payment from nhs for diet class

EssexGirl

Bronnie wrote: »

What if you were age 30, with a young family depending on you and 5 stones overweight?

What if you went to see your GP because you were feeling breathless going up and down stairs, your knee joints were aching and you were constantly exhausted?

What if your GP examined you and said there was nothing seriously wrong with you at the moment that losing the weight wouldn't cure, but if you continued to carry that amount of excess weight you would be laying the foundations for a whole raft of serious conditions that would drastically reduce your quality of life in future and could lead to an early death?

What if your GP said, we can give you advice and support to lose weight through the surgery, but actually many of my overweight patients go to a Slimming Club around the corner, and have had great success there, the woman who runs it is very supportive and the eating plan fits in with all the healthy guidelines, it costs £4.50 a week and I do believe in your circumstances it could really help you and is worth considering.

Would you take GP'S advice and go?
Would you pay, Yes or No?

Well I for one HAVE taken my GP's advice. That's why I'm going to SW, and sticking with it, because I now know clearer than ever what the consequences will be if I don't.

As for the money side of things, if you wanted a new TV (or insert object of desire of your choosing) and you had a choice to pay for it, or get the exact same thing for free, no strings attatched, tell me honestly, that you wouldn't go for the free one.

Once my subscription is over, I will of course carry on going to and paying for the class out of my own pocket.

I think the OP was right to post this thread as there may be people out there who need this service and wouldn't have known about it otherwise. I'm not here to be judge and jury (unlike some posters) over whether it's morally correct to be going to a slimming class courtesy of the NHS. I also think that the fat bashing that has gone on within this thread is childish, dispicable, tantamount to playground bullying. But hey, some people get their pleasure out of kicking vulnerable people when they are down.

vik6525

EssexGirl wrote: »

Well I for one HAVE taken my GP's advice. That's why I'm going to SW, and sticking with it, because I now know clearer than ever what the consequences will be if I don't.

As for the money side of things, if you wanted a new TV (or insert object of desire of your choosing) and you had a choice to pay for it, or get the exact same thing for free, no strings attatched, tell me honestly, that you wouldn't go for the free one.

Once my subscription is over, I will of course carry on going to and paying for the class out of my own pocket.

I think the OP was right to post this thread as there may be people out there who need this service and wouldn't have known about it otherwise. I'm not here to be judge and jury (unlike some posters) over whether it's morally correct to be going to a slimming class courtesy of the NHS. I also think that the fat bashing that has gone on within this thread is childish, dispicable, tantamount to playground bullying. But hey, some people get their pleasure out of kicking vulnerable people when they are down.

As far as I can see, there hasnt been any 'fat bashing' on this thread... A lot of people, myself included, have talked from their own personal experience.

ETA... Im sorry, but being overweight does not make you 'vulnerable'. It makes you overweight.

RichOneday_2

Having read through the whole thread there is no evidence of your so called 'fat bashing'.

What there is plenty evidence of, as there is on many other threads, is overweight people trying their best to take offence and reinforce their victim mentality.

The subject has been about whether the nhs should pay for slimming classes. The fact that many people feel that it shouldn't doesn't constitute bullying or 'fat bashing'.

However, it is often the case that you can tell who is overweight in these discussions because they quickly deviate from the point and find no end of imagined 'offensive remarks' in perfectly innocent comments.

They then tend to respond with what are personal attacks, in snide or sarcastic tones, as though they occupy some sort of moral high ground.

Ah well...........

Crazy_Jamie

EssexGirl wrote:

I also think that the fat bashing that has gone on within this thread is childish, dispicable, tantamount to playground bullying. But hey, some people get their pleasure out of kicking vulnerable people when they are down.

Having been reading this thread with interest, I must admit that there seems to be a lot more perceived fat bashing going on than actual fat bashing. In fact, the only direct weight related insult that I can remember is when a self confessed overweight member labelled two girls within a gym as 'stick insects'. Which no doubt she feels is perfectly acceptable, whilst becoming outraged every time someone dares disagree with her on the issue of weight.

To be fair, and I hesitate to generalise here because I know there are plenty of exceptions, a recurring theme in these sorts of discussions is that those who are overweight will often get incredibly defensive whenever anyone disagrees with them to do with almost anything on the issue of weight. Any person opposing them is prejudiced or a bully. Any advice is patronising or ignorant. Any person who is in good physical condition and of a healthy weight automatically has an 'I'm alright, Jack' attitude, unless they are entirely supportive of those who are overweight. In general, the growing trend is to almost go out of your way to take offence.

The fact is, an awful lot of people who are overweight come up with the most inane excuses as to why they are overweight. Low self esteem? Understandable, but that's just a vicious cycle. Losing wait would actually approve your self esteem no doubt. Depression? Assuming that is a genuine claim, adrenaline actually counters the hormone that can cause depressive feelings, so exercise would actually kill both of those birds with one stone. A genetic pre disposition to carrying weight? That's just rubbish.

I always remember the Jimmy Carr line in relation to this issue;

"I'm fat because I have a thyroid problem."
"Oh really, what are you taking for that? Pies?"

Now that joke is offensive, but as with many such jokes it also has a lot of home truth to it. Only a very small minority of those who are overweight are so due to genuine medical reasons. Most are overweight due to an apathetic attitude towards exercise and/or healthy eating. And ironically, that apathetic attitude is why they cannot motivate themselves to lose weight. You can blame other people and other reasons all day long, but the simple fact is that the vast majority of people who are overweight in this country have no compelling reason why they cannot physically lose that weight. It just requires motivation and effort. If you cannot raise that motivation and effort, then fine. Just don't pretend that the reasons are more elaborate than they are. Even if you may fool yourself, you are not fooling anyone else.

sidefx

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

Having been reading this thread with interest, I must admit that there seems to be a lot more perceived fat bashing going on than actual fat bashing. In fact, the only direct weigh related insult that I can remember is when a self confessed overweight member labelled two girls within a gym as 'stick insects'. Which no doubt she feels is perfectly acceptable, whilst becoming outraged every time someone dares disagree with her on the issue of weight.


Now that joke is offensive, but as with many such jokes it also has a lot of home truth to it. Only a very small minority of those who are overweight are so due to genuine medical reasons. Most are overweight due to an apathetic attitude towards exercise and/or healthy eating. And ironically, that apathetic attitude is why they cannot motivate themselves to lose weight. You can blame other people and other reasons all day long, but the simple fact is that the vast majority of people who are overweight in this country have no compelling reason why they cannot physically lose that weight. It just requires motivation and effort. If you cannot raise that motivation and effort, then fine. Just don't pretend that the reasons are more elaborate than they are. Even if you may fool yourself, you are not fooling anyone else.

Well said

RichOneday_2

Great summary, Crazy