Shocked yesterday at just how many people are overweight?

[Whatevskev]

And I know I’ll get loads of bashing but I’m not judging- myself and all my family may well be included in this observation

The day before I’d been watching a documentary about the 40s and was struck by how slim the vast majority of people were. We got chatting as a group and I remembered there was only one child at school who was considered to be overweight (this is the 80s) so I got a photo out and realised by today’s standard he wouldn’t stand out at all.

Then yesterday walking around town I started actually noticing and it struck me that only about 1 in 10 people if that would be classed as properly slim and how normalised carrying extra weight is. Many people who would have been maybe a size 12 so ‘slim’ are actually carrying so much more body fat than our ancestors.

Once I looked it was striking.
No blame on anyone- society makes it almost impossible to maintain a lower weight unless you have iron will with all the food availability and snacking culture and calorie laden drinks and meals.

And we definitely have reset in our heads what is slim and what is ‘normal’.

How on earth do we reverse this is a society or is it just going to rise exponentially?

The thought of sharing dessert... just no. People double dipping, yuck. I'd rather leave half of mine and waste it than share - I expect I'll get a telling off for that though.

You usually cut the cake with a clean knife and everyone uses their own fork. No lack of hygiene involved.

My parents both worked but my mum still cooked. I learnt from her, we had domestic science lessons in school but I can't say they were useful because I was already cooking more advanced stuff than that. My mum had to cook as there were few takeaways and my parents didn't have the money to spend on them.
Here in rural France we don't have the temptation of Deliveroo, there is a pizza truck once a week and a horrible kebab in the local village. So it is easier to pass on fast food. OTOH the bakeries are tempting, but we restrict the pastries to Sunday breakfast only, we don't eat breakfast the rest of the week. I batch cook at the weekend and with that and pasta sauces I don't have to spend long cooking in the evening. People have the time to binge watch series but not to cook or do sport, it makes me laugh. Its a question of priority.

Abraid2 Fair enough for a piece of cake, that wouldn't bother me, but you couldn't really do that with a bowl of sticky toffee pudding with custard, or ice cream.

Since when is working an excuse for eating junk food?

How long does it take any normal human being to make an omelette, grill some chicken or fish whilst you put some kind of salad on the side? You can even cook every 2 days and eat leftovers in between, fill your freezer, and defrost as you go.

If you are interested in the root causes of obesity you should read The Obesity Code by Jason Fung

I do think there should be a fairly significant tax on food delivery - Uber Eats, Deliveroo and their ilk are just delivering rubbish.

@MoltoAgitato but what about those of us who occasionally order online as a treat? I'm a size 8 and 6ft DP weighs 10 stone... why should we be taxed on a service? It is a choice and people should be free to make their choices.

Why should only the rich get Deliveroo?

It's easy shame a person who already feels ashamed.

lemon
but if it's a treat why shouldn't it be taxed?

I do think there should be a fairly significant tax on food delivery - Uber Eats, Deliveroo and their ilk are just delivering rubbish.

There's already 20% VAT on catering/fast food.

@LeGrandBleu

Thanks for reminding me of the French grated carrot salad. We will have that as a side dish tonight. Simple but delicious.

I'd be interested in learning how to make that clear French veg soup

@LemonPrism

Bit like the sugar tax and tax on alcohol - sin taxes.

Deliveroo doesn't just deliver shit food

I buy Thai food (vegetables/tofu in a very watery stock sauce - delicious and not remotely replicable by me - there's no decent Thai ready meals either)

It's literally just veg and tofu - it's clearly got fuck all calories in it as I'm on a calorie controlled diet (1500 a day) and it has no impact on my weight loss

Ditto the curries I buy 🤷‍♀️

I think you're just as likely to buy good food as shit food from Deliveroo

I don't eat or buy junk food

I buy sushi and Middle Eastern deli stuff on Deliveroo - all very healthy.

The Deliveroo thing actually highlights a different point - if you’re somewhere central or with a wealthy demographic, you’ll likely have a wider choice (near me it’s everything from P(?)FC to high-end sushi). If you’re somewhere with a more “samey” high street and less demand for sushi/Thai/Lebanese/whatever, I imagine Deliveroo will reflect that.

It’s just local restaurants. I spent a fortune once on not much in S Ken.

They seem to have moved into more fast food areas going by advertising, but better than Just Eat which seems to be on any food outlet going by signs on windows.

No food delivery services out where I live. But I work very unsocial shifts, and, believe me, short of having ready in the slow cooker, I do NOT want to cook when I get in, I want to take my shoes off, shove some food in my face and go to bed. Even an omlette takes too long when you build in the prep, cooking, clearing up and washing up time. Plus the late night smell of frying food drifting through the house!

Shift working means having to always think ahead about what you are going to eat that night. If you're out, or busy during the day before work, then it's another microwave meal...

Shift work is no excuse. That’s just another example of socially accepted laziness.

Batch cook. Cook before you go to work. OR just go to the effort of 15 minutes of lifting pans and knives.

WellErrr i've recently lost three stone, retook up running, run six/seven miles a day, i think i can afford the odd microwave meal.

And shift work is very definitely an issue. Talk to all the nightworkers at a local hospital about how healthily they eat, when mealtimes are upside down and you have to sleep during daylight hours.

I don't understand why people are concentrating on home cooking. It is perfectly possible to eat too much of fully cooked from scratch home made food. It's possible to stay slim on take-out, just eat less of it.

@redchocolatebutton because taxes punish pleasure only for those who have less financial means... which is thoroughly unfair tbh.

I can control myself, I don't need to have the government to control me when they already take their due (20%) on my take out.

Plus, in many cases, binge eating is the cause of obesity and that is a mental health issue. Higher price wouldn't always stop someone with binge eating disorder they would then just have less money for the gym/ counselling/ juice / dentist or any manner of other life and health improving purchases.

Short of rations we cannot take the world back in time when it comes to diet... we can only prepare our children and make available things which can push back (subsidised gyms, healthy cooking classes, wider availability of counselling).

And of course call out companies for the amount of sugar, salt and fat they hide in their 'healthy' products... protein bars for one are a farce. But I don't know anyone who has written letters to these companies... just people who bitch about fat people

We were walking around a water park in Spain last month and it felt like everyone had these absolutely amazing, beautiful bodies. In truth they were probably quite ordinary, we are just so used to seeing overweight people.