Why are you fat? Time for honesty!

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COVID19 has brought obesity to attention. The greater risk of becoming seriously ill or dying with COVID19 if you are overweight cannot be denied.
64% of the UK is overweight or obese yet many seem to be in denial or not aware that they are in fact overweight.
Time for honesty- if you are overweight or obese, why? Is it will power? Money reasons? Lack of knowledge of health eating?
Have you been in denial about your weight? Has coronavirus alerted you to the fact you are indeed overweight?
I am speaking from experience as I was in denial for years - thought I could eat anything I wanted and didn’t put on weight. It wasn’t until I went with the friend to a WW meeting (only went to keep her company as she didn’t want to go on her own) and I got weighed and was shocked that actually I was overweight be a good 2 stone!
So- why are you fat and are you going to bother to do anything about it?

Need to eat less (mostly green) & move around more! 🤷‍♀️

For me, it was following dc being diagnosed with SEN and with that my life becoming full of appointments and therapy and fighting to get dc's needs met. And then juggling that with the other dc, plus life. Just not enough hours in the day.
Disabled dc moved out two years ago and I'm just starting to recover from the burn-out / rediscover my mojo.
Life is too hectic for us all. I don't think it's any surprise.

I’ve just lost 16lb and got back to a healthy BMI but the reasons I was fat were:

High dose corticosteroids

Antidepressants

Age- my metabolism slowed hugely around 39 but my appetite and eating habits didn’t

Not realising how few calories I use. Even though I walk 8-15km a day, I gain weight at 1200cal (yes, I realise this is meant to be the minimum recommended for weight loss and, yes, I do weigh everything!), maintain at 1000cal and only lose at 800-900 a day.

Eating 2-3 meals a day with my family rather than eating when I need to. Also, eating the same meals as dc who clearly have different nutritional/ calorific needs.

I was overweight because I started sertraline and developed major carb and sugar cravings. I'm on fluoxetine now and much better at regulating my food intake and no longer overweight.

I've put on weight because I'm snacking through boredom. On furlough since March and although we've been keeping active in the absence of school, I've been buying loads more " treats " .
I've gone tee total since 13 June and seriously watching what I eat .
Being peri menopausal doesnt help because it's all going on round the belly

I don’t move around enough.

8 hours a day sat at a computer only getting up for toilet breaks. When I was the “right” weight my activity levels were far higher. Cycling to work, even a short journey, not everything was online so i was constantly getting up to talk to different depts, find a reference book or a form etc. I didn’t have a car so would walk an hour to town to shop on days off.

My activity level I need to eat under 700 cals to lose weight.

I'm not a big eater or snacker. I detest the feeling of being full of food and have no trouble leaving food on my plate if I've had enough.

However, I barely move and I drink too much wine and have very low daily calorie requirements. I am also very short and post menopausal and have gained weight all the many times I've given up smoking.

So saying cut out cakes, sweets and biscuits and do the 16:8 diet and the weight will fall off you is just bolleaux in my particular case.

But this thread makes for very interesting reading.

Proximal cause- diet/hormones cause body to store fat rather than burn it.

Secondary causes
Body type prone to curves (family of short round women)
Not sporty
Tendency to sweet tooth and comfort eat
Massive stress in life bringing up two children with significant needs (violent meltdowns etc), and tied to a desk job/car commute until recently.

No problem with cooking or knowledge of healthy eating.

A lot of its in my head. Now I'm 50, fear of not being able to cope with exercise without getting injured. And fear can't get through the days if I eat too little.

What the govt could do to help me.
Social pressure not to eat junk food: Packet of cheap digestive biscuits to be as dirty as a packet of fags.
Some accountability/counselling
Don't tell me to bloody eat less and move more.

Lots of reasons. I’m basically lazy and hate exercise. I hate feeling sweaty, hot & sticky. I loathe sport both participating and I have absolutely no interest in watching it either. I enjoy food and love eating out. I can’t stand diet bores and people who are totally obsessed with their weight and their appearance. These same people are usually totally judgemental about anyone who does not conform to their standards. I don’t believe diets work. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to make serious, life long changes to your eating habits. I know a few people who have done this but it doesn’t appeal to me, it looks joyless but they find their joy elsewhere not in food. I don’t have any health issues and am not on any medication. I regularly walk 15,000 steps a day and I am already old. I don’t particularly want to live another 30 years. I don’t think starving myself to shift 2 stone will have enough positive impact on my life to make it worthwhile. I worry that if I lose 2 stone, I will eventually even up gaining 3 stone when I let my guard down. So lots of reasons but to sum up it’s mainly because I don’t care enough to do it.

Because I am short so to remain thin I have to survive on tiny portions. Also I love food and hate exercise. Also I am sleep deprived and lack time for exercise due to long (2 hours each way) commute. I do also stress eat and boredom eat. I always home cook everything and walked a lot pre-covid. And I know how to eat healthily and exercise, I just don't enjoy it. I vary between size 10-14 - diet down to a 10, start eating 'normally' again, back to a 14, reach my limit, diet again. It is a neverending cycle. I've just started dieting again after lockdown weight gain.

I'm 11st 3 and 5'3 so definitely pudgy.

I'm trying to lose it now but even as I lie here typing this message I'm thinking about food. I have a terrible sweet tooth and I also love wine. I try to stick to clear spirits when slimming but nothing hits the spot like a massive glass of wine.

I'm also a complete chocoholic and not a great fan of exercise, so it's a recipe for being fat.

That said, this time last week I was 11st 5lbs so I need to keep on the right track and maybe this time next week I could be 11st 1lb!

Not well enough to take the right amount of exercise. Not sick enough to stop cooking, and I'm a good cook. The illness isn't related to weight gain - I was quite slim when I was first diagnosed. I do enjoy healthy food. God only knows what size I'd be if it was only pie and chips that turned me on.

I haven't read the whole thread. So apologies if someone has aleady said this.

We accept that some people are tall or short.
Some people are black, white and any other ethnicity.
Some are intelligent and some not so intelligent.
Some people are teatotal whilst others drin like a fish.
So why are we not accepting that some people will be thin and others fat?

I have spent my entire life trying to be thin. Once I got to 9.5 stones which was supposed to be just about acceptable for my height of 5ft 3. However, my periods stopped so that was not a good weight for me. Possibly I was bordering on becoming anorexic. Since that episode I managed to lose 5 stones or so every 10 years throughout my life. Then I gradually put it on again. And so the merry go round goes on. Trying to achieve the ideal weight to fit in.

But I never fit in for so many reasons, so if I could by at least being thin, I might feel so for a short while.

So what have I ended up with, facing retirement in a few years?
An unhealthy, obsessive relationship with food. I go into a supermarket, wondering around and coming out with the same limited selection of food. Some days I end up not eating anything until the evening. Other days I feel as if I can't find the right thing to satisfy me so end up grazing all day. If I do cook, despite having many recipe books, I stick to the same three or four recipes. Being adventurous or spontaneous is not me. I blame that on a feeling of abandonment in childhood that has never gone away.

So I think now, that people should stop blaming all fat people for eating too much. As they say, until you walk in my shoes, you'll never know why a particular person reacts in a certain way or does particular things.

It's not all about having willpower. I know I've got it. But until what's going on in my head is sorted, it is likely that I will be fat when die (and I don't mind about that - being dead that is). The only thing I would mind about is who would be there for my adult offspring who has mental health issues.

Apologies for any typos etc. If I go back and proof read this I may delete it.