So just HOW should 'the government' tackle obesity etc...??

VIP??? CUP!!

No, I don't believe that your body adjusts stuff. Calories in, calories out is the equation. When, for one reason or another, I haven't wanted to eat the weight drops off. I've just come back from South-east Asia where ther diet was very plain and simple - chicken noodle soup and fresh fruit most days- and I lost 7lbs without ever being hungry. But have already put some of that back on?

Their I do know how to spell!!!!

I think thatbags is referring to a theory that your body adjusts by deciding that it needs more calories in, so as to maintain the weight that it has had for some time. Over-riding that instinct and resetting the "foodostat" is not easily done.

That is, your body wants to eat, whatever your mind decrees, and is very good at getting its own way.

Would that work the other way round too, which is why some find it really hard to put weight back on after serious illness has caused them to lose a lot?

Could be.

Our doctor was explaining this. Your body accepts the weight you are and if you lose weight it trys to get back to the original weight. You have to re-educate the brain and it can take two years.

It's called a 'set point'

I think yous've (sic; just stickin' up for regional speech variations against New Years grumpiness ?) got it, elegran, tizliz, and anya.

Re tizliz's comment, I think that's why crash diets are so useless in the long term. If one's diet needs changing/reducing I think one has to do it small step by small step, and it takes time, like a couple of or even more years.

Re anya's question, no I don't eat a lot of processed food, but I do drink tea when according to health freaks I should be drinking water, cos the water in tea 'doesn't count' for hydration purposes: more factual rubbish. A lot of food contain a fair amount of water (many fruits, for instance). That water counts as part of one's useful hydrating intake as well.

It all gets mixed up and churned around once it is in your stomach. No separate compartments down there. Tea is just water with stuff dissolved in it.

Exactly.

My mum was told recently (by hospital staff) that she should be drinking two litres of water a day and that tea and coffee don't count. What hope is there for eating improvements in the general population when such ridiculous and wrong advice is given to people at hospital outpatient clinics?

Jayanna9040, you are very fortunate, and possibly unique. Most nutritionists accept that weight loss is a lot more complex than calories in and out. Look at the work Michael Moseley has done recently on 'resistant' carbohydrates. The effect that fibre consumption can have on the efficiency of the digestive system and the different ways carbohydrates and fat are metabolised.

Sadly bags I've found a great deal of ignorance among some hospital staff. It's true that the water in tea and coffee do indeed count as water. This is a case of a little learning being a dangerous thing as someone thinks the mild diuretic effect of these beverages outweighs the water content absorbed. It doesn't of course.

While I agree it is very complex M0nica there are those of us who are fortunate enough to find that if we just cut down then we lose weight. Against that I can eat as much low carb food as I want and still lose weight.

Two different 'systems' at work here. In the former my intake is less than the energy requirements of my body taking into consideration my BMR and my activity level. Simples!

In the second (more complicated) régime my appetite is firstly limited naturally by the higher fat and protein content if the food (more satisfying) and because my body is having to work harder to break down the more chemically complex fats and proteins (carbs being easier to digest) therefore a probable increase in my BMR and other complex reactions which I only partially understand. Not so simples!

There against I can just eat too much and put weight on.

1) I think Jayanna's idea for a Wobbly Gym is great.

2) I guess about half my diet is now 'junk food'. I really don't enjoy time in the kitchen with all the washing up, etc. I buy items such as prepared chicken dishes, etc from a supermarket, after checking sugar, salt and overall calorie content, stick them in the microwave and eat with a huge helping of salad with nuts and seeds. The advantage is that I can actually keep an eye on how many calories I'm eating. At other times I eat an omelette, chop or fish plus salad. It depends what people mean by 'junk food'. I don't accept that fresh is necessarily best - it depends what you put in it. Most of my food is low carb/high fat. I rarely eat bread, pastry, potatoes, pasta, rice or cake.

3) There is a very close correlation between socio-economic status and weight, particularly with women. Maybe we should try to understand why poorer women seem to be fatter. I could make a guess, but I don't know.

PS. I'm not overweight.

Think maybe government could do something about the amount of sugar which can be added to foods. One of my frequent moans is about the sugar in breakfast cereals. Why sell cereals with chocolate in? D H Is diabetic so apart from shredded wheat little else us suitable. Also very much against the use of aspartame so don't let's go down the road of just substituting this for sugar. I guess as someone up thread said. Government needs to sell us the benefits of a healthier lifestyle. Maybe by showing us how older fitter people can enjoy their lives. I certainly wish I had exercised more when I was younger.

I'm T2 diabetic and I wouldn't eat any cereals for breakfast, not even porridge, which the NHS recommends. It's not just the added sugar, but the carbs in the grains themselves. My standard breakfast is an eggy one, sometimes with mushrooms, tomatoes, ham or anything else in the fridge.

I think added sugar is a problem, especially when it's 'hidden', but so is any kind of carby thickener, which doesn't show up on ingredients as sugar. Demonising sugar isn't the answer.

Condolences DD on being among the 10% type 2 who are not overweight

Why do these reports always surface at Christmas when we're all stuffing chocolate, pastry and cake?

We are all stuffing chocolate, pastry and cake. Aren't we?

Please.

Yup???

Yes, I know, anya. I was diagnosed when I was 35 and it was all a bit of a mystery, especially as I don't have a family history. Initially, it was thought I was T1, but I'm not. I've spent the last 25 years trying to eat healthily to keep my weight down and being active, although I'm a natural sloth. I agree with you about not sitting down for too long - just keep moving, even if it's going up and down stairs or doing ironing when watching TV. I'm beginning to get side effects (neuropathy) but the docs are surprised they're not worse. I had two children after diagnosis and I've been evangelical about instilling healthy lifestyle habits with them. Being faced with a real lifestyle-related health problem so young worked for me!