Walking-off the calories

I will eat a fair few nibbles from M&S

They make lovely treats.

Just had a Medjool date with no stone.

Kartrush very well said.

I find it quite possible to stay away from all the packets and stick to real food, raw ingredients, the simple basic things. I really want to eat food I enjoy, not obsess over the fat, sugar and salt content of everything!

I thought the idea was to just give us an idea of the amount of exercise we would need to do to burn off the chosen item.
It is then up to us to decide if it is worth eating it or not. I would certainly 'feed' into this idea as sometimes it is confusing as to what to chose as a healthy option as there is so much info on packaging now. I get confused about low fat and full fat items, some say eat the full fat others the low fat. One has high saturats the other has high sugars. Shopping is not my favourite job!!!

Everything in moderation crazyH - and who doesn’t love a Cadbury’s fudge!

It's midnight - had a stick of Cadbury's fudge - very bad habit I know , but I enjoyed it ...

I think it's an appalling idea. I see so many young women with body confidence issues who work out to exhaustion - they will take it as a literal injunction; eat this biscuit and run on the treadmill for 2 hours. It's an invitation to anorexia.

We all know (only too well) that eating badly, not exercising, smoking and drinking alcohol are bad for us. It doesn't stop us though!

Some people have to try a lot harder than others, too. Those of us with fewer fat cells have an easier time. People who developed more far cells as children have to try a lot harder.

Genetics too, play a role. Some of us are naturally more muscular, having a higher percentage of Neanderthal genes, so exercise helps us burn more calories. Those same genes, though, increase the tendency of an addictive personality, which doesn't help.

www.nature.com/news/2008/080505/full/news.2008.800.html

I have to say JENNIFER ECCLES that I agree with you. In 2011 I lost 2.5 stone I. Weight. I needed to, I was just inside the obese. I felt better and promised myself that I would not put the weight back on. I lost it because I had had pneumonia and didn’t know I had it because I was so fat I just thought it we were having a hotter than normal summer. 8 years on I have put back on 1.5 stone and it is directly due to overeating cakes, crisps and basically rubbish including not eating properly. I have become almost fanatical about losing the weight, trying to set targets and not keeping them.

The government are trying to make being overweight and obese the same as smoking was a few years back with a lot of success. It’s a good idea, I personally think.

Any tips to lose would be appreciated. I can’t join any groups as I don’t live in the UK!

I have a serious heart condition and had to have open heart surgery. I put on a stone during the week I was in hospital and I put on another three stones in the following months. The hospital staff told me it's caused by the medication I have to take to keep me alive, also I'm unable to exercise or walk very far. I use a walker to help me get some exercise but I can't lose weight. I've tried weight watchers and lots of different diets but nothing works. I don't think putting anything on the food wrappers will help me at all. I'm desperate to lose the weight. If any of you are in the same situation and have lost weight I'd love to know how you did it.

Would this information help me....no it would not, I already read the calorie content of everything that I buy.
I love the way a topic about information branding of food has slowly turned into a fat judgement platform.
There are worse things in world than being fat, being cruel, thoughtless, judgemental, smug, those are worse.
If you have never been fat and I don’t mean just plump I mean FAT don’t pretend to know what you are talking about.
Shame on you

" pushing scones" is a vile phrase.....still if it makes you feel good about yourself carry on.

JE, there is well documented evidence to show that mental health problems , in particular depression ( very very common) lead to dysregulated appetite. Weight loss, weight gain are part of the picture.

Nobody chooses these problems.

I had an auntie who was obese, and it was always put down to her "glands". She could have had hypothyroidism or Cushing's syndrome, which are both caused by malfunctioning glands (thyroid and adrenal respectively). She was the only overweight person in the family and ate less than any of us. As my mum used to say - barely enough to keep a bird alive.

Thanks Gaunt47 !

I really thought I was on my own with this one !

As I said earlier, it’s all about denial. Years ago folk blamed their glands! I remember reading a piece by a doctor who said at the start of his studies at medical school he was puzzled to find nothing about these mysterious glands people liked to blame !!!

The modern equivalent I guess is a slow metabolism, or a food addiction!

You live in the West Country.
How lovely! A wonderful part of the country.

Very tempted to put up the deck chair, open the popcorn and settle down to watch the fur fly now!

JE - I'm with you on this one. Here in the west country cream teas are sold everywhere, and it really is the fat people you see pushing scones and cream into their mouths. Normal sized people just have a cup of tea.

Look I obviously feel sorry for those whose medical conditions predisposes them to gain weight but you know as well as I do that they are in the minority.

The vast majority of people who are very overweight are that way because they eat too much.

Mental health issues was mentioned and again I do feel sympathy for those suffering, BUT mental illness doesn’t cause weight gain , does it ? If some medications are known to have this effect then it just means cutting back a bit on calorie intake.

Yes some people might overeat if they are feeling miserable, in the same way as some comfort eat, but we still come back to the same reason for obesity don’t we?

I find nutritional information on the packaging very useful and usually have a quick glance, although have a general idea of what's in most things.

A recent Ocado order had a pack of two plain naans - would never have bought them if I'd known there were 413 calories in each one!

I just think that the people who probably could do with the information won't look at it, either because they don't care or they worry too much already, and those who are unhealthily obsessed with what they eat might be pushed further down the path of eating disorders.

Unlikely

I don’t think it will do much good - people will become immune to it as everyone knows that you’re unlucky to walk x number of hours to burn off a packet of crisps. It feels like an easy and cheap cop out.

If the various Govts are serious about tackling this issue then they need to do far more at societal level and place far tighter controls on manufacturers, but that takes time and money.

No mention of how fast you’d need to walk though. Surely that would be a factor in calorie burn?

Nortsat46 I'm afraid the 4h is just for the pizza, doesn't include the wine! - though I think if you shared the pizza, it would 'only' be 2+h...!

Well said, JeannieB44. There is far too much fat-shaming as it is and the assertion that obesity is "entirely self inflicted" does not help anyone. Many medications can have weight gain as a side effect. I have an underactive thyroid and lipoedema, which is a medical condition that makes fat cells in my legs and arms, multiply through no fault of my own. It is a hereditary hormonal disorder that means my top half is two sizes smaller than my bottom half. I am not morbidly obese and wear normal clothes sizes but l have a peculiar shape even so, so reading that weight problems are "entirely self inflicted" does not go down well with me. What about the sporting injuries that are also treated by the NHS? Are they not '"entirely self inflicted" too?