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Obesity: How Prejudiced is the NHS?

@TorqPenderloin I take full responsibility for my choices and I also refuse to be judged for them it is my right to make my own choices without authoritarian interference I thought that was written in your constitution .

I have diabetes because of one choice I made several years ago and that was to survive the autoimmune disease I have by taking a medication that in the first drives weight gain and secondly can cause diabetes.

Regards John.
 
douglas99 said:
I'm sure there is a reasonably well proven cause and effect established between overeating and obesity.
I suspect many other obese patients on the NHS overate.
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I haven't overate for years, even then it was carb binging due to high bgs, pre insulin and low carbing. I don't overeat but compared to the egg size tummy fill of a bariatric patient after surgery, I guess I do.
I do eat more than an egg fill per meal.
 
TorqPenderloin said:
If I gain weight from eating too much that is a decision, that is a choice, and that is my fault. That's not to say I necessarily feel bad about it. It's to say that it is within my control just as much as losing that weight would be.
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Not always the case for everybody. If in the UK we continue to think that ALL obese people simply eat too much and exercise too little then there is a great danger that we will miss what's happening to SOME people.

I am obese and I'm very unhappy about it. I have eaten less than my BMR for longer than I can remember and I am no stranger to the gym or pool. I want somebody to tell me why, not too difficult, they're quite happy to cut me open (I know it's keyhole), reroute my plumbing and then the papers can whinge about how much I'm costing the NHS and I all I want is for them to tell me why I eat so little and weigh so much. By the way, Rosiglitazone is a wonderful drug if you want to gain weigh without trying, I know there are some thin people out there worried about weight loss. Just get hold of some Rosiglitazone, works a treat.
 
It is disconcerting to find that anyone in the NHS thinks the customer is getting everything for free. This would engender disrespect and make the staff feel like they were being charitable.
Along with millions of other people I paid taxes all through my working life some of which went to fund the NHS. Prescriptions are expensive and often more expensive than the pharmacy, to say nothing of the car parks and those lttle TV devices and phones that gobble up £10 notes.
 
I back you @JohnEGreen . Skiers get injuried, as of rugby plays and other sports persons. Their choice to risk injury for enjoyment and fulfilment.
We all have ways for relaxing, enjoying and participating in life.
The alternative is live in an oxygen tent and gets electrodes to exercise our muscles. I choose living my life to the full. Stressful jobs and international travel with entertainment. Of course all pre-diagnosis.
I don't drink, never smoked and exercised my heart and other muscles in sport.
Until now I'm restricted. I do my best.
I won't refuse help from the nhs get me to the best I can be again. Thank god the offer is there!
 
Good! Then we agree. Literally, my first sentence (which you removed for some reason) specifically notes that there are exceptions.
TorqPenderloin said:
Sure, there will always be exceptions, but the vast majority of obese people have the ability to do something about it.
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Here is the problem I have: if no one takes responsibility for their actions then it starts to become acceptable to be obese (which is certainly happening here in the USA). The exceptions to the rule eventually becomes the rule and we ignore the fact that many people are able to do something about taking control of their health.

Let's not forget that as a t1d I'm certainly not exempt from ignorant treatment. On a weekly basis, I get asked questions like "Did you get t1d from eating too many hamburgers?" or "He can't have that because he's a diabetic." People get to "See" my diabetes a lot easier too as I have to inject insulin at every meal and my blood sugar numbers are displayed on my phone and watch. That subjects me to a lot more ignorant comments.
 
It could be that there is an obesity epidemic, which has led to obesity becoming the norm, due to some as yet unidentified factor, which is no fault of those who have suffered this weight gain due to it.

This is what happened with the huge rise in lung cancer cases, eventually leading to the penny dropping as to the cause, at a time when people were being positively encouraged, by the medical professionals, to smoke.

I happen to think that this factor is a high carb diet in combination with low fats and highly processed fats, and processed food in general.

And before someone points out that jam is processed fruit, and olive oil is processed to extract the oil, and both these have been around for centuries with no harm done, the processing which goes on in the food industry today is fathoms from making jam and pressing olives etc.

I also have thoughts around how antibiotic use has affected gut flora and ideas around how that has affected food absorption and storage of fat.
 
TorqPenderloin said:
Good! Then we agree. Literally, my first sentence (which you removed for some reason) specifically notes that there are exceptions.
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"but the vast majority of obese people have the ability to do something about it." Probably missed out because I didn't agree, I can't remember and yes, I've still missed a bit out.

I cannot be the only person who is eating less than my BMR and not losing weight. I cannot be the only person who gained a disastrous amount of weight taking a prescribed medication. I don't think I'm alone in not eating junk food or indeed any processed food (except tinned ratatouille, tinned tomatoes). I admit that I'm being pedantic but I strongly disagree with the use of "vast majority". I can only speak for what I see in the U.K., maybe it's the vast majority in the U.S.
 
We do have an obsesity problem here in the UK, we can't deny that. We only have to look at the people in the streets. But the Americans beat us to it by many years.
 
A bit off topic, but your post has reminded me of a programme I watched last night called "Half Ton Dad" about a man from your state. His house was partly demolished so that, at 73 stones (1033 lbs), he could be transported for weight loss surgery. I have now become immune to such images. What I did find really shocking though was his return home from hospital. His family celebrated his homecoming with drive-through junk food. In the last five minutes you can see his 5 month old granddaughter being fed a huge hamburger. She is too young to feed herself, but her tiny dimpled hands are grasping a French fry. So messed up

http://putlockers.tv/half-ton-dad/
 
Bluetit1802 said:
We do have an obsesity problem here in the UK, we can't deny that. We only have to look at the people in the streets. But the Americans beat us to it by many years.
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The size of the obesity problem is not in dispute. The cause of the obesity problem is in dispute.
 

and what is wrong with people eating hamburgers and fries? Were the rest of his family obese? was the child obese? and, even if they were, what is wrong with treats? should they stop eating anything the fat police say they shouldn't?

This is the problem when obesity is blamed on eating the wrong foods or quantities of foods across the board. The demonisation of those who may not be able to prevent their weight gain. The man may well have had mental health issues. Has he been offered counselling and therapy for that? Is he winning most of his battles with the odd falling off the wagon? or is perfection demanded, at all times? Has he medical issues which contribute to his weight?

All of this reminds me of the way drug addicts and alcoholics are demonized, instead of the closure of mental health help, the lack of support for ex forces personnel, no help for those who have been abused and self medicate to keep the pain manageable.

(puts hands on my ample hips and stalks off in disgust at the judgementalism on these topics)
 
serenity648 said:
and what is wrong with people eating hamburgers and fries? Were the rest of his family obese? was the child obese? and, even if they were, what is wrong with treats? should they stop eating anything the fat police say they shouldn't?
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She was a tiny little baby. If thinking that stuffing a tiny little baby with burgers and fries makes me judgemental, then I am happy to be called judgemental.

A. tiny. little. baby.
 
Avocado Sevenfold said:
She was a tiny little baby. If thinking that stuffing a tiny little baby with burgers and fries makes me judgemental, then I am happy to be called judgemental.

A. tiny. little. baby.
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I cannot view the video here. I notice you focused on the baby, not the rest of my comments.
 
serenity648 said:
I cannot view the video here. I notice you focused on the baby, not the rest of my comments.
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That is because my post was about the baby. As I stated, that was what was shocking to me, not the grandfather's situation. The baby has no choice in what she eats, no voice, no teeth. I consider fried junk food to be an unhealthy choice to feed an infant. That is my opinion. Your opinion may differ.
 
Really, am I the only fat person on here who ate, drank, and didn't exercise my way to being obese, in spite of my doctor telling me to actually try eating less and try to eat something that hadn't been deep fried at MacDonalds?

Seriously, just me on this entire forum?
 
I do not know. Why not start a poll?

However,

I speak for myself and no, I have never over eaten, over drunk or lacked in exercise. I was fine until I went onto seroxat for 7 years. I had not put on weight before taking it, nor have I put on weight since weaning myself off it over an 18 month period. (the withdrawal effects are horrendous and well documented). Unfortunately, apart from an initial 16lbs weight loss a year ago, no weight has shifted.

However, even if someone had over eaten etc and got into a health mess, I still wont condemn them or be negative about them, as there are many reasons for behaviours, so who am I to judge or be horrible to them? Most of us have our weaknesses or battle to fight. YMMV
 
I can honestly say for me it wasn't what I ate but the amount. I still suffer from that sometimes.
Because I was eating too many carbs I would get awful cravings. Even though the carbs where considered healthy for the most part I found that I could eat all day.
With low carb and healthy fat it has eased but with hormones and stress I find sometimes those cravings come back.
The difference now is I know what and know how to change it.
 
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I didn't care if it was carbs, fats, protein.
I could live on pork scratchings, a pig at a time, no problem getting fat cravings for the next empty pig.
Protein, the same, I could eat a steak followed by the protein cravings for another steak.

Now I just stop eating, before I get fat again.
 
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