Live Well For Less BBC 1

To be fair to this nurse, it wasn't clear what sort of nurse she was. Firstly, Was she a mental health nurse, learning disability, general nurse? Or was she a qualified nurse at all-many health care assistants and people in similar less qualified roles are called/call themselves nurses for ease of explanation. When did she qualify. Her training on diet may be decades out of date and with other issues taking priority over training sessions, this woman may not be as up to date with dietary knowledge as we expect. If her speciality was diabetes, well god help us all!

Secondly, the shift patterns in the NHS can be brutal, particularly at night. Breaks often don't happen, even toilet breaks can be few and far between. Often there is no capacity for members of staff to leave the clinical area even if they have an official break meaning that each bite of that healthy (or not) meal is punctuated by a member of staff saying” I know you are on your break but could you take this call/help me with this lady/talk to this relative” etc etc. I know this, I was that member of staff. I was not alone. Eating under these conditions becomes just cramming some calories into your mouth to keep yourself going before the work takes over again.

This poor woman did look older. Maybe she is on her feet day after day, twelve hours shifts, constantly changing shift patterns. Demands from all sides. Yes she should be taking care of her diet but lets give her a break. Nudging sixty and working as a nurse in the NHS-she deserves a medal

jaylucy

I don’t think the posters on here never allow ‘morsels of fat or sugar to pass their lips’. No one is suggesting that. I think though most think that if the lady is or was a nurse, surely, surely, she must see the results of such poor eating habits first hand. Many people work shifts, shift work doesn’t mean you always have to eat badly.

Welcome, paintingthetownred

You don't have to be a gran to join in the discussions. All comments are welcome.

hope it is ok to post here even though I'm not a gran, due to my age don't feel I fit anywhere else. Sure than many on here have child care responsibilities also?

I am not a gran, but old enough to be one - new on here.
I became a mum at what some would call an 'advanced' age, so like some grans and grandads on here - now live 'intergenerationally' with my teenage daughter.

She often has prompted me to shift in my eating habits.
I didn't see the programme as (out of choice) we don't have a television. We could afford one, but I guess both realise that if we did, at least I would be tempted to sit in front of it too much, also like many people I tend to feel bombarded by too much information. And so I have a friend in the radio instead, which helps me because I tend to put it on whilst I am doing something.

With regard to food, I thought I was doing pretty well on the food front until recently. Main reason being we have never been affluent (although rich in spirit) - and I have always home cooked for that reason. Also wanted my daughter to eat well.

Big prompt came for me when she wanted to go vegetarian. I have found this a big challenge. We never ate much meat, but she is aware of the climate change arguments and guess I just thought it would be easier for us both to eat the same.

It has meant actually rethinking everything. I'm not sorry though, as it kind of gave me a shove to look after my health better. ('m in my late fifties).

As things stand - I'm not dogmatic but it kind of reminded me how difficult it can be to change food habits. Personally I think this is a very interesting and important thread as I really have noticed that food can carry many meanings, you know, comfort wise, family habits etc.

I'm at the point where we cook vegetarian mainly. Nowadays I tend to be the sous chef in our kitchen which is brilliant as whilst I was growing up I was never really allowed in the kitchen and didn't learn to cook until very late in life.

Once again this thread is very important I feel, as changing ways can be so difficult, don't doubt that the show was hyped up to be more dramatic but value the discussion.

I have noticed it is often the case (with me certainly) that I know what I should be doing health wise as I get older, but actually doing it is a different matter.

Listened to Woman's Hour which is quite good series at the moment (how to live longer) today's episode on exercise. The speaker reminded us that even washing up is exercise not necessarily necessary to go to an expensive gym...

all best
thanks

I watched it too I could not believe she was a nurse their age and all that sugary food,fizzy drinks and junk food that was in their house.

What I found odd was that they (in fact it was the wife who had applied) had contacted the programme, so acknowledged there were problems - seems a bold move (airing the issues on national TV), rather than going to the doctor? I think she fancied herself as a bit of a laugh, an entertainer - but they were humiliated by being on the show really.
They looked a bit younger 3 months later
I wonder if she’s a Gransnetter

I watched about ten minutes of it and gave up. When I heard they were both diabetic I lost patience. Maybe I'm becoming intolerant in my older age, but this was ridiculous. Most probably staged though (giving them the benefit of the doubt) as I'm sure the producers must scour the country looking for the worst case scenarios and then beef them up a bit. Gives us all something to talk about though, so effective I guess!!

I think is is so easy to get stuck into a way of life and convince yourself that you can't live any other way.
If you have persuaded yourself that you can't cook (I'd guess in this case that the husband did most of the cooking until relatively recently) and getting out the deep fat fryer is easy when you want a quick meal, as is the takeaways.
Working shifts as a nurse has probably meant the lady got in the habit of eating what she thought of was something quick, however unhealthy it may be!
I love how ll the saints , who obviously don't allow a morsel of fat or sugar pass their lips, feel it's ok to be so nasty about people in this situation - must be wonderful to be perfect!

She looked more like 75 to me! All that unhealthy eating had really taken its toll. I found her reluctance to eat vegetables very juvenile.

I couldn't believe that the couple had a whole cupboard full of chocolate items. I couldn't help wondering about the state of their teeth, quite apart from the obesity issue. The recipes they were introduced to were balanced and sounded quite tasty and it was encouraging to learn at the end of the programme that they had succeeded in losing weight and she had given away her deep fat fryer.

DH has been pre-diabetic for years and I work hard to make sure his diet keeps it that way and he doesn't develop Type 2 diabetes. He has a sweet tooth and very little will power so I know what he'd eat if left to his own devices

I was dismayed that during his recent lengthy spell in hospital he was offered puddings with every meal, biscuits, cake, jam (on toast) and sweet fruit juices. His discharge notes show a now elevated blood sugar level.

I took in plenty of fruit, which he loves, but would he say no to the sugary stuff?

I mentioned my concern to one of the nurses and she said, 'It brightens up the day to have a treat.'

I watched it and was quite pleased that they'd both managed to lose some weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle. I don't think you can expect people to change habits of a lifetime overnight , little bits at a time seem to be working for them

lovebeigecardigans1955

All the family shown on the programme were on the large side.

I didn't watch it but my husband watched a bit of it. He is diabetic and extremely sensible about his diet. He couldn't believe what he was hearing/seeing. I doubt that it was set up.

DH was convinced it's staged - can anyone really be that stupid?

I was also commenting on the lack of advice about carbs. The husband seemed far more sensible than the wife who was stubborn and selfish. He seemed keen to embrace a new diet whereas she was determined to find fault.

I wonder how their children and grandchildren eat at home?

I watched this too but missed the bit where they said she was a nurse. I was astonished at their ignorance. Aren't people given advice any more at GPs or clinics?

£157 a week on junk food!
There was an article in our local paper regarding NHS staff and poor diet.
The excuse was that the shift patterns didn’t allow for the purchase and preparation of healthy food.
I can prepare a healthy meal in 10/15 minutes.
Most supermarkets deliver and many are open 24/7.

Everything was deep fried...yuk!

All the fizzy drinks seemed very unusual for people of their age.

We too watched in disbelief, especially at what they put in their trolley at the supermarket . I do hope they managed to carry on with their healthier eating .

They looked older than 58 and 59

They seemed a lovely couple, but very short of common sense - and the wife was a nurse!! I thought perhaps the foods they weaned them on to were maybe the first stage in an improved diet - and hopefully they could graduate to much better choices later? Perhaps a straight move to a healthy diet would have been too much for them, willpower-wise, given the amount of junk they were eating?

I watched it too in disbelief. Apart from trying to lower their sugar consumption, there was no mention of lowering their carbohydrates. Carbs turn to sugar in the blood and are just as bad as sugar for a diabetics. Also they seemed to continue to have fizzy drinks and some sweets. I thought the participants were idiotic and the presenters and program makers made a very misleading program.