Obesity.

[screenman]

You carry on challenging obese people then if you think that's your role in life - do you do this to strangers in the street? One day perhaps someone will use their greater mass to put you on the deck.

So if I change my my tack and say, I am worried by your size would you like to borrow one of my bikes and come for a ride a couple of times a week, would that be OK.

 

[Longshot]

So if I change my my tack and say, I am worried by your size would you like to borrow one of my bikes and come for a ride a couple of times a week, would that be OK.

Again, why do you feel it's your place to say anything?

 

[summerdays]

Why not skip the first part and just invite them for a ride for their enjoyment?

 

[IDMark2]

I wish my GP had told me my weight had increased by a third in six years and that it was dangerous. She didn't, I had to realise it and do something about it. They are the first line of the NHS system and should be able to freely refer to a plotted graph of your weight, with you, on every 'routine' visit. Surely in this most simple graphic way a GP could then show the unvarnished fact of an upward curving line and politely and inoffensively suggest when doing something about it would be wise. They would also see themselves if there were any other factors that may need to be investigated (NB. My experience of my GP, yours may be better)

 

[ScotiaLass]

So if I change my my tack and say, I am worried by your size would you like to borrow one of my bikes and come for a ride a couple of times a week, would that be OK.

From my post...
People are sensitive about their weight and usually know themselves that they are obese - they just don't want to hear it from others.

I think it has to be approached sensitively, whether it's someone you know or not, otherwise people just get defensive and shut off. I know, I was that person.

It doesn't matter how you say it to someone, if they don't want to lose weight they won't.
I think mentioning a weight issue is rude, unless you are a health professional.

It has to come from them...they have to want to do it for themselves and no-one else.

 

[Saluki]

Yesterday, we were in a shopping centre thing and OH mentioned that overweight was the new normal. The overweight and obese far outnumbered the slim and OH mentioned that we were following America in that respect.
Have there not been countless NHS initiatives to get people slimmer, government adverts about healthy choices like that ad campaign on tv at the moment Change 4 Life.

I have no idea how to change our eating for pleasure culture. Food adverts that purport food to be fun might be something that is to blame. My Aunt says that she and her sisters were overweight when they were young, as was their Mother (my great aunt) but the war and rationing soon put a stop to that.
I have a BMI of 27 and falling but I am way fitter than my neighbour who is aged 24, slim and gets out of breath walking up the steps to her flat. BMI is a load of old tosh. My GP reckons that measuring body fat is a much better indicator but he says that it takes far longer and a 10 minute appointment is just not enough to measure everyone and that today's lifestyle has a lot to answer for.

 

[gbb]

People are sensitive about their weight and usually know themselves that they are obese - they just don't want to hear it from others.
None of my kids are anywhere near fat and as a child/teen/young adult, I wasn't either. It was only after my 3rd child I started piling it on, and it got worse after I was medically retired from work due to my health issues and depression.

I think it has to be approached sensitively, whether it's someone you know or not, otherwise people just get defensive and shut off. I know, I was that person.
I've lost 4 stone and have another 3 to go, but I'm getting there!
The best thing I ever did was get active again - it was very difficult due to my FM but I was determined not always to be the fattest person in the group!
It's all to easy to judge others, it's not so easy to help them.

Respect to you Scotia....
My wife was a size 18 and like smokers, had no desire (outwardly anyway) or determination to lose weight. I think of it as an addiction, she knew she was overweight, but lacked the determination to do anything about it. Christ knows i can eat what i like and the thought of cutting food out would scare me to death..
Eventually she got the desire to do something, heavy heavy excercise for the first year, heavy and PERMANENT cutting back on calories, she's gone from an 18 to a size 8/10. I KNOW how much she's sacrificed and how hard she's worked (and still does) to achieve that.
It comes from within...usually, no amount of being told will make any difference.

Its a very difficult subject to raise with someone, even your wife, i'd raise concerns occasionally, but any more than that, you're treading on thin ice and may depress the person you're trying to help.

As an indicator of her determination, i offered her the chance to learn to drive (she never has) and to buy her a newish Mini (she loves those cars)...she declined. Why...she said it'll just make her lazy, she loves to walk and ride her bike.

 

[swee'pea99]

Yesterday, we were in a shopping centre thing and OH mentioned that overweight was the new normal. The overweight and obese far outnumbered the slim and OH mentioned that we were following America in that respect.
Have there not been countless NHS initiatives to get people slimmer, government adverts about healthy choices like that ad campaign on tv at the moment Change 4 Life.

I have no idea how to change our eating for pleasure culture.

The thing is, it's not just a culture, it's the effective and cynical application of a lethal combination of food science and manipulative marketing undertaken by ruthless corporations driven by an overwhelming need to maximise returns to shareholders.

There was a fascinating programme maybe a year ago called The Men Who Made Us Fat, which was built around the great sugar v fat debate. Apparently it's a transatlantic thing. America thinks it's all down to fat; the UK is focused on sugar.

The programme's findings were best illustrated by an experiment carried out on rats. Apparently rats love sugar. Given the choice between sugar and food, they'll ignore the food and just eat sugar. Rats also love fat. Given the choice between fat and food, they'll just eat fat. So far so predictable. But here's the interesting bit. In both cases, they'll eat till they're sated, then stop. 'Stop', of course, in the food industry's case, meaning 'no more money'. So, what to do?

What the experimenters discovered, after a bit of experimenting, was the holy grail of the food industry. A 50/50 combination of fat and sugar (sugar including carbs, which are in food terms, a form of sugar). This 50/50 ratio does something to the mammalian brain. Specifically, it seems to shut down the little voice that says 'stop: you've had enough!' The result? Feed rats on cheesecake, say - a perfect 50/50 fat/sugar combo - and not only do they prefer it to food, or fat, or sugar, but they keep eating it till they go pop.

Analyse pretty much any junk food, biscuit or ready-meal, and you'll find it contains 50/50 fat/sugar. And that is basically why we're fat and getting fatter.

 

[Ganymede]

I think there is a big problem with people assuming that losing weight is really really difficult and it will go back on anyway. There has been a lot of talk about how diets don't work - and of course, a lot of them don't because they are just diets and don't include lifestyle changes. In my experience, exercise/activity is the only way to lose weight and keep it off. I am not overweight but often wish I was a little bit slimmer, and this was brought home to me really strongly when I moved house a few years ago - we went into a 3-storey house and I spent a week running up and down stairs. The activity meant that I also didn't have have time to eat anything outside usual meals. I lost half a stone in 6 days!

Obviously I did put most of that back on because it was a bit out of the ordinary, but it taught me a useful piece of information about my body. I think most people are not well in touch with their bodies - I have done lots of yoga and tai chi, plus my physical training as an actor, which makes you very aware of yourself, and being an actor, very used to thinking of your body in quite a non- judgemental way - you think about it as a useful machine to some extent, and have to be very realistic about your appearance and your casting bracket.

I agree that telling someone they are fat, or even saying out loud that you've noticed they are overweight, is fraught with difficulty and more likely to lead to that person backing off and not engaging. Offering to take them on a bike ride, or a walk or whatever, is probably far more effective - basically telling people how much your wellbeing has improved through activity and then showing them - so, @screenman, that's what I'd suggest rather than being tempted to indulge in "plain speaking for their own good".

A friend of mine in the US is a weight counsellor and her stories are of how people are frightened of change, frightened of doing something new and different to what their friends are doing. I also think people are often simply not aware of how much they eat and (especially) drink - you just have to watch that fascinating programme "Secret Eaters" to see that.

Soz, a bit long.

 

[Ganymede]

I'd also add - if you knit, darn, embroider, whittle - whatever - in the evenings in front of the TV, you won't snack. Snacking is the curse of modern society! You won't drink or smoke either if your hands are occupied.

 

[Saluki]

I'd also add - if you knit, darn, embroider, whittle - whatever - in the evenings in front of the TV, you won't snack. Snacking is the curse of modern society! You won't drink or smoke either if your hands are occupied.

So true. I watch the TV and play my guitar, practice scales or whatever, while watching. I've noticed a difference in the last 12 days or so as Hubster is home in the evenings now he is dialysing in the daytime, he is a big snacker and it's quite hard to resist. He is not chuffed with me watching a programme and practicing my scales either as he says that it disturbs him . I don't always want to feel 'banished' to the music room. He was snacking on 2 tubes of pringles yesterday, pringles are so moreish and I munched some. My willpower only goes so far. I need to woman up really.
Knitting is awesome for keeping your hands occupied. I find knitting too hot an activity in the summer, it's my winter thing. The thought of knitting a jumper, in this weather just makes me feel a bit ill.

 

[MontyVeda]

I'd also add - if you knit, darn, embroider, whittle - whatever - in the evenings in front of the TV, you won't snack. Snacking is the curse of modern society! You won't drink or smoke either if your hands are occupied.

Can i add Playstation & X-Box to that list?

 

[IDMark2]

I agree that telling someone they are fat, or even saying out loud that you've noticed they are overweight, is fraught with difficulty and more likely to lead to that person backing off and not engaging. Offering to take them on a bike ride, or a walk or whatever, is probably far more effective - basically telling people how much your wellbeing has improved through activity and then showing them - so, @screenman, that's what I'd suggest rather than being tempted to indulge in "plain speaking for their own good".

That was well said and hopefully lets the discussion grow from there...

Inactivity is a devil for me, my MS attack last time was a month of enforced 'not doing much' and my love handles reappeared.. Didn't take too long to ride them off though!

 

[vickster]

If you are so worried about it, why not train as a doctor/ nurse/ dietitian/ counsellor/ clinical psychologist etc, then you can educate and help people in a way they'd probably appreciate

Do you tell people in the street to stop smoking, go into pubs on a Friday night and tell people to stop drinking, do you stop speeding motorists and motorcyclists and tell them to slow down...?

 

[IDMark2]

If you are so worried about it, why not train as a doctor/ nurse/ dietitian/ counsellor/ clinical psychologist etc, then you can educate and help people in a way they'd probably appreciate

Do you tell people in the street to stop smoking, go into pubs on a Friday night and tell people to stop drinking, do you stop speeding motorists and motorcyclists and tell them to slow down...?

Is it 'have a go at the OP' day? He's already been told that a subtler approach may be used than his idea of one and a discussion had broken out afterwards... I am really worried about animal mistreatment, therefore I should retrain as a Vet?