Joys of night-flights....

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

I don't like sitting next to anyone on an aircraft except DH! Try to reserve an aisle seat so if it's in a 3 DH takes the brunt of the fellow passenger!!

Plane seats are the invention of the devil, I have never sat in a comfortable one. Cleanse and moisturise in my dreams.
Fat genes, really ?

I am sorry you are hurt Magic writer

My main gripe is reclining seats. If the person in front decides to recline it takes up some of your limited space. Very uncomfortable if you are tall . It makes it difficult to have a drink without holding it in your hand all the time and if you want to read the book is almost stuck to you chest. If I notice the person in front trying to recline their seat I push hard on the back of the seat so they think it doesn't work. I am also happy to ask them kindly not to.

Gag or breathe! Wretched auto correct!

I did have a very large Hawian gentleman sitting next to me for one long distance flight. He was so large (in all directions) there was no way he could use the tray and the chap in the seat in front wasn't able to recline his seat! He did overlap a bit onto my seat, (I'm a 16/18 so he couldn't come far) but was very comfy to lean against and so lovely and charming I couldn't be upset.

I think I read somewhere that the size of an aircraft seat is based on a size 10/12, 5'6" woman. That's considered average taking into account those countries like India and China where people are much slimmer and smaller.

I generally accept that people are different sizes, and that I may end up squashed into the side of the aircraft, though have to confess to a heartsink moment when this happens. But the overpowering smell of garlic or curry does actually make me heave, there is nothing I can do but spend the whole flight trying not to far or breathe! I wish the check in questions included 'have you eaten garlic or curry in the last 24 hours?' [Smile]

Reading through these comments, I am disgusted by the attitudes of some people. As one of those 'fatties' that have been mentioned, I struggle with my weight every single day. Some of it is caused by health issues, some of it by eating the wrong things. Travelling by plane has become increasingly 'painful', as the seats get smaller and smaller. I don't 'enjoy' being overweight and do try to lose weight, but it's not easy and as my mobility has got worse, the trying to lose weight becomes more of a struggle. Suffering from anxiety and depression doesn't help, especially when reading stuff like this! We were not all designed to be stick thin, which I sometimes find unpleasant to look at, but I would never comment on someone's size as there may be reasons we don't know about for them being like that. I hope I never have the 'pleasure' to meet all the 'perfect' people on here who think it is okay to diss people re their size without knowing the reasons why that person may be that size. I would say 'you should be ashamed of yourselves', but you are probably so self obsessed that you would not see yourself as being anything other than 'perfect'. And if I sound angry, I certainly am!!!

I really don't like sitting next to smokers. The smell makes me feel sick. However I would never complain on an aircraft that a smoker is polluting my air space!

We have flown a lot and I maintain that I am tailored for the seats, but it is always the conduct of other passengers that is the problem. I have had objections from my reclining 'tough', people spreading into shared space, I always make sure they know I too am going to have a share!
Generally people are all the same, we just need a bit of communication.
Oh and please be kind and consider that we are all different shapes and sizes there is no need to be horrid, you might smell bad but are you hearing the larger people complaining? They still have to travel alongside you.

As for cleanse and tone on a plane, how nice for the person next to you,what next commodes?

If I pay for a seat, I expect a seat, not half of one because the fat person next to me spills over on my lap, it is an incredibly uncomfortable experience. If you need 2 seats then pay for 2, don't claim half of mine, I don't pay for half a seat. It is getting ridiculous not being able to address fat issues, everywhere you go now people are getting huge, with a detrimental affect on health. I dread perching on the bus seat next to a large person as it is difficult to remain in the
seat. I have had to stand on more than one occasion because I couldn't squeeze in. Where's the fairness in that? As for people coughing and sneezing on aircrafts, what thoroughly selfish people they are, it's the I'm all right jack mentality. I think back to the days where travelling on a plane was a pleasure, but not anymore, seat sizes have got smaller, people less considerate.

I too am appalled by the use of the word Fattie and the unkind comments people have made. As someone else said, overweight people are only too aware of it and often embarrassed about the room they are taking up, The thing to complain about is people's attitude, not their size. Even thin people can hog the arm rest (I have experienced this) or sit with this knees wide open (difficult to avoid if one is tall.) The worst plane journey I have had was next to a teenage boy who sniffed, coughed and sneezed the whole way and did not seem to have any handkerchiefs. None of us is perfect and a plane journey (even long haul) doesn't last for ever.
Personally I find it difficult to sleep with the seat back upright but if I have tried to recline I have had protests from behind even though the person in front has reclined (suddenly and without warning sometimes!) so I have had to suffer in silence.
To go back to the OP the suggestion of cleansing and toning on a plane is ridiculous!

All worth it when we reach our destination

Icanhandthemback ..... a fat gene??? Medical evidence for this OT pronouncement is surely required (and from a reliable source, not DM/DE fake news)

I think you'll find people object the the word "fatty" actually. Its quite worrying to think some of you think its ok to use it.

I expect all the people on this thread who are offended by the fat comments will, next time they fly, jump up heroically and ask to swap to sit next to a very fat person so the rest of us who think they should have to pay for two seats are spared that inconvenience. People are very quick to jump to the defence of fat people in circumstances like this but, I'm sure, would secretly be relieved that they aren't sitting next to one on a flight. If I'm wrong than I hope to see you on my next flight- just wave and make your presence known and, if I feel I need to, we can change seats. Problem solved.

It's horrifying to read all the judgmental remarks about so called "fatties"! Misha14, do you not think that people who are overweight know they are overweight; they don't need to constantly reminded. It also has the opposite effect. A lot of people who are overweight have low self-esteem so they comfort eat. Being continually told you are overweight just makes you feel worse. If they were cutting themselves or taking an overdose, there would be sympathy because of their "mental health" problems. A great proportion of overweight people suffer from those but somehow their way of dealing with it, food, is seen as something to denigrate.
And just for the record, I am not greatly overweight so this isn't something that hits a nerve because of that but I did make the mistake (in more ways than one) of having children with a man who had the "fat" gene in his DNA which has been passed on to 2 of my children. I used to be totally disbelieving about his mother who ate like a bird but was enormous but I've now seen that it is possible.