Did anyone else pick up on that recent claim that the British are now the most unfit / obese nation in Europe?
Just lobbing it out there, but could a contributory factor be the unnecessary habitual use of motorised transport?
I do a lot of driving but if my planned journey is short ( ie less than a couple of miles or so ) I'll tend to walk or use my bike. Most of my neighbours though, jump in the car even to do that.
I guess there will be an amount of "Well, I've paid a fortune for the thing, insured it, taxed it, etc so I'm going to use it" in there, and quite understandably so. However, I wonder if it ever occurs to some of those on the latest fad diet that it might help a lot more if they walked a couple of miles every day instead or indeed as well?
Not suggesting everyone who would like to lose a few pounds or get a bit fitter should suddenly start training for marathons or anything, but it might be a healthier option to leave the car at home if it's not really needed. Better for the health of the car too I'd think.
Just my ramblings as usual. Feel free to ignore!
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I agree. I live about 2 miles from the city centre and as a rule walk. Over the many years I have live here I don't think I have ever met anyone I know on my estate walking the same route which I used to do 5 times a week. It takes about 45 minutes.
I mentioned that I normally walked to the city to my new neighbours ( they own four vehicles) and they looked at me as if a two mile walk was the equivalent of scaling Everest
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Same here, I walk if I have time.
The temptation when the weather is nice at this time of year is to use the MX5 though which has displaced a few exercise opportunities.
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I never walk if I can drive!
But - walking is increasingly painful (thank you chronic sciatica).
Going for a Blue Badge mobility assessment next week - I bet I don't get one as I can walk - it just hurts!
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Of the 8 homes/16 adults in our immediate area I seem to be the only one that regularly cycles to the village shop or PO, they all take the car.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 7 Jul 14 at 14:12
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Sorry if this is a silly question Roger but wouldn't a regular gentle stroll help your condition?
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Mon 7 Jul 14 at 14:25
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Walking and gentle stretching exercises are the recommended treatment for sciatica.
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Well, I did wonder. When I did my back in, ( compressed vertebrae as a result of getting off a horse inadvertently while it was galloping / jumping over a farm gate and landing on my harris ) my doctor suggested swimming as a form of non-load bearing exercise. Walking any distance or running was just too sore for quite a while but the swimming eased it and helped me back to a reasonable level of fitness.
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It amuses me to see my local tubbies doing their 15 stately minutes of walking on the treadmill at the gym, then waddle to the car to drive home. (I know where some of them live as I pass the same cars in their drives on my walk home.) I sometimes sneak a glance at the calorie counter if one is on the elliptical next to mine, see something like 60 or 80 - a couple of biscuits - and wonder why they bother at all.
One way forward might be the universal issue of these activity bracelets that have appeared recently. I was fascinated by a colleague's Nike one on a recent trip, and the Jabra equivalent got a glowing review in last weekend's FT. The bracelet makes activity a goal in itself, and gives an incentive to up your own rate by presenting data day by day. I'm in the US next week and I'm going to look for one there, but if we all had them we'd stop deluding ourselves that we move more than we do.
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Although it has long been our habit to walk or cycle when possible, I think also because I spend so much time in the car while working I associate not driving it with not working if that makes sense. I much prefer driving my car to my wife's but when driving hers I feel like I'm off duty so it has it's upsides.
Where we live, on the edge of a small town, it can actually take longer to drive in than to walk due to traffic congestion, and then there's the fight for parking spaces so I generally don't bother even trying and jump on my bike.
The only time we'll use the car for a short trip is for a supermarket run when it's just a lot more convenient.
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Mr WillDeBeest in the Yewtree thread
So it's 'just a bit of non-PC humour' to suggest that a serial sex offender's only error was to select a victim that didn't match up to your own (Olympian, no doubt) physical aesthetic?
Mr WillDeBeest up above
"It amuses me to see my local tubbies doing their 15 stately minutes of walking on the treadmill at the gym, then waddle to the car to drive home."
Spot the difference!!
Last edited by: smokie on Tue 8 Jul 14 at 08:00
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Spot the difference!!
The difference, Rog (and the five people currently hiding in your ample shadow) is that
1. I'm not making this personal to one individual;
2. I'm not applying one standard to one sex and a different one to the other;
and - and this is rather important -
3. I'm not using my view of anyone's personal appearance to judge whether they are worthy of an unwanted fingering from a serial sex offender, and would offer nothing but sympathy if I learned they'd had one.
Clear enough now?
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I see now I should have addressed my remarks to Smokie, rather than to Roger - sorry, and I'll accept the scowly if that's what it's for.
Otherwise, this stuff matters and it would be better to argue in words rather than pictograms.
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Lighten up a bit WdeB, it was meant as a joke originally.
Not like you to lose your sense of humour!
Pat
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We drive everywhere apart from the village shop. I think to walk to the nearest shops and back would take about 3 hours, plus it would be dicey as there isn't even a footpath let alone a pavement.
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I think the lack of walking is just a symptom of modern laziness and fatness, not a cause.
The real cause is the rubbish food everyone eats, combined with a lack of proper sit-down meals which encourage efficient digestion.
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The thing I think a lot of people get wrong is making eating the last thing they do in a day. If you take even a small amount of exercise after eating, a dog walk or a swim or whatever, you are not going to bed on a full stomach and give your body the chance to process the food.
Eating and then lying on the sofa before going to bed is a sure fire way of gaining weight.
I know I did when I had a back injury years ago and got into that habit for a few months
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Mon 7 Jul 14 at 14:37
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The OAPs who like me exercise regularly are slim. And generally well.
The OAPs I know who do not exercise are fat and generally unhealthy..
A 2 mile gentle walk a day keeps you heart and arteries exercised.. A modicum of simple exercises done regularly helps keep your spine supple and prevents muscle tone being lost.
It's hardly rocket science: everywhere has some form of pilates or yoga class. Even the gentlest form of yoga is good for the heart...and the more physical forms are better than a workout at the gym.
There is no excuse except laziness for OAPs in reasonable health not to exercise regularly..
When I was working I regularly traveled on business or worked 12 hour days - or both. I always took my running gear and ran wherever I went and did exercises in my hotel. The only place I did not run was in Nigeria....Others swam or did Canadian Airforce exercises.
Given that most people watch 3 hours plus of TV a day, the excuse of lack of time is pure laziness...
And yes my children exercise regularly.
It does require mental discipline and toughness especially when you feel tired ... And the ability to refuse to eat too much...
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I'm pretty idle although I walk a bit every morning before even coffee and quite often again later in the day. I should have mowed the back lawn again about now but my Stakhanovite SiL did it yesterday so there's no need. I'm not obese but frankly could be a bit fitter in the body tone department. Herself is a lot more fit than I am.
As for the children, they are very fit indeed despite the ethereal appearance of some of them. There's a trampoline outside here and it does one's heart good to see and hear them bounding high in the air with squeaks of joy. They look cute but are made of whipcord (actually at about 18 they tend to go more languorous and baby-doll).
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You have just given me a mental picture of a Keith Richards lookalike bouncing up and down on a trampoline with half a stogie in one hand and a large vodka and orange in the other.
I shall try to put it out of my mind.
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It's not so much as the when, more that if your activities aren't enough, you get fat. An average man needs 2500 calories a day and if you eat 3000, 500 goes to the spare tyre. An injury cuts the possible exercise right down, but does not shrink the stomach.
Blue badge by the way for those can walk, it's the speed that seems to do it, or the need for a rest/sitdown etc
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>>It's not so much as the when,
It kind of is. I seem to recall that if you eat and then go to bed for 10hrs, your body will not be using up the intake and will store it. If you eat 4 hours before you go to bed when you are still active, then your body will use more of the intake before considering storage.
Mind you, many things about "diets" are aimed at behavioural issues rather than direct food intake issues.
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We try and walk a few kilometres a day, weather permitting. We are lucky to live in beautiful walking country anyway but we also try to do the lanes and back roads around local villages, there's always something interesting to see. Did I mention the fantastic stash of 50s-80s American motors we came across a couple of weeks ago?
It isn't difficult to get in a decent walk. Sometimes, if we want to look in on our friend the bar proprietor we leave the car in the supermarket car park at one end of Oradour and walk the length of the town and back for the sake of a coffee. Indeed, it isn't rocket science.
Having said that, the French - by and large - don't walk anywhere. One supermarket near us has a car park of at least 500 spaces, yet they have had to install concrete 'tank traps' along the road by the entrance to stop people parking right outside. I swear some people would drive into the shop if they could get through the revolving doors. If we have a bit of a do here all our neighbours drive - and we can see all their houses from ours. We seem always to be the only people who ever walk from shop to shop on our rare visits to retail parks - and often almost get run over for our trouble.
Sadly, the French are definitely changing shape - overweight men and women are now everywhere. It never used to be like that.
As an aside, I now have difficulty finding ordinary muesli in French supermarkets. The shelves are stacked with breakfast cereals full of chocolate and even toffee. It's a disgrace. You can buy decent fruit muesli still at Lidl in the UK but not in France any more.
Having said all that, we spent a couple of weeks in the UK in May and it's frightening to see how people have let themselves go, especially girls and young women. So sad.
We happened to be walking along the seafront at Weston-super-Mare at a bank holiday weekend and I've never seen such a lardfest.
By coincidence, a close friend died suddenly, at 67, while we were there. He had let himself go and was over 20 stone.
What are people thinking about?
Rant over for now...
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Proportionately, obesity does subjectively anyway, seem to be affecting more women than men. Quite often you see a reasonably normal sized bloke accompanied by a rather larger woman.
Thinking back though, my parents, most of the time anyway, only had one car which my dad used for work. My mother therefore walked a lot. She shopped most days for fresh ingredients for the evening meal and by default covered the distance into the shops and back every day.
There was no daytime tv for her to be distracted by and when she wasn't pottering about the house she would be doing something in the garden.
I wonder if a combination of ubiquitous SUV ownership, Jeremy Kyle, Loose Women and weekly or even monthly supermarket shopping as opposed to daily walking down to the butchers, bakers, grocers and fishmongers has had a more telling effect on the ladies than the men who by and large still have similar-ish lifestyles to those of their fathers.
Ducks and retreats for cover...
;-)
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Mon 7 Jul 14 at 16:12
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One of my Brothers-in-law is obese, outrageously so. And as a man of 6' 4" or so, he is huge.
He can't get clothes, get in cars, sit on small or delicate chairs, move in crowds, etc. etc. etc. He has nothing physically causing his obesity, he simply eats more than I would believe was feasible. He has been told in no uncertain terms about his life expectancy. (and has young children).
It is a troubled mind that finds that all the difficulties and risks in life when obese are worthwhile just to have more food. And to keep on doing it to excess and making things worse day by day.
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Makes you wonder what triggers it. My wife is about 8 stones soaking wet is physically fit and always has been as an adult, her sister is nearly twice that weight. Same parents, same generation, same upbringing, they even work in similar jobs and had their children at similar ages.
Neither appears to have any unusual psychological issues but her sister claims she just can't lose the weight but my wife simply takes moderate exercise and eats what seems to be a normal amount. Her sister claims she does the same.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Mon 7 Jul 14 at 16:39
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>>but her sister claims she just can't lose the weight but my wife simply takes moderate exercise and eats what seems to be a normal amount.
I think its like smoking. For many years I would have said I wanted to give up smoking but couldn't. Two or three times I tried and failed. Just tortured myself for a while.
Then, 10 years ago or so, I gave up.
So clearly I could give up, for some reason I simply wasn't sufficiently motivated to do so before the point that I actually did.
After all not smoking is very simply not having another cigarette and nobody had a gun against my head. The will-power, motivation or choice seem to be the challenge.
Don't ask me what changed, I have no idea. I suspect I'd make quite a lot of money if I did know.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 7 Jul 14 at 17:05
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Giving up smoking had the side effect of causing me to give up beer funnily enough. A pint is just too wet without a fag.
I don't miss the cigs now but I do miss a cold one now and then.
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When I gave up smoking I put on weight. Not for any significant reason, but just idle hands resorting to snacking.
That passed and I don't think there has been any other implication. Someone else smoking neither makes me want one nor puts me off.
About the only time I want a cigarette these days is sometimes driven by work pressure; - the very occasional moment at 2:00a.m. with a black coffee studying a situation or difficulty and trying to work out what the hell to do about it and lacking any bright ideas!
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I tried and failed many times to give up. Patches, sooky plastic thingies, nicotine chewing gum, all that malarkey.
Eventually though, the method which worked for me was using an old cigarette case and gradually reducing the number of cigarettes I took out with me. Never smoked in the house anyway so that wasn't the issue.
From being a 20 a day smoker I did a week with 18 a day, the next with 16 and so on. Eventually I was down to only smoking a couple of times a week and slowly I sort of forgot to buy them.
I've had an odd one ( less than five in total in several years ) out of other peoples packs on holiday and suchlike since, really enjoyed them actually but haven't felt inclined to buy any.
Couldn't care less if anyone is smoking in my company, up to them and objecting on the grounds of smell would seem to be slightly hypocritical given the amount of the damn things I got through in the past !
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Quite the opposite;
I tried a few times to give up, but never used any aid.
When I did give up it was on a Friday night in the village pub. On the Monday afternoon my PA gave me a resignation letter, a packet of Marlboro and a pack of patches and told me to open one of them immediately.
I leaned really heavily on patches for probably up to 6 months. It made no difference to how much I wanted a cigarette one way or the other, but it made the physically symptoms [to me] bearable and enabled me to carry on doing my job.
In my role, lack of focus, concentration or the ability to think about complex stuff unemotionally for long periods of time is a killer.
But I was a *very* heavy smoker - 60ish a day for the best part of 30 years.
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A friend of mine gave up nearly 30 years ago and has never smoked since. However he is superstitious about it and still carries an unopened pack of cigs in his glovebox. Just doesn't want to be without them to hand he says. Of course they would unsmokable now or at least horrible to try but he feels comforted by their proximity strangely enough.
Odd eh?
Guess if it works for him then who is to say he's wrong.
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As you say, if it works.............
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I suspect addiction runs in families, not through precept but as it were genetically. There have been some pretty big addicts among my fairly close ancestry.
I won't burden anyone with a total rundown but I have such a complex tangle of addictions, all of them beneficial or at least occasionally useful, that I have little hope of successfully giving any of them up. In fact the only one I am motivated to give up is tobacco, by far the deadliest of them. I've given that up five or six times. At the moment I am 'cutting down': trying to stay below ten or twelve a day.
Horrible and pathetic I know. But that's addiction for you.
I note that the sun has passed the yard arm or whatever it does. Oh good.
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>>I note that the sun has passed the yard arm or whatever it does.
"Rises over" apparently. And originally at around 11:00a.m., which is rather good news.
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If you're serious about giving up AC, try limiting the amount of cigs you actually possess to the number you wish to limit yourself to that day. If you have more in the house you are putting temptation in your own way. Could you perhaps get your wife to issue them to you on a rationed basis for example?
Try my old cig case trick. Fill it in a morning and make it last without re-filling it until the next day. Cutting down by a couple a day is easy. Lower the target number weekly and eventually you just forget to smoke.
Make others complicit in your quest and remember, a craving doesn't last long however intense it may feel for a short while.
Good luck.
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>>a craving doesn't last long however intense it may feel for a short while.
I used to play a little game with myself. If I wanted a cigarette I would look at the time exactly and then wait exactly 5 minutes. If I still wanted one in EXACTLY 5 minutes, I would have one.
4' 50s, or 5' 10s was not good enough, I had to think of it at exactly 5 minutes or wait for a further 5 minutes.
I know it sounds dumb, but it worked for me and I've never had one again.
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Neither appears to have any unusual psychological issues but her sister claims she just can't lose the weight but my wife simply takes moderate exercise and eats what seems to be a normal amount. Her sister claims she does the same.
The key word here is 'claims'. Fat people either eat more - or exercise less. They often are masters at saying they don't overeat but the fairies don't put the food in their tummies either.
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>> It is a troubled mind that finds that all the difficulties and risks in life
>> when obese are worthwhile just to have more food. And to keep on doing it
>> to excess and making things worse day by day.
>>
It's got sod all to do with a troubled mind. It's the way he is.
Why do people smoke, gamble, drink too much, do drugs, eat too much, etc? By your analogy most of the world's population would have a 'troubled mind'. Are you a saint?
I am overweight, I wouldn't say shockingly so*, but it's well noticeable .. I would wish it not to be, however the alternative of having to radically change my lifestyle for ever isn't what I want, so there's a balance to be had.
If giving up addictions and similar were easy, there wouldn't be anyone with any problems.
* some might say so
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I don't understand your point.
Is an addiction not a sign of a troubled mind?
And you are fat because you prefer eating over thinness. Your call. A surprising choice for me, but that's neither here nor there.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 7 Jul 14 at 16:59
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My general rule of thumb is if the journey is too short to warm the engine up properly I walk. The only exception is heavyweight shopping, as I don't want to resort to a tartan shopping trolley just yet.
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"Radical change" is the last thing anyone who wishes to be fitter / slimmer long term should impose on themselves. People rarely stick to radical change. Small changes are the key.
Like I infer in the OP. Walk when you might have otherwise driven for example. Forget faddy diets, just don't eat too much every day. Nothing wrong with doing so now and then, just don't do it all the time. Limit alcohol to sensible amounts etc.
Small changes last longer and become barely noticeable. Radical is much harder.
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>> I don't understand your point.
>>
>> Is an addiction not a sign of a troubled mind?
>>
>> And you are fat because you prefer eating over thinness. Your call. A surprising choice
>> for me, but that's neither here nor there.
>>
You don't understand my point, because you don't have empathy for other people.
I am not fat because I prefer eating over thinness, as if it's a conscious decision, an either or.
It is however, difficult to eat the things that are good for you when you don't like them, or eat in moderation if you are hungry. It is entirely possible that my will power in this area is weak, as other people seem to manage it o.k.
Yet in other areas my will power is most sound ..and other's is weak ..that's life.
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>You don't understand my point, because you don't have empathy for other people.
Yes, that is one possible reason.
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My wife is a dentist and she employs a nurse who lives less than half a mile from work. She always drives, and is always complaining about being over-weight.
Some people are just so stupid!
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This might be deemed a bit un PC but you never saw anyone with 'gland problems' being liberated from the concentration camps.
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Extract from a BBC report January 2014 -
"In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese. The report predicts a "huge increase" in heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. Globally, the percentage of adults who were overweight or obese - classed as having a body mass index greater than 25 - grew from 23% to 34% between 1980 and 2008."
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Cynically then that "huge increase" should re-balance the situation?
Honestly though, it is only the business of the "fat" person whether or not they are happy fat. Or the thin for that matter.
Personally I prefer not to be, for me life is easier, more comfortable and probably longer as one of those I perceive to be the reasonably weighted.
But the ones I don't get are the ones who say that they are not happy fat, don't want to be fat, but then maintain that its *not* their fault since;
1) they have no willpower (So whose fault is that)
2) they diet (so eat less)
3) they don't like healthy food
4) its too difficult (so stop whinging)
etc. etc. yawn. etc.
Be happy how you are, or take responsibility for changing it. How else will you enjoy life?
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Well, to drag it all screaming back to the top of the page, is the increased propensity/opportunity to use motorised transport a significant factor?
I think it is.
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>> Well, to drag it all screaming back to the top of the page, is the
>> increased propensity/opportunity to use motorised transport a significant factor?
>>
>> I think it is.
>>
Quite possibly so.
I often have to nip down to my brother's garage which is exactly a mile away. The walk is most pleasant, almost all of it in leafy Dartmoor lanes ..trouble is, I begrudge the time it takes, I never seem to have enough time and juggle it most days ..so I drive usually.
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>>never seem to have enough time and juggle it most days ..so I drive usually.
Totally understandable, everyone or most anyway can relate to that one if they are honest.
Soooooo, as one of the "little" things you could do, why not use your push bike?
Not trying to "bully" or anything, not that it would work I'm sure even if I was ! But, if you want to be a little bit fitter then you could do that little thing as a starter for ten right?
Little things add up.
;-)
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>> Soooooo, as one of the "little" things you could do, why not use your push
>> bike?
>>
>> Not trying to "bully" or anything, not that it would work I'm sure even if
>> I was ! But, if you want to be a little bit fitter then you
>> could do that little thing as a starter for ten right?
>>
>> Little things add up.
How long does it take to get used to the saddle .. and not have to walk like John Wayne .. or is the standard saddle likely to be dreadful as a norm and I need to get a more comfy one?
The last time I rode it any length of time I was not a pretty sight when seen walking afterwards.
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>> How long does it take to get used to the saddle .. and not have
>> to walk like John Wayne .. or is the standard saddle likely to be dreadful
>> as a norm and I need to get a more comfy one?
What sort of a saddle are you using now?. Those fitted as OEM to mass market bikes are pretty poor and probably never get really comfortable. All three of my regular rides have a traditional Brooks, either a B17 or a sport. They take a few miles to break in and mould to your sit bones but are really comfortable afterwards - provided you look after them.
You cannot share a Brooks bike though because of the saddle's fit. I'm in Scotland this week supporting friends on a JoGLE ride Have had to put a basic plastic job on the Brompton so Mrs B can ride it as well if running errands or if we want to ride a segment with them (there's a spare road bike on the car too).
If you don't like the idea of the Brooks 'anatomic' saddles by (eg) Madison or Selle are another choice but they either fit or do not - not much scope to mould.
Don't be tempted by something with springs - you just waste energy while they act like a trampoline!!
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I think for a mile each way and a coffee and bikky break in between at your brother's garage you might be ok on the saddle provided !
;-)
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A firm saddle is the most comfortable. The important thing is to get one wide enough to support your sit bones (Easy enough to find). When you push your thumbs into the padding they should not bottom out on the base, a common fault with so called "Comfort" saddles. As Brompt says, springs are a waste of time and avoid gel inserts too.
Racing cyclists spend up to seven hours a day in the saddle for three weeks during a Grand Tour - their backsides are just as delicate as everyone elses and they're out of work if they develop sores so don't think the minimalist look of their saddles makes them in any way uncomfortable. They are shaped to give optimum support just where it's needed. Cheap saddles with soft padding are a pain in the butt - literally.
Last edited by: Robin O'Reliant on Mon 7 Jul 14 at 21:48
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Ach there you go again RR, you're assuming that any self respecting rider would have his wheels touching the ground for long enough at a time to worry about whether the saddle was nice and comfy enough. You'll be telling him to get a pair of those elastic shorts before long.
;-)
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>> What sort of a saddle are you using now?. Those fitted as OEM to mass
>> market bikes are pretty poor and probably never get really comfortable. All three of my
>> regular rides have a traditional Brooks, either a B17 or a sport. They take a
>> few miles to break in and mould to your sit bones but are really comfortable
>> afterwards - provided you look after them.
>>
>>
>> Don't be tempted by something with springs - you just waste energy while they act
>> like a trampoline!!
>>
Thank you
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Undoubtedly near universal access to cars is a factor. Children are ferried everywhere and grow up thinking that walking a mile or so is an arduous task. The amount of physical exercise that has disappeared from everyday life must be a big factor in obesity.
As well as being driven everywhere there are lifts instead of stairs, automatic doors, power tools instead of hand tools, and now the obese can even have their junk food delivered to their door without ever stirring from the couch.
We're all doomed.
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>> But the ones I don't get are the ones who say that they are not
>> happy fat, don't want to be fat, but then maintain that its *not* their fault
>> since;
>>
>> 1) they have no willpower (So whose fault is that)
>> 2) they diet (so eat less)
>> 3) they don't like healthy food
>> 4) its too difficult (so stop whinging)
>>
>> etc. etc. yawn. etc.
>>
>> Be happy how you are, or take responsibility for changing it. How else will you
>> enjoy life?
>>
I would prefer not to be fat. I am not happy being fat, although I am happy.
1, I obviously do not have enough willpower to be thin (so my fault)
2, I don't diet, there's no point, I'd have to change my food intake for ever more, not just get rid of some lard for it all to go back on again after the diet.
3, I don't like most healthy foodstuffs.
4, It is on my 'too difficult' pile, although I'm not aware of being a whinger.
I am no different in principle to most other human beings e.g. smokers. It's just a different subject matter.
I consider myself lucky that I do not have an addiction to: drugs, fags, booze in excess, gambling, etc, etc ...or have mental health problems for that matter....or other health issues.
I am quite controlled in many areas of my life, I have no idea why I am so weak willed with my weight ..but that's the way it is ..and I don't blame anyone else, just wish to state the answer of eating less and/or doing more exercise is easier said than done, which is why I haven't done it.
I don't look down my nose at others who are less fortunate with their lives.
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Have a gander at this -
www.sustrans.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/guidelines_16.pdf
With particular reference to 16.1
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Mon 7 Jul 14 at 19:45
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>"The report predicts a "huge increase" in heart attacks, strokes and diabetes."
Series on TV recently about a London Cabbie who has been trying his hand at cab driving in different parts of the world. Last nights episode was in Fiji where obesity has caused an explosion in diabetes. 20 to 25% of the population have diabetes and a surgeon in one hospital was conducting at least one diabetes-related amputation per day.
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>> >You don't understand my point, because you don't have empathy for other people.
>>
>> Yes, that is one possible reason.
>>
Try this:
tinyurl.com/opek9wm
My score was 24%
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This is all a bit over my head. I have always been slim, and have never put on weight however much I eat. I have never (voluntarily) taken part in any sport, and the idea of taking exercise because it might be good for me is just incomprehensible.
But I have active pastimes, always doing multiple house/car/garden/DIY activities, and do everything at the double.
I quickly run out of food whenever I do anything, including just thinking, surprisingly. Or perhaps the brain uses a lot of energy? I never feel cold - if I'm chilly I move faster or eat something. I hate wearing hats - I need to let the heat out somewhere.
Sorry about that - it's hard to feel empathetic to slugs and slobs. But it's fun pontificating on what's wrong with everyone else.
:)
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You can take two people with identical diets and lifestyles and one will become overweight and one will not. Some people have more efficient metabolisms than others. Come the great famine it will be the descendants of the fatties that will survive.
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>> Come the great famine it will be the descendants of the fatties that will survive.
>>
>>
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They'll be the first to go as us fit ones will eat them. They'll be too unfit to run away.
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>> I have always been slim, and have never put on weight however much I eat.
Same here, 6' and lucky to make 10.5 stone dripping wet. I've been like that since I was eighteen whether I've been active or not. Most of my life I've been a cyclist and I got the walking habit off my dad, a brisk stroll of anything up to ten miles on a Sunday afternoon was his pleasure and from a young age I'd go along too (As much for the large bar of chocolate he'd buy me half way round as anything). My job now involves a lot of walking and a pair of work shoes last me a maximum two months.
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The situation wont improve.
We live opposite our local primary school and it amazes me to see the number that drive to school who could probably walk it in under 10 minutes.
Friends who are extremely bad offenders in this respect have just acquired a puppy. They tell me its because the kids wanted one, and it will force them to take it out for walks.......As I want a puppy and Mrs B wont agree I am half hoping it goes badly so I can step in and adopt :-)
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Regrettably I can't do it now as I have balance problems and am a very slow walker, but if you'd asked anyone in the office who would have been the most likely to walk somewhere, they'd have named me.
I asked at BBC Belfast when I was working there which was the route to my hotel and they were extremely surprised I didn't get a taxi. Had a look at a borrowed map, memorised the route (it was very easy) and less than 30 minutes later, I was at the hotel's reception.
If the tube in London collapsed in a snivelling heap - I'd walk. And I worked in W12 as well. Local train line failed one evening - after 5 minutes I was fed up waiting and walked the 7 miles home (it was a nice evening, why not?).
Helps though that I have a very good sense of direction, almost like a built in sat nav, but there are a heap of features that tell you which way you are going, you just have to be observant.
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Always walk if it's to town / Tesco etc, usual caveat of raining / heavy items etc. Usually cover 4-6 miles doing this. Also run / ride / row 4-5 times a week if I can.
Does make me laugh though at the gym when you'll see someone walk in, take the lift to go up one floor, and then get on a Stairmaster for 10 minutes...
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Yes indeed, or try very hard to park as close to the entrance door as possible and then go on a running machine. Or get in the pool and then stand chatting at one end of it for most of the time they're in it ( if the rest of us are lucky of course, there's the others who stand chatting in the middle who are less amusing )
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I've just broken into a sweat reading this thread.
Just nipping out in the car to cool off with the AC on max. A couple of miles ought to do it.
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If I was 6'' taller I wouldn't be fat.
Pat
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If I was 6" shorter, I would be fat.
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If I were 6" wider I'd be quite well built.
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If my dong was 6" longer I'd be very popular.
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If I were 6" tall I'd be a fairy king.
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Ok here is my story….. I am 5’8” and my weight always fluctuated around the 14 ½ stone mark and technically obese.
Have tried exercise, diet etc in the past but just didn’t have the willpower and , probably more importantly, didn’t have the buy-in of the rest of the household to eat healthily. I work in an environment where there is always tins of sweets, homebaking etc everywhere you look.
I like gadgets and a friend pointed out a phone APP called NutraCheck – after a few inputs this told you how many calories a day to take to lose 2lb a week. On Sunday 25th May I was playing about with it and put all the details of my Sunday morning fry up into it and was astounded at the calorie intake. It was recommending I take about 1600 calories a day, my breakfast alone exceeded that. I then started playing about with some of the meals I eat, food and snacks I eat and this really gave me a wake up call. I could watch a football match and eat a tube of Pringles in each half, a pie at half time and a few beers over the course of the game. That was in excess of 3000 calories for 90 mins!
So on Monday 26th May I started a diet. I fed in to my app everything I ate, drank and exercised. I started cycling to work , 12 miles each way. My wife was also dieting so we looked at different recipes, we bought lots of fruit and veg. My son joined in as he was wanting to lose a bit but also liked the appeal of new food and meals.
I started at 14st 7lbs and my first aim was to get to 14st as that would be a half stone. Then my next target was 13st 7lb for the full stone. Then my next target was to have the first digit read 12 (I didn’t care about the lbs).
On Friday 4th July I weighed in at 12st 12lb. That is a loss of 1stone 9lbs in a matter of 6 weeks. In the same time my wife has lost 1 stone 7lbs and my son 1 stone.
Between us, we are now carrying around the equivalent of 26 bags of sugar less than what we were.
So going back to Humph’s original point, I have got out the car, got on my bike, done just short of 1000 miles since May on my bike and reaping the rewards both physically and financially although I have had to get a couple of bike repairs done, I suppose that could have happened anytime.
But what this does is highlight to me that we all have our own motivational tools, our own drivers. For some it may be standing up in front of a diet class or telling everyone you are on a diet. My wife went to the diet class but purely to get weighed and then left immediately – there was just no way she was going to sit around with a bunch of folk whose common denominator was they were fat. It’s just not her thing. For me it was and is that APP on my phone. When you know that you need to tell it what you have eaten it genuinely does stop me from eating things that I would maybe be tempted to eat. It has also raised my awareness of products and meals calorie inputs so for example 100g pasta is the best part of 400 calories before you add in the sauce – if you are making a carbonara with cream, maybe some cheese etc you are up nearer the 1000 calories. Add in the garlic bread and you are getting close to your days limit!
Our food bill has increased dramatically it has to be said and maybe there is an element there that can go towards explaining the rise of obesity in the poorer areas. It is definitely cheaper to buy a £1 frozen pizza from Iceland than it is to make a meal out of fresh lean meat and vegetables.
I feel like a reformed smoker writing this but I do have a fish supper booked for 5.30pm on Friday as I am then officially on holiday for 2 weeks. Off to Bulgaria and we have vowed that we are still going to have a great holiday, eat and drink well, but we both know that at the back of our minds is the fact that we won’t overdo it as we don’t want to undo all the work that we have done.
Oh and the jogging trainers are being packed as well as, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I have been able to jog and did just short of 3 miles the other night. Not a huge distance but 3 miles more than I have ever jogged before as I was simply too heavy and my knees were in agony when I tried before.
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Firstly, I am glad that you, your wife and your son found an approach that worked for each of you.
Second, b***** well done on tackling something that daunting and difficult and having results that outstanding.
I admire you for that very much. You should be very proud and chuffed with yourself.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 8 Jul 14 at 11:47
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Agreed. Bobby's "app" approach pre-figures the mass advent of wearable tech, which is even nearer now that Amazon have just opened a UK store dedicated solely to such things, and of course more on the way. Especially if Apple actually do release their iWatch imminently.
For my part, I've lost a stone in the last three weeks by the simple expedient of stopping the consumption of any bread, cakes or biscuits. Job done.
Amazon store, should anyone want to know, is here:
www.amazon.co.uk/b?ie=UTF8&node=4845975031
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>>For my part, I've lost a stone in the last three weeks by the simple expedient of stopping the consumption of any bread, cakes or biscuits. Job done.
well done CC - bread / toast is a right weakpoint for me - I could gladly eat bread and butter all day long so giving up bread was really tough . A slice of Scottish Plain bread is about 115 calories and of course you need to have at least two and smothered in butter.
Now when I have bread it is the small 400g wholemeal loaves with average of about 70 calories each and flora light. Just doesn't taste the same mind you.....
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Well done Bobby. And of course Mrs G and Master G.
You might find that you can have your cake and eat it so to speak on your holiday by having "not sensible" days and alternating them with "sensible" days.
I was always led to believe that a balanced diet ( and yes that can include pigging out a bit once in a while ) coupled with any form of exercise which raises your heart rate above rest for 20 continuous minutes a day ( steady on there lad! ) is about right for long term health.
We are not on any kind of diet in our house but our lifetime's habit is to only have a "proper" evening meal every other night. So tonight for example it's tinned salmon sandwiches and a cup of tea having had a sitty downy meal last night.
And always always always, some light exercise before bed. I go for a swim usually but if that isn't happening the dog gets an extra trot out along the towpath.
Live long and prosper ( or go where no man has gone before or something )
Was that Harrison Ford or William Shatner? ( I know it wasn't Shakespeare or Churchill )
Might have been Leonard Nimoy come to think.
Anyway, you know what I mean...
;-)
Lt Uhura is 81 you know. Depressing or what?
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Tue 8 Jul 14 at 15:28
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Live long and prosper
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
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I keep trying to do that "V" sign thing now. You know the one, in the middle of your hand.
Quite hard actually.
Bet you try !
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>> I keep trying to do that "V" sign thing now. You know the one, in
>> the middle of your hand.
>>
>> Quite hard actually.
>>
>> Bet you try !
>>
Yes of course. I can do that with ease with my left hand, but not at all with my right. Conversely, I can raise my right nostril in a sneer with ease, but not at all with my left.
However, unlike Spock, I can't lift just the one eyebrow at all.
Bet you try !
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>> Bet you try !
Forgive me for what may seem prurient curiosity, but how many of you cats have pointed ears that wiggle and possess directional focusing ability?
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Oh that's torn it now ! I have just discovered thanks to you, for the first time in my life, that I can raise one eyebrow, either eyebrow in fact, individually, but only if I shut the other eye so it's not very convincing.
Makes me look like I have an involuntary twitch.
I shall now see if I can do it while doing the "V" thing at the same time.
Probably best avoided while driving or in business meetings.
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You can have a play with rotating both feet clockwise and then trying to rotate both forefingers anticlockwise at the same time then.
I can't. It's hands or feet, but not both together for me.
As to AC's directional ears, it's true that sometimes if a sound is sudden and comes from the right direction I can feel my ear "move" somehow.
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Spock never did that. Or Roger Moore either.
My wife can do a Wookie noise though. Usually when the dog comes in after being in the canal in fairness.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Tue 8 Jul 14 at 16:48
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>> You can have a play with rotating both feet clockwise and then trying to rotate
>> both forefingers anticlockwise at the same time then.
>>
Dead easy - just tried it.
My party-piece is pointing my index fingers at each other, and rotating one hand clockwise and the other anticlockwise. I can stop and reverse either at will, leaving the other going in the same, or opposite direction.
Then I can do them at different speeds. They work independently.
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"I keep trying to do that "V" sign thing now. You know the one, in the middle of your hand.
Quite hard actually."
Well not for me. The bones in my middle fingers are slightly bent to form a permanent Vulcan salute. The funny thing is I didn't realise that other people could actually put their third and fourth fingers together until I joined the Army Cadet Corp at school and was forever being reprimanded for not saluting properly. I used to put and elastic band round my fingers to hold them together!
Perhaps I'm really Vulcan
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Tue 8 Jul 14 at 16:46
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>>Perhaps I'm really Vulcan
Norwich - Vulcan, not so different really.
Slightly weirder in Norwich, I guess.
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>> >>Perhaps I'm really Vulcan
>>
>> Norwich - Vulcan, not so different really.
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>> Slightly weirder in Norwich, I guess.
The real Vulcan village, Lancashire........Disappeared off Streetview since I last looked.......wonder why.
www.google.com/maps/@53.4399592,-2.6237245,200m/data=!3m1!1e3
Perhaps it's really the home of aliens and HM Gov are keeping it secret !
>>
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What did you do with the sixth finger when saluting?
;-)
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Yeah - can be a problem but the webbed feet make me b***** good at the front crawl.
Drove past my favourite Norfolk road sign in Wiveton at the weekend. Always makes me smile.
www.flickr.com/photos/cameron_self/2875942818/
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Brilliant CG !
That has just brought back a memory of receiving the exact same instruction from a dental receptionist I met in Tudor Hall a very long time ago when I was giving her a lift home to Dereham in my company Cavalier SRi.
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>> "I keep trying to do that "V" sign thing now. You know the one, in
>> the middle of your hand.
>>
>> Quite hard actually."
>>
>>
>> Well not for me.
How does that work with the webbing?
I can wiggle my ears quite well, it sends the children running screaming out of the room. My entire scalp is quite mobile too. That's another good one to get them going.
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>> I can wiggle my ears quite well, it sends the children running screaming out of
>> the room. My entire scalp is quite mobile too. That's another good one to get
>> them going.
>>
Do children run screaming out of the room when you don't wriggle your ears?
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Only when he starts arguing. :-)
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Well done, I know it's not easy because I've just managed to shed a stone. I wasn't drastically overweight at 12st7lb, and around 5ft7in tall, but had noticed a gradual increase in weight over the last couple of years. Luckily my wife also bought in to it for the same reasons. We are lucky living here in Austria, where it's so easy to get out for a really good walk for the exercise element.
With regards to food, we honestly don't feel as though we've been on a diet. We've attacked the problem by having smaller portions, slightly less meat, more fish and veg, and cutting down on alcohol, limiting myself to around 250ml wine a day. It was too easy to drink more than intended by opening a full bottle of wine and vowing to make it last at least a couple of days - yeah, right! So I've been buying the 250ml bottles - when it's gone, it's gone! We still eat sausage, potatoes, and veg every couple of weeks for example, but whereas in the past we'd have had perhaps three large sausages, we now have three small low fat ones, two veg instead of one, and just one potato. Simples! Rice and pasta has been reduced and we often eat bulgur wheat instead. With a sandwich or roll, have them open and thus half the amount of bread.
The Austrians as a whole have a much more outdoor life than in the UK. Sunday is still special here - no shops open, not even DIY or garden centres - and many families go out as a family group walking or cycling for the sake of it. There seem to be a lot more fit, older people here. My wife and I have just come back from holiday in another part of Austria, and we completed a 3-hour climb from 1900m to 2800m in the mountains in temperatures of c.27°. OK, I'm 61 and SWMBO is 63, but how many people of our age in the UK could do that? But we're not unusual here.
Not easy, but worth all the effort. Mind you, SWMBO has only lost half a stone, but she reckons it's because I had more to lose in the first place. Nothing to do with her nibbling crisps etc. in the evenings, of course ;-)
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I stopped smoking, cold turkey, about 40 years ago. It would not bother me if I never had a drop more alcohol - but I do love my nosh!
Potato Crisp sandwich, anyone?
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Cheddar cheese and plain cripses on white sliced bread sandwiches......mmmmmmmmm.
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Don't use it and maybe you can lose it. - CGNorwich
