to consider my grandma’s theory on why we’re all fatter?

[bagelbreath]

My grandma swears up and down that although food and movement are obviously big factors to the massive weight gain of the country, heating is also very important.

While she lived in a cold house, wore stockings and dresses year round, and spent a lot of time outside, we all sit toasty in our well heated and insulated houses. Her theory is that it took lots of energy to stay warm then vs now.

Is it crazy? I kind of think it makes sense

I believe mammals use something insane like 90% of their calories to maintain body temperature. Which is why lizards etc can eat once a month. But humans modify their environment more than most mammals, even in Ye Olde Dayes. I think she has a point, but UPFs, snacking and general sedentary lifestyle has a lot to answer for, too.

I’ve always wondered if I could lose weight by being cold, but I hate being cold SO much, I’d rather be a bit plump than find out!

I work at a place that is kept at 1-2°C and there are loads of larger people working there. Extra insulation is an advantage after all!

It's basic science, and obviously true.

There’s an article in today’s Times saying that cold temperatures increase brown fat, which burns more calories.

Cold at home? That could be good for you

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a1971386-432d-11ed-abc9-d0d53e948d21?shareToken=4118509650047f05b34c638ec5ab5f72

Scientifically the ball is in your grans corner. When we are cold we shiver....shivering uses calories. Being cold your body has to work harder to keep your core warm, so there is truth in her beliefs. The calorie load of course has to balance the exercise and movement, ie calories out, or we put on weight. Food was largely unprocessed previously....now, unless you are buying decent meat (ie not tampered with.....water injected or hormone fed) and fresh veg...... then its difficult to sometimes count calories.

I spent a month in sub arctic conditions in my 20s. Wore thermals but also ate 3 good meals a day, and a couple of mini mars bars. Lost a stone. I joke it was the best diet I’ve ever been on!

People really gonna convince themselves it's their socks while chucking another 600cal muffin down their faces.

The thinest I've ever been was when I was windsuring regularly all through the Welsh winter, as that's when the wind and waves are most consistent. Mild hypothermia 2 or 3 times a week is a very effective diet!!!

Dh and I visited Prague over 20 years ago, where an American fellow tourist couldn’t believe how slim the people were despite the food being (as she called it) ‘unhealthy’. (A lot of meat, potatoes and dumplings, not much veg or salad at all.).
But as I pointed out, most people didn’t have cars, so walked a lot, and there was no fast food to speak of - people presumably mostly cooked from scratch.

At least 15 years previously we’d visited the US for the first time and been startled to see so many really grossly fat people - at the time you saw very few in the U.K. But there was fast food everywhere - and huge portions of it.

In my grandma's days . Everybody walked wore thick clothes used brooms to do steps . Had manual jobs . We don't need the calories they did just to live

The thinnest I’ve ever been was in my 20s during the 80s. Winters were a lot less mild then, I’d go to work with 4 layers on - t shirt, blouse, jumper or suit jacket, and an overcoat. Offices were not overheated and not full of machinery then. I retired three years ago, by then offices were so overheated you couldn’t wear winter clothes in winter!

Trying to keep your body warm would need energy but being too cold can lead to strokes and heart attacks in vulnerable people so I wouldn't recommend it.

Have a look at the footage of people watching the Apollo lift offs, they are all thin.

I don't think it's one thing.

More people had manual jobs, my dad worked for a grocer when he left school, there were no packets of sugar or butter, they got them in bulk and my dad had to learn to pack them up.

Children walked to school and back.

We had mass migration from the commonwealth and one of the benefits was we were introduced to loads of new food but we didn't start to eat dahl, no we learned to fry plantain and add chips to curry and rice.

Housework used to burn calories, raking out a fire and bringing fresh coal in is hard work, busses were inaccessible if you had a child in a pram so you either walked with a pram or caught the bus carrying a child. Washing involved getting a washer out or using a tub with a wash board.

Keeping warm does use more calories but it is only one of many things.

That agrees with the OP's idea, it doesn't negate it!

Then it makes sense….colder climes…you shiver more thus using calories…

Also about processed food and eating outside the house.

Housework used to burn calories, raking out a fire and bringing fresh coal in is hard work, busses were inaccessible if you had a child in a pram so you either walked with a pram or caught the bus carrying a child. Washing involved getting a washer out or using a tub with a wash board.

Also cleaning carpets and rugs used to involve hanging them on the line and beating them as opposed to running a hoover over them.

I'm of the opinion that it's quite an extensive list of changes that have happened over the generations. Acces to fast food, the expense of healthy foods, wages meaning both parents (in most cases) having to work, the reliance on cars and the heating and TV access. My mum still remembers when her parents got a television. I remember when my own mum could finally afford a microwave. I remember the first time I had fast food. My own son didn't eat a burger until 2 years ago! We must also remember that technology I.e. gaming consoles and the Internet is how our kids "play" together now. I remember spending the entire summer up the woods playing with friends, only going home when the sun was setting. My own son, I worry so much about the dangers out there it's easy to rely on other forms of "playing together".

I think she’s spot on. Arctic explorers need to consume at least 8000 calories a day to maintain their weight.

That's a lot of walrus burgers . . .

I would like to add that the emancipation of women - despite all the benefits it has brought to us - may have contributed to less healthy food being consumed by families. When you have two parents working full time, who can spent the necessary time to prepare varied and nutritious food for the rest of the family? We often end up grabbing some processed food at the supermarket on our way home. This is something nobody ever mentions because it sounds antifeminist but this is the unfortunate reverse of the medal.

Yes it is crazy.

It's the 24/7 supply of fast fatty foods, 3 for 2 deals, addictive additives added to the food and generally people eat too much.

Your DGM is right that being more active helps, the days of daily tasks being active are gone.

There is a machine to do everything now.

The obesity saving will be eaten up by the rickets and pellagra costs, though.

Your resting brain grabs 20% of your calories - more if you're actually working something out, IIRC.

I can't remember what proportion goes on maintaining temperature but I think it may be about 60-70%, (Too lazy to google - saving my calories.) But you are right that it's a very large proportion.

Portions are ridiculously large.

In my day (I know, I know . . . 🙄 ) a bag of chips fitted comfortably into an adult hand. Now you get a portion of chips and it's HUGE. On the rare occasions that we have fish'n'chips as a treat (even rarer with current fish prices), we get one portion of chips to share, and there is usually still some that get chucked because it's too much.