Joys of night-flights....

Re 'fat genes' I do think it is true that some people put on weight much more easily than others . I know diet and exercise play a large part, but I do know people with big appetites who stay forever slim and others who try hard to diet but who seem to stay large. I think it is metabolism related.

We've just booked a holiday to India next spring. So I've got six months to loose a stone so I fit those wretched seats. Dreading it. Perhaps I'll win some money in the meantime so I can upgrade!

mumofmadboys that smoker is polluting your air space. They smell because the chemicals from smoke are on their clothes and skin. If you can smell it, it's already in your system doing you harm. After smoking, the chemicals that are not immediately absorbed into the smoker's bloodstream are breathed out for a long time after the cigarette is finished so you breathe them too. They do you harm. I have no objection to people smoking. It's their choice but they should do it as far away from me as possible.

I have spent a short flight next to a farter. Not pleasant but perhaps he was a nervous flyer.

I boarded a busy easyjet flight and had an aisle seat. The gentleman next to me was large and had trouble attracting the attention of the flight attendant to request a seat belt extension. He nearly clouted me in the face every time he flung his arm out to try to grab the attendant but that was his bad manners rather than his size. He was very tall in the seat though so his arm was at my head height!

I believe some people are genetically predisposed to eat too much. The body's normal appetite controls don't work so well for some people so they don't know they've eaten too much until they already have! That being said, there's a simple equation that governs sensible eating:
energy in = energy out = equilibrium i.e. no weight gain
To lose weight, eat less or move more or do both for optimum results but exercise alone without calorie reduction doesn't work very well.

I think that many over weight people do know that they are carrying too much weight, but they still don't admit to themselves that they have to do something about it. Having lived with someone who was in emotional if not rational denial for almost 30 years I could never understand how this worked. And yes I do agree that over weight is often the result of other problems and that the whole weight issue is very complicated. However, to solve a problem we must state what it is and not find ways of excusing behaviours which are unhealthy. I don't mean by this that we judge the person, none of us know what drives another individual.

Pollyperkins, gut bacteria, or the lack of them, can affect whether or not we lose weight.

I think maybe wearing a face mask might be necessary coping with smoking, curry or other offensive odours Chinese and Japanese wear them whilst walking around our cities. I did pluck up the courage to sky why once, was told it was air pollution.

There is a gene which has been scientifically discovered to be responsible for weight gain (or hanging on to fat). It is named FTO. If a person inherits this gene from both parents they are more than 50% likely to be overweight.
I had time to google this as I am packed and waiting for taxi to airport for sunny Greek holiday. Yipeee! And I don,t give a damn about the size,shape or bodily functions of my fellow passengers.I just want to get there.Safely.

Esspee did you mean to sound so mean and spiteful? If so, how very rude. You, I presume look like a stick insect.

I was the first to mention the problem of fat people on an aircraft. It was not meant to be fat shaming, I really don't care why they are fat (I am overweight myself but fit into all airline seats). I merely said that if one seat isn't big enough for them then they should pay for two (or upgrade to a larger seat). Why should other people be inconvenienced and deprived of whatever comfort they have paid for by someone who should have paid for the extra room they need. Try sitting next to a fat person on a flight to New Zealand and you would soon understand that my comment was reasonable.

Maddy, I am size 16 and (officially) obese. I have never been given an airline seat that I couldn't fit into comfortably without inconveniencing neighbouring passengers. I was not being mean and spiteful, just stating facts. If I have paid£800+ for a seat why should I be deprived of my allotted space by someone who clearly needs two seats.

I'm appalled at the discriminatory attitude of some of the posters here. What started off as a perfectly innocent post, has now turned into nasty slurs about "fat" people...how dare you!

I agree Esspee. I (officially only over weight as 5'7" 16/18) fit snugly in the seat and don't overlap, and although I have sympathy with larger folk I don't see why they shouldn't have sympathy for me and not think it their right to take over my space.

I think its time, as now Eastern nationalities are generally getting larger as well, that air lines reviewed their seating policies and gave us more space. Travelling 'Cattle Class' has become a too accurate a description.

It is not my intention to be unkind to fat people but this is a matter of only using what you have paid for. My DH is tall therefore we always pay for extra leg room to accommodate this. A waste of money for me but hey ho that's what we have to do. By the same token fat people should pay for the space they take up too. On a different tack this issue of obesity really needs to be tackled-as we're trying to do with smoking, alcohol abuse and gambling. I realise folks will shout "nanny state" but is it really acceptable to allow folks to get "addicted" and then expect the rest of us to pick up the pieces? I do all I can to keep a healthy weight and keep as active as I can, don't smoke, drink or gamble but. . . . I have a terrible sweet tooth and it takes an iron will to avoid the stuff. I have offered a friend that if they give up smoking I will give up cake! I'm serious too but, of course, she doesn't want to stop despite poverty and health problems. These problems are mental health problems sadly.

If you say someone is tall or thin that is not discriminatory. When you say fat then all hell breaks loose. It is factual that grossly overweight people spill over airline seats to inconvenience their neighbours. Being in a plane is stressful enough without having your paid for space usurped by these inconsiderate people. All they have to do is pay for an extra seat or one in a higher class.

Yet again, all sympathy for 'fatties' as obese people are being called on this thread and I did have sympathy until I was described by one poster as being "uncomfortable to look at" and one I have been called before "stick insect", I am a size 8 and I have lost count of the many overweight people who have no qualms, whether it upsets me or not, to comment on my weight. So, why is it unforgivable of me to say to someone, "you really need to lose some weight, you are too skinny"?

Something I would never be hurtful enough to say.

You are too fat obviously not skinny

No excuse for rudeness, whatever shape a person is in. If name calling ( because that's what it is) hurts a person, why hurt somebody else with similar comments?

Is being called skinny as rude as being called fat? I wish someone would call me skinny. Scrawny on the other hand - that's an insult! (Not that anyone calls me that either)

Oh I think it's a bit offensive. Slim is complimentary though. But its probably best not to make any comments about a person's body shape at all unless its a compliment eg What a lovely figure you've got' but even then it's dodgy. I had a very tall friend once who was fed up with everyone commenting on her height. She got especially fed up with hearing'what's the weather like up there' and similar comments. I think tge furthest you can go with an overweight person would be to say 'larger' .

I've found the graphic I referred to earlier .

As you can clearly see if you are a size 16 or over you are encroaching on the other persons space.

So we're not talking morbidly obese people here... just the average sized 16 UK woman - which according to some research is now the norm.

Maybe we should stop blaming people for encroaching on our space and start making airlines put people slightly higher up their list than profit because airline seating sizes are decreasing.

Whatever words are used then it is undeniable that those with v wide mid sections or very long legs can impinge badly on the comfort of those sitting next to them. Whose rights are more important? The person who has paid for a seat that they cannot fully occupy, or the person who has paid for a seat knowing that they won't fit into it?
Seats are designed for average-sized passengers. If they are designed for double the average then we would all be paying much more for our air tickets.
I was once in a row of 3 with an enormous Samoan couple. He was vast and wearing a splendid outfit involving a sarong and a grass mat thing around his middle. His wife was v grateful when I relocated myself elsewhere once the seat belt signs off, so that she was not shoehorned into the middle seat for next 3 hours.

Actually Jess if you look at my graphic above you'll see airline seats AREN'T designed for the average UK woman ( given that the average is a size 16) .

That average will already have you encroaching on the next seat/person. Only size 14 and under will fit without any encroachment.

Surely our wrath should be towards the airlines, not different sized folk. Or are we going to go down the route that only folk who are a size x or under are allowed to fly? I have spent many a flight in agony because the armrests are digging into my hips, then on other flights, I have had room to spare in my seat. And believe me, us larger folk do feel hugely embarrassed if we find ourselves encroaching on other folks space. I think we all need to think about other folks feelings before we start calling folk 'fat, fatties, skinny, stick insects' and so on. We are people first and foremost and should be respectful to each other, this world is crazy enough without finding more ways to hurt each other.

Too bloody true!

Right. The diet starts tomorrow. At least I may possibly be able to get down to an average 16 by next March!