[Yudster]

Do you think its that simple in reality though? Its an obvious truism, but if it was as simple as that then only the lazy and/or stupid fat people wouldn't be able to do it, so every fat person in the world would be a thick layabout. And they really aren't.

[foot-loose]

The simplicity is not in what needs to be done, its in the willpower of the individual whither they can do it or not. Willpower can be affected by many different factors. I don't think intelligence is normally one of those factors.

[Yudster]

No, neither do I, which is why I believe that as a theory it is too simplistic.

[foot-loose]

Right. Cos all the conflicting health advise, diets, recipies, tv programmes, food packaging and advertising isn't complicated enough? Personally, I think all that is more likely to cause more confusion and negative results than "eat less, move more".

[Yudster]

I meant psychologically (emotionally?) complicated rather than complex in practical terms. It IS the perfect advice, the compexity arises when people with "food issues" - and that is a LOT of people - try to take it. And yes, I agree about the stupid and irritating diet industry and their stupid and irritating messages. Best ignored. And that's another piece of advice which isn't always as easy to apply as it is to agree with.

[foot-loose]

As long as we are agreeing, that's the main thing.

[Nicola_Red]

Very much agreed Yuds. I'm pretty sure I've said much the same thing in some of my earlier posts in this thread.

[Latina]

The other unfortunate truth is that "eat less, move more" produces faster results for some than it does for others. Age and metabolism are among the factors that make the difference, although the latter can itself be changed through exercise.

However, the "slower" among us simply need to accept that we must work harder. I had to step up as soon as I turned 25 and realised the weight wasn't dropping off as easily as it used to.

(On the other side of the coin there are some too-skinny people who feel they do everything to put weight on just can't seem to get anywhere)

[Yudster]

(On the other side of the coin there are some too-skinny people who feel they do everything to put weight on just can't seem to get anywhere)

My heart bleeds. These people should all move to some remote, windswept and freezing cold island in the South Atlantic where the rest of us don't have to know anything about them.

[foot-loose]

(On the other side of the coin there are some too-skinny people who feel they do everything to put weight on just can't seem to get anywhere)

My heart bleeds. These people should all move to some remote, windswept and freezing cold island in the South Atlantic where the rest of us don't have to know anything about them.

Whoa whoa - calm yerself there missus. A couple of my friends are stick thin and seem to be more sensitive about their body shape than the larger people I know. There is a lot of emphasis on those who are overweight, but I'd imagine that those underweight have emotional issues as well.

[Yudster]

I can't decide if you have leapt on the the attack because of my lack of empathy for naturally thin people (who are statistically the healthiest people on the planet) or because I said I want to banish them to somewhere near The Falklands. I hope its fairly clear that my use of the uncomfortable exile imagery was meant to illustrate my lack of empathy for these poor, unfortunately healthy people, not that it was my real wish that such exile should occur. As far as my lack of empathy itself, its probably somewhere in the same league as their level of empathy for me.

I'm just an ordinary person, I'm not Mother Teresa, please forgive me for sometimes not having the inclination to see absolutely everyone's point of view as well as my own.

[Latina]

I wasn't talking about those types who always look slim and fantastic and seem to be able to eat anything (I hate them too)... I meant the ones who look thin in an unhealthy way. I know I need to lose weight, but I definitely wouldn't want to look like that.

[Yudster]

Me neither. But at least they don't have to worry about their cholesterol, or diabetes, or heart disease.

I don't mean people who diet too much and are skinny through starving themselves or whatever - obviously thats extremely unhealthy. But people who can eat cake whenever they want without worrying about it - sorry, no sympathy.

[jocky85]

Well I'll go down well, that used to be me. Simply a case of a high metabolism but up until about 5 years ago I was unhealthily thin, for no real reason that I can think of. I was once even asked on a night out if I was anorexic (I definately wasn't I didn't have the healthiest of diets for various reasons) wasnt the nicest of moments.

I've since naturally put some weight on and I'm happier now, now I'm just working on keeping it that way.

I don't expect sympathy, just providing the other side of it

[S4B]

errrr this has taken an interesting turn.

Jocky I have friends who, like you, couldn't put weight on - I offered to give them some of mine! - I know how hard that can be.

I've got to the point in my weight loss now where people are REALLY noticing which is amazing and a real motivator.

Small question - is Sandra Viv?

[Yudster]

Having just had a terrible week or two, bearing in mind how much I have eaten and how little I have exercised I calculated that I had probably gained about 3lb. When I got on the scales, it seems I have actually lost 1lb. In my twisted little eating-disordered world, that equates to a 4lb net positive!

[jocky85]

I got told about a website that seems rather good. its called weightlossresources.co.uk and you enter your weight and your target weight and it calculates how many calories you can have per day to lose around 2lbs per week.
You enter the food you've eaten and it tells you the calories for each bit and also adds more calories to your allowance if you enter that you've exercised.

Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone may find it useful.

[Latina]

Thanks for the tip! I need to lose a few pounds. I haven't been to the gym for ages because of injuries, and I've been eating way too much the past couple of months.

However, I'm nervous about returning to my gym/healthier eating routine because I actually feel relatively happy with how I look right now (despite being heavier than I was and not being able to fit a lot of my clothes) but I know that the moment I start I'll get all obsessive and suddenly feel fat however much i lose, even if it's too much. It's probably a common issue that women (and men?) have, but I never realised how bad it was at the time until recently when I looked back and also asked people about it. It had totally consumed me the number on the scale often dictated my mood for the day.

I think I'm going to try and ease into it and make sure that the only scales I use are the ones at the gym, and I'll only use those once a week.

[Yudster]

But if you like how you look, you don't need to worry! Unless you absolutely can't afford some clothes that fit of course.....!

[Latina]

I know... but I don't want to head to the other extreme where I can't tell if I'm getting too big. I want to be somewhere in the middle. And although I could buy new clothes (and I am), some of the ones I can no longer wear are so nice.

[foot-loose]

I was oop north so I missed this:

I can't decide if you have leapt on the the attack because of my lack of empathy for naturally thin people
(who are statistically the healthiest people on the planet) or because I said I want to banish them to somewhere near The Falklands. I hope its fairly clear that my use of the uncomfortable exile imagery was meant to illustrate my lack of empathy for these poor, unfortunately healthy people, not that it was my real wish that such exile should occur.

Ah shush - I don't think I "leapt on the attack" at all.

I asked you to calm down considering we had been talking about how people had emotional and psychological issues with food. My point was that it works both ways. Thin people may well be the healthiest people on earth but that doesn't mean they are not affected by their body shape. I would have imagined that comments like "Let's get rid of them all so we don't have to know anything about them" might not be that well received.

Also, the point that thin people are the healthiest kind of people argues against the documentary I saw a while back which showed a scan of a thin persons liver but he ate loads of crap compared to an obese persons liver who took relative care of their body - the liver of the thin person was all screwed somehow, the fat persons wasn't as bad. I have no statistics to prove my point, but I would have thought that, while being thin was a factor, it would be down to the persons lifestyle that affected their health more than their body shape.

As far as my lack of empathy itself, its probably somewhere in the same league as their level of empathy for me.

I'm just an ordinary person, I'm not Mother Teresa, please forgive me for sometimes not having the inclination to see absolutely everyone's point of view as well as my own.

I'm not sure what you mean by their level of empathy for you - since we are talking about hypothetical people here, I don't think they can have an opinion on you either way.

You are an ordinary person and don't go throwing yer toys out the pram with a Mother Teresa comment! (*hugs*)

You are allowed to have different opinions and to miss other peoples point of view, however, as you know, if you decide to publicly raise your opinions on a message board, then isn't it normal for others to state their opinions as well? I have two friends in the "real world" who have serious issues with their very skinny bodies. One in particular eats nothing but shite and constantly drinks beer in an attempt to fatten up (I doubt that he is particularly healthy). Since I know what their opinion of the situation is, I felt it appropriate to raise it.

Now. Deep breath and lets move on.

[Boboff]

Don't feed the..........YUDDY!

You make very good points Foots, but you didn't really address the main issue.

*Star on the calendar.........*

Going back to an argument which is only defensible in the heat of the Hormone high, is really not something one should do to a lady!


* Runs and hides for at least a week.

[Yudster]

You make very good points Foots, but you didn't really address the main issue.

*Star on the calendar.........*

Nothing gets past you does it Boboff!

[Boboff]

V To Z are all past U.

[Yudster]

Depends which direction you approach from.

I wore my first pair of Jeans That I Want To Be Able To Wear Again yesterday. I have a second and third pair which are still at the aspirational stage though.