To be annoyed by NHS healthy choices quiz

[Notmycircusnotmyotter]

This seems to be on radio / tv adverts on repeat, featuring a seriously irritating hamster.

what's really annoyed me is the crap advice that you should choosing low fat versions of food (specifically yoghurt) rather than whole foods and full fat versions. AIBU to think this is outdated bad advice?

Being on Mumsnet, probably.

I’m also going to trot out the old mn trope about losing sight of what a normal portion looks like.

I posted a picture of a healthy “fry up” brunch that DP had made for me (I know, a Mumsnet sin, shoot me!) and all I got was “that’s tiny” and “that wouldn’t fill me up” because people expect to have every inch of their plate covered with food at every meal.

I did the quiz and got 9/10, which made me laugh aloud because I would consider myself pretty unhealthy.

I'm going to live like the hamster.

Lots of muesli, biting, shitting in a corner and eating my young.

Unless you exercise a lot. I do all of my long, steady state runs in a fasted state (this is also important) so will end up burning fat and in ketosis once already low glycogen stores have been depleted. I'll eat carbs before a race/HIIT/sprints session or around weight lifting.

I got 10/10 on the quiz. I'm disabled and fat.

I reversed my early-stage fatty liver disease by cutting out UPFs, cooking mostly from scratch, and reducing (not eliminating) wine consumption. Pretty much a Mediterranean diet.

Totally binned off the NHS advice and the hepatology consultant was in complete agreement.

It also keeps my blood sugar levels spot on and my weight stable. I eat full fat Kefir yogurt and that helps with gut health. And I feel happy and less anxious about bloody food.

My GP once told me I shouldn't fill up on vegetables, 'because they have calories in too!' @Quagmireschin, so I share your despair at daft medical advice.

They do get it right sometimes, though - I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes just over a year ago, and I was told by the diabetic nurse to avoid low fat products because they often have extra sugar in them. I was advised to eat protein, plenty of vegetables, fruit, and low carb, and by doing that, I have lowered my sugars into the prediabetic range, and lost some weight.

Yes that’s true but for most people it will be the case. Highly active people are outside of the norm.

I got a score of 5 - I eat full fat Greek yoghurt and cheese as I find the low fat versions awful but don't need to eat huge portions and will eat these with fruit and nuts.
It also tells me I should run etc I walk at least 5-10 km daily (I live on a hilly town).

Good for her, but is an hour a day of pilates going to be sustainable in the long term? It's a lot and extremely repetitive to do the same thing every day. I'd done 30 days of yoga with Adrienne but that's 20 to 35 minutes a day and much easier to fit in.

It's about healthy choices rather than health. If you are disabled, that may impact your health but it's not something you can make a choice to change, so there is no point in them asking whether you have a disability, for the purpose of what the NHS is doing with this quiz.

Regarding being fat - it could be seen as a disadvantage of the quiz that it says nothing about portion size but they seem to be taking the position that your 'healthy choices' are about what you eat, not how much of it you eat. Broadly they are looking at what you are doing at this moment in time - so someone who is overweight due to a history of poor food choices will not be 'penalised' in the scoring if they are now eating healthily; and they won't be penalised if they're eating healthily but are overweight due to being on medication, i.e. something they can't make a 'choice' about.

(Edited for clarity)

But the problem is that it's very hard to eat only 1,500 calories of UPF. That could be done in just a couple of minutes - and then, because of the nature of what's been consumed, you'd be hungry again an hour later.

With real food, it's so much easier because the food is more satisfying, so you naturally eat less of it.

How long does it take to drink a glass of apple juice, for example, compared with how long it would take to eat a dozen apples? Chances are that after 3 apples you'll have had enough.

I’m an active person with a good diet, who doesn’t smoke and only drinks a couple of times a year. Just big 🙂

Sounds like 10/10 was spot on for you! I only got 2 out of 10 because I smoke and don't eat enough vegetables. I scored OK on exercise levels and I don't drink or eat a significant amount of UPF but the notes said if you smoke or drink heavily, your score is limited to 3 😄

I scored 7/10 I eat a keto diet/intermittently fast so it didn't like that im all no carbs high fat and protein. I cycle & walk daily don't drink or smoke. Its a bit of a vague quiz I'd almost say it was pointless. Not a hamster in sight either!

I've lost nearly a stone(just getting back to pre pregnancy weight of 9.5/10 stone) relatively quickly and easily.

I imagine all the conflicting advice on how to lose weight/eat healthy impacts many people so they give up. I have to keep things very simple so I am consistent.

I'm really enjoying keto it's quite a thrill to wee on a stick and know I'm in ketosis. It's done wonders for my brain fog too.

Can they? Are the NHS providing a night nanny for my non sleeping ASD child now? He's medicated 5 days out of 7 but 2 night a week it's 4-5 hours sleep a night for both of us. He slept like the average newborn until he was 3. As an actual newborn he slept 20 mins increments. He has a diagnosed sleep disorder. How am I to get more sleep please?

I'm sorry to hear that, it's incredibly tough.
Do you think the NHS should provide a night nanny service? I couldn't even get my GP to do shared care for DD2's medication.

No not really, I just think the world should accept I can't get more sleep than I am doing 😂 my house is upside down because I've stopped getting up at 4am to clean in a bid to get more sleep and overcome the anxiety and brain fog it brings. It's not good for you though. My mum had 5 kids as a sham with a crap husband and a lot of stressors and she died at 56. I'm 43 and I'd very much like more than another 13 years so I'm trying to prioritise health overall.