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Why are you fat? Time for honesty!

238 replies

Time2change2 · 16/05/2020 20:56

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?

OP posts:
Ragwort · 16/05/2020 22:34

I am greedy and I love food. I can afford to buy nice food and cook it, I enjoy cooking, I particularly like food that is high in calories. A meal like grilled salmon and salad just doesn’t appeal to me.

I have lost (& gained) weight many times over the years, I may do low carb again as that way I can eat lots of nice food & lose weight .... but I find it hard to maintain once I have lost the weight. I am over 60 now and doubt I will really ever change. Blush.

lovinglavidaloca · 16/05/2020 22:34

@AdoreTheBeach I think it’s because if your OH was heavier to begin with he’s burning more calories in everything that he does because he’s carrying more weight. Heavier people do tend to lose weight more quickly.

WearyandBleary · 16/05/2020 22:35

I just adore food and wine. I love to spend hours preparing and planning dinners and then finding the perfect wine to go with it. Every fucking day. Dinner to me is an indulgent party with DH that gives me the most pleasure in life.

I run several times a week. I am not going to lose weight. Everyone in my family lives until they are fucking ancient. It makes us all feel indestructible tbh. We are all fat.

StealthPolarBear · 16/05/2020 22:35

I am greedy and have a serious chocolate addiction. I am also lazy and do little exercise. I've been trying to address that but am still overweight. My idea of heaven would be curled up with a book and a giant Cadbury caramel and a glass of red.

StealthPolarBear · 16/05/2020 22:36

I also binge eat but haven't been doing that recently, I think I need to work out why. I still eat too much but don't seem to struggle to stop at the moment which is good.

YourWinter · 16/05/2020 22:37

My portions are too big - I weighed the amount of muesli suggested on the carton and I pour about three times as much into my bowl.

I love bread, toast, cake and biscuits, pastry and crumbles. I love salad too, but not as much.

magicmallow · 16/05/2020 22:38

single parent - lack of time to exercise, can't walk quickly because my DD is so slow at walking, can't escape DD to get time away to do stuff at the moment (we are joined at the hip during lock down), fussy DD and I end up snacking on her leftovers (bad I know), emotional eating, tired eating, lack of love for food - we eat separately most of the time and it feels functional, so I eat shit... lack of time to prep. Poor food habits- DD won't eat anything I cook so I have to eat her food or cook two dinners. It's tough! I am having some success with intermittent fasting though. Food is such an emotional thing!

magicmallow · 16/05/2020 22:39

Oh and definitely too much carbs and too much snacking! Depression leads to poor food choices. Lack of routine - e.g. a manic few days and the healthy eating schedule goes out of the window - you have to take what time you can as a single parent and that includes when kids are eating! Also I have a desk job which doesn't help...
So many excuses I know. I am trying. Mostly emotions getting the better of me.

PrincessConsueIaBananaHammock · 16/05/2020 22:43

Addicted to carbs.
Issues with portion control. If something is really nice I eat way past feeling full.
What I like is mostly unhealthy by normal standards.

PrincessConsueIaBananaHammock · 16/05/2020 22:44

Oh and main one, food makes me happy.

Fanthorpe · 16/05/2020 22:45

Yo-up’s from about 12 onwards. Ate next to nothing for a year at uni. Need to eat so little now in order to lose weight and I just don’t have the will for it. I hate being fat but I can fool myself that it’s not there. I can walk fast for miles and cycle, I don’t get tired or breathless, but often think about what I might have achieved if I wasn’t fat.

Cooking and eating gives a structure to life, it’s not like giving up alcohol.

ProtectAll · 16/05/2020 22:47

Why am I overweight - because I am addicted to food/sugar

I have always been but managed to control my weight and was excercising until about 15 years ago when I got ill, And was no longer able to.

My work became more stressful and I used food as my coping method and I still do eating more calories per day than I use.

I have food issues, hate to have my food mixed, dislike strong flavours and many healthy things. Plus I am an awful cook.

Now because of this I am stuck at home and if I want to join society again I have to change.

Merigoround · 16/05/2020 22:57

I snack too much and move too little. I am desk bound with access to constant junk food at work. I cant actually do much walking as I had a nasty leg break which limits my walking due to my gait.
Also have a mortons neuroma on the 'good' foot so Im pretty much a dead loss exercise wise.
To add to my woes I have had breast cancer twice so have no breasts and my stomach sticks out like an old mans beer gut.
I know all of this . I wear size 18 to cover the stomach (okay ...and arse ) . I dont like the way clothes look on me. I always feel scruffy.

And yet I dont 'feel' fat. So I dont have a prompt that makes me not reach for another biscuit or packet of crisps.

ImADisgrace · 16/05/2020 23:06

Because I have Binge Eating Disorder.
Because I can't stop shovelling food into my mouth.
Because eating makes me feel temporarily happy. Then extremely unhappy.
Because I can't find the willpower to 'just stop eating so much'.
Because I can't grasp control on the binge eating situation.
Because I'm lazy and greedy.
Because I grossly overeat and deserve to 'wear' my shame.
Because I have failed to conceive, probably due to being so disgustingly large, but still continue to consume massive amounts of food.
Because my hair has been falling out for years, and I am only 31 and feel really depressed about this, so once again food becomes my crutch.
Because I feel really 'unfeminine' due to the hair loss and not conceiving thing, and think what's the point?
Because I have a problem with food.
Because it's my own fault, completely self-inflicted, and every time I lose a few stone I fuck it up and end up at square one again.
It has gotten really out of control and I am so embarrassed, ashamed and frightened to ask for help. So what do I do? Eat more.

I can't explain why I do this to myself Sad

blibblibs · 16/05/2020 23:33

I eat when I'm bored and there's been alot of that lately! And I drink too many empty calories and haven't exercised since PE at school nearly 30 year ago 😔 I suppose it should be worse but I'm worried about trousers fitting when I go back to work on Monday!

FergusSingsTheBlues · 16/05/2020 23:40

Constant invalidation of my feelings

I literally swallow them and have done so for decades

Narcissistic parents
Etc

aufaitaccompli · 17/05/2020 00:07

Me too, I am

Every word. I feel so hopeless sometimes. My self worth is so tired up in what I look like. Ridiculously so.

Very critical mother, the endless "you could have a boyfriend if you'd just lose weight" "you have such a lovely face..."

In those sentences I heard what is wrong with me. I'd binge on crisps and shove them behind my headboard. I remember clearly, coming home one day and my mum had found all the wrappers and left them lying on my bed for me to see. That feeling of shame has never left me.

Mother was permanently dieting, and very pass remarkable about people's weight, marvelling at those who had successfully lost the pounds and regaling their stories to me.

She still looks me up and down and I still default to that feeling of being not enough. It makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable.

I married a man who shamed me too. He wouldn't have sex with me because I let myself go (after two c sections). I felt awful and so very sad.

I had a breakdown five years ago. I left him 6 months after I went back to work.

Sorry for the essay. I feel so tired of sitting on the sidelines, second guessing every scenario with strategies to minimise myself and be invisible. It's been a success and an unmitigated disaster in equal measure.

Yes it's my doing that I'm still fat. I guess I don't believe I'm worthy. I yearn to be accepted and cherished by someone special and an gradually realising that person is me.

Scarlettpixie · 17/05/2020 05:46

I love food
I eat to much
I drink to much
I don’t exercise enough
I cook healthy meals from scratch but sometimes I just throw some freezer food in the oven
I snack between meals as I get hungry
My snacks are not healthy
I eat when I am bored
I eat when I am sad or lonely
I have some stomach problems and if I feel gassy or nauseated, eating helps.

I am about 4 stone overweight and vegan. I have always thought it odd that I can make drastic dietary changes for the animals but really struggle to do it for myself. I know exactly what I need to do but I don’t seem to be able to do it.

I am already worried about the impact my weight has on my health. Coronavirus has just added to that.

Maybe today is the day. I have a fridge full of fresh veggies so no excuse really.

Scarlettpixie · 17/05/2020 05:47

Should add, I also eat when I am stressed.

ArriettyJones · 17/05/2020 05:48

Oh it’s you. You never stop this self-appointed fat-czar thing do you?

Chicchicchicchiclana · 17/05/2020 05:55

Given up smoking 6 or 7 times and gained 3 to 5lb each time. Gained another half stone or so in the menopause years.

rhowton · 17/05/2020 06:37

My BMI is now 26 so really close to being normal but still over weight. My BMI just before giving birth to my second child was 39 Shock. I've lost just over 5 stone. I put on 6 stone because my thyroid went crazy. I had Graves' disease and then had to have radioactive iodine that killed my thyroid. My metabolism was so so slow and I gained 2 stone in 2 months. I then fell pregnant and didn't get my thyroid numbers right until way in to the third trimester. I was pregnant again by my DD1 first birthday and by the time I had DD2, I was 6 stone overweight. In a year, I've lost 5 stone and I feel so much better. I still have 8-10 lbs to lose.

Hungryforchocolate · 17/05/2020 07:10

I enjoy food and didn't care for portion control. Currently taking part in a lockdown challenge with a local PT and 5lbs down in a week. Daily zoom hiit/yoga class and calorie counting

feelingdizzy · 17/05/2020 07:14

Portion control,tiredness I overeat when tired.Use food to celebrate getting through the day.I really like food. Old emotional eating habits ,stem from very odd childhood.Also now the menopause,I'm also quite fit run 10k ,but actually put on weight doing that!

Jenniferturkington · 17/05/2020 07:16

I like food and eat too much of it. I don’t do enough exercise to have a low enough net calorie total to lose weight.