Why do the majority of the great British public...

Dicky M wrote (see)

But, look around properly - it's becoming the norm now.  The 'Great British Public' are bigger than they were, and it's only the extreme examples that are now subject to comment.

When I changed doctor a year or so ago after moving to a new area, I had to go in for a check-up appointment and an asthma review. Got measured and weighed. Said to the doctor 'I know I'm overweight but I'm dealing with it' (I'd been out of training for a while due to injury) I'm 5'6" and at the time weighed about 12 stone. Had a visible pot belly and muffin top, and she said to me 'No, you're fine. Not overweight at all.'

A nurse at the same surgery told my partner (5'8", nearly 20 stone, seriously obese) that BMI charts were no use for 'chunky' built guys and told him he could do with losing "half a stone or so..." Problem is, he took her advice as gospel and now refuses to accept he is unhealthily fat!

'Average' size now means overweight. And most people are so used to seeing it that they just don't realise what's going on. Look at 1950s footage of folk on the beack at Blackpool. They're almost all all rake-thin. Hardly an even slightly chubby person to be seen!

Yes my school photo (1956) shows me as second tubbiest child in school .  Nowadays I would be average.

- that was actually me thinking that I might at some stage be described as slim!

runs-with-dogs wrote (see)

A nurse at the same surgery told my partner (5'8", nearly 20 stone, seriously obese) that BMI charts were no use for 'chunky' built guys and told him he could do with losing "half a stone or so..." Problem is, he took her advice as gospel and now refuses to accept he is unhealthily fat!

Similar to the bolleaux about BMI and it not counting for Rugby players. Yes they may be fit in the muscular and CV way. And I understand that muscle is more dense than fat. But the body is not designed to be loaded up with 16st of anything, fat or muscle, or lead.

In the run up to my IM plenty of people were concerned about my eating and how I look. In the last few months I was eating 4-5 correct meals a day and grazing in between and still only managing to stay level. I was a little concerned, but knew it wasn't long term. Mrs Cat5 tried to create an anorexic by suggesting I go sub 10st!

I put on about a stone after what, and now I'm training again it's dropped a little. People say I look healthier now, though I'm sure if I hadn't had the drop to IM weight first they'd whine about how ill I look.

It was funny visiting customers abroad, whom I hadn't seen for some month. MOst assumed I'd been seriously ill.

Putto:

male babies, often winged, as represented in art.

 Babies were fed on a syrup of sugar and water to make them chubby. This was considered to be healthy. Unfortunately these babies died. Can't find any references during a quick search right now.

This suggests that chubby has been considered healthy in the past.

I imagine any culture that is prone to poverty or famine would easy view carrying weight as a sign of health and wealth. In those cultures availability of food equals life.

If you think about it you really need to come from a culture of food opulence to even consider diet and body shape as any sort of factor in your life.

T.mouse wrote (see)

Putto:

male babies, often winged, as represented in art.

 Babies were fed on a syrup of sugar and water to make them chubby. This was considered to be healthy. Unfortunately these babies died. Can't find any references during a quick search right now.

This suggests that chubby has been considered healthy in the past.

Chubby with rotten teeth I would guess!

My sister is massively overweight. At a recent family meal we all sat down in a restuarant and order our meal. I had my usual STaeak and Chips with peppercorn sauce, she spent 5 minutes talking to the waitress telling her how she wanted her chicken and potatoes cooked without skin and butter so she ended up with what looked the most bland meal i have ever seen. She then sat there looking pleased as punch with herself. After the main course we decided to not have desert apart from my sister who had one of the largest ice creams with chocoalte and marshmellows and sauce all over it. She couldn't see that she was wasting her time pretending to eat healthy. 

I see it everyday. I'm a good stone over weight, BMI just under 26, yet the other night I had a "discussion" with an enormous woman about how I was wrong to say it's calories in vs calories out, that i'm going about it all wrong, and she was basically accusing me of having body dismorphia because I can see subcutaneous fat on my body, yet she seemed to think it's loose skin and I could "tone it up", well you can't tone up fat!

She said "i've got a book downstairs on it", I thought you obviously haven't read it!

MikeFrog wrote (see)

15West wrote (see)

 The problem is the large amount of refined sugar used in everything and sedantary lives - driving to an office job.

I pick up litter in the street where I live, and a large proportion of it is plastic bottles and cans for sugary drinks (like lucozade) and stimulant drinks (like red bull)

I used to see people in the office drinking full sugar lucozade with their lunch. People that do no exercise.

I did a 20 miler race earlier this year, which was 4 x 5 mile circuit, and ran past the same little group of overweight supporters on each lap. Every time I passed them they were chugging a can of Red Bull or a bottle of Lucozade - the runners got a couple of sips of energy drink once a lap!

I saw some recent photos of the guy I knew who had the gastric band fitted, 4 years on from his operation. He lost so much weight but he looks horrendous, cadaverous and malnourished - like a male version of Chloe from Fight Club. I guess the surgery has its place in some situations, but I can't imagine that it has done his long term health much good.

What 20,000 calories a day does to you:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/12120689

Where's his willy?

i don't think he has seen it for a long time.

I've lost 4 and a half stone, and still have a BMI in the high 26s (now 11st 1lb) everyone i know says how great i am now and that I don't need to loose any more, and yet to get down to a bmi of 22.5 which is not even the low end of the healthy range i would still need to loose another 11kg.  I agree we seem to be conditioned that large is good 

wow, good hit KK, you got this one going!

I've had me shots tonight. I need a drop of kip, but I'll not get enough. Tomozz I'll have to pay with some exercise.