Default lifelong calorie counting

Ah well! I don't know what the focus of this thread is, so won't be contributing further.

Regardless of what the point of this thread is, I avoid UPF and would advise others to do the same, mainly because it messes up the normal appetite control that we all have. Lots of information about this available from reputable research papers.

Does a thread have to have a purpose? Food is always of interest, otherwise we wouldn't have so many cafes and restaurants and takeaways. People like eating, eating with others is a form of socialising.
The point of Ultra Processed People is that there's food and there's food and once you get away from a generation or two who no longer know how to cook, once you are fed by food manufacturers who are thinking about profit not nutrition then health may suffer and our health service can no longer cope.
There is also an underlying issue of women's bodies and how women may feel about how they look or feel they should look but that's for another thread!

growstuff I think it is interesting view of people's relationship with food, that the OP thinks that her generation's eating patterns are overhung by a pre-occupation with how many calories they consume.

I think over the last 60 years our obsession with what we eat and the availability and affordability of food has ruined the natural relationship between people and food.

This link shows the relationship between income and proportion of income spent on food in different countries in the world. I suspect that it mirrors the presence of obesity in those countries. the less proportion of total income spent on food the fatter that country's population ourworldindata.org/grapher/food-expenditure-share-gdp and the more they neurose about what they eat.

This one of those 'first world problems' that really is just that, and not some silly virtue signallers sanctemonious sighing.

I'm not really sure what the purpose of this thread is. I've already pointed out that if it's the norm for people born in the 60s to count calories, it isn't reflected in their weight.

If it's a rant about ultra-processed foods, my feeling is that that criticising them is becoming a fad. Of course, it's not good that they play such a big part in so many people's diets, but they're not poison and they play an important part in ensuring that people have access to safe, affordable food. I don't agree that they're the only factor in the increase in obesity.

Neurodivergence has been around since long before UPF foods.

I am neuro divergent so was my father and my gandmother(1885-1970). Long before UPFs

Franski (OP) I am still very aware of calories in foods. It goes back when a colleague and I both started calorie counting and achieved a significant weight loss (we wore uniforms which was significant!!) I now recognise fat and carb and fat content too. Bottom line now is that I wonder whether I eat enough.

Notagranyet24

*Growstuff * please please read Ultra Processed People, it is mind blowing.

I'm not sure what other point you're trying to make? There are many ways of dieting, it hardly matters, surely, if some people think that they count calories, maybe they don't, maybe they do/did, it's hardly quantifiable anyway, it's a self selected bunch of people on a random social media site?

I have never counted calories in my life, nor have I ever been overweight. I know that makes me sound insufferably smug, but the truth is that I don't know why my weight hardly ever changes and I have never even tried to control my weight. What I do know is that, despite being a healthy weight and eating mainly whole foods, I have been T2 diabetic for over 30 years. I don't count calories, but I do limit carbohydrates. I could tell you approximately how many carbohydrates I eat in a day, but not how many calories. My blood glucose level tends to yo-yo with infections and stress, although my weight is always within about a kilo of my ideal weight.

Notagranyet24

*Growstuff * please please read Ultra Processed People, it is mind blowing.

I'm not sure what other point you're trying to make? There are many ways of dieting, it hardly matters, surely, if some people think that they count calories, maybe they don't, maybe they do/did, it's hardly quantifiable anyway, it's a self selected bunch of people on a random social media site?

I've read it. The point I'm making is that I don't believe that ultra-processed food is the only cause of obesity.

There must be other older women like me. I was slim and ate whatever I liked until menopause, when I gained a lot. Since my mid 60s my weight has slowly gone down without dieting and now in mid 70s I am just over 8 stone.
I was told recently when at a hospital appointment that it is better to be slightly overweight when older, rather than as slim as I am.

Growstuff please please read Ultra Processed People, it is mind blowing.

I'm not sure what other point you're trying to make? There are many ways of dieting, it hardly matters, surely, if some people think that they count calories, maybe they don't, maybe they do/did, it's hardly quantifiable anyway, it's a self selected bunch of people on a random social media site?

Sorry, but I don't think it's as easy as blaming ultra-processed food. I don't believe there's a single factor causing the rise in obesity, although I've no doubt that the amount of ultra-processed food consumed is not good for general health.

This thread started off with a claim that older people (those born in the 1960s) automatically count calories, but as the facts show, those born in the 1960s have the highest BMIs, which would challenge the idea that they count calories. We don't know yet whether they will lose some of the excess weight as they age.

It is definitely ultra processed food that is causing obesity. It’s everywhere. Add to that a sedentary lifestyle and you will get fat.

Notagranyet
It’s not just obesity although that is going to bring the NHS to its knees in years to come.
What is really frightening is the link that scientists have found between ultra processed foods and neurodivergent children.
This is not just children eating too much of the above but even worse: what pregnant women are eating which is affecting the brains of unborn children.

growstuff

It's good to read that GNers seem to be atypical, but adults from 55-64 (ie born in the 1960s) have the highest BMI by age. All age groups over 25 have an average BMI above the threshold for being overweight.

www.statista.com/statistics/375886/adult-s-body-mass-index-by-gender-and-age-in-england/

If you look at the obesity prevalence tables underneath your source www.statista.com/statistics/334126/obesity-prevalence-by-gender-in-england-uk/
you'll see women's obesity shooting ahead after 2017, I wonder what is pushing that statistic?

I'm not surprised at those born in the 1960s having the highest BMI by age, they would be the cohort benefitting from the post war period which included free school milk and a significant increase in farming/food production (the Green Revolution) and food imports. From the 1970s, the growth in the number supermarkets was another push towards cheap and abundant food.

Hardly surprising that the energetic 16-24 cohort would not be overweight or the over 75 WWII cohort so it's the middle ground who have slowly increased in weight.

Having just read Ultra Processed People by Chris Van Tulken, I think the story of farming and food production, and the increasing use of cheap ingredients and mass market rollout of poor quality food, in the latter part of the 20th century makes an interesting background story to increasing obesity.

Every New Year I’m always aware that I’m still on theneverendingdiet which I’ve been on since 1970. A friend of mine who’s a year or so younger often reminds me of when we both went on the brown rice diet. I have a much healthier relationship with food now but that has only happened in recent years.

It's good to read that GNers seem to be atypical, but adults from 55-64 (ie born in the 1960s) have the highest BMI by age. All age groups over 25 have an average BMI above the threshold for being overweight.

www.statista.com/statistics/375886/adult-s-body-mass-index-by-gender-and-age-in-england/

I was overweight as a child and was called names at school. Aged 13 I decided to do something about it. I counted calories and wrote down everything I ate. It worked and I was quite slim.

Now I don't bother with that, just try to eat sensibly and walk often. I am around 9st 6 and have stayed mostly that weight for many years. Biscuits, cakes and crisps are rare treats not an everyday occurrence.

I try to keep my weight down and use a calorie counter - Nutracheck to do it. I have eaten well at Christmas but now its back on the healthy eating and probably a dryish January.

MissInterpreted

I was born in the 60s and honestly, I don't know anyone who lives like that. I have friends of all shapes and sizes and pretty much everyone eats what they want. Food is one of life's great pleasures and I just can't imagine living my life that way - even though I know I'm very much overweight and need to shed it. It seems just too much like control freak behaviour to me.

Me too.

Absolutely, Norah. As I said above, my mother could eat whatever she liked and not gain weight, while the women on my dad's side of the family could pile on the pounds very easily indeed. Unfortunately I take after the latter...

I know we’re not supposed to say anything now about weight or shape

No, but I think of a friend who had steadily gained weight. When she finally realised that she had got quite fat, she decided to do something about it.

After she had lost some weight, she said to her DH, “Why didn’t you say how much weight I had gained?”

“I didn’t want to upset you” he said.

But she so wished he had!

Franski

I have noticed that it is pretty much the norm among my friends (borns 1960's) to watch our weight and be careful about food. I am the same. It struck me today that i rarely choose what i would like on a menu- but always what will stop me going over 2000 calories/day. It's not like i actually write it down or keep a log but i pretty much know through decades of this nonsense, what the calorie count if food is. I'm not skinny, just average. Not anorexic..but not carefree either. I feel like if I took the brakes off I would balloon. I have noticed my GDs are absolutely not bothered and happy to eat (a bit too much) and be happily chubby wearing all kinds of clothes that aren't flattering. Honestly I marvel at their joie de vivre and wonder why so many of my generation remain hung up on food- anyone got any thoughts on this?

I think weight must partially depend on one's genetics. Some people can eat and not gain, others must watch their intake. Some people only eat enough to sustain and others eat too much. Mystery.

I’m the same, I had a piece of shortbread yesterday, it affected me for the rest of the, overwhelmed with guilt. I hate how I look, my body, my aging face with wrinkles and eye bags and never enjoy what I eat in case I put on weight.

Please be kind to yourself MissInterpreted. Life it definitely too short to make yourself feel bad about how you look.
Your family love you as you are. .