Scared about being ‘obese’ and covid.

[Beebee1115]

So my bmi determines that I’m obese. My weight is mainly my belly. I have fairly slim arms and legs and I’m quite tall. Won’t actually post my weight just because 🤣

I know I need to lose about 3.5 stone. I am quite active but I need to eat healthier. I don’t eat kids but eat the wrong foods. I’m not denying that weight loss will help me.

I am in my twenties. I am pretty healthy. Never get ill etc. Have never had a bad cough nor a chest infection, I never seem to pick up things from my kids.

I am actually convinced that my children have had covid as there symptoms (back in Feb time) matched exactly but there wasn’t so much panic in the U.K. then. I didn’t get ill!

I know covid is a new illness. Anyone can get seriously ill but all the talk of obesity being a risk factor is scaring me.

I’m young, always considered myself healthy, haven’t been to the doctors for about 5 year’s, cannot remember the last time I got ill.

I’ve known I’ve need to lose weight for a while and even more so now.

But please someone put my mind at rest about this.

I need to lose about 3.5 stone to get back to where I was before dc when I was a size 10! I’m probably about 4 stone overweight but I’ll be happy losing 3.5 stone.

Fyi - I know how to lose weight. I’m actually pretty good at it but I like food too much 🤣

My diet isn’t terrible. Don’t eat fast food, don’t drink fizzy other sugary drinks.. I’ve just always had a massive appetite and have large meals and like chocolate and crisps too much!!

I don’t really want people lecturing me on my weight hence why I haven’t added it. I’m aware I need to lose it.

But I just want someone to make me feel better that I’m not going to die of covid 😣😣

You don't eat kids . Sorry op that made me smile

Age is far and away the main risk factor so regardless of your weight, the fact that you’re in your 20’s means you are incredibly unlikely to die from it even if you did catch it.

I’m also very glad to hear you don’t eat kids....

I don’t eat kids but eat the wrong foods.

My start eating kids.

I don’t know, honestly I’m the same, I’ve tried diets, and fasting. I think part of it is not buying it and having a determined attitude.

Omg sorry 🤣🤣 rush typing! Eat much *

Should also add, I’ve lost my way with food and now have a terrible relationship with it.

You could try and use this fear as a tool to motivate you to lose the weight if you think that would be helpful. On the other hand, the stress of this fear might hinder your efforts. Personally i often find that I need some fear to kick start me - eg the realisation that I might fail an exam makes me revise!

But you’ve asked us to put your mind at rest. At your age the risk of dying of covid is teeny tiny, so the fact that you’re obese only increases your already teeny tiny risk. If your age related risk of dying is one in 100 and it doubles due to obesity, it’s still only 2 in 100 if you see what I mean. (I’ve just used those figures for illustration, I don’t know exactly what your risk level actually is in numbers).

When you say you need to lose 3.5 stone is that to get your BMI into the healthy weight zone or the overweight zone?

I have five stone to lose and have similar worries about Covid. I have focused first of all on getting out of the obese category and now have just 8lbs left to achieve that. Once I'm in the overweight zone I am going to focus on each point drop in BMI as my next target and to keep me focused.

The simple fact is that being obese does increase our risk but getting into the right mind set to tackle weight loss is hard. Good luck!

Obesity sounds like your only risk factor, so that has to be a positive. Also people with multiple risk factors can still have asymptomatic or mild illness.
Statistically you are highly likely to make a quick and full recovery.

Should also add that as you are in your twenties the risk of you dying from Covid is minuscule.

PHE clearly decided to push the "COVID and obese and you'll die" line, and I don't know why, the statistics don't show that at all, in fact the statistics show pretty much the opposite, obesity and death from covid is correlated much the same as obesity and death from flu, or obesity and death from stroke, or obesity and death from anything.

You have an absolutely tiny chance of death as a 20 year old, doubling the risk of death is irrelevant - no-one thinks buying 2 lottery tickets rather than one actually makes them likely to win the lottery.

Losing weight will more likely save your life from something other than COVID, than COVID.

I’m terrified to ,,my bmi is high ..I’m so worried I’m bearly eating ,and stressing if I can get enough weight of before the winter

OP, no one ca reassure you because it’s a pandemic so who knows. But, your age doesn’t suggest you are high risk.

But your BMI does put you in the high risk groups for all sorts of other illnesses. Why not use this fear to face up to weight loss and improve your life anyway?

Obesity seems to only really increase risk when it’s combined with age or diabetes. Obviously it’s not great but all you can do is just try and slowly lose weight. Doing crash diets or getting ridiculously stressed about it would surely only add risk.

Its not just about weight. I got fitter a few years ago, could run 10k and would still have been classed as obese as I didn't lose any weight.

Eating kids would at least be Keto 👌

You could try and use this fear as a tool to motivate you to lose the weight if you think that would be helpful. On the other hand, the stress of this fear might hinder your efforts. Personally i often find that I need some fear to kick start me - eg the realisation that I might fail an exam makes me revise!

I knew I needed the panic for revising but omg the above is so true. It's the fear of this that's made me lose over 2 stones so far. I've not ever linked the whole lot.

Fear is my motivator

When I read the OP I thought there can’t possibly be only 3-4st difference between healthy and obese? But Google tells me that an average height woman is at the top end of the Healthy range at 10st but obese at 12st. So that was a surprise!

OP I greatly doubt you will die because you’re “obese”. The threshold for obesity seems very low to me. You probably wouldn’t have to lose much to be classed as merely Overweight.

Thanks all. I’ve known I need to lose weight for a while. Thankfully I haven’t gained anymore weight for a long while and I’ve been the same so just need to focus on getting some off! I’m 28 😀

I think the focus on weight as a risk factor is partly because it is one that is possible to change. Being male or BAME or older are risk factors but no one can change those things whereas we can lose weight. So there is a drive to do so.

I started losing weight in January as a New Years resolution and am so glad I did! Started with the Fast 800 blood sugar diet and have lost 3.5 stone this year so far. I’m down from a BMI of 39 to 31 so my target for autumn is to be below 30 and at least into the overweight category rather than obese. I need to drop another 12lbs to get there. Every pound you lose lowers your risk - of diabetes, of Covid complications, of any obesity related conditions. So it’s worthwhile for your health in a lot of ways. I think the actual risk from Covid is still very low in your age category though and in mine (I’m in my 30s) so try not to be too anxious about it and instead feel good about the positive changes you can make.

it's good to harness this anxiety if you can turn it into a positive motivator to get healthy. your actual risk of death is pretty low but there is no harm in minimising it further and maximising your health and wellbeing. even if your real risk if covid death isn't too bad you will massively benefit from being a healthy weight.

I had a BMI of 43+ at the start of lockdown and I was bloody scared by the stats on obesity and started a proper low calorie & exercise regime which so far has my BMI down to 34.5 - will keep going till down to 27 or so I hope. Maybe I was never at that much real risk from covid as I am young and otherwise healthy, but there will be loads of benefits from this healthier living so why not?

As @sirfredfredgeorge says - obesity is a risk factor across the board. I am also losing weight at mo. Generally fit and eat well but eat too much. Just sticking to 3 meals a day and one snack and making sure I get some steps in each day is making a difference. You can do it OP! Keep it sensible and nutritious - whole foods, minimal processed food, ditch most of the crisps and choc - and you can pretty much eat what you want.

So portion size and high-calorie snacking are two challenges.

Portion size - eat your meals off a side plate. It'll help you bring down the amount you eat.
Snacking - just don't buy them. It's easier to decide not to buy them than to decide not to eat them once they're in the house.
I agree heartily with other posters - obesity isn't going to make you die of covid. If you do catch it it may worsen your outcome slightly, but don't panic. Losing weight will help your health prospects all round.

Losing weight is hard but being more active is easier and activity reduces blood sugar and blood pressure. So don't beat yourself up about dieting, obvs if you can lose a little weight that's good, but concentrate at firs5 on putting in three more active sessions a week, a walk, a swim, maybe a video or a bike ride?

We can’t really make you feel better, because we have no idea how likely you are to die of Covid, anymore than I know if I’m likely to die from it.

Scientists are suggesting that there are different things that will put you more at risk. Currently, they are suggesting those in the obese BMI category are likely to fare worse if they contract Covid than those with a healthy BMI.

If you are worried about being in danger from something, then you do what you can/want to to lessen the risk. Here you are being told that you can lessen your risk of dying from Covid if you lose weight. It’s then up to you what you do with that information.

Plenty of people live lifestyles which put them at risk of illness, death or injury. It’s up to you to decide whether the choices you are currently making which cause you to be overweight (eating too much, not exercising enough) are worth putting your health at risk (and it’s not just Covid you are at risk from if you are in the obese category).

You should lose weight for your overall health. It's also much easier when you're young. You've already identified some of your bad habits. Find low calorie alternatives to things you like. I remember years ago, I used to have a mars bar every night. I swapped it for a Milky Way- half the calories. I couldn't even eat a Mars bar now. Small changes do add up. It will take quite a while to lose the weight you want but you will feel better.