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Why are we so fat?

[Deleted User]

Shamelessly stolen from the Ireland Reddit sub this info graphic lists the obesity rates in European countries (defined as having a BMI of 30 or above)

My question is, why do you think we have such a high rate of obesity compared to, for example, France?

In my opinion, it's due to a multitude of factors, including our poor diet caused by eating too much processed food and not taking the time to prepare healthy home-cooked meals. I also believe our alcohol consumption contributes to the high obesity rate.

Additionally, our overreliance on cars, due to poor urban design and a population that is too spread out, discourages active forms of travel such as cycling and using public transport.

I suppose the weather doesn't help with staying active outdoors either, and finally, I blame the lack of access to nature. For example, we have astonishingly little natural forest (around 1%) and no right to roam laws, which means much of the countryside is closed off to everyday people.

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John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122762569#Comment_122762569

If that's the case then city dwellers are eating less or eating healthier as well as getting more exercise than their rural counterparts.

The_Macho_Man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763086#Comment_122763086

That’s nothing, really.

People who work on their feet, like most people did when Ireland was an agrarian society, walk 10km+ a day.

Akrasia

Stop buying crisps and biscuits

I've just saved you a stone of weight gain over a 12 month period.

And alcohol should be reserved for a social event, do it in moderation when you're with friends a loved one.
Try to not get sucked into drinking alone, or as a desperate attempt to find new human connection in a bar full of strangers.

Easier said than done but trying and failing is better than just accepting that you're on a one way terminal decline as many people seem to think once they reach a certain age.

Exercise is really important too. But if you haven't exercised properly in years (I've been there) it can be hard to know where to start, or even have the confidence to exercise with other people.

You don't need to join a gym, but you do need to put time and effort into it. If it's not difficult, you're not properly exercising. A stroll is not much exercise, go a little bit faster or walk a little bit longer and you'll find you feel better after a few weeks. (you don't need to push yourself too hard, just a little bit out of your comfort zone)

Once you're in the habit of exercising regularly, you'll start to feel better, and then you'll want to do it more, and will have a little more confidence to join in with a local walking group, or a class gym/yoga/spin/pilates etc

Mannesmann

The Famine isn't that long ago. My Granny knew people that lived through it.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763113#Comment_122763113

Walking over 3k a day offers numerous benefits. It's very very good for your health.

The_Macho_Man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763127#Comment_122763127

Not really when it comes to keeping your weight down, which is what we’re talking about here.

Of course any kind of exercise or activity is better than nothing but 3k steps a day won’t help you lose weight in any meaningful way.

Mister Vain

And yet people are generally drinking less these days, there are more gyms than ever, and you see a lot more people out jogging and cycling compared to years ago. All the women out and about with their tremendously sculpted arses in tight leggings. Back in the day you had to go abroad to see arses like that.

Hyperbollix

It's the shocking modern Irish diet. Fewer people cooking fresh healthy food regularly. The traditional Irish Mammy staying at home with a pot of stew on the boil is long gone. Far less movement, far too much sitting on screens.

I went for a post 40 checkup last year and was told I'm prone to high cholesterol and it was far too high. Got six months to make changes and see a dramatic reduction or else it would be statins. I've been exercising regularly for years but didn't pay that much attention to my diet. Weekly takeaway with the odd extra one thrown in. Biscuits with tea. Chocolate here and there and pints now and again. Cut all that stuff out and switched to light alternatives where I could. My exercising actually lessened over the past 6 months, just didn't keep on top of it. Despite that I lost 9 lbs. I barely ever lost a single pound over all the years of walking and running regularly. Weight stayed stubbornly the same. Moral of the story, diet is the biggest factor. You can (almost) sit on your ass if you eat healthily and cut out most of the crap.

jackboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763383#Comment_122763383

You would here a lot of people saying 'I have earned a treat after going for that walk' and then binge eating a mountain of junk. A lot of people use a bit of exercise to ease the guilt of binge eating junk.

The_Macho_Man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763124#Comment_122763124

The Famine was 180 years ago. It was before my granny’s granny’s day. That’s at least five generations.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122762828#Comment_122762828

Addiction too.

Luna84

Yea you fat bastards lose some weight. I'm as fit as a fiddle me.

Apothic_Red

Carbs, hyper-insulin levels, basically our food is killing us.

Very little of your parents generation main staples would have come with a barcode, none in your grandparents.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122762100#Comment_122762100

I dunno. As others have said, it's diet that makes more of an impact on weight than activity (obviously the latter is still important for our heart, joints, bones). Yeah there was totally crap food in the '80s, but there's even more crap now - and portion sizes have become crazy, and things that were an occasional treat then (like getting fast food) are regular now, and we don't even have to leave our homes to purchase them! While sitting at a desk all day, and on the couch all evening, and then the couch/a pub snug all weekend will impact your weight along with a crap diet, I think we're simply consuming a lot more calories today. The first time I went to America was when I was a kid in 1992 - and I couldn't believe the portion sizes. Those giant cookies! Towering ice cream sundaes. 32 years on, Ireland has become much more like that than it was in '92.

monseiur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763486#Comment_122763486

No wishing to be pedantic but the last recorded famine in Ireland was in 1879, it was predominantly along the west coast. Severe hunger lasted in these areas well into the following decade causing numerous deaths.

The_Macho_Man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763639#Comment_122763639

Not wishing to be pedantic but I referred to “The Famine,” not “a famine” or “any famine.”

The Famine is shorthand specifically for the Irish famine of the 1840s-50s.

BaywatchHQ

The annoying thing about these kind of maps is that we in Northern Ireland have to be lumped into Great Britain's stats even though there may be different trends here. GB's population far outnumbers ours so the stats mean nothing to Northern Ireland.

I remember seeing a map showing the percentage of Catholics around the world and of course our numbers were included within GB. That shouldn't have been the case because the Catholic church is an all island church with it's capital in Armagh.

In response to the question, I used food as an anti depressant over the years. However I am in the middle of losing weight. It will always be a battle for me to control my urges to not over eat.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763174#Comment_122763174

That may be so but walking over 3k a day offers numerous benefits. It's very very good for your health.

CliffHangeroner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763383#Comment_122763383

100%. I do very little exercise bar my 10,000 steps a day walking the dog, the odd run and pilates at home 3 nights a week for 30 minutes a pop. I haven't seen the inside of a gym ever and stopped playing football 30 years ago.

The reason I'm in great shape at 51 is my diet. I may get a takeaway away once or twice a year and eat out with my family probably once a month. You could spend all day and night exercising but if you stuff your face with crap you are wasting your time.

Hyperbollix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763696#Comment_122763696

To be fair, 10k steps a day is considerable exercise and vastly more than the majority of people do. A friend of mine was always a bit podgy and started religiously doing 10k steps a day without practically any change in his diet (overall healthy but larger portions and the odd bit of crap) - The weight fell off him.

It's actually crazy when you think about the amount of money is pumped into fitness fads and gym memberships when all most people have to do is cut down on crap food and go for a 30 minute walk daily.

ARX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763486#Comment_122763486

It's possible. Suppose someone was born in 1840 and lived to be 80. They'd have been around till 1920. If your granny was born in 1915 then she'd have been around 5 when they were checking out, so she'd have been old enough to remember them.

Feisar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122762352#Comment_122762352

I'm not trying to prove that point. However you never seem to allow any credence to the possibility that colonial oppression has kept us back. It's also a double hit if we compare ourselves to past European colonial powers who went around the globe hoovering up wealth.

ARX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763696#Comment_122763696

This is exactly it. As has been said a million times, you can't outrun a bad diet. There aren't enough hours in the day. Weight loss is almost entirely about controlling what what goes into your gob. But we don't want to hear that. We want to hear that an hour a week in the gym will turn us all into athletes regardless of what we eat.

The good news is losing weight is simple. Cut out the chocolate. Cut out the smoothies. Cut out the biscuits, the Pringles ,the Fanta, the Domino's pizza, the kebabs, the Mars bars, the cake and the strawberry yoghurts. Cut out everything that has added sugar. After a while you won't miss the sugar, and some time after that you won't want it anyway, and it will be no hardship to go without. Without the sugar you've been stuffing your face with you will get less hungry and your appetite will decrease. Prepare your own food and make it mostly vegetables, lean meat and fish, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, all that good stuff.

The bad news? It's simple, but not easy.

SpoonyMcSpoon

I think there is a lack of care towards one’s image in Ireland which results in a normalisation of being overweight as people see others in a similarly unkempt and overweight state to themselves so rationalise their own negative choices.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122758778#Comment_122758778

Lots of very healthy dishes are absolutely simple to prepare.

To make a salad…. Easy…. Between lunches and dinners I’d probably eat 4 a week…a version of a Caprese salad with added Parma Ham is my favourite. Flavourful, filling and you’ll make it in about 5 minutes..

Most pasta dishes…. Easy…. Full of protein and fibre and as long as you are not going OTT and eating kilograms of the stuff a week , it’s healthy. Pasta salads I love and literally take minutes.

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763885#Comment_122763885

For me cutting out chocolate completely would make me utterly miserable. Cutting down rather than cutting out is a much more realistic goal for most people.

endacl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122762947#Comment_122762947

Jaysus. You’re awful soft. 😂😂😂

se25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763926#Comment_122763926

Very true..an elderly relative of mine reckons some of the young wans are "a holy show". We often see young + (not so young) overweight people with tight / revealing clothing which does little for their image.

GSBellew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763103#Comment_122763103

Or the selection of rural dwellers you know fall into that category.

I don't, BMI is in the middle, that strange body roundness thing is in the healthy range, my 30" jeans need a belt these days despite being in my mid 40's, driving everywhere.

babyducklings1

sedentary lifestyle ( watching Netflix or video games) comfort eating( can’t deal with stuff so eat for emotional comfort) the climate( rains too much so stay inside and confort eat plus Netflix) Can’t cook or won’t cook( no time or no cooking skills or too lazy ) too many take aways ( normalisation of getting takes aways so don’t bother to cook)

It’s the normalisation of it that is worrying. Solutions, buy a weighing scales - check weight regularly, and educate yourself about nutrition, hydrate well( don’t mistake hunger for thirst) and of course regular exercise and obviously people need to check with gp for any medical conditions.

Sad to see this obesity crisis, I think we are getting very like the states.