To think that biscuits don’t make you obese?

[covidtired]

I’m 20 stone 7 . I’m not that weight because I ate too many biscuits - if biscuits weren’t there I would ate anything I could find, and a lot of it !! I’m slowly losing now (was 22 stone 13 on NYD) but I’m still eating biscuits, cake, etc - just in moderation and without a side order of guilt .

Surely the answer is to support mental health more, especially in children and adolescents - I ate for comfort because I wasn’t getting it from anything else - and promote exercise - I was removed from PE due to dyspraxia and bullying, and told not to bother trying ... hence I’m now an adult that finds exercising awful !

Surely fixing these things is the answer, not banning cheap biscuits ?!!

I can't have one biscuit. I cant have one cake. My portions are too large. I'm addressing this now

I’m guilty of eating too much ie a whole packet of biscuits

In one sitting?

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime

It's quite startling to think 6 custard creams etc a day could lead to 50 lb weight gain a year!

Not to me it isn’t. I’m about 5 stone overweight and I’ve never eaten 6 biscuits in a day in my life.

@wilkolampshade it was your parents responsibility for you to be a healthy weight when you were 8.
I distinctly remember my weight matching my year group (7 stone in Yr 7, 8 stone in Yr 8 etc) in secondary until year 10 where I remained 10 stone until I was 21.Im now 14 stone at 34 so working on reducing that but my problem is portion size and a relatively sedentary lifestyle.

There are many reasons...biscuits can be one of them. The combination of fat and sugar often makes you want to reach for 'just one more'. However my kids are partial to biscuits and very slim.

I balooned from 7st7 to 15st due to a combination of psychiatric medication, being an inpatient and an underactive thyroid. No biscuits! Now I'm out I'm managing to tackle some of the issues and shift the weight.

I also agree with @ItWasNotOK in terms of the "deserve" narrative. If you start from the position that biscuits and cakes are an everyday food that you use to manage your mood then it is so much harder to lose weight, because you are just denying yourself all the time. It will affect your mood
100% agree.

It's why lots of dieting programmes don't really work because if they did, they'd lose their future clients. It's not in the diet industry's interests to promote long term lifestyle change. Often the language around food is that certain foods are naughty / treat foods / syns.

Everything in moderation is a better outlook to aim for where food is appreciated, but isn't linked to mood.
E.g. One biscuit can be enjoyed with a cup of coffee mid morning because it's a nice biscuit, you're not having pudding later and it's part of a balanced diet instead of having 2 biscuits with coffee at work for a pick me up, then having some cake at lunch because someone brought it in, then getting in from work and having a cup of tea and a snack because you're tired from work, then another's one before bed because it's just a little treat.

I agree with @covidtired. The reasons why people are overweight are varied.
I am overweight because I have used food to try and keep going with ME. The sugar rush (even better with caffeine in a Coke) allowed me to carry on (when I shouldnt have). Most people would probably have used coffee for that. But I hate the stuff.

Stress can also play a huge part. Not because of emotional eating but because it creates mayhem with blood sugar balance.

I am worried that overweight/obese people will end up been ostracised even more which is counterproductive. Ensuring that people have access to a health coach would be much more appropriate imo.

Depends how many biscuits you eat?

YANBU. I don't think it's fair to judge fat people and blame it on what they eat. A person's weight is also determined by genetics and I agree that mental health has an impact. I am not fat and I eat biscuits and I know other slim people who do too.

For you it’s biscuits , for someone else it’s donuts and chips
I read an interesting comment on another thread that said in different time’s people used Valium , cigarettes , alcohol to cope with their misery

The fact is you are emotional eating , but
Many others are habit eating or just have bad habits

Fuck knows what the solution is

It's daft to say anything can make you fat if you eat too much of it, you don't see many people overdoing it on too much veg (impossible to make you fat even if you do as too much fibre, and calories too low) or boiled eggs as one example given (high protein, you'd feel incredibly full if you ate more than 3 or 4). People binge on high fat, high refined carb foods, typically high sugar or high salt as well, the biscuits, the cake, chocolate, crisps, fries, burgers, pizza, these are the most physically addictive foods which we are just unable to control ourselves with. Even for people who say, oh I cook from scratch but still fat, you will probably still be overeating on the 'cooked from scratch' version of highly flavoured, high fat or sugar, refined carb part of your diet, pasta meals, white rice, white sugar, anything with white wheat flour, processed meat. Once you cut those foods completely out or treat them as something which should come with a 'harmful to health' label, the weight will drop off.

I think people over estimate how much use exercise is too. My exercise has increased slightly since cOvid, but I have put weight on.cos I eat more crap during the day. It's depressing how few calories exercise burns. 28minute 5k run burns 282 calories. That's 6 jaffa cakes or about a glass of wine.

@aintnothinbutagstring

It's daft to say anything can make you fat if you eat too much of it, you don't see many people overdoing it on too much veg (impossible to make you fat even if you do as too much fibre, and calories too low) or boiled eggs as one example given (high protein, you'd feel incredibly full if you ate more than 3 or 4). People binge on high fat, high refined carb foods, typically high sugar or high salt as well, the biscuits, the cake, chocolate, crisps, fries, burgers, pizza, these are the most physically addictive foods which we are just unable to control ourselves with. Even for people who say, oh I cook from scratch but still fat, you will probably still be overeating on the 'cooked from scratch' version of highly flavoured, high fat or sugar, refined carb part of your diet, pasta meals, white rice, white sugar, anything with white wheat flour, processed meat. Once you cut those foods completely out or treat them as something which should come with a 'harmful to health' label, the weight will drop off.

I'm a fat bastard - I don't like

Chocolate
Sweets
Cake
Crisps
Processed Meat (except bacon, which I have once a month)
Burgers
Fries
Pizza
Fizzy drinks

I also don't like pastry at all or bread that much, have pasta once a month when I'm due on and I don't particularly like fatty food.

What I do like are eggs, vegetables, meat and fish. And rice once a week (not just white, we've also got red, brown and wild). Quite a few meals are vegan, I detest creamy, fatty sauces and I like beans and pulses. My treats are things like fresh strawberries or melon with natural yoghurt/kefir.

I am still fat.

Admittedly, I'm fat with perfect blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels/ratios, but I am still undoubtedly fat.

I log my food properly (no point going to the effort otherwise) and I come in at under 1,600 kcals a day. I am not active, especially during lockdown, as I've got Psoriatic Arthritis, so what's obvious to me is that I am still consuming too many calories or not expending anywhere near as many as TDEE calculations claim I should be.

Once (if) I manage to get more movement going again, perhaps this will decrease, but I am still fat, whatever way you look at it (or me).

As I am definitely not scarfing down the shit you claim I am doing and denying, then I am plainly eating too much of the things you think I don't.

As I said before , I don't give a shit if the bogofs are removed from the hundreds of items of shit I see on the tab on Ocado's website, as I don't eat them. It won't make weight 'drop off' me, though. Because it's not responsible for the weight being there in the first place.

I’ll phone the GP later in the week about the agoraphobia - they’ve previously said there’s absolutely nothing they can or would do, and zero mental health support unless totally incapacitated, but I’ll ring and ask again . I’m on antidepressants but they themselves cause weight gain, and I’ve got PCOS too so it is all a vicious cycle . And I’m so so bloody angry and ashamed/embarrassed and scared of it all that I struggle very much to talk to anyone about weight or dieting .

On the plus side I’ve had a better evening, thought a bit about things and am looking forward to having a nice home cooked meal for my birthday tomorrow ... trying seabass with a honey/orange sort of marinade and salad . Better than getting a takeaway I think ! Thank you for all thoughts ... been good to see different perspectives rather than the ‘poor me’ that my head goes straight to !!

There are 70 kcal in a digestive biscuit. Eat 6 to 8 and you've had the calories of one of your main meals of the day. I cannot have biscuits in my house because I lose all self-control when it comes to them. Have chucked countless packets which my husband "bought for the kids". Straight into the slimy green bin, so there is no way back for them! If you want to lose weight, you should get rid of all the junk food currently in your house.

How much exercise do you do a day? At start of lockdown I put on half a stone. I wasn't even over eating but I was eating more comfort food and obviously no exercise. I was surprised just how quickly I gained weight. 3 months later, I have not lost weight. If anything I've put on an extra couple of pounds!! However the difference is now I eat a huge amount of veg, fruit, a proper lunch dinner breakfast. I eat lots of snacks like nuts and prunes but I measure out a half a handful only. I eat a nice big healthy meal and reward myself with a mini twix, or small cup of full fat ice-cream. I can't not have a treat everyday. But I also run 4 to 5km and 5 days a week! I've put on weight which I think is leg muscle but lost a lot of inches on thighs, hips and can feel my clothes look more svelte on me. Can u up your exercise??

@MitziKme too actually, I am gf and vegan as well. I am not perfect but I don’t eat junk food (never eaten at Mcdonalds in my life!) or drink fizzy drinks or alcohol as I don’t like it. 5-10 portions of veg/day. Pulses, wholegrains, eat 500kcal under my bmr most days. 30-60 mins brisk walking daily too (dog). I still have a BMI of 34. I am managing ME/thyroid issues and hormonal imbalances so can only assume that has an impact. I have lost some kgs in lockdown just by walking more but it is slow. I also think stress makes me fat - when I started properly meditating i lost a lot without changing my diet or exercise, but no-one cares about that on a national level - just the junk food!

". A person's weight is also determined by genetics and I agree that mental health has an impact. I am not fat and I eat biscuits and I know other slim people who do too."

While genetics plays a part, lifestyle and diet are the key factors. I eat what I would consider quite a lot of shit but I am slim. But I also walk everywhere and stop at 3 biscuits maximum. My husband thinks he puts on weight easily but he drives everywhere (even to the shop which is 5 minutes away) and will eat half a packet of biscuts without thinking.

There's a reason we are all fatter now than in the 70s. Our genes haven't changed in one generation.

Comfort eating, incorrect portion size and a sedentary lifestyle are three simple ways to obesity (no judging, I'm obese myself). Carb counting, weighing portions and monitoring food intake and activity in My Net Diary (has a food database too) have helped me start to drop.

Taking title literally op, for me, yes. It's the one thing I eat in excess. Can get through a pack in two days. Of course lack of exercise hasn't helped me lately either.

I don't like most biscuits and never buy them. I've still managed to become about 2 stone over weight. For me it was wine. So I quit drinking... and seem to have replaced it with ice cream and crisps. There is just no talking to me...

OP I think you are quite vulnerable so you need to go easy on yourself.
Little steps.I would say don’t have things in the house that will tempt you,but if you live at home that will be a bit tricky

If you genuinely don't know where to start then educate yourself about the effect of sugar and starch on the human body and what carbohydrates do and how they are stored. Go to YouTube and watch hours of videos by Dr. Eric Berg and Jason Fung. The human body doesn't need refined carbs at all and is not designed to handle it. Cutting out all veges that grow below ground, all sugars and refined starches. Eat dairy in moderation and eat meat with fat and above ground vegetation only and you will be healthier. Throw in a few fasts which we are designed for and the stored food (fat) will shift too. It's not a simple calories in/calories out situation because we metabolise our food. You can't access your fat stores until you drop your circulating insulin. You can't drop insulin while you are taking in sugars and starches. Stop those and the magic happens.

"The human body doesn't need refined carbs at all and is not designed to handle it. Cutting out all veges that grow below ground, all sugars and refined starches. Eat dairy in moderation and eat meat with fat and above ground vegetation only and you will be healthier. Throw in a few fasts"

That is totally unrealistic advice for someone who is not following a decently healthy diet to start with. When people read this kind of stuff, they just don't bother because it's far too much.

You don't go from a packet of biscuits a day to regular fasting.

Guns don't kill people , people kill people
Biscuits don't make people fat, people make people themselvesfat

It is all just about regulating your intake and living healthily. And there is plenty of sports that can still be fun with dypraxia. Heck I fall over a dozen times in Pilates due to it but I enjoy it heaps. Some people giggle at me for it , but fair enough I must be funny to look at with 0 balance skills haha .