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

Totally agree with Boris - am at least 4 stone overweight myself, and must take responsibility for my own health primarily. No-one's fault but my own.

It's a nice idea to get the public to lose weight to improve their health. Lots of health issues are caused by being overweight, and getting covid if you're fat is likely to make it affect you worse (although not all healthy people are coping well either).

But what is his plan if food prices rise? A lot of poorer families already have to make do with less healthy cheaper food to feed themselves. How can they afford proper healthy meals all the time? I think even slightly richer families will struggle if all bills start rising to be honest.

Boris is a fine one to criticise.

I wanted to lose weight before, lost 4 stone with slimming world but piled it all back on with a but extra the worry of covid is making more determined but also I'd love to fit enough to keep up with the dances on tiktok

I wanted to lose weight before, lost 4 stone with slimming world but piled it all back on with a bit extra The worry of covid is making me more determined but also I'd love to fit enough to keep up with the dances on tiktok

Johnson is rather on chubby side himself so i hardly think hes thinks it ok to tell anyone else to lose weight,unless he intends to.Lead by example id say.

Most people surely know being overweight isnt good for you and you are high risk of diabetes etc so why would the virus make more likely to listen.I think maybe we now accept being overweight more than we should,Drs seem reluctant to tell people,And as someone who is slim,always has been,i do get slightly fed up with references to "skinny minies"we are not all size 6s" etc .People feel they can make remarks about slim women.Yet say someone is fat and all breaks lose.Im quite shocked now by the amount of young women,way younger than me who seem vastly overweight,if tthat big now whst will they be like when middle aged.Its a ongoing problem but somehow i dont see Johnson solving it.!

I now want to gain a few stone and flick the Vs at BJ.

People feel they can make remarks about slim women.Yet say someone is fat and all breaks lose

Bullshit I got much more abuse for my weight at a size 28 than at a size 12. I didnt get any abuse for my weight at a size 12.

It's definitely on my mind but at the same time the temptation is to just enjoy snacks and comfort food to make lockdown more manageable!

I’m approx 3st 7lb overweight according to BMI measurements.

However, my blood pressure is the lower side of normal, my cholesterol is the lower end of normal and I’m generally fit and healthy.

I won’t purposefully lose weight, on the strength of covid. If I lose weight, it will be for me (I am actively trying to improve my diet and lifestyle, but have been doing so for some time and this has not been affected by the covid crisis).

Diabetes is a far greater risk than obesity alone and although type 2 is associated with obesity, type 1 is far higher from a risk perspective.

But, perhaps stating the obvious. Type two is preventable, type one is not.

It’s like suggesting that age is a bigger risk factor with Covid19.

People feel they can make remarks about slim women.Yet say someone is fat and all breaks lose

It is unfair. I had friend size 8 (more 6 tbh) and she kept getting the "take an extra piece, it will be good for you" and "Is it medical?" And similar. I never got this questions as a size 12 at the time. And no one dared, except my family, when I became size 20-22...

@KentMum81

Given that you Mention the risk of type 2 diabetes, don’t you worry about insulin resistance ?

Lots of people with type 2 diabetes are fit, have normal blood pressure and normal chloresterol.

Type two is preventable, type one is not. Is it always? I ask as I worked with someone who developed type 2, he was slim, very active and if his packed lunches were anything to go by he had a healthy diet. I'm not sure what else he could have done.

I shamefully admit that I am even aware I am type 1 risk I have because parent had it🙄 I am just so angry at myself for ignoring these things because until I tipped to 22 I was quite fit (run up stairs and didn't need break), no issue with things like yoga. Touched me toes etc. Then there is that half a stone, which turns it around and suddenly it all hit me. I can't do shit, I will soon need two seats in planes and insulin pump. It's like a wall came crashing down inside of that brain of mine and revealed all what fucking Mr Denial hid behind it...

1forsorrow, the science is emerging fast.

Until a few years ago, no one knew Type 2 was treatable at all.

Michael Mosley, who was healthy and slim did not realise he had it until he was tested for a TV programme. It seems to be linked to fat around your pancreas, and there is a certain amount of genetics as to who stores fat there. His father died of a heart attack quite young, which may or may not be linked. He went on a strict diet and reversed the diabetes.

I also understand that there are racial/genetic differences, with Asians being far more vulnerable, even though the average Asian is likely to be slimmer than the average British Caucasian.

In terms of CV, one thought is that uncontrolled diabetes is far worse than controlled, as the blood is thicker and you are more vulnerable to infection.

People feel they can make remarks about slimwomen.Yetsay someone is fat and all breaks lose
So true! I get comments all the time at a size 6. I haven't been overweight by BMI but I have been very close. I never had anyone mention my weight when I was a size 10 and at the high end of the healthy weight range (too fat for my build).

Bullshit I got much more abuse for my weight at a size 28 than at a size 12. I didnt get any abuse for my weight at a size 12

And

It is unfair. I had friend size 8 (more 6 tbh) and she kept getting the "take an extra piece, it will be good for you" and "Is it medical?" And similar. I never got this questions as a size 12 at the time. And no one dared, except my family, when I became size 20-22...

There can be something of a difference between size 8 and size 12 depending on your height.

I've always been particularly petite in both. Size 6 - 8 but I'm only 5ft 1. My recommended calorie intake for my size and weight is about 1400 rather than the recommended 2000 for an adult female.

Over the years, I have got sick of others thinking it's OK to pass comment on why I don't have a biscuit or a cake in the office "ohh look at you, you are so good" or remarking on how I haven't eaten everything when we eat out. Or remarking on the size of my portions.

We all know its rude to comment on it for someone who is bigger. People do it knowingly though. But there is a social acceptability that it's OK to do the same with people who are thinner, in a somewhat disparaging way. And no this isn't OK.

It may not be as nasty as the abuse that overweight people get but it's certainly not polite either. It displays a real level of ignorance and rudeness.

Logically I shouldn't be eating the same size portions as someone who is taller and has a bigger skeletal frame to me. I shouldn't be going into a restaurant and eating meals designed to fill an average man (2500 calories daily) because I'd be eating double what I should.

It doesn't seem to be something that people can compute though.

I have found that when I've put on weight it has been all about perception of portion size and what is 'normal'.

Things like eating leftovers off your child's plate dull your ability to perceive how much you are eating. Buffets are my achilles heel because the whole going back for more thing fucks with my head. Also plate size (particularly when eating out as I eat off small plates at home but it's always bigger plates in restaurants)

In general people have an incorrect assumption about portion size to begin with and it takes a bit of effort to get your head around it.

When they've done observations of what people eat and what people think they eat this is the big thing. People massively underestimate what they eat.

Ready meals are a particular bug bare of mine because the portion sizes is set and its always far too much for me but with the way it's packaged its psychologically much more difficult to not eat it.

In the UK we are trained to eat everything off our plates. Therefore if I eat from a ready meal I'd serve the whole lot but if I cook for myself I'd serve the portion I want and give different sizes to DH.

Once you see this concept, I do think it's hard to unsee.

There can be something of a difference between size 8 and size 12 depending on your height. I'm 5ft 5 but I have a small build. I'd have to be overweight to be a 12 and I look like I'm carrying too much weight when I've been a BMI of 23 or 24 and a size 10.

I don’t think buffets will be so popular after all this at functions. It’s a cross infection nightmare.

Can't comment on the medical aspects of this, but I think that calling Johnson 'Boris' feeds into the whole lovable rogue, amusingly dishevelled and self-deprecating toff thing that made (and, in spite of his demonstrable incompetence, still makes) him so popular. Sorry to be curmudgeonly, but I think the celebritisation of politics has been damaging for all of us.

QQ - we are the same - I think about 5 foot 5 is average UK female height.

Smoeone said above about other people saying - have a slice of cake etc - we somehow need to change the norm in offices and work places (if people ever get back into offices and schools) that having sugar all the time is not okay. I remember giving a 3 day course to a company in Northern Spain. No one was over weight for some reason. i am not saying all of Spain is like that. Also someone had a birthday and we had ended a bit early on my last day so I was back in the office side of the building and guess what they brought in to eat as a treat - cold omlet - it was really nice - it has veg in it, eggs etc.. I have never ever seen a UK workplace bring in a healthy food for someone's birthday.

Bullshit I got much more abuse for my weight at a size 28 than at a size 12. I didnt get any abuse for my weight at a size 12.

I think people saying slim are probably meaning 6 or 8 rather than 12.

That said, I'm n easy 6 and only hear complements, I have never had any form of abuse. Maybe my hearing is selective.