Fat Chance !

[Doc Alan]

Being overweight or obese is now a bigger problem than undernourishment in most countries, and it no longer just affects “ developed “ countries. The Philippines are catching up with the UK. It’s costly for individual health, for healthcare systems and lost productivity.



There is no such thing as being fat and healthy ! Risks include cardiovascular disease ( heart attacks and strokes ), diabetes, and some types of cancer ( such as breast and large bowel ). Many people are in denial, but they SHOULD have an idea they’re overweight, even if they don’t trust their scales, body mass index ( BMI ) and waist circumference measurements !



The choice to lose weight may be difficult. Not everyone can afford healthy food ( with supplements ) and gym membership. Indeed it’s a greater problem for communities where income is low. “ Crash diets “, “ fad diets “, and bursts of exercise DON’T work for most.


Unlike giving up smoking ( which many prefer to do completely from a set date ), it’s probably best to introduce changes gradually, to lose weight. Gradual increase of activity should work, even with the same diet and calorie intake. It doesn’t have to be at the gym. A regular short 20 minute walk, or sports such as swimming and cycling, ideally something you enjoy, helps.


Reducing food intake is the other way to lose weight. Don’t skip breakfast, and don’t assume you can’t have occasional “ treats “. Simple measures like taking semi-skimmed milk, not adding sugar to coffee / tea, eating smaller portions, eating less processed / “ fast “ foods and more fruit and vegetables, and cutting down on alcohol intake, all make a difference.



These suggested changes are for LIFE. The benefits are not just increased life expectancy and reduced risk of serious disease – but feeling and looking better .


However, the above is just my opinion and I’ve said it before.


Unfortunately many people now see being overweight as the “ norm “, according to England’s Chief Medical Officer, among others. Recognising that there’s a problem is one thing. A bigger problem is what to do about it. All measures ( including tape measures ! ) have clearly not succeeded so far. These include community and school education, taxing unhealthy foods, regulating food adverts, promotion of healthy living, and designing living and work areas with exercise in mind.



It’s not for me to judge lifestyle choices. It could be worth raising the topic ( again ) just as more influential people than me continue to do .



There’s certainly plenty of information elsewhere on the topic :-


https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...eport-2012.pdf


http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_ad...ts/obesity.htm

[les_taxi]

I do think it's harder than made out. I have a battle losing weight around the belly. Rest of me ok but the only way I lose weight is to cut down dramatically on calories and hammer my exercise bike.

Cutting a bit of sugar and and 20 min walk do nothing hardly for me.

[blessed_ekim0826]

I been so thin since birth. I eat a lot but still nothing changes in my figure. I want to gain weight but not sure how. I took vitamins but seems useless. I am 110lbs and 5'6" I want to achieve the 130lbs but seems hard to get. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[les_taxi]

I been so thin since birth. I eat a lot but still nothing change d in my figure. I want to gain weight but not sure how. I took vitamins but seems useless. I am 110lbs and 5'6" I want to achieve the 130lbs but seems hard to get. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Easy, just eat lots of high calorie foods, cheapest way is to load with carbs so a desert of Banana, ice cream and peanut butter over a period will help to put on weight.

I used this technique a few years ago mixing all together in a bowl and it was lovely and calorie rich!

[Arthur Little]

Being 6ft 1", I recently weighed in at 14st 7lbs. Now, I'm by no means fat ... but do prefer to wear either a 171/2~18" collar size for the sake of comfort.

Can't abide shirts that are too tight around the neck.

[marksroomspain]

My heaviest weight was a colossal 30st 7lbs

That was over 10 years ago and vowed never to go back to that so ate healthily and dropped 12 stone.

I have gained here and there but also lost and at 6ft 3 find myself fine at around the 16 and a half stone mark.

I was 18 and a half stone when I first met my wife then gained 3 stone after that, now been back to healthier lifestyle for a while and now at just over 19 stone I am getting there.

Until you have had issues like this then nobody knows just how hard it is.

Fat I consider myself but compared to 2002 then I suppose a hell of a lot slimmer and healthier...

Once again good post Alan...

[Doc Alan]

Thank you for your honest responses Les, Mike_Steve, Mark and Arthur .


I fully support all those who have stopped or wish to stop smoking ; but smoking has adverse health consequences which surely EVERYONE knows about ; and I’m a non-smoker – perhaps EX-smokers are best placed to offer encouragement. The problems with being overweight / obese are perhaps less well known, and there’s likely to be an element of denial in at least some overweight individuals. It’s also “ a complex multifactorial problem which is not completely understood “ ( Chief Medical Officer’s words ). What hope have WE in understanding it when there is so much conflicting dietary advice from the “ experts “ who can’t always agree among themselves !



BMI ( Body Mass Index ) is ONE measure of nutrition ; it’s a rough guide which doesn’t apply to everyone ; the tape measure is also considered useful, especially the waist measurement . I am 5’8” ( 173 cm ) and 10st 10lb ( 68 kg ), giving me a BMI of 22.7, and with waist measurement of 32” ( 80 cm ), that’s in the “ healthy range “. But of course there’s nothing I ( or anyone else ) can do about increasing age ! Even with a healthy lifestyle, my risk of a heart attack in the next 10 years is 14% !


This link helps calculate BMI ( http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Health...alculator.aspx
) ; this explains BMI and waist measurement (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_ad...ts/obesity.htm
).



The Philippines is one country where undernutrition and overnutrition are significant co-existing problems, perhaps in the same community or even family. Typhoon Haiyan caused thousands more cases of severe acute ( rapid onset ) undernutrition - especially children - in the affected provinces.


In England, the Chief Medical Officer claims around 2% of females and 1% of males are underweight. This has its own problems , and it’s vital to try to find out WHY someone is underweight. Is it deliberate or unintentional, and have they been unwell ? An NHS link might be helpful here :-(http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/...ghtadults.aspx
) .

[bigmarco]

Another interesting thread as usual Doc. I'm currently trying to lose a bit around the middle which has arrived since I packed up the cigarettes.
It's going slowly but I wish it would go as quickly as it arrives.
I'm over due on a diabetes check up which I've delayed because I don't want to face the wrath of Nurse Lisa.

[blessed_ekim0826]

Easy, just eat lots of high calorie foods, cheapest way is to load with carbs so a desert of Banana, ice cream and peanut butter over a period will help to put on weight.

I used this technique a few years ago mixing all together in a bowl and it was lovely and calorie rich!

I did that as what dr said to me to eat foods that are high in fiber and carbs but no changes. I did not smoke and drink alcohols. I was thinking to workout in gym but don't have confidence as gym are for fats who wantto lose weight.

[tiger31]

being fat its all in the genes some people have got the fat gene unlike my daughter who eats a mountain a fatty foods cream cakes fizzy drinks chocolatte and never puts on weight .but myself ive always been big no matter how hard I try ive lost weight before and it just goes back on again .

[Michael Parnham]

I consider myself a stone overweight at 12 stone, I'm 5ft 9in and my waist is 34in need to get a 32in waist. Whilst in Philippines my weight went down to 10 I/2 stone and I felt better and at the moment would love to get down to 11 Stone, that would be the weight that I would feel comfortable with. My eating habits are pretty strict to most people but I still have only three meals per day with nothing between meals, hardly ever buy chocolate, never have Mcdo or any junk food don't drink and only have things like a packet of crisps or chocolate 3 or four times a year, my weakness is dunking digestives in a mug of tea on the odd occasion!

[tiger31]

I consider myself a stone overweight at 12 stone, I'm 5ft 9in and my waist is 34in need to get a 32in waist. Whilst in Philippines my weight went down to 10 I/2 stone and I felt better and at the moment would love to get down to 11 Stone, that would be the weight that I would feel comfortable with. My eating habits are pretty strict to most people but I still have only three meals per day with nothing between meals, hardly ever buy chocolate, never have Mcdo or any junk food don't drink and only have things like a packet of crisps or chocolate 3 or four times a year, my weakness is dunking digestives in a mug of tea on the odd occasion!

lol wads of calories in digestives Michael

[Jentobeharrison]

Hi Doc Alan, this is such an interesting topic. When my fiance went here last May, I was fat and he asked me if I could lose some, I promised him and I did it somehow, weeks before he went here last November, I took pills and as what we expected I gained weight, more than what i was when he was here last May. I almost lost him because of my weight issues but instead of leaving me, he encouraged me and helped me to lose weight.

Now Ive got some replacements with the food that I was eating, white rice before, brown rice now, fried before, steamed now. I also went back to my boxing and jogging. Here in the Philippines, its very hard to have a healthy meal as most offices here in urban area are surrounded by fast food chains which is really my struggle, and it is really expensive to buy for some quick healthy meals. My fiance has told me before that it is not impossible here in the Philippines to have a good body as he had seen some petite woman, I wasn't able to rebut and tell him that its hard for me to look for some healthy meals if you are working in the city, I should've said that but I just remained silent, but I just thought few weeks ago that the women we have seen before look like their bodies are really genetically petite and sexy and I doubt that they have healthy life style.

Which is very unfortunate in my part, I have to have a healthy lifestyle before I can have a good body as I have a chubby family.

[tiger31]

That was rather rude of him to ask you to lose weight lol

[Doc Alan]

Thank you Marco, Mike_Steve, Brian, Michael, and Jen for your interesting posts !


Gaining some weight is common after stopping smoking, but still thought to be less risky than continued smoking .


Gyms are not just for “ fats who want to lose weight “ . Many do find going to a gym ( not just paying the membership fee ! ) helps them get fit, either put on or lose weight with help to do so, and enjoy the social aspect. I’m lucky, living a few minutes’ walk from the beach and would rather walk there.


To say that “ if you consume more calories than you use, you will get fat “ is too simplistic for everyone ! There may not be one “ fat gene “, but genes DO have an influence on whether or not an individual gets fat. Studies of siblings and twins support this. Jen mentioned Filipinas who may be “ genetically petite and sexy “. However, other – environmental - factors are also involved. Simply being informed about health issues ( reading this thread ! ), and being able to afford access to gyms, parks, healthy food, and doctors, all play their part.


There are “ causes of causes “ ( as Donald Rumsfeld might have said ) . Low physical activity, for example, is associated with living conditions which encourage sedentary behaviour. Jen touched on this – offices surrounded by fast food chains - in her post. Advice which might be helpful in the UK, such as walking briskly, is also not so easy to apply in a tropical climate, except early morning or late evening !



Even the English Chief Medical Officer doesn’t understand all the causes of being overweight, and realises that a tax on sugar ( and/or fat ) – ANY levy on consumption – hits the poor hardest.



We can be reasonably sure about the major risks of being overweight, as already mentioned. However, the relationship between diet, obesity, and physical inactivity to cancer is NOT so well defined or easy to prove. Advice from cancer experts ( " be lean, physically active, avoid energy-dense foods, eat a variety of fruits, vegetable, wholegrains and pulses, and limit total consumption of alcohol " ) needs to be taken with a " pinch of salt " when the OVERALL reduction in cancer risk is 5% !


Our diet is complicated. It’s also hard to persuade volunteers in studies to keep a diary of what they eat for long enough ( several years ) to prove cause-and-effect of specific items. Moderation in all things - for life - still seems sensible advice !

[Michael Parnham]

That was rather rude of him to ask you to lose weight lol

I disagree Brian, my Maritess weighs just under 7 stone 5feet tall and very small boned, when I see her eating a lot on certain occasions I always tell her to be careful Because I'm terrified she will put weight on!

[tiger31]

I disagree Brian, my Maritess weighs just under 7 stone 5feet tall and very small boned, when I see her eating a lot on certain occasions I always tell her to be careful Because I'm terrified she will put weight on!

Michael, it,s very insulting to a woman to tell her to lose weight in my opinion. Will you love your wife less if she gained a bit of weight ? In later years it,s very hard for women to lose weight.

[NoRest]

Hi Doc Alan, this is such an interesting topic. When my fiance went here last May, I was fat and he asked me if I could lose some, I promised him and I did it somehow, weeks before he went here last November, I took pills and as what we expected I gained weight, more than what i was when he was here last May. I almost lost him because of my weight issues but instead of leaving me, he encouraged me and helped me to lose weight.

Now I've got some replacements with the food that I was eating, white rice before, brown rice now, fried before, steamed now. I also went back to my boxing and jogging. Here in the Philippines, its very hard to have a healthy meal as most offices here in urban area are surrounded by fast food chains which is really my struggle, and it is really expensive to buy for some quick healthy meals. My fiance has told me before that it is not impossible here in the Philippines to have a good body as he had seen some petite woman, I wasn't able to rebut and tell him that its hard for me to look for some healthy meals if you are working in the city, I should've said that but I just remained silent, but I just thought few weeks ago that the women we have seen before look like their bodies are really genetically petite and sexy and I doubt that they have healthy life style.

Which is very unfortunate in my part, I have to have a healthy lifestyle before I can have a good body as I have a chubby family.

When I met my boyfriend (now my husband), I was the fattie. I continued to gain weight after having 2 kids, until I realized enough is enough. Self control and lots of physical activity (in any form) is the key. Now, I'm "fitter" . On the other hand, the husband's expanding waist line is uncontrollable, (and I am blamed for it because of my kitchen prowess). I try to encourage him to cut down on the lard, but he won't budge. Still, I love him to bits. Fat or thin. Just as he loved me way back when I was a fattie. Still, it would be nice for him to lose a bit more weight though...

[gWaPito]

That was rather rude of him to ask you to lose weight lol

I agree. We are what we are. You can't change your genetics. ...what a cheek

My ex is 5' 5'' weighs around the 42kilo. Only went up to 47 kilos during 2 Pregnancies.

[NoRest]

Lucky her

[grahamw48]

When I was last weighed and measured (2006) , I was 6'1" and 80kgs. My clothes from then still fit...so.

I gave up smoking 2 weeks ago, and I go out cycling every day now.
It was really nice getting back home this afternoon after a good ride, and not feeling at all breathless, overheated, or 'heady'.

There is nobody in my immediate (blood-related) family that is overweight.

Even though I'm naturally slim, I still keep sugar and salt consumption to a minimum, and also avoid frying food.

At the moment I'm eating lots of snacks because of the lack of cigs, but I know that will only be a temporary crutch.

Sorry to have to say, but I find fat women unattractive...always have done.

[Terpe]

No offence intended.....but I've noticed a huge increase in overweight folks in Philippines.

I've also noticed an increase in overweight folks at my gym & spa.

I'm guilty also......I increased my weight by 15kg when I gave up smoking.
Tried hard and did a lot of cycling last year.....lost quite a few kg ..but still the same now after getting lazy during wintertime.

These past 5 weeks I've been really pushing myself with swimming every day ......not a huge weight loss just 2.5 kg.....but my waistline has decreased. My trousers keep falling down now

Must get back on that bike too......

Unlike Graham, I find some overweight ladies hugely attractive

[purple]

Do weight training. It helps you gain muscle mass= weight gain

I been so thin since birth. I eat a lot but still nothing changes in my figure. I want to gain weight but not sure how. I took vitamins but seems useless. I am 110lbs and 5'6" I want to achieve the 130lbs but seems hard to get. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[marksroomspain]

Well as regards to overweight my ex was 58kg when we met then almost doubled that to 114kg but we stayed together for 15 years but things just died out.

Jamie my wife was 57kg when we met and at 5ft 5 ultra slim and sexy for me. (even though she thought she was fat compared to other filipinas)

Over a year after giving birth she is down to 59kg once again so sexy but she wants to be 55kg hence me working hard also with a 105kg target in mind or maybe lower.

There's nothing better than a beautiful sexy filipina to keep us guys on our toes...

[raynaputi]

I'm 5'2" tall & weighed 56kg before I came here. After 2 years of being here, I now weigh 50.6kg. All my friends and relatives told me I was thin when we had our holiday last November! What does it tell me? I miss eating proper Filipino food!!!

But seriously, what made me lose some weight (unintentionally coz I don't find myself fat, just have a slightly big tummy though ) is because I only eat rice once a day since I arrive here, during lunch time. When I was in the Philippines, I eat rice 3x a day!

[Doc Alan]

There do seem to be many influences on the imbalance between food intake and energy output. These start with inherited / genetic factors affecting appetite, metabolic rate, and how the body stores fat. They are in turn influenced by the environment ( family, society, and culture ). There isn’t one single big solution to obesity . But because it carries risks to health, it shouldn’t ( as the English CMO and others point out ) be accepted as “ the norm “.



Drugs and surgery are costly, and can only be for more extreme cases. Unlike cigarettes, fatty and sugary foods are not uniformly unhealthy – only in excess. So a “ sin tax “ is inappropriate, hard to enforce, and would be “ regressive “ ( poor people spend a higher proportion of their income on food than rich people ).


Many smaller measures may be the answer – starting with parents, who should know about / take responsibility for / and avoid overfeeding their kids .


Other measures would come at cost :-

• urban planners making streets and pavements safer for cyclists and pedestrians;
• improved access to healthy foods, sensible advice ( written and in person ) from healthcare workers;
• more gyms, swimming pools, and parks.


Ultimately the responsibility and ability to change does rest with individuals – no matter how hard it is, and how plausible the reasons ( ? excuses ) may be for NOT aiming at a healthy weight … for life.


I do appreciate the further interesting and honest posts from gWaPito, Graham, Purple, NoRest, Terpe, Michael, Mark and Rayna ! Hopefully they will inspire and help other members – much more so than advice, however well intentioned, from me alone.

[Jentobeharrison]

Hi Doc, How about those women who have bigger structure of the bones?

Some have been telling me that even if I lose weight, I will still look fat because I have broad shoulder.

[gWaPito]

I'm 5'2" tall & weighed 56kg before I came here. After 2 years of being here, I now weigh 50.6kg. All my friends and relatives told me I was thin when we had our holiday last November! What does it tell me? I miss eating proper Filipino food!!!

But seriously, what made me lose some weight (unintentionally coz I don't find myself fat, just have a slightly big tummy though ) is because I only eat rice once a day since I arrive here, during lunch time. When I was in the Philippines, I eat rice 3x a day!

Same for me..when my wife was here, there was always rice to be eaten in the rice cooker and I was 10kg heavier. Now I just consume Uncle Ben's microwave rice once a day

[gWaPito]

There's nothing better than a beautiful sexy filipina to keep us guys on our toes...

I'll agree with that

[Michael Parnham]

20 years ago you couldn't find a chubby Filipina also in the 1940's and 50's it was a rare thing to see anyone chubby. with reference to Brian's question, of course I would still love my Maritess, it's just that I would feel uncomfortable with a fat lady because my generation find it difficult to accept that there are big people and as I said earlier it was so uncommon that if one did see someone big it was like seeing an alien, but today it's very common and as Doc said rather unhealthy even though some people think it's the norm. Hope no one is offended by this thread, I don't think anyone should be because whoever or whatever size you are, you are a really great bunch of nice people and I'm grateful that you contribute valuable knowledge and help to each other, love you all!