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.

Maybe spend your holidays enjoying yourself, focusing on the people you are with, taking in the nature and beautiful surroundings instead of judging the appearances of those around you. If you find yourself PAINFULLY unable to avert your gaze from waistbands of people innocently trying to enjoy themselves try picking up a book?

You may find you become a much happier person.

"It's time to face facts"

You sound like a bad tabloid. Why is it time to face facts? Your "facts" don't sound scientifically obtained anyway.

You have clearly never lived in a food desert. I have.

I just need to walk down my local high street to see what a state most Brits are.

We’ve just got back from Orlando and the problem here isn’t half as bad as over there. People are HUGE over there including a lot of kids. Disney and Orlando are full of large people on mobility scooters. My DD was a bit gobsmacked and stated the obvious that they wouldn’t lose the weight if they weren’t exercising. It’s a catch 22 situation

My advice is to take Kindle with you when you go on holiday.

🤣 yeah ALL I did all holiday is stare at fat people!

We go to an AI hotel (not the same one) every year and although I see all shapes and sizes I have never seen anyone look scruffy, not at breakfast, not round the pool and certainly not at dinner. I love people watching and I love clothes so I would notice.

Where did you live @Reugny if you don't mind me asking? I watched a documentary on youtube about food deserts...I'd previously never heard of them. Absolutely blew my mind. Really fascinating and sad.

Overweight or obese?

Because if you’re looking simply at BMI then people in the ‘overweight’ category are healthier than people in the ‘normal’ category.

So yes being obese can be very dangerous but if they’re simply slightly overweight then they’d actually be healthier than those slimmer people you saw.

It's an undeniable fact that the British population is fatter than most European countries, although not all.

It's also a fact that 2/3 of our population is overweight with just over 1/4 of our population being obese.

They are quite awful statistics. It is a very complex problem though and needs tackling from multiple angles.

The percentage who are overweight or obese may be quite high in the UK compared with many countries in Europe but there are far fewer smokers nowadays so we might actually be healthier overall.

Bread, cheese, yoghurt, pasta, bran flakes... So many foods are UPFs but they won't make you fat just becausethey're UPFs. Just like they didn't 50 years ago.

50 years ago they tasted pretty vile. I remember getting a ready meal lasagne in the 1980s and it was like soggy cardboard and ketchup. And pizzas were a thick, bland base with grated mild cheddar and some squares of something that was possibly once tomato or red pepper.

Manufacturers since then have put a lot of time and effort in making high calorie ultra processed food taste pretty good. Unfortunately it does matter WHAT you eat as well as overall weight, where your fat is stored etc, particularly in terms of type 2 diabetes. A lot of these foods have a kryptonite ratio of fat, salt, carbs and sugar, are a lot easier to come by, and cheaper than fresh food, certainly by the calorie, and I think do something to disrupt your perception of fullness, probably as there is so little fibre and texture.

For example most of my meals are likely about 400-600 calories and I eat about 1500 - 2000 calories a day but I could easily put away a Big Mac meal and McFlurry, say, and consume about 1500 calories in a few minutes and only feel as full if I'd had a normal balanced dinner.

Also alcohol is so cheap and easily available, and calorific. My parents never used to drink at home apart from special occasions, in the 1980s. A few beers and glasses of wine here and there and it's a lot of calories and can also mean you make other poor food choices after.

Takeaways are so easy since JustEat and Deliveroo arrived. The fact you don't even have to go and pick them up makes it so easy and tempting, particularly for people who are not very good cooks.

Ah here we go. Fatties should just stay at home and not ruin the aesthetics of European holidays for skinny brits and beautiful Europeans, is that what you’re trying to say? Is the faux concern for health and nhs just a cover up?

It's the lure of the all you can eat holidays

Tell me you don't understand correlation and causation without... et cetera.

I agree. I live in spain everyone is so tiny! I'm not huge myself but have a menopause belly I feel huge! When I come back to the UK I feel tiny again

I think it's a combination of diet, fresh seafood and olive oil
Combined with an outdoor lifestyle. People walk everywhere , exercise on the beach every day don't drink as much alcohol

You can't change other people so there's no point wasting brain space on it
Keep yourself as healthy as you can and stop judging what "state" other people look

Middle aged Spanish women are not tiny.

I've travelled a lot, and noticed this too.
The largest person I ever saw was in New Zealand, and as a child I couldn't help staring as they were wedged into a minibus by lots of people, with different bits of fat at different windows. Now I would hope I wouldn't look, and unless my memory has changed over decades, it is clear they were morbidly obese and probably dead now from it.
Yes, the OP is spot on though re Brits abroad.

Climate change is all our fault we simply arnt doing enough to save the rest of the world

I’m not sure if the Brits are particularly bad compared to other European countries, but obesity is a growing issue worldwide. Imo processed foods are to blame. They are designed to make people overeat and unfortunately we now have generations of overweight people who have eaten this way all their lives. Add in the economic difficulties many are facing and we have the perfect storm.

i have been very overweight myself and lost 5.5 stone a couple of years ago. I’ve managed to maintain a healthy weight ever since, but it requires a lot of effort. I lift weights x5 per week and do cardio x6. Although I eat a lot, I don’t touch processed food or alcohol. The moment I do I notice it makes me want to binge on crap.

So having been through it myself, I have a great deal
of sympathy with people who are overweight. It can be
very difficult to overcome and I don’t believe it’s a matter of laziness.

Surely that's only people who.live near a beach that can exercise on one everyday ?

Yes it's terrible when fat people aren't made to hate themselves of course.

You say abrogation of personal responsibility; I suggest you look up the stats on the long term success of dieting. Unless the OP is in a very tiny minority, her post-holiday weight loss plans are likely to see her heavier in five years time than she is now and maybe on a holiday in 2028 someone will be hovering behind her waiting for the British accent to confirm her terrible failure as a human being.

Trying to lose weight is heavily correlated with gaining weight over time. Whether people do crash diets, keto, fasting, eating less and moving more, statistically they get fatter. They regain more than they lose nearly every time.

As one of those rare middle class well off people who is obese (no medication here, good old fashioned eating disorder recovery and relapse over and over again for my entire adult life) I can tell you that self-loathing isn't a motivator for a healthy lifestyle. I stand out in the circles I move in; I feel shame and despair all the time. I take responsibility over and over again and still don't get better. Statistically speaking I never will, though there will be periods of my life where I'm slimmer again. Sorry if I enjoy the occasional holiday in my fat times and offend your eyes.

Personal responsibility isn't going to reverse this growing problem. Obesity is getting worse and it's spreading across the world. You can tell ever to eat less and move more as much as you like but that approach is proven to fail on its own. We need societal change alongside it.

I’m opening my popcorn 🍿