Overweight Brits abroad

[Artyfart]

I know this will upset people but it’s time to face facts and I’m talking about myself here too. Just got back from second holiday abroad this year when once again it was painfully noticeable how overweight British people are compared to our European neighbours. We stand out a mile! Every time I saw someone fat I’d wait for it and…. British accent. We look a state and it’s time to do something about it. No wonder the NHS is on its knees. I came back more determined than ever to lose weight.

Even French people are fat now. Its processed food. They used to eat simple home cooked food. Now everyone eats processed crap.

@Artyfart I am inclined to agree with you. On a recent holiday to the Canaries, most of the very overweight (and in many cases, sunburnt) people were British, and I hate to say it, but mainly women.

I’d just take a few posts on these threads that involved I could do..

I mean many to do it. You’ve done it. Yes it’s hard. But governments are not going to take away the hard part anyway. When it comes down to it the food is there, it’s not going away.

Someone mentioned smoking, similar issues, the extent legislation has got to - not sure if people want that for a packet of biscuits. Or NZ style just phase biscuits out altogether.

Although vapes on the up here of course so a substitute, some substitutes for sugar but not sure how well that works

Those of us with autoimmune disease get left on steroids for years because it is the cheapest option. Then we end up overweight and with osteoporosis and broken bones. This costs the NHS more in the long run.

I’m going to cause a lot of upset here I’m sure but I feel that I should put what my experience of steroids has been like.

I have looked after my weight and exercised all my life. 18 months ago, due to an autoimmune disorder I was put on intravenous high dose steroids for a week and have remained on 30mg a day since. In this time I have not gained any weight. I knew that there was a risk of massive appetite increase but I kept my diet the same as it’s always been, Mediterranean and ignored those initial pangs of hunger that hit. The added bonus has also been that my mobility has increased thanks to the steroids.

I’m not saying that my story is usual but I think it’s good to see for anybody that may be starting out on steroids that it’s not always the case for everyone gains large amounts of weight.

And of course, 'we've lost sight of what a healthy weight is'.

I agree. So many fat Brits. Many like to cover the fat in tattoos and nylon football shirts.

We are known as the fat man of Europe, I definitely notice it when holidaying abroad. I think we need to take more responsibility for our own health ultimately we are only going to suffer for it if we don’t.
My brother who has just returned from a very German resort in Majorca also picked up on how slim everyone was in comparison

Oh yes, I see you said 'BMI is a blunt tool'. Mind-blowing stuff.

So yes a massive sugar tax, as we did on cigarettes. Subsidise fun physical activities, license unhealthy takeaways and only give out a small number of licenses, ban advertising of unhealthy food, etc.

Has any country done this?

@childhoodnostalgia
I have been on steroids on and off for twenty years plus anti tnf, methotrexate etc.
In June I had a new consultant and a new type of steroid injection. I cried because I was ill and didn't want to put the weight back on I had lost. Bloody miracle it didn't put a ounce on me!
I didn't have a metalic tasting mouth and it's kept me moving.
I don't eat crap either but I did like my wine until I gave it up. Too much empty calories in booze and it makes you snacky. I'm also nicer!

Well, good for you. Why have you let yourself get so big when it’s a known fact that there is an obesity epidemic?

Well Brits might be fat but only about 10% smoke (it is significantly less than the 20% someone posted upthread). Being fat is bad for you, but smoking is even worse.

How was that achieved - banning smoking inside and making packs of cigarettes ludicrously expensive. To a lot of protests.

And yet. It worked.

So how can we make people thinner. Make it more expensive to eat crap and use cars? And easier to walk and cycle and where possible give people medication that doesn't make them fat?

@Matchinglipsandfingertips I’m so pleased that you have found something that works!

It’s such a minefield these AI illnesses and finding a medication that works and doesn’t kill you, make you fat, or more unwell in the process 😁

For me, anything above about 10 stone. I'm 5'4''

Ok so not anywhere for food.

Do people really want certain food to skyrocket in price? For takeaways to be extortionate etc

If you’re cash strapped is making a packet of biscuits say £5 (not sure what you would like them to be) really a good solution.

I mean people might still buy them at the expense of other stuff, seems tougher to me than saying ok you can make changes without tough interventions.

It hits certain demographics much harder too. I mean if the majority wanted it, fine. But since we’ve only done it for smoking you’d have to see the impact for doing it for food specifically

We get the society we deserve. You only have to look at the howls of outrage from people when you suggest they don't have a God-given right to drive their SUV wherever they like with minimal inconvenience to know that trying to encourage, let alone impose, a less obesogenic culture will never happen.

Not judgmental at all, if we change our eating habits we will lose weight. I piled it on during pregnancy and it took me 9 months to get back to my pre pregnancy weight. I have maintained it through discipline I am now in menopause which is hard as the bodies metabolism slows right down but I am careful .
Many friends in menopause have put a lot of weight on because their calorific intake is too high and they haven’t stayed active.
Taking away medical issues it sadly comes down to how much food you put in your body

It takes 50 mins of walking to burn off a Mars bar.
The idea is actually about how much you eat, exercise is great for cardiovascular health however eating less via fasting etc is the best route to a healthy frame.

Well, people have eaten a lot of sugar for generations - even heaped it into their tea. Puddings and home baking etc. I don't think sugar is the culprit actually, any more the 'fat' in dairy that's endlessly demonised. It's the other shit piled into processed food - the syrups and oils

Also if we’re using smoking as a measure of effectiveness the packet of biscuits will need an image of hardened arteries or whatever harsh image, be plain other than that and be sold from behind a wall in the shop

As well as extortionate, x5 in price or equivalent to cigarettes

I‘m not sure people would go for it, you’d probably have to ban selling homemade versions too and close that down

No wonder the NHS is on its knees.

The NHS is on its knees primarily due to underfunding, particularly between 2011 and 2018 - recent annual increases in % of GDP spending not sufficient to make up for those years - and staff shortages.