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

This:

"vanillandhoney Fri 15-May-20 10:15:53
Are people just coming on to have a pop at Boris without actually reading the post?"

It would appear so. There are always the ultra negative, the ones who make nasty comments but don't actually think of the context of the post or what has been said before"

I tend to ignore those posters. They make themselves look idiots.

This is a genuine post and Boris himself would not make me lose weight, but he has lost weight himself. I'm not a Boris fan and think he has messed up lots during this but admitting his being overweight contributed to his problems with Covid is correct.

I a going to attempt to lose weight since the stats showing obesity contributes massively to death/complications of covid woke me up a little. I'm overweight myself and just wondered what other people thought. I have also got used to seeing myself larger and others around me larger and must agree with another poster upthread being overweight has been normalised and so common now that I didn't feel I needed to lose any. I just have another perspective on it now that's all.

there's no impact of BMI on mortality rates

Some might disagree...

" Conclusion Overweight and obesity is associated with increased risk of all cause mortality and the nadir of the curve was observed at BMI 23-24 among never smokers, 22-23 among healthy never smokers, and 20-22 with longer durations of follow-up. The increased risk of mortality observed in underweight people could at least partly be caused by residual confounding from prediagnostic disease. Lack of exclusion of ever smokers, people with prevalent and preclinical disease, and early follow-up could bias the results towards a more U shaped association."

www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2156

I had an overweight BMI at the start of lockdown and now it’s healthy - I’ve lost half a stone. Covid was just one factor, I also wanted to have a goal to work towards to cope with lockdown.

Realising I was overweight was actually quite a big shock for me. I always kind of just assumed I was healthy - I used to go to the gym and eat home cooked meals etc. To lose the weight I’ve had to restrict my calories quite a lot, it baffles me how they recommend 2000 calories for women. At 5’4 I would definitely gain even more weight if I ate that many.

I think the truth is we all just eat more than our bodies actually need because we enjoy it. And don’t move as much as we should because we don’t have the time or the motivation.

I hope to keep the weight off and I’d definitely support some sort of public health drive!

"Boris needs to loose the weight himself before he can dish out advice."

I believe that is the plan, whether or not he sticks to it is something else. The general science on weight and health is not new and was fully available when he consistently opposed measures such as sugar taxes, portion controls etc. This year he wants to diet, next year maybe he will care more about the sugar lobby.

Throughout his illness the cabinet were all emphasising his illness had nothing to do with his weight and that despite his size he was extremely fit and posting videos of him jogging.

I'd have guessed also he is in the overweight category (who appear in ICU at roughly the same rate they occur in the population) rather than obese (where there is a correlation but only a correlation).

So if Boris inspires you to lose weight you want or need to lose then go for it but in a few months time he will have moved onto the next fashion (or be flogging his own diet book as Lawson did before him).

How about.......Government puts into place health hubs to support and encourage people to lose weight. Free food, free cooking lessons, free exercise facilites

Oh, fgs - like there’s going to be money for all this in the global depression we are hurtling towards!

How about people start just start taking responsibility for there own health and stop shovelling crap into their gobs?
Also the person whining about gyms not being open - you do know there are a million other ways to exercise both in your home or outside?

Stop with the bloody excuses - it’s pathetic!

*their sorry not there

I woukd happily sponsor him to lose weight if the money went to charity. Maybe he could pull a Captain Tom?

I think @randomer makes a good point. Is it just a declaration, or is there going to be something in place to help people with this? A lot of people genuinely don't know how to cook healthy meals, or rely on ready meals because they're short of time. A lot of gyms, even Council run ones, are expensive and often off-putting for people. Cycling in some cities feels dangerous due to traffic.

I loathe Johnson and think the phrasing is unhelpful, but if proper stuff to help people lose weight and be healthier is put in place then I'm all for it. I'm slightly overweight and would like to lose some, but for vanity rather than Covid worries. Being bored whilst working at home and not having the same level of daily exercise isn't helping me!

I’ve lost weight over the last year and now have a bmi under 25 for the first time in 15 years. My husband has also lost a couple of stone but still overweight. We both have been advised to stop medication we were previously taking for asthma and high blood pressure. Seeing the difference it’s making to our health both physical and mental has kept us stick to our plan through the pandemic. Events like this make me feel powerless so I’m keen to cling onto the things I can control that might just make a difference if we get it. We follow a Keto diet btw.

Stories this morning suggest he will wage war on fat...

What he means is that his spin doctors can then suggest the high numbers of deaths in this country was nothing to do with the government's appallingly ineffective approach- anyone who goes back to work this week and contracts corona by next Monday will obviously have themselves to blame because they didn't immediately sign up for The War on Fat.

Of course most of us could do with losing some weight, many could do with losing a LOT of weight. No doubt those with a healthy weight are much better placed to face the corona. But to be sustainable this has to happen over a period of time.

It's not going to solve the current problem of a highly infectious mutating virus and not enough protective planning (PPE and logistics).

In fact, even if it was possible to lose and maintain weight loss by Monday, it would still not solve the problem- because quite a few other people are dying or becoming longterm disabled too. Of the friends I know who have been badly hit, pretty well all are below the limit of overweight, let alone obese.

NOTHING is going to absolve Boris from the duty of working weekend;, reading all the paperwork, even the boring bits; discussing openly with experts, even the ones who disagree with him; look with an open eye at other countries and see what works for them and why. Any metaphors of war or wrestling muggers or anything of that kind are dangerous precisely because they suggest to the MPs that they can get through this by being exciting, quick and glamorous.

(and yes, I know that's not actually how war works but it is in Metaphor-Land)

randomer
How about.......Government puts into place health hubs to support and encourage people to lose weight. Free food, free cooking lessons, free exercise facilites.

How about taking responsibility for your own health?
Why do some people need to have other people do the work for them? No wonder so many people remain obese their entire lives with that attitude, they aren't prepared to make any effort themselves.

Boris was the typical bloke that thought he was invincible.
Going out and shaking hands, being fat without a care.

Nearly dying sometimes has a profound effect on a person.
I think it did for him.
For health or whatever reason, working on being healthy is a good thing. Good not to treat my body like a rubbish bin. Better for the NHS.

You do realise this is a made up Daily Mail story. They have been waging a war on fat people for weeks with false data, made up stories. I am not saying obesity does not make someone more vulnerable but the DM have created this Boris story to suit one of their current hate campaigns.

Last week at one point they were claiming 60% of Covid-19 deaths were obesity related. They had no actual data to back that up, just a made up table that showed no such thing actually- it was twaddle.

However, having said that, I am 1st 5 lbs lighter than I was on February 14th. 🙂 No cheating, low carb, high protein and walking 20,000 steps a day 5-6 days a week. I haven't been this weight since I was 26.

I feel so much healthier.
Heartburn has gone.
Resting heart rate now 54
Rarely tired out
There is a set of 64 old stone stairs when I am out walking - I had to sit on the bench at the top, when I got there, now I am not out of puff and just keep walking
BMI normal range
In a size 12 - still a bit snug. This made my day yesterday.

DH has also lost 15 lbs and is feeling amazing too. We are both full of beans😁

@cory, great post.

Something else for him to get wrong 🙄

A lot of people genuinely don't know how to cook healthy meals, or rely on ready meals because they're short of time. A lot of gyms, even Council run ones, are expensive and often off-putting for people. Cycling in some cities feels dangerous due to traffic.

Hello - what happened to personal responsibility?

Information re healthy eating, cooking, etc has NEVER been easier to find nor more accessible. Google is full of youtube videos, websites, helpsheets, recipes etc. Libraries have books you can borrow. You can buy very cheap books at the discount book-shops and even supermarkets (which also provide recipe ideas, healthy eating guides etc). I've also seen loads of Facebook groups about weight loss ideas, healthy cooking, etc.

As for exercise, I've lost 6 stones over quite a long time by doing nothing but walking. You can't get cheaper than that.

So let's stop the excuses and take some personal responsibility. It's not someone else's fault if you're overweight and there are NO easy solutions to losing weight - healthy eating, exercise etc are all hard work and require perseverence.

To everyone who is peri/menopausal, yes it is hard but it is possible. I lost nearly 5 stone in my 50s, went from BMI 35 to BMI 24, and am as fit as I was when I was a teenager. It's hard work but it's worth it.
And I never had a chef or 'really good ingredients' either, in fact sometimes I was so poor I had to use a food bank. I wish we could get away from this idea that lising weight and being heathy is impossible if you're poor. It isn't true and it must put some people off without even trying.

I've been wanting to lose baby weight (3 pregnancies worth ) for years and I'm definitely finding it much easier to stick to a diet this time.

I do think seeing real life play out in front of me rather than abstract figures and data has contributed to my success. Have lost 1.5 stone now so far and have another few to go to get small again.

It's a good message : all get fit and healthy so in old age then give all your money to care homes to look after you when you get dementia in your 90s.
I agree I need to lose a stone ( lockdown hasn't helped my weight at all ) and I may even join a gym when they open up. Maybe the big supermarkets losing the aisles full of all the nice foods and more offers on the fruit and veg. I've never smoked but a lot of smokers I know are extremely thin. Are they any healthier than a non smoker like me who likes a glass of wine in front of the tv?
All of this is a good thing but being fat isn't always black or white and some meds also don't help weight gain and many need them to survive.

Yes to @MadamShazam's post! Put it perfectly.

Johnson promoting weight loss makes me want to do the exact opposite, and I'm about go shopping, so extra doughnuts for the Lakie household today.

Also I want to do it before I hit 30. I have to admit I have actually been spending way more on food since dieting but I don't have to, it's just been making it easier to make better choices.

Johnson promoting weight loss makes me want to do the exact opposite, and I'm about go shopping, so extra doughnuts for the Lakie household today

Good for you.

Couldn’t work out why I had suddenly gained weight and my breasts have become so much bigger. Hadn’t given perimenopause a thought until it was pointed out to me

Pre menopause I was a 34D/36C depending on which shop I was in. I'm now a 36G/GG/H, depending on where I'm buying bras.

If I lost weight off my arse, I swear I'd topple over.

Intermittent fasting works well if you struggle to give up certain foods. A friend lost 3 st over a few months by only eating between 11am and 5.30pm. She more or less are what she fancied but found her stomach shrunk and was happy on a snack at 11, lunch at 1 and a meal at 5.

I am fat. Not just overweight. I am taking steps for that.

If Boris wants to bring down the obesity rate, he would be better off having a "war" on poverty, as poor people are far more likely to be overweight due to poor diet and other lifestyle factors.