Two thirds of adults in England are obese or overweight. It would make as much sense to ask what is different about the other one third.

[H0TK]

This was a comment I read elsewhere. I thought it was an interesting comment.

Rather than wondering what is wrong with overweight people and why they eat like they do. What is different about the people who are not overweight?

I have never been overweight. It's partly genetic I guess- it's quite easy for me to build muscle mass (although beginning to get more difficult now I'm nearing 50).

Portion size is a big factor. My husband and his family eat huge portions- really way more than one person needs (none of them are particularly tall or large framed and so yes, they are overweight as a result There is only so much I can fit in my stomach before I start feeling very physically uncomfortable. So I eat enough to feel full and then stop.

I don't deprive myself of anything, in fact I eat quite a lot of sugar, but I'm very very active; I walk loads, lift weights six times a week and do yoga 7 times a week. I don't spend much time sitting down, apart from in the evening for a few hours.

In my case it is not lack of interest in food or lack of food 'noise'. On the contrary, I LOVE food and it's usually the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning.

And some of us are not in denial about how much we eat but we just like to eat a lot and find it very difficult not to. Like a lot of people with addictions. I have spent my life eating too much and I am overweight. I refuse to see that as any worse than lots of other faults. We are all human and have a number things we are weak about. Mine is I like a big plate of food, I find comfort in it. I know that is not 'allowed' but it is nonetheless true and I actually don't want to give up that comfort. I know in theory being slimmer will be better for me healthwise but I have had periods of my 60 years of life life when I have been slimmer, much slimmer for some of those years. Perhaps 15 of my adult 40 years when I have been ony slightly overweight instead of obese and I can absolutely say without any doubt that I was no happer than when I was obese.

Now when I reach the morbidly obese phase my happinesss does fall. So I spend a lot of time trying to stay obese instead of morbidly obese and that is all the work I am willing to put in

I was in a small supermarket earlier. Aisle after aisle of junk food. Fizzy drinks, sweets, crisps and biscuits. Far more space given to this than fruit and veg as guess there’s more profit.

Then add in takeaways , home delivery to anywhere and car culture.
Friends from abroad comment on the sheer scale of junk food here.
I try and make most of my food from scratch and don’t eat UPF food. I seldom drink alcohol and try and walk a few miles every day.

For me personally, portion control and eating plenty of veg makes a big difference, especially now I’m 50. I also find that exercise motivates me to eat better, perhaps because I feel physically better overall. I do long distance swimming so presumably I do burn some calories, but it’s the general feeling of using my muscles that helps. I do like treats such as wine and cake, but I need to be careful with them now that my metabolism has slowed down!

DH is overweight and it’s because of overeating. He enjoys regular exercise and goes to the gym with DS, but he snacks every day so the extra pounds don’t come off. His doctor has advised him to lose two stone but it won’t happen until he eats less. 🤷

This thread has got me thinking. A few years ago I spent 4 months in India and lost 2 stone ( without trying to ). When I look back I can see it was a combination of:

Lots of vegetarian food
Food cooked from scratch (Although not by myself )
Very little processed food
Lots of water
Very little sugar or alcohol
Not huge portions
Walking a lot every day
Not eating out of stress or boredom
(And being in such a hot country helped as I was never very hungry!)

Sadly I've since put a fair bit back on, but I think the above principles are sound.

Getting into heavier weights has tipped my BMI up to 25. I'm not greatly concerned as the tape measure says that the gain is in my limbs (which tallies with them showing muscular gains) and my waist reducing. I'd rather have good muscle mass and bone mass than chase the lower BMIs of my youth for the sake of being smaller. Equally I don't want superflous fat on my body being a health risk and making movement more tidy. I care about health (rather than thinness) because I don't want my children to experience losing a parent to an avoidable health condition as I did.

My 20s were easy. I joined fitness classes. Walked round locally. Had a job on my feet. Had time to cook fresh food. By-passed the junky aisles in the supermarket. Enjoyed alcohol a few times a week. Active hobbies and socialising.

My 30s were mixed. Two heavy duty pregnancies (SPD affecting mobility and being involved in substantial weight gains). I lost the weight while breastfeeding and phasing back into exercise. The class that fitted life was circuits- I went for the convenience, but actually it was good for increasing muscle and metabolism. I took up running. Diet was good weaning young children and when DS had food allergies, that necessitated fresh cooking. For a while I was slimmer than pre-pregnancy, but it did creep slightly from 35 when going back to full time work in a department of feeders.

My 40s began in lockdown. I worked out that I lost 5 miles of functional walking per week. While I kept up running, 5 miles is a lot of "exercise snacks" to make up for. I have not gone down to pre-lockdown weights. As the DCs have got older, those "exercise snacks" have gone, and I'm still finding it hard to replicate. I have the lowest caloric needs in the house, and it's hard to manage my consumption to what I need while feeding insatiable twig teenagers (who lurve carbs) and a DH who's now got the running bug and on long run day needs to eat double what I eat on a rest day. My luteal phase has become more pronounced and I now spend a third of my time craving carbs and the rest of the time limiting damage.

There aren't any easy cuts to make. I drink very little alcohol and if it's something like a cider with a bar meal, a coke is no substantial improvement (I do not do sweetners and their laxitive effect). I eat until comfortably full, and often use smaller plates. I leave what I do not need. We rarely have deserts. I don't want to pick at lettuce leaves and make food a big issue.
It is easier in the summer months, but Oct- Mar is slogging through a primal desire for hearty and stoggy food.

I do not have underlying health issues or medication.
I am fit (strength and cardio)
I have a varied diet but nothing to blog about.
I enjoy food as a proportionate part of my life. It is pleasurable but it is food.

It's not a natural balance any more though.

I know the ignorance just makes me laugh- otherwise I would cry

Same. I'm nearly 50 and have to watch portion size and avoid wine and snacks more than I've ever had to before. I notice a difference even if I only over-indulge a little bit and it feels like much more of a battle to stay slim. My body seems to be rebelling and doing its own thing!

I agree with this. I did something similar.

Its interesting reading people talking about the effect of weight loss injections (not longer obsessing about food etc), as t sounds like that achieves the same effect as I got from changing my diet and eating habits.

It makes me a bit sad to hear people on this thread saying its just the luck of genes or hormones as I really believe that for most of us, its the food we eat nowadays that has disrupted our body's ability to naturally regulate your appetite.

I just feel so free for the past two decades since I got over my food obsession. Its worth putting a year of work into overcoming this to be free from it.

Times in my life when I can't exercise or I've had surgery and recovery I eat less.

I don't think being hungry is a bad thing.

I think we live in a world of instant gratification, and being uncomfortable is something we have become more and more adverse to.

I grew up poor and there was no money for extra food like chips and junk food. We couldn't buy it, so we didn't eat it.

I love food and because I have a child with complex special needs and we both have ADHD I find ways for food to be fun and healthy.

I'm a single mom and honestly can be lazy with cooking.

I watch YouTubers who cook healthy on a budget when I need to get new ideas. Plus they know more about nutrition than I do so it's good to get inspired.

One pot meals are the best, or if I'm extra tired I put out a charcuterie board for us. Crackers, cheese, meat, fruit, veggies,

I'm also a big fan of hard boiled eggs since they can be made ahead of time and are high protein.

When I unpack the groceries I chop things up. I make a veggie tray every week and just top it up. I put it out for snacks.

I find it less overwhelming if I can open my fridge and see what's available.

I waste less food which helps a lot financially! I find when I have a weekly meal plan and have everything organized I eat better and save more money.

How long have you been eating 1200 calories a day?

I live in the States but every time I come back to Britain, I notice two things. The people are getting bigger and the portion sizes in restaurants are also getting bigger. A thin crust pizza from Pizza Express, for example, is bloody huge!

@AnonymousBleep I know, it’s annoying how treats stick to us now!

I was I first started at weight watchers when I was 14. I have lost 4-5 stone in around 10 different periods in my life. The longest I ever kept more than 3 stone off was 2 years. I am obese, close to morbidly obese and am not 60 years old.

I can watch what I eat with the best of them for periods of up to 8 months at a time, usually I lose heart at that poin and the bounce back is amazimg. I used to absolutely great at losing weight, a champion in fact, even better at putting it on. What I couldn't seem to do was maintain a cconsistent weight for more than 6 months at a time. I used to have clothes ranging from 12 - 24 in my wardrobe and this was in the 80s and 90s. The amount of money I spent on cheap clothing because these was no point having anything expensive as it would not fit next year is astonishing.

I don't think some people really understand

This.

People consume too many calories, sometimes without realising. Portion sizes, snacking, drinks like milky coffee and alcohol all contribute to overeating. A latte can have 200 calories, so 2 a day and you’ve already reached 400 out of the recommended 2000 without actually eating anything.

Also, availability of ‘treat’ foods contributes to overconsumption. When I was growing up we rarely ate cake or biscuits during the week. Usually my mum would bake something on Saturday that would last a couple of days. Things like chips were homemade from scratch, so it was a lot of effort and mess to fry them. Hence we only had them every other month or so. We never had crisps in the house, they were a treat when we were having a film night, so again only a few times a year. I don’t know if that’s how most people lived, but that is what I’ve learned growing up and I’ve never had weight issues.

I don’t eat much (small lunch and dinner and some snacks), my drinks don’t add many calories either. I eat anything I want but often don’t feel hungry, or don’t notice I haven’t eaten. I have to make a conscious effort to eat 3 meals a day. I don’t drink alcohol. I exercise daily as I enjoy it.

My overweight friends and family all drink often and eat a lot more than me. I do believe some is genetic because my sister has always been naturally bigger than me and is significantly taller also. She also has PCOS which makes weight loss really really hard!

I don't know if anyone mentioned this but cultural acceptance is a real factor. Lived a while in East Asia and there's a lot of fat-shaming, for a lower threshold of "fat". If your BMI is slightly over 21, you're considered big. In fact, "Have you lost weight" is actually a greeting that some people over 40 still do. Most of the time they say it without meaning it, but they say it because it's an ego boost. Young people would comment "Wow you're so thin!" on others' instagram posts as a compliment and the society would have 0 problems with it. Staying thin is very ingrained into people's mind and a big priority.

Other than that, I do think that the supermarkets here have a disproportionately large amount of alcohol and empty calories. In my local big Tesco I'd say 40% of the aisles are empty calories.

I have a healthy BMI, always have, and I do think a lot about food each day. I spend an average of 3 hours per day on food prepping, eating, and grocery shopping. Perhaps 4 hours per day if thinking about food and what to eat counts. I do not like to exercise and I have to force myself to hit a walking target or to run. I do this partially because I don't like to buy new clothes should I get bigger. Partially, it's that I understand if I didn't have any discipline, when I reach 40 or 50, I'd be at least 10kg heavier and I simply wouldn't be happy about it. Just feeling the folds on my tummy makes me quite uncomfortable.

Genetics may have a lot to do with it, but it takes a certain amount of willpower and discipline for me. I know that if I had less discipline and really ate without thinking, I'd be overweight, easily. Sadly I still attribute part of my self-worth to clothing size, despite knowing how fickle and unreliable it is. I cannot help it, and that's enough to trigger me to exercise or to prepare healthy food from scratch. I have also read the UPF book and it helps reinforce the habit. Still have the ice cream now and then, but everything gets registered on my mind. If I ate a bit more one day, I would pay my debt the next day. It's a small struggle everyday, not that much difference from financial discipline. As much as I don't like to say it, it's absolutely willpower and discipline. It's debatable if willpower and discipline are heritable, but that's another topic.

Oh, I think some people do stay thin by smoking. Not me, just an observation.

I wonder if society viewed overeating the way we view smoking would people eat less?

If it was viewed as a bad habit that people needed to quit?

Being a relatively new 'convert' to a healthy lifestyle and having lost a significant (for me) amount of weight, my lightbulb moment was the realisation that I didn't need to eat all the time - even when I wasn't hungry. It sounds really simple, but that's been the single biggest driver of my change in behaviour.

I know, right!?

Wetherspoon’s on the other hand is essential!

I don’t do formal exercise at all. I keep active during the day (my job involves a lot of standing and moving about) and I walk the dog. At weekends I go for longer walks. It’s hard to judge how many hours because some of it is just moving around at work, but it’s a number of hours more than 3 per week.

@enkelt2 What is the UPF book?

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/451300/ultra-processed-people-by-tulleken-chris-van/9781529160222

I think the reason I've put on weight is also working from home full-time. When I had to go to an office, I walked to the station, walked from station to office etc. Must have been at least an extra mile a day that I don't do now. I walk my dogs twice a day (they're getting old now so I can't do the hikes we used to love) and go to the gym four times a week but that middle-aged spread is still happening! I know I should do more weights classes, but I hate them. I actually hate the gym, I only go because I have to if I don't want to be two sizes bigger.