Weight loss/healthy eating help

maman wrote: »

I'd say that the number of people who can 'eat to appetite' and stay at an ideal/healthy weight is diminishing fast, which is one of the reasons for the obesity crisis. It's not a simple correlation but things like diminishing levels of exercise/manual jobs, increasing use of transport and probably most of all stress eating /drinking are all contributing.

Any food plan is a diet in the literal sense. Perhaps what I should say is that SW is not a faddy diet, it's balanced and nothing is banned which makes it sustainable in the long term. I know why I'm one of the 11%. Without meaning to sound arrogant it's because I want to stay at a healthy weight enough to stick with it long term. Those who regain the weight often look at it (and other diets) as a quick fix and then go back to the way they were eating before.

Like I said...watch the video I posted earlier. It is nothing at all to do with people ‘not wanting it enough’ or ‘not having enough willpower’...weight loss in any form triggers systems and functions in our bodies and brains in order to do everything they can to protect us from that weight loss, no matter how much we think we should weigh.

SW is not a crash diet, but it is by no means healthy or balanced. It encourages you to swap natural, whole foods ...avocados being the oft used example, for processed, fat free, sugar/sweetener laden rubbish like mullerlights. And before you say, I know people don’t ‘have to’ eat them, but the fact that so many nutritious whole foods are more syns than their nutrionally devoid processed offerings, means that people end up believing they’re making a healthier choice when they opt for that stuff.

And yes the word diet has two main meanings...one being the general “the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.” and the second being “a special course of food to which a person restricts themselves, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.
"I'm going on a diet"
synonyms: dietary regime, dietary regimen, dietary programme, restricted diet, crash diet;”. ANY method of restriction in any form (be it limited calories, points, syns, carbs, sugar, fat) for the purposes of weight loss is a diet of the second definition.

And anyone who eats to genuine appetite as in listens to their hunger and fullness signals will end up maintaining a weight that their body is comfortable with. Sadly, if people have been bigger than they want for a while, then that’s likely to be at a higher weight. It’s also funny how the ‘obesity crisis’, as it’s often called, rocketed when the government told us to cut out fat and encouraged us more to join diet clubs.

There is plenty evidence to show that a person’s health and likelihood of mortality is affected by four behaviours. Not smoking, drinking in moderation, getting exercise and eating plenty of fruits and veg. As this link illustrates. It interestingly shows that people who are in the overweight BMI category are at less risk than their ‘normal’ counterparts.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Hazard-ratio-for-all-cause-mortality-by-body-mass-index-kg-m2-and-number-of-healthy_fig1_51983342

pumpkin89 wrote: »

I'm not convinced that's because it's actually healthier to be in the 'overweight' category, but that, as you point out, lots of people eat quite unhealthy food products in an effort to maintain a certain weight - whereas people who eat good food are likely to end up overweight (probably not obese) because all food is so prevalent. Even people who eat to appetite normally will have feast periods (Christmas etc.), but often not the corresponding famine periods.

There’s an abundance of research that shows that BMI is twaddle and that, yes, being in the overweight category brings less risk. But it’s your choice what you believe. And as I said, engaging in those four behaviours above, has more of an effect on health than weight alone.

And absolutely people who eat to appetite will have feast periods, but they generally, naturally, have a period of eating less afterwards. I’ve seen it in my parents who have always been ‘intuitive eaters’, have bever been on diets and have never been overweight.

I take your point about people who gorge on Mullerlights and ready meals. I've been around mse :money:too long to do that. Meal planning and cooking from scratch are second nature to me. Maybe it's because I don't eat much in the way of processed food that I've successfully kept the weight off for so long. I'd also say that my current weight is where I've been for the vast majority of my adult life. I just gained slowly over a period of lifestyle change due to a new more sedentary job, grabbing poor food choices from petrol stations etc. So maybe my body didn't need to fight it as it was just going back to 'normal' for me.

BananaRepublic wrote: »

Really? The NHS line is that being overweight is unhealthy and for example leads to an increased risk of type two diabetes. It also puts more strain on the joints, making many forms of exercise more risky. As an aside BMI is flawed as it does not account for build. I have very thin arms and quite thin legs for my height, which means that the BMI is probably an underestimate of my fattiness. What matters is the amount of fat in the stomach area.

Yes, really. I’m not knocking the wonders of our NHS, but when it comes to weight, diet, nutrition etc, it’s sadly lacking.

As it mentions in the link I posted, behaviours are the things that make most of the difference.

Not to mention the fact that there is no known method of permanent weight loss, so if someone is already in the overweight or obese categories, the best they can do (or anyone for that matter) is engage, where possible, in the healthy behaviours.

BananaRepublic wrote: »

As to your last statement, what complete and utter nonsense. I lost two and a half stone in weight and it has stayed off for many years despite my being partial to a beer or two at weekends. Nigel Lawson is a high profile example of long term weight loss.

As regards your link, I fear you are guilty of picking and choosing research that supports your beliefs. The NHS guidance, and that from other health bodies, will be based on a review of the research, in order to get a balanced view of current thinking. Research in this area is hard to do mainly because it’s impossible to do controlled long term trials. Note also that the link you posted uses BMI which is known to be a poor indicator of body fat percentage. You can be a big muscular rugby player and have a high BMI value, or a smaller person with lots of torso fat and have a lower BMI value.

Here is just one link explaining health problems related to obesity:

https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/healthy-living/obesity.html

Type two diabetes is on the rise due it is believed to overeating.

Think what you like. You show me the scientific proof that there is a guaranteed weight loss tool for the majority of people and I might listen. The fact is, there isn’t one. But plenty showing the opposite. Plenty of research in fact. Including long term studies. As for the link you provided, if you look at the ‘weight maintenance’ section, you’ll see they even say this: and I quote “Losing weight is hard enough. Keeping it off presents its own challenges. Between 80 and 85 percent of those who lose a large amount of weight regain it”. At least my links back up what I’m saying. As does yours it would seem.

Nigel Lawson is ONE person and so are you.. and as I said before, there will be a very small minority of people who will keep the weight off. It’s estimated to be between 5/15% Some say 5, some say 15%. Edited to say..as posted earlier..this explains WHY it’s so difficult to maintain weight loss.

https://youtu.be/jn0Ygp7pMbA


And I’ll reiterate my point about the NHS. They haven’t got a jar of glue about diet and nutrition in regard to weight loss. They still recommend low fat and sweeteners.

As regards obesity causing illnesses...I’m still not convinced. I know there are correlations between obesity and certain illnesses but that does not mean that the obesity is a direct cause of them. And once again, even IF it did, those 4 healthy behaviours are key to health marker improvement..NOT the weight loss itself.