Posted by: John Oxton on 10 Mar 2007
I am fat, let’s get that bit out of the way before we begin. I understand why I am fat and that is helpful in trying to tackle the problem. And yes, being fat is a problem, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
A few days ago I saw an advert on TV for low calorie cakes, from some weight watching company or another, and it made me angry. It made me angry because I can’t believe we really live in a society so backwards that such things can exist. It made me angry because I don’t know how this company is managing to con people into believing that these chemical filled boxes of sweet junk are actually going to make them healthier. If you want healthy cake buy a local homemade cake and eat a small slice, occasionally!
The bit that makes me really angry is the complete and utter focus on weight loss rather than health. With healthy eating comes weight loss, dead simple really. To go from junk food overeater to healthy muncher, though, takes a change of lifestyle and that can be tough.
How then, someone please tell me, do low calorie cakes help you kick start the process of lifestyle change? Of course, they don’t, they aren’t meant to. Instead they encourage you to keep the same lifestyle whilst easing your underlying guilt about being a fatty. Their purpose is to make you feel better about stuffing your face with cake; they allow you to continue being lazy about your health issues by making you think you are at least doing something.
So, my own conclusion about fixing my fatness has not been to eat low calorie cakes and biscuits etc. but rather to change my lifestyle, slowly, one step at a time and of course somewhere in there has been slowing down on the cakes, the sticky toffee puddings, so on and so forth…
...Full English breakfast may be tougher nut to crack, though.
P.S. I apologise now for the ironic Google ads!
Comments
# on the Saturday March 10, 2007 Ben Debnam added:
Nice little read there John, I’m looking forward to future articles!
The TV adverts like that just bug the crap out of me too. I’m a big guy too, but not as much as I used to be. I’m totally finding that eating sensibly and regularly, having small amounts of the cravings now and then works for me. It’s not super fast but its freakin’ easy and feels great!
Step 2 – The Gym…. [sigh].. “Okay! Maybe after this Low Cal Cake that the Tv said I could eat!”
Thanks for setting up a new blog! Good luck with it all! I’m gonna be reading every article :)
# on the Saturday March 10, 2007 John Oxton added:
Ben, you are spot on about the regular eating. When I was cooking for a living my eating habits were terrible… you lose your appetite somewhat when you are dealing with food all day. Needless to say it took me years to get into a healthy routine and I am sure it’s done me some good…
[note to self: maybe I should do a survey of chef’s eating habits… see if they’ve improved since I was cooking]
# on the Saturday March 10, 2007 lm added:
food again. well can we have some lettice please?
Good luck anyway :D
# on the Friday March 16, 2007 Harry added:
totally agree with you john. for my 2p i do think genetics/build has a lot to do with the whole weight thing. I have the metabolism of a whippet and never gain weight, my brother is however on the chubby side and left unattended gets unwarranted attention from greenpeace when on a beach. mind you i can;t look at a cigarette without wanting to smoke 60 a day and bro is the kind of guy who puts a cork back in a bottle of wine.
the thing that gets me is there is always a focus on is you could only be more …. or have ….. you’d be happier rather than just getting on with being happy about who you are. the incessant drive to be perfect is such a waste energy. the underlying guilt you mention is in part created by the b’stards selling the solution.
I’m probably gonna always have to flap my arms in the shower to get wet and bro is better insulated for a sudden cold snap so might as well get on with it.
lunch-break rant over, back to work.
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