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?

It’s common sense, surely — not overeating. I maintain a size 8 and have always been by eating whatever I like in moderation. I’m not crazy active but I’ll walk between 5-10K steps a day. I believe in eating anything including junk food and not overdoing it. I do not snack and, this is probably unrelated but personally I hate eating breakfast and generally eat one large meal a day as it’s convenient to my schedule and lifestyle.

Hi have a cheque for $50k (actually dollars not sterling).

This is unexpected and more money than I would have ever expected to randomly get.

Any ideas what would be a good use of it?

I am going to loss my Uc as soon as I cash it. Which means most will potentially go to making up the loss. So any advice?

Genes. I eat like a horse and don't put on weight (am a vegan though so perhaps that's helped keep the weight off heading towards 40, not sure).

Yes I agree with this.

I don't have food noise other than when I'm hungry and the noise is for literally something to fill me up so I can keep going.

My joy in life doesn't come from food. I am not bothered about eating out, it always seems like such a faff.

I am overweight. By about 10lbs. When I do get in to the right weight category I look like skin and bone on my top half, properly like skeletor, while my bum and hips remain enormous.

So I’ve decided to stay a 10 on top and a 12 bottom for aesthetics. So I could be out of the category and choose not to be. You have to live happily in your body, don’t you.

I think I fall into the slim category (never been over a size 12).

I stop eating when I'm full, which I think is a result of a childhood being made to finish every plate and perpetually feeling uncomfortable and sick.

I'm also not afraid of feeling hungry, which many people seem to be. I'm not saying I starve for hours or days, but for an hour or so before a meal I'm hungry, and I don't snack to fill that hole because I know a meal is coming fairly shortly.

I'm not especially active, I do Parkrun and Pilates and walk a bit. Not sure if it's genes as my immediate maternal family are / were largely overweight. Not sure about Paternal family as we're not in touch.

I've slim, body fat 20.4%, age 65, same weight as when I was 20. Work out a lot and watch what I eat. No alcohol, no desserts, no UPFs, but lots of healthy food. I had quite a bit of baby weight for a while in middle age but no menopausal weight gain later on. I had a semi-thyroidectomy so am medicated for that but it's made no difference.
It matters far more to me to look and feel good than it does to eat whatever I want.
I have no ability whatsoever to fool myself I look better than I do, so a lot of it is about being honest with yourself about how you look and what (and how much) you are eating. I decided late last year that I was getting a bit old and scrawny looking so I've trained hard and gained 2 kg of muscle so that's solved that problem for now. Body fat % stayed the same.
It's just a chemical equation at the end of the day and you can't let it get the better of you. It's not some magic power.

I love food and have a big appetite. Have always been prone to putting on weight, and food noise is definitely a thing! I have to work every day to stay a healthy weight. Most of this work is mental not physical. I do have to miss out on some things, though I always have three meals a day plus snacks. But overall I’m happier being this size. This is not a value judgement on anyone else - it’s just about me.

What helps keep me a healthy weight:

• don’t drink alcohol
• am vegetarian (close to being vegan really)
• really like the taste of vegetables so pile up my plate with them at every opportunity
• don’t like any formal exercise but I love walking to a ludicrous degree. I would walk from dawn to dusk in all weathers if given the opportunity
• am one of life’s forward planners so enjoy forward planning meals and entering on MFP

How come this rate of obesity is a (relatively) new thing then?

Some live to eat (like me)
Some eat to live (like Ds1)

Some have a medical condition which impacts weight gain/loss/maintenance (like ds2)

ds1 has to make a conscious effort to eat enough to maintain his weight.

When you don’t have much money , food shopping can replace hobbies , going for the weekly shop etc and eating become a family recreation event . It can be the start of an unhealthy relationship ie eating is a social event rather than something we do live. Exercise not always affordable.
Likewise with so many people living in emergency housing accommodation with no cooking facilities , how are they expected to eat healthily?
Basic home economics and cooking has been sacrificed under governments interference with education likewise the support for those leaving Care. These things all impact health.
The line between those with Not everything is black and white .

Oops, I tried to post my own post but must have repli3d accidentally haha. Sorry!

I've asked my DH about food noise and cravings. He doesn't have any. I'm sure some slim people do, but I personally believe most naturally slim people go through life feeling like I feel on mounjaro. I also find it super easy not to over-eat now, look at me with my self-control!

The food noice is there because people have got bad habits. If you have regular healthy meals where you fill up you don't get the food noice. I had it in the US because I adapted to the snack culture and didn't feel the difference between being hungry and just wanting to eat something. Put on alot of weight. Back in Europe I started walking every day (you can't in the US) and ate regular meals. It took some time to get rid of the food noice but eventually it disappeared.

But I wonder if you're (physically) healthier, Em? Does your immune system seem to be better than others? Genuinely interested.

I think that the sizes in your social group make a difference. I was on holiday last year and there were a big group of people from Newcastle there. They were all very overweight but the women more so than the men. What I noticed though (and was slightly envious of!) was that they really didn’t seem to care! The women were all strolling around in bikinis with their stomachs hanging over the top, and happily drinking pints and eating all day by the pool.

I came to the conclusion that they weren’t self-conscious because they were all that size so I suppose it didn’t feel like a big deal. I live in an area where most families are very sporty and live quite healthy lifestyles, and obese people stand out, and there aren’t many, as well as very few overweight DC in the schools. So, everyone in influencing each other really.

I've posted about this many time as I'm on NHS Obesity prevention group (in a professional capacity)

It is an interesting question but there has been so much research around what causes obesity that this part is fairly well documented. What to do about it is another matter and what we discuss with various agencies.

The number one contributory factor is poverty. If you are poor, you are significantly more like to carry excess weight. Many reasons for this but we all know processed food is cheap, it's also quick & doesn't required much preparation important as you're more likely to live in a working and/or single parent family or have parents working shifts. If you live in a deprived area you are also more likely to be exposed to higher number of fast food outlets, have less access to outdoor space, unlikely to be as physically active, more likely to have mental health problems, more likely to have a long-term healthy condition....it goes on and is thoroughly depressing.

Other factors: genetics, where you live, injuries or illness, ethnicity & cultural norms all of course play a part, environmental factors, childhood experiences, (for example neglected children often have complicated relationships with food).

People don't just wake up one day and decide to be 'greedy' or 'lazy' (inverted commas as this is not a phrased I'd ever use and so rarely the case).

This is going to sound unhelpful but in all honesty I think it's genetic for me. I will have periods when I eat more unhealthily than others (e.g. a week with several takeaways) but my weight has never fluctuated.

My DH can only lose weight by cutting carbs. But I eat loads of carbs and don't gain. Feels like it must be biology.

The only thing I would say is that I think my appetite regulates itself. When pregnant I naturally fancied double my usual basic breakfast but everything else was the same. I also never, ever eat until I'm really full as I don't like the feeling.

I think people at work would say im always eating, but thats because I'll be hungry and start eating my lunch at 11. But I finish early so I eat dinner by 4.30/5. So really my diet is no different from theirs...Im just eating each meal earlier.

I think I absolutely have 'food noise' like those who have injections to combat it. I think about food an awful lot, never miss a meal (and they're quite close together) and am always looking forward to the next one. But my way of eating just seems to work for me.

Interesting .It seems that there are various reasons ,Lots of well heeled people seem very slim, compared to the general population.Yes many lower income folk are overweight .But lots of Nurses for example, are often on the large side.This seems strange as they are well educated health professionals.I think that some people may like exercise ,may have a better metabolism , and be free of childhood trauma which has a huge bearing on weight issues as well

Not really because they will hear "food noise" as soon as they stop taking it. So at some point they need to learn to hear the noise and ignore the temptations around them, as most slim people do.

I think it's more to do with psychology than anything else personally and I say that as an obese person.

Both DH and I are slim. We both excersize (running, walking) regularly, eat pretty healthily, don't smoke and drink very little (I'm teetotal and DH has a couple of beers a week.)

I'm conscious that everyone has different circumstances, what works or is indeed possible for one won't be for another.

As a slim person that is not my experience. My family are all fat. It's got nothing to do with everything lining up for me. It's a choice that I make everyday to be disciplined and eat healthy food in portions that aren't too big. I would also love too eat too much crap but I know the results of that. It really annoys me when people act like it's ever so easy for slim people to be slim. In my experience it takes work, exercise, choices and loads of food prep.

It's hardly rocket science. I don't think anyone will be massively impressed if I tell them I eat sensibly-sized portions for 80% of the time and I exercise almost daily. We all know the right things to do. I think it is important we do ask people with weight problems what stops them from doing things they are well aware they should be doing.

I don't want to get fat so I have learnt to say no to myself. I eat relatively healthily and am very active through both necessity and choice. I have fat family. My portions sizes are smaller than average perhaps. I don't eat take aways very often, don't drink, and don't drive anywhere. I rarely eat out and don't snack a lot although I eat chocolate daily m. Essentially for me it's down to willpower and lifestyle choices.

I was overweight as a teenager and have been around 8.5-9st at 5ft 7 for my adult life. I do lots of exercise and eat to fuel that exercise with balance in my food. My observations are that people who I work with who are overweight appear to eat little at lunch for eg, but their lunch is processed food and then they snack on crisps, biscuits etc. And are horrified by getting sweaty. It's pretty basic calories in vs out for me. And a big ass salad and chickpeas takes longer to eat and makes you feel more full than a meal deal sandwich. So you're not reaching for the biscuits an hour later...