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

Might lockdown have some hidden health benefits for the population? Most fast food chains closed, cinemas closed so no giant portions of popcorn, restaurants closed so no massive rich meals, pubs shut ( tho I know people can drink at home), and people taking an hour or more's exercise a day in the nice clean air - that's a decent four mile walk, or ten mile cycle. More home cooked food. Really it's how people used to live before we became so dependent on the car and the takeway!

ALongHardWinter

Thats an amazing achievement. WELL DONE.
I hope you reach your goal.

I've gone from a BMI of 44 to a BMI of 27 in the last couple of years. I've made exercise a part of my daily routine and have continued to eat well throughout lockdown.
The added risk of being overweight has definitely spurred me on to not succumb to the temptation of snacking lots while at home.
I think it's good that BoJo has highlighted this, even though I'm not a fan of him normally

I smoke - I really shouldn't and it's very bad for my health and even though I am aware of the many, many reasons why I shouldn't I still smoke.

I imagine that being obese might be similar in some circumstances - you know you shouldn't eat loads, but still do.

I know if I could go to bed for a week covered in nicotine patches confident that my responsibilities were covered and cared for I'd be going.

I'd probably be quite fat if I didn't smoke so much [blows smoke emoticon].

@ToffeeYoghurt thoroughly appreciate your post. Those of us who are lucky in life underestimate the barriers to people getting healthier.

@ToffeeYoghurt, great post!

I did not want the Tory's to win the election. I am not over impressed at how this pandemic has been managed in the U,K, However I think the posts criticising Boris's personal appearance etc are ridiculous. We need to take the judgment out of talking about obesity. He has said that he is overweight and that it was a factor in the way he was affected by the coronavirus. That's a fact. He has said that he has an intention to try to do something about it and that it would be beneficial for other people who are overweight to do the same. Why the personal insults? ( said as someone who deplores this government on the whole ).

Boris didn’t have a “brush with death”. He didn’t need a ventilator. How much longer are we going to swallow his bullshit?

Anyway I’m determined to come out of all this a better person than I was before it started. No work any more so no excuse not to get out there and exercise and find the time to source and eat only healthy foods. Nearly a stone down is minimal for me but it’s a start. I’ll keep going. I already feel a lot better.

I can't vote as I'm underweight but I think Boris is right. I've been trying my best to look after my health in this crisis. I've gained weight, and we're eating well as a family and getting out everyday for exercise and sunshine. I think everyone needs to take more personal responsibility for their health, just do the best they can, to support the NHS.

Which also means people could have taken personal responsibility instead of jetting off to Northern Italy AFTER the virus had already been well publicised

Well of course, I don’t think anyone is disputing that. However I don’t understand the correlation. Taking personal responsibility means if you’re obese and are not struggling with complex mental and physical health issues, then it’s understanding the risks you face due to your obesity and adjusting your behaviour accordingly, be it from isolating and maintaining your weight, to loosing it and reducing the risk of Covid. Or just chancing it and accepting you may be very ill. Understanding that in these instances, where you’re not mentally or physically ill in a way to cause it, then your body weight is due to your lifestyle choices.

I’m not really sure what you expect someone who went to italy to do. Of course if they caught it, or transmitted it they know they are to blame for taking the risk. But I’m not sure what else they should now do?

I don’t get why people are so upset about the thought of taking personal responsibility for their weight when it’s like Boris, or I was or my friend is, where the weight gain is simply due to lifestyle choices.

Obesity is not the poster boy for mental illness. No one should be trying to say any obese person is clearly suffering from trauma and significant mental illness. Some may, but many as we know, it’s simply life style.

It’s Easy to fall into a rut and let yourself go, eating too much, not exercising enough, because of work pressures, kids, or simply personality type. Many people can relate to that. It’s not so easy to put a discipline in, eat healthily and exercise.

@Bluntness100 Hear, hear!

Absolutely @Bluntness100.

I think there are two elements.

1. Understanding that too much fat is dangerous, will impact on your health and well being, and that it is possible to change things. In places where a high proportion of people are overweight, fat is the norm and this may not be understood, or big bones, poverty or fat shaming are rolled out as justifications.

1. Equally important. That people see an achievable route map to getting fitter and thinner. Adele could afford to buy in specialist help, but there is a lot out there already. How about a mix of Joe Wicks, Michael Mosley and Paul McKenna, or equivalents as part of a daily motivation. Plus societal pressure. It is no longer acceptable to smoke indoors, and the once regular ritual of going to the pub at lunchtime has gone. Chickenshops should be a rare treat, crisps are not a substitute for food, sweets should not be offered be offered as reward, schools should offer some brisk exercise each day, walking to work or school if possible, should be the norm, and so on.

One quite shocking, but rarely commented on thing in London, is the fact that pupils are noticeably thinner in private schools than state. (And thinner in West London than South.) Its not just poverty if the kids eating takeaways on the local bus on their way home are anything to go by. A lot is down to bad choices, and society can influence these, like they did with smoking and alcohol.

I agree with toffee's post however I also think there is a problem with some people hiding behind mental health as a reason to improve their health.

I live around the corner from two mums who I was quite friendly with, got to know well and liked. We live no more than 5 minutes walk from school. It takes as long to drive and I often can walk it faster than they can get child in car and drive back.

They are constantly moaning about their weight but will not walk to school. There is always some reason why they can't. Whilst they do have issues with mental health there is no reason at all why they can't start with changing things by walking to school. Apart from sheer laziness and an unwillingness to change.

I've suffered from severe anxiety for some time so I'm really not lacking in sympathy. It is definitely an excuse for them and no matter how much sympathy I have for other issues that I have, it always comes back to the point that mental health is convenient when it suits them.

In the end of got fed up of the pressure to get lifts with them and go for cake or a fry up and the endless excuses. I got fed up of the little digs at 'being boring' for not wanting to join them. It was really getting me down trying to justify why I didn't want to eat huge amounts with them and felt incredibly guilty both when I did and when I didn't for different reasons. It's ultimately been the thing that's broken the friendship for me (although there are other reasons this is the one I haven't been able to get past). I've never had a problem with big friends before and certainly never faced any who have actively made such a big point of being unhappy and having just so many excuses. Clearly I wasn't helping the situation in their eyes by refusing to join in.

No matter how much support they get, nothing will change until they realise they have to make that effort to change and how they both encourage the other not to make that change. Right now neither of them want to and that's the bottom line.

I hope they do, but I very much doubt it because they are comfortable and it's easier not to change anything.

How do you change that and get them to take those first steps?

How do you change that and get them to take those first steps?
You don't. The person needs to want to lose weight. The reasons can be anything like anger because they bought themselves pretty chairs and now they worry about them, health scare, seeing what awaits them if the meet someone even bigger who already has all the associated health issues, wanting to be there for their children, or simply have better quality of life.
But they have to want it themselves.

I would also point out here that living in a share house does not stop one cooking. I know. I cooked when I lived in share houses.

But they have to want it themselves.

Exactly.

The excuses will stay until people reach that point.

In Johnson's case, being unable to breathe enough to eat much, combined with having an oxygen mask over his face for a week probably contributed more to make him lose weight than any claimed Damascene conversion to the Ways of Thin.

Put simply, if you can't physically put food in your mouth, you're going to lose weight. Which is what happened to him.

He might well be wanting to capitalise upon that initial free weight loss, but nobody needs congratulate him for something he had absolutely no control over at the time, anymore than somebody with gastro needs congratulating for losing a stone in a week due to puking and shitting their guts out.

He is a good example because like a lot of people he has struggled with his weight for years, tried a fair bit of jogging, weight gone up then down then up and this almost died because he's fat might be a wake up call for him (and having a thin young finance young enough to be his daughter - another reason some man lose weight in mid life....)

He's not dictating that everyone has to do it. Merely mentioning that people can help themselves, given obesity is a documented extra risk - if they want to. People are free to take from his experience, whatever they want to.

Personally I'd already risk assessed and am losing weight. I knew the risks were there pre covid but decided that now the risk is great enough for me to actually want to do something about it. My choice.

Despite what people think it doesn't cost a lot of money to get fit. I am a member of a gym I've not been into for a year because I hate exercising inside. I run outside, both in the country and town centre. The weather is lovely now. Get outside, walk or jog, get your vitamin D boost and improve your mood. Also the fittest and most toned I've ever been was when I regularly put on an exercise video for an hour. There are lots available for free or at a small cost on the TV or internet. Charity shops (When open) also often have dumbbells that have been donated.

There will be SO MUCH exercise equipment for sale or donated as above to charity shops month after lockdown ends.

red yy, the genuinely kind offer of a lift for a short 1 mile trip in pleasant weather often happens. I have legs and trainers, it won't take me long to walk it.

I wonder if antidepressants play another part in it. I was under the impression they can cause weight gain. But initially cheaper than proper long term counselling. Although probably not once the side effects of weight gain kick in.

There's SO many reasons we've gained weight as a society. Good luck to Boris working through it.

One thing is to stop going "so gawj" and "such an inspiration" at morbidly obese people on social media... I know it sounds harsh, but we wouldn't be clapping while we are watching someone starving themselves to death while showing off their ribs, would we... We are beyond that now because it was dangerous and wrong role modeling...

@OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow Exactly.