Obesity: Fat People Could Face Benefit Cuts

[antone]

 

The more things the government can find the unemployed, sick and disabled to do, in order to obtain their benefits, the more the jobs will be created and tax payed. It's a knock on effect that keeps the economy going.

 

This is genius, actually. We should insist that, as a condition of receiving their benefits, the unemployed should commit at least one arrestable offence per week. Nothing too serious, of course, maybe just smashing a window or so. The increase in crime will result in the employment of more police officers, judges, probabation staff and so on. Plus, of course, said unemployed people will be required to repay some of their benefits in fines, meaning the state gets the money back.

 

Brilliant! What could possibly go wrong?

[osdset]

Make walking on the cracks in the pavement a criminal offence, that would net loads of offenders, and no glass shards to clean up.

[antone]

Make walking on the cracks in the pavement a criminal offence, that would net loads of offenders, and no glass shards to clean up.

 

Ah, but if windows are broken, it also creates work for glaziers. Seriously, why don't we just recruit the unemployed, sick and disabled as an army to create mayhem on the streets. The economic benefits will make us rich, rich, I tell you!

[san_d]

Another problem is that the NHS doesn't really give good advice on obesity. They are still stuck to the old concept of losing weight but what really matters is losing abdominal fat. It's easy to lose weight. Just stop drinking water. this is what bodybuilders and boxers do before a fight or competition.

 

What kills people and causes heart attacks is abdominal fat. I bet the NHS hasn't got the resources to advice people on how to lose fat.

[LaughingGirl]

Not to mention the fact that there is a thriving industry in slimming pills, drinks, DVD's and books out there that is actually geared towards keeping people overweight, so they keep making money. I've spent my entire adult life watching the women I work with spin from one mad diet to the next, losing weight...quitting the diet...putting it all back on...finding a new diet plan...loosing weight...rinse, lather, repeat.

[Nystagmite]

The only "diet" that really works is a lifestyle change. Diets such as slimfast are a quick fix.

[fletch70]

Indeed the only way to lose fat is for energy in to be less than energy out. Of course going to the gym can help that but at the other end it can increase weight as muscle is denser than fat.

 

As for the logic of having a car on DLA if you think about it there is no sense. The car will be made by a foreign owned company so the profit made will be paid to a foreign company etc. If you follow the logic we can create wealth by making everyone unemployed or sick.

I truly hope no one believes that

[estellyn]

Indeed the only way to lose fat is for energy in to be less than energy out.

 

Actually it's much more complex than this. If it were this simple 95% of diets wouldn't fail. We're not combustion engines which is what this simple thinking suggests - we're full of hormones, and biochemical processes which impact how food is used or stored and also effects how much food we want to eat. For instance fructose is processed differently from glucose - excess fructose intake leads directly to insulin resistance in susceptible individuals which in turn impacts how much insulin is released, which in turn impacts how much fat you store and how hungry you get, as well as impacting leptin and leptin resistance and other hormones. This is before you even look at thyroid function, genetics, metabolism issues (as you reduce calories, metabolism slows down, meaning you need to reduce calories even more to be able to lose weight), set point theories, neuorochemical reactions to food, etc etc.

 

Sadly the truth about obesity and weight loss isn't any better reported by the media than the truth about benefit claimants.

[san_d]

^^^^^

 

What she said.

 

I don't trust the council or the DWP to dictate my lifestyle. Being obese is a personal issue, losing weight wonn't save the UK economy from bankruptcy.

[Nystagmite]

Maybe they should start looking into why people are obese instead of just taking their benefits away.

[fletch70]

Estellyn I was basically dumbing down one of the basic laws of the universe. Energy can not be created or destroyed it can only be changed.

It is true that crash dieting can alter the way the body works, equally true that exercise can increase metabolism.

I have lost count of the people i have met who claim their weight issue is genetic and not their fault or it's hormones. Mainly it is down to eating too much although i grant you there are some illneses that alter your body and drugs that do the same.

I am overweight because i have a poor diet and drink too much. I have an addictive personality which i now recognise and attempt to deal with. For all that I am still responsible for my own actions.

[san_d]

Losing weight might actually increase body fat. If you lose weight in a short time you end up losing mainly water. Your weight is less but your body fat is the same, therefore your percentage of body fat is higher after the diet.

[fletch70]

Maybe they should start looking into why people are obese instead of just taking their benefits away.

 

I have never disagreed with that and personally dislike the nanny state view of banning products. However I also dislike the capitalist lifestyle we all lead. The world should not be run to make a profit. Unfortunately i do not have an answer of how to change it.

[antone]

Estellyn I was basically dumbing down one of the basic laws of the universe. Energy can not be created or destroyed it can only be changed.

 

This is true, yes, but its application to human weight loss is extremely limited. After all, humans need to consume more than just energy to survive - we're not hummingbirds.

[fletch70]

Losing weight might actually increase body fat. If you lose weight in a short time you end up losing mainly water. Your weight is less but your body fat is the same, therefore your percentage of body fat is higher after the diet.

 

More bad headlines. In this case the fat remains the same just the percentage increases. You sound like retailers who would think 50% profit of sales of sales£10 is better than 10% profit on sales of 1000000.

[honeybee13]

Losing weight might actually increase body fat. If you lose weight in a short time you end up losing mainly water. Your weight is less but your body fat is the same, therefore your percentage of body fat is higher after the diet.

 

Hello san_d. I'm not sure how much of what you've said is serious. You said earlier that not drinking water would make you lose weight [i imagine through dehydration which isn't good]. I thought drinking water was beneficial.

 

Would you mind clarifying for future caggers please, as this could be important?

 

My best, HB

[Nystagmite]

I thought drinking water was better too. I seem to remember being told that sometimes if you're "hungry", you're actually thirsty.

[honeybee13]

I thought drinking water was better too. I seem to remember being told that sometimes if you're "hungry", you're actually thirsty.

 

I heard that too. When I remember, I try drinking water instead of eating straight away to see if it works.

 

HB

[LaughingGirl]

A lot of this is relative, any way. At 5' 3" and 9 stone 4lb, I'm the heaviest that I've ever been in my life and feel healthier than I have since I was in my late teens/early twenties. The worst period I've ever had health wise was when I was the thinnest I have ever been...I don't know what I weighed, but I was the legendary size zero, and it horrifies me when I see pictures of myself from that period. I was constantly unwell and tired, I always had colds, throat infections and I picked up every bug going. I looked like an escapee from a concentration camp, not that appearance is the heart of this conversation.

 

Having thought about it, the only time I remember feeling better than this was when I was vegetarian, which is something I'm thinking about going back to...if I can stay away from the evil that is bacon sarnies, lol.

 

The thing about being thirsty when you think you're hungry is actually very true as well, IMO.

[fletch70]

I always found that drinking water was a vital part of a healthy diet.

[osdset]

One could try to focus on the crap sold over the counter at all the major supermarkets, chemically engineered rubbish that people on a low budget buy because it's all they can afford, it's all well and good to promote fresh fruit and veg, decent meat, butter instead of that chemical in a tub that's labelled as margarine, the problem is, it costs to eat well and healthily, and that cost is so often out of the reach of those on benefits.

[fletch70]

I most certainly agree with much of that. It is not so bad if you live within easy reach of a big market but supermarkets are so overpriced.

[Lilly_Monroe]

I most certainly agree with much of that. It is not so bad if you live within easy reach of a big market but supermarkets are so overpriced.

 

I am not sure I have ever known fresh veg so expensive as it is at the moment.

Even spuds will be a luxury for some people.

Eating healthy is not easy on a very limited budget.

I know some of the supermarkets have packs of veg for a £1 but one pack of carrots, is not much use and a £1 is a lot out of JSA for a bag of veg still need stuff to go with it.

[san_d]

Hello san_d. I'm not sure how much of what you've said is serious. You said earlier that not drinking water would make you lose weight [i imagine through dehydration which isn't good]. I thought drinking water was beneficial.

 

Would you mind clarifying for future caggers please, as this could be important?

 

My best, HB

 

Oh I'm very serious about it. I've lost quite a lot of weight in the last years but I've realized that I need to lose my abdominal fat if I want to be healthy.

 

When people see a fat person they think in terms of weight but this is plain wrong. Athletes have usually a high BMI but they have a lot of muscles, that makes up for their weight, but they also have a very low percentage of fat mass compared to the normal people.

 

Encouraging people to lose weight is wrong because athletes know how to lose weight in a very unhealthy way. I've mentioned the bodybuilders trick of not drinking water before competition. That allowes them to shed a couple of kilos and fit a lower weight category, but this is hardly healthy, isn't it?

 

Most of the short term diets work because people eat a bit less in that period, but they also drink less water. When you lose weight you lose muscle too, not very healthy. This is an extract from an article on the Mayo Clinic website:

The concern with fast weight loss is that it usually takes extraordinary efforts in diet and exercise — efforts that could be unhealthy and that you probably can't maintain as permanent lifestyle changes.

[...]

if you lose a lot of weight very quickly, it may not be fat that you're losing. It might be water weight or even lean tissue, since it's hard to burn that many fat calories in a short period.

[RaeUK]

... As for the logic of having a car on DLA if you think about it there is no sense. The car will be made by a foreign owned company so the profit made will be paid to a foreign company etc. ...

 

To a degree you're right. But my foreign motability car was built in the UK by a firm that has invested - and continues to invest - hundreds of millions of pounds in the UK.