Talking about weight and covid

[Iamsososoexcited]

In the 44-53 age group, 73% of people in the UK are overweight to obese. This is a government statistic according to the House of Commons library.

Does anyone else think this is massively concerning?

This awful virus arrived a year ago. It has a disproportionate effect on people who are overweight and obese.

People are washing hands, wearing masks, keeping their distance, isolating with families to stay safe. Why aren’t people losing weight to stay safe as well?

I don’t understand. It is like being told there is a course of action you can take (losing weight) that will drastically improve your chances of surviving this terrible virus, and yet people are not doing it?

Please help me understand?

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Agree! we need better provision for exercise in the UK, better gyms and fitness facilities, better outdoor areas where there is space for cyclists walkers and runners to all do their thing without getting in each other's way
I would like to see cycling promoted, safe cycling routes etc,

Obese parents generally have obese children. Absolutely obesity impacts on others outside of the individual concerned.

Yes of course, but it still isn't directly comparable to banning smokers from restaurants, unless you're one of those odious people who thinks that the obese shouldn't have the audacity to eat in public.

This is what I mean when I say people are missing the point. If you're obese you are addicted addicted eating. Paying more for sugary food isn't going to help. The foods I used to eat to excess were rice, pasta and bread along with huge helpings of veg (I love veg).

It is a naive myth to think all obese people eat McDonald's and Ben and Jerry's.

You can absolutely be obese eating whole foods and not scoffing Burger King etc. I was. Let’s not forget the role that poverty has in driving obesity: cheap carbs fill you up, good quality meat and veg cost money, and those who say beans and lentils are cheap and filling aren’t wrong, but these take time to cook plus the energy cost.

Nothing will change with no effort, even celebrities who could eat whatever and whenever they won't - they don't.

I would question the use of the term “addicted” when talking about the relationship people who are obese have with forms. In most cases, I think it’s more that they are habituated to eating too much. Changing your habits to eat less is an effort, but it is not the same as withdrawal.

I disagree Dazzle.

I think there needs to be a major change in how obesity is approached. The current one isn't working.

Incidentally, a lot of adults with ADHD are also obese, and adults with ADHD are largely undiagnosed, particularly women.

@wibblewombat

I'm fat.

To lose weight at my height & age requires total diet compliance for an extended amount of time, probably best part of two years done properly, to minimise muscle loss. Add in thyroid issues & the menopause...

My food (both making & eating) is my main pleasure & also helps me control my adhd. Currently my mental health is more important than any weight loss. Maintaining my weight at current levels is enough of a challenge.. 😁

I'm in much the same boat for broadly similar reasons.

Have started walking regularly and stocked up on healthy food for the week to have yet another crack at the diet side of things so we'll see.

A typical day for me would be a late brunch of 2 scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast.

Tea/coffee and a couple of biscuits mid afternoon

Evening meal...marinaded, baked chicken breast, sweet potato wedges, sweetcorn, broccoli and tomatoes.

To lose weight, I would have to eat:

Fresh fruit and fat free yoghurt

Miso soup

Salad

That's it...and I've have to do it for over a year to hit the middle of my healthy BMI based on a loss of 2lb a week and assuming I didn't plateau.

'Just lose weight' just isn't possible for many people.

Its genuinely good to see that there is understanding that making the necessary changes to diet and excercise to lose weight is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for many.

I wonder though if the same empathy should also be extended to people finding it difficult, if not impossible, to make the necessary changes to their social habits to comply with current restrictions?

To me there are significant parallels, both in terms of risk from covid/pressure on the NHS and the challenges people facts in making the change, so if not, why not?

bullshit excuses for why they are special and can't lose weight.

You’ve got that the wrong way round - it’s the ones who can lose weight and keep it off who are the special ones. They are vanishingly rare.

The reasons for this are many and varied, and poorly understood. The statistics, however, are compelling.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4539812/

I get a little frustrated when people say things like - it’s not complicated, eat less and exercise more. Yes I understand how to lose weight and the steps involved, I also understand how to learn a language or work really hard and become a highly paid executive (haven’t pushed myself to do either of those).

Self control and self denial when there is a readily available resource of things that give you pleasure is not easy, particularly when everything is miserable at the moment.

I wonder though if the same empathy should also be extended to people finding it difficult, if not impossible, to make the necessary changes to their social habits to comply with current restrictions?

Well actually I think it should be but when I've expressed that view I've been derided as a covid denier.

It's why I've expressed the view that support bubbles of 2 households ought to be allowed for everyone and not just the restricted groups.

Most things in life are complicated and not black and white. There is nuance. Every choice you make sacrifices something else.

@Yohoheaveho I totally agree. I fucked everywhere in France, it was really safe and there were dedicated cycle ways almost the whole way from where I lived and worked, ten kilometres away. I would do the same here in greater Manchester except the roads are awful, and drivers hate you. If there was a safe way to cycle it I would jump at the chance.

That should be cycled not fucked, lol! I'm not sure if it was auto correct or a Freudian slip...

Generally diet rhetoric is complete bullshit too, however anyone dresses it up. They work because of calorie deficit. Doesn't matter if it's keto, intermittent fasting or slimming world, the science is not complicated.

My personal view is that people who diet tend to put the weight back on because everyone is looking for that one magic thing that works and that they enjoy. At the end of the day though it has got to be a lifelong thing. If you lose 3 stone on keto, good for you, but can you keep it up forever? The science tells us that no, you can't.

I fucked everywhere in France, it was really safe

best typo ever!!!!!

Staying at home, eating high calories food, drinking to excess, all to ‘protect the NHS’ is easy.

Exercise and eating healthy takes effort, but will do more long term to ‘protect the NHS.

How do we encourage this and break the unhealthy eating cycles? It’s not impossible, just very difficult.

I think too many people want the quick win, the easy weight loss, when the truth is that to be fit and healthy we need to integrate it into our lives and look for long term benefits. We all know that time flies, so why don’t we think of 5 year or 10 year goals for our health and fitness?

The fitter and healthier we can be in our lives, the less strain we will it on the NHS. Perhaps instead of clapping for the NHS we should exercise for the NHS instead?

We all know that time flies, so why don’t we think of 5 year or 10 year goals for our health and fitness

Because the basic human psyche craves instant gratification.

I'm massively overweight, about 8 stone according to BMI charts. I've lost 2 stone since the first lockdown because Covid scared me. However, I still have 8 stone to go and Covid is here now. Taking responsibility for my diet is one thing. Actually losing weight is a slow process (some weeks 1-2lb, some weeks none at all) as I'm unable to exercise. Even with consistent and healthy weight loss, I can't magically undo years of excess weight issues and a poor diet.

My husband is Covid positive right now. While I'm currently negative, that could change. I don't know how I'll fare with Covid despite age being on my side (early thirties) and despite not having high blood pressure/diabetes/most other risk factors. It's terrifying, yes, but it does not change the fact that the work I put in to restricting my diet choices will have no massive effect on me for months, maybe even years.

@AquaTorfana, well done on your weight loss! Not easy in lockdown. Hope your husband recovers soon.

Great progress so far, @AquaTorfana! Don't worry about the exercise. It counts for only 5% of weight loss. It's diet that's most important. And you're right, 1-2lbs a week is about right. Sometimes it will be more, sometimes less.

Agreed the diet is a lot more important than the weight loss for exercise. But for general health, exercise is imperative.

God that whole post was wrong I meant diet is more important than exercise for weight loss

Oh yes - exercise is very good for many reasons! Just not really as important as people think for weight loss.