Everyone bitching about Boris' calorie and bike investment etc!!

[bbbbitxhy]

Or just bitching about him in general...

So far iv seen a woman slagging him of because he will invest in bikes for obese people but her GP will not give her a tummy tuck.

People with eating disorders complain about calories on menus as it will stop them eating! Understandable but for people like me who BINGE eat and have to calorie count to not become obese would give freedom to!

And so much more... I feel like he can't do right from wrong!!

A friend was complaining last week because the free school meals she was getting for ds are boring 🤦🏻‍♀️

I just SMH... would love to see these people run the country!

I like transparency. I can't see much of an argument for 'don't tell me, I don't want to know'. Since smaller establishments won't need to do this, presumably those who don't want to know will still have options.

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but how the fuck are restaurants supposed to work out how many calories are is each thing they make? Some places will have to employ someone else just to do this!

The problem with this is it's not strategic. Obesity is a complex,systemic problem. It's to do with poverty, town planning,time scarcity, ignorance about food, other chronic health conditions...it's not because people don't know cake is fattening or they haven't got round to fixing the brakes on their bike. It feels like Boris is just spunking out ideas at random, and someone's writing them all down and turning them into government policy. It feels desperate.

I haven't lived in the UK for years and yes, people will moan about everything there. It is honestly a relief to get away and not have to hear the 5 million ways in which my mother/colleagues/random bus stop man is pissed off today.

I like a moan myself but it does honestly get to unbearable levels at times. The mask wearing thing is a case in point, what an absolute palaver over nothing.

Wetherspoons already has calories on the menu and it puts me off eating anything - and I've never been in a diet or had an eating disorder. It quite ruins the experience of eating out.

The cycling idea is great though. My plan would be to give everyone a free bike when they turn 18.

Theterrible42s, there are simple computer programs to count calories in a recipe. Even the popular MFP site has one. Now the calorie count will be for their Cesar salad, not your personal request of no croutons and no anchovie paste.
But easily done.

"Wetherspoons already has calories on the menu and it puts me off eating anything - and I've never been in a diet or had an eating disorder. It quite ruins the experience of eating out."

Seeing a few numbers next to a menu item ruins the experience of eating out?

Drama.

I think putting calories on menus is really missing the point. People aren't usually obese simply because they don't know exactly how many calories are in the chocolate fudge cake. They are obese because they habitually eat too much, sometimes for very complex reasons . We should be looking at how people can be helped to reset their everyday shopping, cooking and eating habits, not pointing out what ought to be obvious.

allJapanesejazz - People who are in recovery from eating disorders, like myself, do eat at restaurants. Its takes years in recovery to eat out, to try and learn intuitive eating, not viewing foods as calories, not viewing foods as good or bad, allow yourself treats - most people never get there in all honestly. This would be very harmful to the millions of people in this situation. It would also, as someone else pointing out, encourage calorie obsessions amongst others.

The idea that calories have to be forced on everyone, not by request, would just ruin eating out for me. Not only because of the eating disorder history - I just would like to be able to enjoy my evening without feeling guilty of my choices, which I'm sure many would.
In addition, there is no evidence that it even works to help obesity. It doesn't address any emotional issues as other PP have said. It's a quick 'fix', and most chains have this info. on their website anyways.

But as so many of you have said - as long as you can stick to your diets, then that's wonderful.

@ItWasNotOK

"Wetherspoons already has calories on the menu and it puts me off eating anything - and I've never been in a diet or had an eating disorder. It quite ruins the experience of eating out."

Seeing a few numbers next to a menu item ruins the experience of eating out?

Drama.

It ruins it a bit for me too, why is that drama? Is it because you don't have the tiniest bit of ability to empathise with someone else? What a shame.

As previous posters have said already, most chains have this information on their websites already.

Having calorie counts on menus isn’t, in my opinion, particularly helpful. It requires the reader to understand them in context I.e. “ah, this is 500 calories - I understand how that’s relevant for me: how it fits into my personal calorie goals for the day/week and my approach towards my weight (maintenance, gain or loss). I understand the impact of eating 500 vs 800 calories, on this particular meal.”

The people who are able to contextualise the calorie data and use it usefullyon a menu are those who have a decent amount of (accurate!) background knowledge about their calorie needs, and a healthy approach to managing that. Others will likely be confused, worried, or have no frame of reference so ignore it. And those who have active eating disorders or are in recovery will likely be triggered.

So actually, is it a game changer in managing obesity? I doubt it, I think it will only be actively helpful for a small percentage of the population.

I would have liked to take advantage of the bike vouchers, but the whole scheme has failed. The site crashed repeatedly, then ( apparently) vouchers were available for around 45 minutes in the middle of the night a few days ago, although I still couldn't get on, then the vouchers stopped again

"It ruins it a bit for me too, why is that drama? Is it because you don't have the tiniest bit of ability to empathise with someone else? What a shame."

Yes, from one internet comment, you have accurately surmised my entire personality.

Personally I like calories on menus as it helps me determine whether I need to reign it in the next day or not as I try and view my eating over a period of a week. Some dishes are typically a 'normal' ish dinner but some are very calorific so I figure a lighter meal next day would be better to balance things out.

However, I don't think these measures will make any difference to obesity because weight is so complex and personal to each individual.

I can see the bonus of calories on the menu for someone like myself who is overweight but my dd is anorexic. We went away for two nights this week and even having the words under 600 calories on the menu for the healthier stuff sent her into a spin and she ate nothing then refused everything else except fruit for the rest of the holiday. I know she needs to learn to deal with it but at 15 it's a bit of an ask.

Also being overweight I know when I eat a tub of ice cream it's full of shit. The problem is at the time I'm doing it I don't care as it's my way of dealing with things. Putting calories on stuff is not going to stop the emotional side of overeating.

Genetic tests for fat genes in obese people and more research into obesity would be a bit more helpful than a bike voucher.

I come from a line of obese relatives, I’ve just had an argument with a family member for giving my little girl a cake (she isn’t allowed them - doctors orders, she is fat). I’ve had my son raging because “there is no food in the house” (there is, you just have to cook it).

We have no crisps, I’m thinking of banning biscuits (the grandparents like them but can’t be trusted)

The only way my mum managed to stay a reasonable size was by - meal a day and smoking 40 fags a day. I had to adopt a 1000 cal diet as a teenager to be a reasonable size (then went down to 200 a day to be thin).

If i knew why this was the case for us, perhaps we could change our eating habits.

Nhs needs to update it’s nutritional advice for a start. They should push intermittent fasting that bloody works and fast. Once you’ve made the adjustment doesn’t feel like a diet.

Lost 2 stone in it myself and maintaining. Am 9.5 stone at 5 6 and 45. Size 10!!

"Genetic tests for fat genes in obese people and more research into obesity "

For most people, a bike voucher would be more helpful. The vast majority are fat not due to genetic issues but because of their diet and exercise habits.

@Pumperthepumper

Boris Johnson is responsible for thousands of unnecessary deaths. His bold new target of pretending to tackle obesity is so he can deflect from the hideous way he’s handled the coronavirus crisis. He’s a liability - a coward and a liar.

This! This! This!

Most populous propaganda is true. It's a straw man. That's what makes it difficult to argue against.

Yes, obesity is a bad thing. It contributes to cv19 deaths. But no, it doesn't forgive the criminal handling of the virus by this government.

And the fact that the government has done nothing to tackle obesity for decades despite knowing how dangerous it is reinforces that.

@MsTSwift

Nhs needs to update it’s nutritional advice for a start. They should push intermittent fasting that bloody works and fast. Once you’ve made the adjustment doesn’t feel like a diet.

Lost 2 stone in it myself and maintaining. Am 9.5 stone at 5 6 and 45. Size 10!!

Because it doesn't work for everyone! and in some cases leads to massive weight gain

I’m not thick. I know the calorie difference between a green salad HOLD THE DRESSING! and a chateaubriand steak dripping with bearnaise...

But if on the rare occasion I’m eating out I’d like to pick something I really want to eat rather than stripping the joy from something special.

What’s the point in forsaking the chocolate cheesecake you REALLY want at 675kcal for the fresh berry coulis with organic ice-cream at 495 which isn’t really what you wanted but fuck it eat it anyway. Isn’t that going to fuel disordered eating and be the opposite of intuitive eating? That you eat something you didn’t really fancy because it’s “good”.

Nonsense. Nothing works “for everyone” but this would work for many. Life changing.

The current Nhs advice is working well though isn’t it with 63% obese 🙄

You'll find OP when it comes to weight nothing is ever right, and when it comes to boris, nothing is ever right- mix them together and that's not a good combo. I do agree menus without calories should be available for those who having them printed on would make eating out problematic, but I disagree that most people know the calories of what they're eating. A Witherspoon's big breakfast is nearly a whole days worth of calories, fine occasionally (well, sort of), but although a lot of people would know it's unhealthy, I bet they'd be surprised by that. And some of their other meals are nearly 2k cals, as well as takeaways, they stack up and many people have them weekly. Nothing wrong with being aware and factoring it into what to eat (ED or precarious relationship with food aside), and if reality stops you enjoying your meal, that's sad. The bike scheme is also great, helps bike businesses (including local ones), and even if it encourages a tiny % of people to cycle more that's positive.

I think it’s a good idea but a compromise might be to put the information on the website. I think there is something about having a broader awareness of what is in some foods. My husband had a large dominos the other night. There was 2,400 calories in that pizza. I suspect some restaurant dishes are surprisingly high. I know I’ll have the pizzas with a hole in them when I go into pizza express as it’s been helpful for me to see the lower calorie options.

While this might be triggering for those with eating disorders, unfortunately the need to do something about obesity on a population basis probably overrides that. There would be options around asking someone to read the menu, going to a smaller restaurant that doesn’t have to legally do it and there would be a logical argument they calories are on the vast majority of foods we buy so why would resultant food be different? I do sympathise but the government has to look at the whole population and not individuals when making this sort of decision.

I really don't get how a bike and sweets not being at the check out is really going to help people that much (other then parents who get hounded by their children for sweets).

Well, I cycle every day and burn an awful lot of calories that way...

Sweets at the checkout, we got rid of them in my local supermarkets years ago. If I went to the shops after work when tired and hungry to grab something for dinner, I would find myself picking up a sweet snack to keep me going. That habit stopped when they were no longer staring at me.

As for calories on menus, I went to an AllBarOne the other day and ordered a chicken burger and sweet potato fries. I knew it would be high, but I googled their calories afterwards and found out it was over 1500cals. Another two dishes that I had fancied would have each been 600 cals less....had I known, I might have stuck with the burger anyway, or I might have made a different choice.

I think it’s good to be informed and to make your choices based on the information you have...but I can see why it wouldn’t be good for others. I’m sure the average obese person in a restaurant isn’t going to care about calorie content anyway.

husband had a large dominos the other night. There was 2,400 calories in that pizza

Although people know they're unhealthy, I'd be surprised if many knew they were well above a woman's recommended daily calorie intake. Even if you have half and then a side, that's an incredible amount of calories.