Embarrassing Teenage Bodies on C4

amacachi

Anyone catch this earlier? I dismay sometimes, I really do. There was a girl on it who was 18 years old and 22 stone and had tried "everything" to lose weight. Firstly she's 18, no way has she tried everything, secondly her list of "everything" consisted of diets and prescription dieting pills. I mean ffs.
So she got gastric band surgery. Yep, 18 years old and getting serious surgery.
Then we see her later on having lost weight and for the first time in her life doing regular exercise.

So how soon does everyone think we're going to get to a point where overweight teens just get the band fitted as a matter of course? Because it sometimes bloody seems like that's where it's headed.

LightningBolt

Ah I've just stopped caring about all that ****. Like it or not the only way the vast majority of these people will take a proactive role in looking after themselves and not looking for a quick fix solution is if the majority of "6 week diet plan, lose 10lbs" type articles are pulled from magazines. It won't prevent people from becoming overweight, it will prevent people from assuming that there's a quick fix solution though.

all_smilz

LightningBolt wrote: »

Ah I've just stopped caring about all that ****. Like it or not the only way the vast majority of these people will take a proactive role in looking after themselves and not looking for a quick fix solution is if the majority of "6 week diet plan, lose 10lbs" type articles are pulled from magazines. It won't prevent people from becoming overweight, it will prevent people from assuming that there's a quick fix solution though.

here here!
Magazine articles wreck my head and the celeb nonsense in em AND all the ads!

mind you my weight hasnt changed in a fortnight despite my efforts and i thought to myself (before bursting into tears) i can afford banding........ But i think i'll just wait til i LOSE the weight and then nip and tuck all the excess skin (joke).

chocgirl

I've seen a million and one of these programmes and they all say the same thing.
Find it really hard to make up my mind if I agree or disagree with it. Part of me thinks its horrific - easy way out, huge cost, irregular eating habits forever. On the other hand it probably is beneficial in the long term - reduced BP, cholesterol, lower risk of diabetes and debilitating joint degeneration.
So sad that it's at that stage though.

Hanley

Why don't we just shoot the fat people?

Or lock them up in jail until they get skinny?

patchybaby

oh don't u think thats a wee bit harsh???? wot about semi-plump???? are we safe

Hanley

patchybaby wrote: »

oh don't u think thats a wee bit harsh???? wot about semi-plump???? are we safe

Depends what sorta mood I'm in tbh!

Astrogeek

Or start charging people in hours of exercise for slices of cake/chocolate etc etc...

Be funny to watch

patchybaby

i think as someone said earlier....that gastric band thing has been made too easy to get.......fcuk the diet and lets get the band sems to be the order of the day

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Hanley wrote: »

Why don't we just shoot the fat people?

That'd be suicide man! :pac:

Penn

patchybaby wrote: »

i think as someone said earlier....that gastric band thing has been made too easy to get.......fcuk the diet and lets get the band sems to be the order of the day

Exactly. And they can never lead a normal life afterwards. I don't think they can have full meals and stuff. And it's not like they'll be able to run around like all the other thin people, they'll still have no real strength apart from what they used to have to help them move, breathe and lift a bucket of chicken

DancingQueen:)

I'd always look at these programmes and think how could they let themselves get like this? Im not a huge fitness freak but like to keep myself healthy and couldnt imagine how they wouldnt do everything in their power to change if they really wanted to.

But then i realised i wasnt that person and havnt been in that position ..

legend365

DancingQueen:) wrote: »

But then i realised i wasnt that person and havnt been in that position ..

Yea...i could think 'why the hell dont they get up off their ass' all day but i've never been fat so i dont know how hard it is to breath nevermind exercise.

Dublin_Gunner

I cannot understand how anybody can let themselves get like that - it must definitely (in that case) be down to the parents.

I'm a parent myself, and there is no way I'd have my daughter eating her way to obesity. Its just bloody laziness.

Eat decent food, get some exercise - take the damn stairs instead of the lift, whatever, its not that hard.

In fact, I think the overweight, lazy people should just be told they're fat and lazy and look like a horrid example of a human being, and then maybe they'd get up off their fat arses and do something about it - its for their own good after all.

(btw, I'm not putting slightly overweight people, or people with medical conditions into this, just the purely lazy, fat feckers - yes, you know who you are!)

Maybe this could partially be tackled at an earlier age by teaching nutrition and basic cookery skills in school - but make it compulsory.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

I cannot understand how anybody can let themselves get like that - it must definitely (in that case) be down to the parents.

I'm a parent myself, and there is no way I'd have my daughter eating her way to obesity. Its just bloody laziness.

Eat decent food, get some exercise - take the damn stairs instead of the lift, whatever, its not that hard.

In fact, I think the overweight, lazy people should just be told they're fat and lazy and look like a horrid example of a human being, and then maybe they'd get up off their fat arses and do something about it - its for their own good after all.

(btw, I'm not putting slightly overweight people, or people with medical conditions into this, just the purely lazy, fat feckers - yes, you know who you are!)

Maybe this could partially be tackled at an earlier age by teaching nutrition and basic cookery skills in school - but make it compulsory.

I agree. There's far too much sympathy shown toward obesity brought on by laziness. Quite simply, to let themselves slip to the point of looking the way they do, and being in the state of health they are in... its disgraceful.

Above all else I can't imagine how one could do that, with regards relationships / sex / etc. If my OH let herself go completely through sheer laziness and neglect, she'd be given the boot quicker than a bat outta hell. And I'd expect the reverse too, if I neglected myself.
Now, different story if its medially related, or beyond their control.

But a greater awareness of nutrition and exercise needs to be made available to the public. Instead of religion (IMO the most pointless subject in the irish cirriculum) why not Nutrition & Fitness? It'd actually make a difference to the kids, and hopefully give some guidance that they'd otherwise never get.

Burkatron

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

But a greater awareness of nutrition and exercise needs to be made available to the public. Instead of religion (IMO the most pointless subject in the irish cirriculum) why not Nutrition & Fitness? It'd actually make a difference to the kids, and hopefully give some guidance that they'd otherwise never get.

Nail on the head there.Still they wont drop religion from schools aslong as the catholic church are affiliated with the schools. PE should be reformed to incorporate proper diet & nutrition (or has it in the last 8 years since I finished school?). I remember doing the food group pyramid in Biology back in 2nd year once & that was the extent of it!

neuro-praxis

Just one choice quote:

In fact, I think the overweight, lazy people should just be told they're fat and lazy and look like a horrid example of a human being, and then maybe they'd get up off their fat arses and do something about it - its for their own good after all.

I am sick to the back teeth of these kinds of threads. Self-righteous crap as usual.

Don't you think this is all they've ever been told? And it's working great isn't it!

Jimmy Bottlehead

neuro-praxis wrote: »

I am sick to the back teeth of these kinds of threads. Self-righteous crap as usual.

Don't you think this is all they've ever been told? And it's working great isn't it!

No, people aren't generally told they're fat or disgusting... it's considered politically incorrect in todays society.

And to be perfectly honest, self righteousness isn't bad if the person saying it is correct in what they are saying, and are practicing what they preach.

neuro-praxis

People who weigh 25 or 30 stone pretty much universally hate themselves. They're in a spiral of endless eating to self-medicate. The last thing they need is gym bunnies telling them they are a disgusting example of humanity.

Compassion > self righteousness in my world any day.

topper75

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Compassion > self righteousness in my world any day.

"There there darling. You're not so fat. Here, have a look in this special mirror we bought you. See? Take no notice of those people running. They'll give themselves a heart attack. Now where did I put that Take a Break magazine."

all_smilz

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Just one choice quote:



I am sick to the back teeth of these kinds of threads. Self-righteous crap as usual.

Don't you think this is all they've ever been told? And it's working great isn't it!

THANK YOU! it was all i'd ever been told.....

Dragan

Hanley wrote: »

Why don't we just shoot the fat people?

Or lock them up in jail until they get skinny?

Because fat people ensure a healthy abundance of options for when the "better" people need a "break" from their "diet".

Canis Lupus

If there weren't fatties weight challenged individuals then I'd have one less thing to use to feel good about in life.

MelonieHead

amacachi wrote: »

So how soon does everyone think we're going to get to a point where overweight teens just get the band fitted as a matter of course? Because it sometimes bloody seems like that's where it's headed.

Frighteningly soon.

I remember when this type of surgery, bariatric surgery, first came out and was an unusual, last-resort option. It's now become mainstream. Whenever I read a weight-loss story involving a loss of over 3 stone, 9 times of of ten it's as a result of bariatric surgery.

It's become uncommon for someone to lose 3, 4 or 5 stone on their own. Certainly the vast majority opt for surgery.

Dublin_Gunner

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Just one choice quote:

I am sick to the back teeth of these kinds of threads. Self-righteous crap as usual.

Don't you think this is all they've ever been told? And it's working great isn't it!

And I'm sick to death of political correctness. There's nothing self righteous about being passionate on the subject of healthy living - I think you may have your wires crossed there.

People who weigh 25 or 30 stone pretty much universally hate themselves. They're in a spiral of endless eating to self-medicate. The last thing they need is gym bunnies telling them they are a disgusting example of humanity.

Compassion > self righteousness in my world any day.

And why do they hate themselves?? Oh yeah, probably because they're overweight. So instead of looking for sympathy and compassion, how about they're told to get off their fat arses or they're going to die.

I can really see how over-eating is a good 'self-medication' regime to adhere to in these cases, really clever.

And just for the record, I'm not a 'gym bunny' - I do play soccer, and I eat healthily - hardly fanaticism.

Society has gotten damn lazy, thats why we're now officially the fattest country in Europe. People don't get off their fat arses, or aren't told to, because of bloody political correctness and fear of 'offending someone'. Give me a break.

Its funny that its usually the fat people who call slim people 'skinny', but don't dare call them fat :rolleyes:

neuro-praxis

topper75 wrote: »

"There there darling. You're not so fat. Here, have a look in this special mirror we bought you. See? Take no notice of those people running. They'll give themselves a heart attack. Now where did I put that Take a Break magazine."

Compassion is not telling someone they're "not so fat". Compassion is not being patronising or lying to someone's face.

What compassion is is taking a step back from judgment and recognising that all of us are flawed and it just so happens that morbidly obese people wear their flaws on their very bones. Compassion is being willing to encourage and help a friend who is obviously dealing with a lot of sh|t - not judging and ridiculing them - using humiliation techniques basically - to shame them into changing. Newsflash: your method doesn't work.

I have a dear friend who weighed in at 25 stone on her first WW meeting last year. She's 5' 6" so obviously a big problem there. She had always been overweight but when she developed uterine cancer in her mid-twenties and discovered that she could never be a mum she ate and ate and ate to cope. Some people use alcohol or drugs, she like many of us here used food. Eventually she came to terms with her illness and her childlessness and applied to adopt. Half way through the process (a year in) she was disqualified for being obese. Her response? She ate her way through her grief again.

Fast forward many years and many stones later. A year after joining WW she is losing that weight at a rate of about 1lb per week. If you have 15 stone to lose that's 210lbs. That's 210 weeks, or just over 4 years. That's presuming no failures or bad weeks. That's a hell of a task and she is transforming her life on a weekly basis and I really admire her for it.

She is one of the most loyal and giving friends I've got. She, apart from working full time and being a volunteer on weekends, is the primary carer for her live-in brain-damaged father. She is the definition of a beautiful woman, and I know her (normal sized) husband agrees with me.

So, do you reckon I convinced her to try Weight Watchers by telling her she is a fat lazy bItch and an excuse for a human being?

Dublin_Gunner

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Compassion is not telling someone they're "not so fat". Compassion is not being patronising or lying to someone's face.

So therefore, telling someone the truth - they're overweight, and need to do something about it fits right in with your mantra there. Its not lying or being patronising, is it?

What compassion is is taking a step back from judgment and recognising that all of us are flawed and it just so happens that morbidly obese people wear their flaws on their very bones. Compassion is being willing to encourage and help a friend who is obviously dealing with a lot of sh|t - not judging and ridiculing them - using humiliation techniques basically - to shame them into changing. Newsflash: your method doesn't work.

I agree, all of us are flawed in one way or another - but at least with obesity there is actually something that those people, themselves, can do - instead of falling into a pit of self pity and denial.

I have a dear friend who weighed in at 25 stone on her first WW meeting last year. She's 5' 6" so obviously a big problem there. She had always been overweight but when she developed uterine cancer in her mid-twenties and discovered that she could never be a mum she ate and ate and ate to cope. Some people use alcohol or drugs, she like many of us here used food. Eventually she came to terms with her illness and her childlessness and applied to adopt. Half way through the process (a year in) she was disqualified for being obese. Her response? She ate her way through her grief again.

Fast forward many years and many stones later. A year after joining WW she is losing that weight at a rate of about 1lb per week. If you have 15 stone to lose that's 210lbs. That's 210 weeks, or just over 4 years. That's presuming no failures or bad weeks. That's a hell of a task and she is transforming her life on a weekly basis and I really admire her for it.

I'm sorry, but a pound a week (while its a start) - even initially, is terribly slow weight loss. If she's that heavy, she should really be losing the bulk of that at a faster rate - maybe weight watchers isn't the way to go, or at least should be complimented by something else - even as easy as going for an hours walk with her hubby every evening. But certainly, compliments to her for realising and starting to do something about it, before she gets heart disease or suffers a heart attack and dies.

She is one of the most loyal and giving friends I've got. She, apart from working full time and being a volunteer on weekends, is the primary carer for her live-in brain-damaged father. She is the definition of a beautiful woman, and I know her (normal sized) husband agrees with me.

So, do you reckon I convinced her to try Weight Watchers by telling her she is a fat lazy bItch and an excuse for a human being?

While admirable, I hardly think you got her to go to weight watchers by telling her she's not fat either.

The points I stated above, are not to be taken in literal terms, but people like yourself are being good friends to those who are obese by being honest and telling them that there is a problem, and it needs to be addressed, ASAP.

LightningBolt

I would have been of the mindset previously that it was all their own fault for eating too much and not exercising enough just as anorexic people are at fault for not eating enough. **** happens to people and I only came across the case of a friend who ate for comfort after a bereavement. Luckily for them they recognised what was happening to them quickly enough and sought other ways to deal with their loss. I really do feel for people though who haven't had that helping hand and can partially understand why a person can get to that size. I don't believe all over/underweight people can link their body condition to their mental health but there's definitely a sizeable percentage who can.(excuse the pun)

At the end of the day, none of us have the right to judge other people.

In fact, I think the overweight, lazy people should just be told they're fat and lazy and look like a horrid example of a human being, and then maybe they'd get up off their fat arses and do something about it - its for their own good after all.

Yeah that'll work fine. Good on you, you may have just come up with the solution on how to tackle obesity.

amacachi

My point wasn't about judging people, it's about telling them the truth, not "It's not your fault" when they haven't stuck at anything to fix the problem.

d'Oracle

Dragan wrote: »

Because fat people ensure a healthy abundance of options for when the "better" people need a "break" from their "diet".

But if we shot them, we could boil down their remains and make bio-diesel....

topper75

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Compassion is not telling someone they're "not so fat". Compassion is not being patronising or lying to someone's face.

What compassion is is taking a step back from judgment and recognising that all of us are flawed and it just so happens that morbidly obese people wear their flaws on their very bones. Compassion is being willing to encourage and help a friend who is obviously dealing with a lot of sh|t - not judging and ridiculing them - using humiliation techniques basically - to shame them into changing. Newsflash: your method doesn't work.

I have a dear friend who weighed in at 25 stone on her first WW meeting last year. She's 5' 6" so obviously a big problem there. She had always been overweight but when she developed uterine cancer in her mid-twenties and discovered that she could never be a mum she ate and ate and ate to cope. Some people use alcohol or drugs, she like many of us here used food. Eventually she came to terms with her illness and her childlessness and applied to adopt. Half way through the process (a year in) she was disqualified for being obese. Her response? She ate her way through her grief again.

Fast forward many years and many stones later. A year after joining WW she is losing that weight at a rate of about 1lb per week. If you have 15 stone to lose that's 210lbs. That's 210 weeks, or just over 4 years. That's presuming no failures or bad weeks. That's a hell of a task and she is transforming her life on a weekly basis and I really admire her for it.

She is one of the most loyal and giving friends I've got. She, apart from working full time and being a volunteer on weekends, is the primary carer for her live-in brain-damaged father. She is the definition of a beautiful woman, and I know her (normal sized) husband agrees with me.

So, do you reckon I convinced her to try Weight Watchers by telling her she is a fat lazy bItch and an excuse for a human being?

It seems things might be starting to move in the right direction for your friend. This is good. Support her in that. Simple passive pity is ineffective on your part though. If your compassion for her plight is real, you strive towards actively helping her get back to where she should be.

To this end, I would echo what Dublin_Gunner said about WW alone. It simply isn't enough. Would she come out for a short walk with you some evening? Cutting consumption may help some bit, but shifting existing weight means it must be burned somehow.

LightningBolt

amacachi wrote: »

My point wasn't about judging people, it's about telling them the truth, not "It's not your fault" when they haven't stuck at anything to fix the problem.

In fairness there's been a couple of comments in this thread that have been harsh. Suppose some teenager watched the show last night and came onto this forum looking to become a bit healthier, they check this thread and then decide not to do anything. Extreme example I know but this is a fitness forum and we shouldn't be so harsh on people who are overweight.

amacachi

LightningBolt wrote: »

In fairness there's been a couple of comments in this thread that have been harsh. Suppose some teenager watched the show last night and came onto this forum looking to become a bit healthier, they check this thread and then decide not to do anything. Extreme example I know but this is a fitness forum and we shouldn't be so harsh on people who are overweight.

I'm not the one suggesting we shoot them. :P I'm a lardarse myself and I know it's my fault and I don't need life-threatening surgery to fix it.

Dublin_Gunner

LightningBolt wrote: »

Yeah that'll work fine. Good on you, you may have just come up with the solution on how to tackle obesity.

Well, maybe in not so many words

Its the overall point I was getting at, not necessarily the delivery method.

Comments on the thread have been harsh, and I've been guilty of that. But I think you have to be cruel to be kind sometimes, and beating around the bush of such a serious matter - especially with a loved one, will not do anyone any favours.

eclectichoney

There are lots of reasons why you can overeat - some are more 'valid' than others. Yeah sure, sometimes we just eat too much, I've been there myself and it can be just laziness and enjoying your food too much. But there can be other causes as well - and from my experience with very overweight people, there is usually an emotional issue at the bottom of it. Tbh I feel such individuals should probably address this issue first, before they do anything else, as this is the root of the problem.

There is a total difference between telling somebody who has overeaten for whatever reasons (emotional, grief or just because they like chocolate too much But for what it's worth, I feel nobody should judge someone else unless they have been in that position themselves) that they are overweight, it's bad for their health and helping them take positive steps towards changing it through giving them nutritional advice and exercise info and telling sombody they are "a horrid example of a human being".

The latter, should be reseved for people like Hitler, Mugabe etc imo. Some perspective, please.

fithealth

There is definite arguement for the responsibility of the food industry. Just 2 sundays ago, The Sunday Times article on 'junk food targets brain 'bliss centres' brought up the real work of 'food scientists'. Making processed food in such a manner so as to influence the brain chemistry and make us want/need more of these 'non-foods' is criminal is it not? Brain altering chemicals such as alcohol and cigarettes are regulated and legistated for - the same should be the case with processed products masquerading as 'food'. Food is grown, or lives and dies. It comes from the soil, the land, the seas. It has never in our millions of years of existence been any other way. It ought not be any other way now.
Stop the rot. Boycott the processed food aisles. Shop around the edges of the supermarket. Make this a healthier world.

d'Oracle

The food industry doesnt make people eat bad stuff.

The responsibility for what you eat, how you live and what state your body is (beyond any extraneous circumstances) is with you.

neuro-praxis

topper75 wrote: »

Simple passive pity is ineffective on your part though.

I would never and have never offered anyone "simple passive pity". I've offered her support and as we became good friends she felt comfortable enough with me to talk through her food issues, as I've obviously struggled with weight too. So we made a long-term plan to help her tackle it, including counselling, which has been the most important factor.

The point is she only got the courage to tackle her huge problem when she felt safe and not judged.

Incidentally she lost lots quickly at the start but after a couple of months it slowed to 1lb a week approx. She does walk and swim but weight-bearing exercise is frankly too dangerous for her as yet.

If some of you saw her you'd judge her immediately, still being over 20 stone. But the point is none of you know what efforts or difficulties a severely obese person is dealing with.

topper75

neuro-praxis wrote: »

If some of you saw her you'd judge her immediately, still being over 20 stone.

I wouldn't judge anyone out walking (doing something about it).

You are right in saying that weightbearing stuff is down the line. No rush so long as it is moving in the right direction. 1 pound minus per week is a world better than 1 pound plus a week.

Astrogeek

It has always shocked me how people can get so big. I would notice if any of my friends gained weight, and I would talk to them about it. Before it became a problem for them. And I've had friends tell me in the past I should probably cut down on the junk. It's fairly easy to lose a small amount of weight.
Nearly all of my older female relations would be very blunt about it if I gained a noticable amount of weight.

It shouldn't ever be socially exceptable for children or teenagers to be obese out of lazyness. They shouldn't be allowed to get that big. Children would be taken away from their parents if the kids were starving to death.

I really doubt any one would seriously shoot fat people.

For the religion being a useless subject comment, maybe it used to be, but I took the religion exam for the junior cert one of the first years it was on, and we were taught a lot about other religions and encouraged to question our religious beliefs and make up our own minds. So not entirely useless.

Society calls obesity a disease. With any other kind of disease people would have the support of their friends and family to get better. No body would ever tell somebody they like to stop being silly you don't have that disease if they did.
Everybody is encouraged to check themselves for signs of breast cancer, every doctor reminds you to do this, why can't people be encouraged to look out for signs of emotional feeding? Or noticable weight gain?