Too Fat To Fly? (Obesity)

Member Name: Machair1

Product:	Obesity
Date:	15/01/09 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Being in control of your weight comes through being happy not through dieting.

Disadvantages: Being obese leads to numerous health problems and causes depression.

Too Fat To Fly?

The growing problem of obesity is I believe linked to something which I feel has a lot to do with how society has changed. I saw An Air Crash Investigation recently called "Too Fat To Fly" about a small shuttle in 1994 which crashed on take off killing all on board. The reason- the passengers were too heavy and the growing size of people had thrown the calculations of the weight so that the trim was unbalanced. The plane nose dived to earth in Charlotte, North Carolina. A tragedy to watch but a side effect of the way we are going.

In 1894 when my grandmother was born life was hard. People had very large families and then it was a question of was there going to be enough to eat? Life was also a lot more physical as there were no cars and most jobs were in labouring and working outside. Not only this but all women stayed at home and kept the house and the family. However my gran had a repertoire of over 100 recipes for stodge and yet no one she cooked for got fat! Why? - because they ate currant sponge and custard and were satisfied. They had no hangs ups saying "can't touch that it's too fatty!" They didn't go on to consume another 1000 calories in the evening through boredom, sadness or otherwise. It was dark and by candlelight they had time to sit and reflect and to talk and share their emotions.

Now I am not suggesting for one moment that women are the cause of obesity because they now work outside the home. My daughters are both professional women and one of them would shudder at the thought of abandoning her career as a vet (which in 1894 would have been unheard of) to keep house and put healthy food on the table. However it is all so different now and with sedentary jobs and the vast array of fatty food available together with the endless stress which is placed upon us as parents things are on a downhill slope. From the need to involve ourselves in the school day (those parent's evenings now in the afternoon!) through to the homework we are encouraged to help with when we get home from work ourselves it is a timetable for disaster. Between acting as out of school teachers and holding down jobs, not to mention the fact that as we all move around the country to seek work and livelihoods this leaves many of us with grandparents far away. We often lose out on childcare but then need to travel long distances to be carers ourselves when they fall ill. All this and we haven't even said hello to our partner at the end of the day, and so open a bottle of wine and a few snacks to make a date in a mad and chaotic day.

Working longer and longer hours and with growing expectations of what we can achieve we are often left frazzled and emotionally starved. This is I feel when for some of us food becomes the comforter. Who can blame us when we can't even remember the last time we all sat together to eat?

I recently had the privilege of meeting a French family who live near to Bordeaux in South West France. The family have 4 children and when I met them I could see in the dining room there was a beautiful white tablecloth all set with shining silver cutlery for their forthcoming meal. The French put great emphasis on eating and dining on fresh and home cooked food, but with the pressures of life and the influences of other nations this is sadly reducing, and fast food is on the increase there as it is all over the West.

So I blame the rise in obesity on the fact that we are not happy as people as much as we could be, but it is not our fault it is the fault of society and the question is how do we stop it? How do we juggle being parents, cleaning, looking after elderly relatives, playing do-gooders in the community, together with being Jamie Oliver at the end of the day?

My advice is controversial because as a nurse I suppose I should say all the dangers of being overweight in relation to heart disease and to diabetes. However I believe it is time to stop quoting scary tactics, but promoting how to care for ourselves and love ourselves more as individuals, taking account of the fact that we have all got very hard lives, and that we juggle so many things our ancestors would have looked on in horror.

I read a fantastic review on Dooyoo recently where someone said he believed he was overweight because as a child his parents were poor. As a result sweets and little treats like that were used instead of the horse riding and sailing lessons being enjoyed by those in the better off households.These expensive hobbies which used up time in their own way were removing the concept that food was a treat. This I believe is the problem that I had as a child because we were quite poor and I had a view of sweet things being a treat. By the time I was growing up my mum was working and I felt as if they were struggling to make ends meet, and I did feel emotionally starved. The cakes my gran would have cooked to sustain my mother were food, but by the time my mum bought them they were out of that purpose and were to me a treat to be enjoyed instead of what I really craved which was someone to understand me and who I was.

Freezers came in around then and with that the supply of things not for a purpose got storage. Peas are ok but what about frozen deserts and cakes which can be quickly defrosted. We all know what a comfort it is to eat a pot of Ben and Jerry's when we are sad and lonely, but to do this every day is telling you something.

Frankly I am sick of Government messages about healthy eating- instead I think we should abandon all scare tactics and start to value ourselves and be teaching children at a young age how to care for themselves as individuals. We also need to slow our lives down and take time to stop and watch the birds and teach our children to do the same so that some nights in the week they come home to do very little but just be.


Part of this behaviour encourages an awareness of hunger as a feeling so it can be satisfied rather than eating large amounts quickly. It actually takes 20 minutes to feel full so by eating slowly and listening to your body you can stop earlier.

Diets should be stopped and binned because they all have an end to them. Eating should be seen as a pleasure to be enjoyed slowly and deliberately so that when you have eaten sufficient you get the message-I am full. Just knowing what foods make you feel better helps. I used to explain to my children if we were having oranges where they were grown and how wonderful the places were. For mealtimes I sat them down as babies and spoke to them and when they were older they helped me in the kitchen.

I do believe parents have a role to play in teaching their children what to eat by example, but make no mistake it isn't easy when you are shattered and just fancy a chip supper. However the obesity rate is climbing steadily and it's frightening.


All my family grew up to have healthy weights and cook for themselves but they are all happy to eat take always every now and again, there is nothing wrong with a chip supper sometimes as it is part of the British culture.

Buying fresh ingredients is in my opinion the greatest barrier to healthy eating. You can go to Tesco buy a week's veg and by the 4th day it can be shrivelled and gets binned. Most people don't have the time to visit their local greengrocer which is so sad because this is the way to healthy eating- to actually buy fresh produce more than once a week. For families it can be educational as children can learn what is in season and why it is important to buy this way to save money. Just now in January you can buy beautiful Cyprus potatoes. You can see them in the greengrocers and they are easy to spot as they are covered in rich red/brown soil sun baked by the Cypriot sun. The taste is like you have dug them up yourself and you can use this as a tool to teach children where these are grown. By eating fresh produce children get a taste for healthy eating and they miss it when it is denied to them. You can turn meals into a bit of a geography lesson even just with a passing comment like "this rhubarb is grown in Yorkshire where most of British rhubarb comes from"or "these raspberries are grown in Scotland-the climate is good for them as they like lots of rain"

I think that when you stop more and do less you actually eat less. On January 1st I looked out of my patio doors and saw two great tits going in and out of my nesting box as they do every year. The promise of new life to come which will be nurtured. These birds build a nest of the most beautiful soft down and great thought goes into the diet for their offspring.

We need to see that all this pressure we are under is leading us more and more to binge eat and drink and no one can be blamed for being obese. But if binge drinking really worked for people they would be happy but there are more prescriptions written for antidepressants than ever before. Try to include what I call feel good foods into meals especially those which contain tryptophan which helps the body to make serotonin (improves mood)and omega three fats. My short list of good foods are cheese (in moderation), beans, tofu, nuts, and eggs, but if you are a meat eater go for chicken, turkey and fish too. Ground flax seeds are full of omega three fats and help mood as do all raw nuts and seeds and avocado. If you are more energetic and in a good mood you are less likely to overeat. I have also had great success eating foods like beans, pulses, and porridge, which are low gi and make you feel satisfied for longer and keep the cravings for more calorie dense foods less strong.

Finally though with my nurse hat on if you have tiredness, are gaining weight, have a hoarse voice, or are losing the outer third of your eye brows please visit your GP for a thyroid test as an underactive thyroid can cause weight gain. There are one or two other conditions as well which can affect it and certain medications so if in doubt have a chat with the GP.

Other than that take every opportunity to slow down. Take a winter walk and look at the trees, stop at least twice a day and do nothing at all. Buy colourful fresh fruit and vegetables in season and teach the children about them. Treat yourself to some lovely bubbles for the bath or a new item of clothing rather than fatty food but don't give up your favourite foods see them as nourishment. Always set the table and sit quietly to eat.

Let's end obesity by calling food nourishment again and by ending the enemy words "slimming diets"

Summary: Don't get too fat to fly.