I don't see Gillette making add with scarred heroin addict plodding around on a beach... Food is not as addictive as heroin.

I wish you luck with your weight loss/weight maintenance.
Thank you. Genuinely. 14 pounds so far. Never been so happy yet angry at the same time. angry at myself for allowing this to happen. That anger really takes workouts into a different level😂

Eat well, No snacks, Protect the NHS.

Where eat well means - less sat fat, less white carbs, less sugar.

Medication will not cause weight gain on it's own. The weight has to come from somewhere, and unless the tablets are 3,000 calories apiece, it's not your medication.

@Lockheart, I agree most medication on it’s own will not cause the weight gain. However - I also believe there are some anti depressants and psychotics that slow metabolism - some medication does increase the appetite, quite significantly so with some - so though not impossible it does make keeping the calories down harder even when eating healthy.

I think there needs to be an overhaul of the 'diet' industry. That's something the government could work on.

There's so many types and plans. Some of them aren't healthy at all.
Some of them claim to drop x lbs in a week.
I was incredibly unwell from doing low carb/keto, something I've never really recovered from, DH however felt amazing ion it and lost weight.
Slimming world isn't healthy, there are people making whole cakes and eating them because they're 'syn free' but a mashed banana is the devils work.

Inboxes with magic tea, herbal life etc that cost a fortune and do fuck all are dangerous.

Calorie counting when you have mental health issues is dangerous, it can lead to eating disorders.

The same with fasting, fast for a day, can you push it further? Be better, lose more, control your life fatty! ...

These are all me btw and several other people I know in similar positions to a lesser or more extreme scale.

We need to nix the diet industry and have once form message, eat less, move more. No shame, no slogans like 'beach body ready' free workout sessions in parks, gyms, church halls, free cooking lessons that teach you how to cook healthy meals without a million expensive ingredients that you can only source from specialist shops.

Get schools teaching cooking, budgeting, meal planning.

Eating healthily is way more important than just losing some pounds to shift the extra weight - so, eating "healthy chocolate and wine" whilst otherwise starving yourself is not the way to do it. Eat healthy AMOUNTS of food first of all, eat little and often, eat as many veg and oily foods like fish as you can. Fibre is important in losing weight as is protein to keep you full. Lots of fluids is important as is certain salts.
Moving around and eating full fat chocolate and drinking wine (with meals) is absolutely fine as treats for your mental health, which does effect your weight (hormones). It's all about balance, not removing foods from your diet imo.

Whilst I appreciate concerns re people’s avoirdupois and it’s effect on health - causes are many and various - Stress being a major factor - it is obvious that Boris cares not a jot for the populace - but desperately needs diversionary tactics to divert attention from his malfeasance in public office.

, I agree most medication on it’s own will not cause the weight gain. However - I also believe there are some anti depressants and psychotics that slow metabolism - some medication does increase the appetite, quite significantly so with some - so though not impossible it does make keeping the calories down harder even when eating healthy.

There should be better info provided for patients about this. And when someone gets this type of medicine a visit to dietitian or trainer would be great. A single visit can make difference on how people handle it.

I was on medication that was an absolute triple whammy for weight gain. It made me absolutely starving, like stomach growling an hour after a full meal. And it messed with my metabolism so that I put on far, far more weight for the amount of calories that I was consuming, than I would have previously. The third part of the triple whammy was it made me not give a shit and be in total denial about how much I'd gained.
The weight fell off when I stopped taking it and I just went back to my previous weight. Boobs stayed a cup size bigger though.

But there's this weird Mumsnet narrative that any weight gain is always the sole fault of the gainer of said weight.

I started slimming world as soon as I read about the connection... I've lost nearly a stone and need to lose another ..
I haven't seen his announcement but I presume he has referenced himself as he is a good 4/5stone overweight himself . 😬

Covid definitely given me more incentive & opportunity to lose weight as WFH and easier to eat from scratch.

Lost 10kg so far. 5kg more to go.

Nobody responsible for my health except me. I got fat through laziness & eating too much.

Glad Boris and others raising awareness of how bad obesity is for everyone's health.

I've lost weight but I don't know how much. I just know my clothes are fitting a bit better which is nice!
I haven't set out to lose weight but I'm generally eating less because I'm moving less.

As an aside, I really hate the whole 'waging war' thing. If Boris wants to 'Wage war' on his own waistline he's more than welcome. I'm happy to gradually just lose a bit of weight 😂 No battle metaphors needed.

My response to Boris Johnson deciding to lose weight for the sake of his health is exactly the same as it would be to anyone else: "good for you".

I think there needs to be an overhaul of the 'diet' industry. That's something the government could work on.
I think some offerings should be downright criminal offence.

It's all about balance, not removing foods from your diet imo.
ABSOLUTELY! I learned that if I take one thing, even something I eat once a blue moon, off the menu, I want it I also have 1 day when I don't count, have drinks etc. It really helps because you don't feel that "oh, fuck this" about controlled eating the other 6 days. I actually realised that I am now consciously choosing healthier options even on the off day. So if anyone is suffering, maybe this can help?

@TitsalinaBumSquash ignore all that noise. To lose weight you have to be in a calorie deficit. Literally that’s all to it. How you get there is up to you. Personally I find it easier to exercise than restrict calories and even easier to sit on my arse and inhale chocolate

Exactly this ☝🏻

Yes @Guylan, that's what I said. Medication may slow your metabolism but the medication itself does not cause the weight gain.

@MaxNormal I don't think weight gain is anyone's "fault", but it's important to be honest about what's causing it. That medication you were on sounds like hell!

For a lot of us, we are fat because of our lifestyle choices. I know I am 2 stone overweight because I eat too much, drink too much booze and don't exercise enough. I'm also middle aged and I know I can't wolf down stuff and still be a size 10 like I was in my early 20's.

Some people, genuinely can't help their size due to medical reasons. We get this.

For many though,it is about what we eat and exercise. I've done weight watchers a few times and always hit goal weight within 3 months, often needing to lose 10kg. I also recently did a superfoods and exercise plan where I literally glowed with health and lost 7 lbs in 3 weeks.

I'm finding hard to quit booze and go on a diet right now but my exercise is way up.

I think there has to be a real change in life style before we can make in roads into being a healthier nation.

I think you have to look at the poorest people and address their issues first and from there others will follow.

Growing up in the 60s and 70s there really weren’t that many fat people

A size 10 was 32”bust, 22” waist and 34” hips and size 14-16 was considered to be overweight.

A couple of changes I have seen is that fruit, vegetables and ingredients to make a meal were really cheap and ready meals were really expensive in comparison

Now we have the opposite.
It is cheaper to buy a ready meal with all the preservatives, trans fats etc than it is to cook from scratch.

Then there is our love of alcohol.

Growing up people would go to the pub and have a pint or even a 1/2 after work occasionally and a night out would be 3 drinks that would last all evening.
There was no real drinking in the house apart from special occasions
And Gin,Vodka and Whiskey were old people’s drink

There was no Happy Hour or cocktails in bars at really discounted prices. It is probably cheaper to get shit faced now in some places than it was in the 60s

I think people forget the calories in booze or they drink so much they forget how many they have had.

Then you have those people in 9-5 jobs who are stressed because more and more work is piled on to them or they feel that they have to get into the office earlier or can’t leave till late because it doesn’t look good.
It leaves no time for any exercise and winding down in the evening is quicker if they reach for a bottle or 2 of something If they have children then both parents are coming home late and with children to sort out by the time they can relax it is time for bed where it starts all over again.

Our lifestyle as a nation does need a radical overhaul but I think what governments tend to do is fiddle round the edges.

Give discounts on gym memberships when a lot of people are struggling financially or have a one size fits all diet advice which means nothing if it is tailored to a 30 year old 6ft tall man and you are a short post menopausal woman