Fat (topic du jour)

Thinking about the Huffington Post article:

//Studies have found that anywhere from one-third to three-quarters of people classified as obese are metabolically healthy. They show no signs of elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance or high cholesterol. Meanwhile, about a quarter of non-overweight people are what epidemiologists call “the lean unhealthy [presumably metabolically unhealthy, i.e. they do show elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance or high cholesterol].”//

So whereas 33%-75% of obese people are metabolically unhealthy, only 25% of non-overweight people are. That’s a difference right there. Obese people are more likely to get diabetes.

That’s without looking at other aspects of health such as cancers, arthritis and, as the article says, heart problems.

//Individuals are not averages.// True. Because individuals vary, some bodies can cope with being obese better than others. But comparing one group of people with another, such as obese people with non-overweight people, can show that not being overweight reduces an individual’s probability of having various health problems. I’m not sure this journalist quite gets that.

If someone does their best to stay at a healthy weight, they are increasing their chances of good health. Of course it doesn’t always lead to good health, because other factors are involved (like nutrition, genetic predisposition to certain health problems, sleep, stress, substance abuse, social isolation, etc). That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. I wouldn’t like to find out if my body is one of those that will handle obesity without health consequences, in case it’s not.

//diets don’t work/
But even if they don’t, changing what you eat does.

I look after my husband 23/7… 365 days a year! I was. 10st 9lbs last May . I’m now 9st 10lbs…..nearly a stone in a year without diet in sight! He’s been looked after by me 26 years but this past two have been horrendous. I find having no appetite ( but 2 ulcers through stress) a great way to lose weight. It’s stabilised at 9st 10lb…although I wish it could’ve been slightly ongoing for few more months. But it seems even Wright loss through stress has it’s limits!

‘Weight loss through stress’…..

Here we go again sugar is bad, fat is bad ,bread is bad etc .

There are not bad foods unless you are allergic or have health reasons you can't eat certain food or drink items .

It's the amount of all foods that you consume. If you over eat more than your body needs you put weight on .

And yes I do know what I am talking about I was a fat child and teenager and morbidly obese adult until 5 years ago. After I got serious ill with jaundice through 2 tablets I had been taking for years. And no one was dependent on me anymore. I had 5 months of not being able to do much. So made 3 decisions lose weight,move house and get fit .

Moved to the north west , go to active ageing exercise class, and lost over 7st. Still want to lose a stone and a bit. There is no magical way to lose weight it's hard work . But it's a marathon not a sprint. If I lost quarter of pound a week I was happy. If I put on I didn't give up as I had done for decades if it takes me another year to get to 11st stone so be it. I was over 19st size 32 now just over 12st and size 16.

And decades of being so heavy no amount of exercise with make my skin tight but have embraced my flabby bits . The only way to get rid of it is surgical and am not doing that.

I weight and measure everything and count calories. And don't buy foods I can not control.

Everyone has there own way to lose weight it's finding which way is right for you.

Whiff, that is seriously amazing well done

Whiff, I agree up to a point.
There are "no bad" foods if its food that your great grandmother would have recognised. The problem is, much of what is regarded as "food" nowadays is ultra highly processed junk and is most definitely bad news.

My late father always said to sit further away from the table and get some exercise and it worked wonders!

Sugar is the enemy to health, NOT fats. Biggest myth ever perpetrated.

The only diet that ever worked for me was extremely low carb! Unfortunately carbs are addictive so as soon as you attain your goal and eat 'normally' again your weight yo-yos back to where you started, or more!

I studied Food Science as part of my degree and one of our lecturers gave us lots of free booklets about diet. He told us "Read the information but bear in mind who wrote the booklets." They were produced by manufacturers of margarines and lower fat alternatives to butter.

The diet industry has always concentrated on calorie counting and propagated the myth that eating fat causes you to be fat. I've always known that my problems came from eating too much carbohydrate. Eating a high carb meal makes me feel sluggish so I know my metabolism is slowed.

Sadly, eating low carb is challenging if you cook for a family and it is expensive, as the cheap, filling foods tend to be high carb.

I'm now type 2 diabetic and struggle to stick to what I know to be the right foods due to that addiction to some carbs, but I've made progress. I've lost over 4 stones in recent years and as a result am much fitter as it is less of a struggle to exercise. I'm still significantly overweight but fitter than I've been in years. Increasing physical activity little by little means I'm still losing the weight, though slowly. I'm also probably gaining muscle so my weight loss has slowed. (Muscle is heavier than fat!) Wearing a Fitbit helps to motivate me and compete with friends who also wear one.

A book that helped me a great deal is "Eat Fat and Grow Slim" by Richard Mackarness. It explains the problems many of us have many of which are caused by carbohydrates in our diet. Some people tolerate carbs better than others, sadly not me!

Bread is the food of the devil imo. Feel so much better if I eliminate it but it’s so difficult to do so.

Last year I lost 4 stone in around 8 months - because I was unable to eat anything other than liquids, it dropped off me and I felt very unwell. It is unlikely that I will ever eat a tin of canned soup again! Even that had to be blended if it had any 'bits' in it .... all of a sudden something changed again and I could eat normally, and the majority of the 4 stone has come back.

I became diabetic whilst in hospital for the 5th time in 3 months and 2 surgeries, so trauma can also bring it on too, and now I am diabetic, stress can have a big impact on it too sadly .... after 24 surgeries in 2 decades I am now disabled, my mobility is poor and if I do try to do anything, then I am in bed for 2 days afterwards with severe fatigue, so can't win!

An interesting article. Thank you for sharing. I have struggled with my weight all my life. My mother was overweight and so was my grandmother. So much for eating what your grandmother would recognise! However, the eating non processed food is a good idea and well worth doing. It is an unfortunate fact though, that foods that fit into the “grandmother” category have been shown to have only a fraction of the nutritional value that the same foods grown 25 years, or more, ago had. Same goes with flavour. So much, so called, “fresh” produce has not been grown in soil, been fed a chemical cocktail and has travelled thousands of miles. I don’t have the answers but it can seem very lonely when you are standing in front of the bedroom mirror trying to find something to wear. I have clothes in sizes 12 through to 22 and look a b**ger in them all, even if I can get them on!

I have begun using an app this year. It is not particularly to lose weight, but to analyse what I am eating. I am trying to balance carbohydrates/fat and sugar to the levels that are appropriate to my height and age. I discovered that even when I have consumed the right number of calories, c/f/s can be way out. This may sound a bit obsessive, but in fact takes about 5 minutes to input a day’s food. I am motivated and more in control, and feel healthier.

@ GagaJo that is fascinating thank you. I was a life long dieter and very miserable, total comfort! Last year I went to Turkey for a gastric bypass. I’m 8 stone down and never felt better in my life!

Silvertwigs

@ GagaJo that is fascinating thank you. I was a life long dieter and very miserable, total comfort! Last year I went to Turkey for a gastric bypass. I’m 8 stone down and never felt better in my life!

I'm considering it.

GrannyLaine apart from Quorn I don't use any ready made meals I make every from scratch . Porridge made with coconut milk for breakfast, home made vegetable and red lentil soup every lunch time even in summer,dinner a stew made with chicken or Quorn plenty of veg and either pearl barley or pasta in it. Lasagne I make using Quorn mince and 50g cheese in the white sauce but only on the top. Each dinner and soup I cook enough for 6 meals . I have health problems and that way I always have meals in the fridge. I have fruit and low fat Greek style yogurt and fruit for dessert after my dinner . I will be 64 next week.

Also it's cheaper buying fresh veg and fruit or frozen and healthier . I make all my own jams and marmalades. Don't like them sweet so reduce the amount of sugar and boil longer .

JaneJudge thank you.

30 years ago in my early thirties, I weighed 15 stone and was told that if I didn’t lose weight, the physical disability I have would deteriorate much more rapidly as time went on. I lost 7 stone in a year and since then, within a few pounds, I have pretty much kept it off without too much effort.

That was up until 2 years ago when I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, and weight started to creep back on because of the steroids used in my treatment. I’ve been dieting steadily now for three months using a two days a week fasting regime and calorie counting on the other days. I’ve almost lost the extra weight and now I know the effects of the steroids, I’m better placed to keep it off.

The 7 stone I lost all those years ago was purely through strict calorie counting as I have very restrictive mobility problems which ruled out most forms of exercise except a bit of supervised swimming. So when I see anything suggesting that diets don’t work and calorie counting is counter productive, I’m extremely sceptical because I think it very much depends on the individual and what their motivation is for losing the weight in the first place and having the discipline to keep it off.

And I don’t agree that you can be entirely healthy and significantly overweight - having lost that weight I can tell you that my joints were all the better for not being overloaded, and as the weight came off, I found I wasn’t breathless any more and had a lot more energy. Obesity is a problem in the UK but we tend to approach weight loss more in terms of how we’ll look and the clothes we’ll fit into when we lose the weight, rather than the most important thing, which is the health benefits.

sazz1

Totally disagree with this as very heavy weight leads to diabetes, heart problems, joint problems, and premature death.
There are very few obese people who live into their 90s. OH is obese and borderline diabetic with knee and hip arthritis.

Studies show with regards to diabetes, the percentage of average weight people suffering from it is increasing annually.
The percentage of overweight people who have diabetes is higher in that group, but not bu a great deal.
So is weight really an accurate indicator of increased chance of developing diabetes?

Sugar especially in the form of fructose seems to be the issue.

My healthy, slim 32 year old daughter is a Type 1 diabetic. This is because she has a defective pancreas, nor because of anything she ate.

I am fat, I have been fat, fatter and horrendously fat most of my life and yet I do not eat alot of sugar, dont eat cakes, biscuits or confectionaries. I do not sit down and eat huge portions of food and I do not eat 20 times a day. I have been on many calorie restrictive diets over the years and have lost the weight but, and here is the but, To keep off the weight I have to remain on a restricted diet which long term is very difficult will power or not because eventually your metabolism slows down and you are back to square one. Well this is what happens to me. Right now I am on a calorie controlled programme yet again and I have lost 26 kilos (i think that is about 5 stone) but it is very hard and I still have another 26 to go. Being fat is never healthy no matter what studies show.

Seven or eight years ago I was approximately eleven stone four pounds and, at my height, was nudging the overweight category of BMI. I didn't like that so I started 5:2 fasting. I lost weight steadily at around two pounds a week until my weight bottomed out naturally at nine stone or so. All these years later I am around nine stone four pounds and I maintain this by....guess what? 5:2 fasting! I'm fasting today, as it happens. Of course it works. Why wouldn't it? I've reduced my calorie intake by about 14%. I lost two stone in weight and it has stayed off! It works because I want it to and I'm determined.

A side benefit is that the pain of my arthritic thumbs and wrists has reduced to a very manageable level. I take no painkillers. This is because there's evidence showing that calorie restriction helps to reduce inflammation in the body.

I learned, on a personal development course through work, many years ago, that most things in life are a matter of choice. If I want a Greggs jam doughnut, every day, more than I want to lose weight, I will choose the daily doughnut (at 245 calories each). If I want to lose weight more than I want what I know isn't good for me, I will resist the doughnut (or whatever is my downfall food.)

Whiff talks really good sense about weight loss. She and a few other stalwarts are on the thread I started almost 4 years ago called I’m a Pear.

We all follow our own method of weight loss and encourage each other.

My mantra is ‘Eat Less for Life’ . Come and join us.

Namsnanny

sazz1

Totally disagree with this as very heavy weight leads to diabetes, heart problems, joint problems, and premature death.
There are very few obese people who live into their 90s. OH is obese and borderline diabetic with knee and hip arthritis.

Studies show with regards to diabetes, the percentage of average weight people suffering from it is increasing annually.
The percentage of overweight people who have diabetes is higher in that group, but not bu a great deal.
So is weight really an accurate indicator of increased chance of developing diabetes?

Sugar especially in the form of fructose seems to be the issue.

This is from a publication by Public Health England called ‘Adult obesity and type 2 diabetes’:

//Currently 90% of adults with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese.//

It also says, //Being overweight or obese is the main modifiable risk factor for type 2 diabetes. In England, obese adults are five times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than adults of a healthy weight… People with severe obesity are at greater risk of type 2 diabetes than obese people with a lower BMI.//
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/338934/Adult_obesity_and_type_2_diabetes_.pdf (page 5)

It definitely looks like weight is an good indicator of diabetes risk.

(Type 1 diabetes is a separate issue. It’s not thought to be triggered by lifestyle choices.)

This is all very interesting. I am fortunate to live in an area with an NHS Weight Management Service, which I am in because I do want bariatric surgery, and I need to go through this gateway, quite appropriately.

However - this service has provided so much excellent support advice, and two seminars. Mostly regarding insulin resistance, but particularly about portion control and eating less process/modified food. For example - baby new potatoes instead of baked potatoes, butter instead of spreads, etc. It's really helped.

Chocolatelovinggran

My healthy, slim 32 year old daughter is a Type 1 diabetic. This is because she has a defective pancreas, nor because of anything she ate.

I think we’re talking about type 2 diabetes here, in which weight is a factor, but it’s not the only one. My OH has type 2 diabetes, and was very overweight when it was diagnosed. Since he lost the weight and watches his diet his condition has improved and he is not on as much medication. A female relative of ours is pre diabetic type 2 and has never been overweight. She has cut out as many carbs as she can and has lost half a stone - to no avail as she remains in the pre diabetic category. Sometimes people can just be pre disposed to type 2 for a number of reasons, including age. I think a lot of people fail to realise how serious diabetes is - both type 1&2. I have a friend who has lost a lower leg because of poor circulation caused by the diabetes leading to gangrene, and my OH has been treated for cuts and sores which take for ever to heal and puts him at increased risk of infection - not to mention the risk to internal organs and systems.