Anyone listening to TalkSport?

I like Simon Jordan. He talks a lot of sense.

But he is going in far too strong on this obesity argument.

He’s rarely so forthright without taking into account the numerous variables on an issue - I normally rate his views as balanced.

To say that aside from a few medical reasons obesity is the result of child abuse, I find ridiculous.

I’ll qualify it. I’m a big lad. Neither of my parents were obese, and due to injuries I sustained in a car accident 15 years ago I struggle to do any real exercise. But I was never destined to be slim. I was more than stocky all through school. I wasn’t fed on turkey twizzlers and takeaways (apart from the occasional treat maybe).

None of my three kids are obese as such, though two of them are in the overweight range apparently. They have all been brought up with the same values and provided with the same foods. We don’t currently struggle for the money or the time to provide fresh balanced and healthy meals.

The youngest, five, is very slim, apparently perfect weight on the stuff school sent home, she loves vegetables and salads and routinely eats baby tomatoes as a snack. She’s not fussy or faddy whatsoever. She’s the odd one out of the three though.

My son, the eldest at 12, is very different - and his diet isn’t always the best, it’s difficult to get him to eat anything healthy. We make pasta sauces with hidden veg in and try to get him to vary his diet - but he eats few different ‘meals’. He doesn’t like any vegetables, any proper meats that aren’t processed. He gets regular exercise though; he’s in a rugby team and is now back in fitness training after missing the end of his season, and is out on his bike, for miles, a few times a week with his mates. I’ve no idea where his food issues originated, as a baby he was given all vegetables and ate them. He ate fish, fresh meat, none of which he touches now. Talking to other parents, a lot of their kids are very similar. Am I abusing him? According to Simon Jordan, yes. The middle child, my older daughter, is also a hugely fussy eater but was not as an infant. What am I to do, give them a plate of veg and starve them if they don’t eat it? I’d say that’s closer to abuse.

There is a genetic argument to this, acknowledged only in part on the show but disregarded in the main by Jordan. My cousin Amy for example eats like an absolute pig. She doesn’t like vegetables particularly and can smash a huge dirty burger in half the time I could. She’s got a six week old daughter, is eating everything in sight, and is probably back in her size 8 jeans already. I’m convinced she eats as much or more than me. As is she to be fair, her husband can’t believe what she eats.

Her dad though, my uncle, has a decent belly on him. He doesn’t eat anything like she does. And it isn’t just exercise the difference - she isn’t doing much at the moment and he’s out on his bike (chunky 60 year old in Lycra... strong look).

I don’t always eat well, but even if I ate cleanly 365 days a year I would never be ‘slim’. I have lost significant weight in the past - and had to cut my calorie intake so much I was essentially starving myself. I lost five stone, and did change my diet generally long term, I did not go back to eating constant takeaways and full sugar soft drinks etc, but the weight still went back on. Do I eat too much? Probably. Most big people probably do.

But to encapsulate all obesity on bad decisions and greed is far, far too generalising.

 

My doctor told me that my obesity is due to a condition called over active knife and fork!

 

What's that? Someone on TalkSport being controversial and expressing strong opinions?

Get outta here.

 

ex Palace owner? I've always found him to be a bit of a berk to be honest

 

Simon Jordan definitely a marmite character

 

He knows all the solutions to football's ills, but nearly killed the club he has always supported.

 

It’s TalkSport mate. Their business model appears to be based on winding up London cabbies to call in/listen to adverts in a rage.

 

Walk around Barnsley. More fat than thin.

I went Costa for my free coffee. It was full.

I and a kid of about 12 seemed to be the only ones without a slug. I see more muffins hanging over the tops of trousers skirts and jeans than a trip round Costco.

The problem isnt those with underlying health issues or genetics.

Its those who eat compounded ***** breakfast lunch and supper with an almost sedatory lifestyle.

Which isnt helped by the sheer ease at which you can get a takeaway.

From where I live inside a mile

3 greggs
3 subways (maybe 4)
2 maccies
Kfc
Taco bell
Pound bakery
Stainforths? In the bus station
6 maybe 7 chippies

Not forgetting the countless takeaways all at the click of a button.

Face coverings are useless at stopping a virus but thankfully theyll stop a sausage roll.

 

At the end of the day, it's all down to an individuals metabolism. One of my sons eats like a horse and drinks wine
and is what could be classed as normal weight wise, whilst another only has to look at a burger and
he will put weight on. He's recently lost 5 stone by dieting and eating what the experts describe as
healthy food. He unfortunately has an addictive personality and loves food /drink high in sugar content, so
his big challenge will be being able to keep the unwanted weight off in the future.

 

It’s quite simple really. The majority of the population eat too much and don’t move enough.

Some people aren’t visibly unhealthy, but I know loads of ‘skinny’ people that only eat rubbish and don’t ever gain weight. It doesn’t mean they’re fine to carry on.

Brands have been forced to amend recipes, reduce calories, cut sugar, and the blame is never placed on the consumer.

Look at the size of a chocolate bar these days. You could argue that they’re tiny because brands are squeezing profit margins, but they’ve also been forced to reduce the size from government schemes to cut calories per portion.

I’ve been walking loads over lockdown. I was surprised just how far 10,000 steps actually is. It’s almost like walking from the town centre to Tesco and back each day. If guidelines suggest we should all be doing 10,000 steps a day, then there are plenty that aren’t even doing half of that. I see plenty of people getting in a car to travel less than a mile.

 

You can't put on weight without overeating. It would defy the laws of physics. Whilst there are some subtleties at the end of the day it's energy in vs energy out. I read of a study where they studied people who reported being unable to lose weight and a control group. They found that the resting metabolic rates of the "diet resistant" groups were within 5% of the expected rate and there was no significant difference in the processing of food or effects of exercise versus the control group. It turned out that the overweight group significantly underreported their food intake and significantly overreported their estimated exercise and it was this that explained the failure to lose weight and not any metabolic condition.

 

The Government that wants to tackle obesity, that also opens pubs before gyms and hands out half price vouchers so everybody can get a cheap burger.

 

Yep heard a little whilst on the way to the Gym, what very little I heard was absolute B0lloX.

 

Bad decisions & greed? what a complete capend, the asshole knows nothing & should keep his trap shut.

 

Am surprised when some people don't make the link between the amount they eat and their actual weight.
And also can't really understand why some people become so overweight they physically disable themselves.

 

I eat n drink plenty o crap, if it wasn't for my job i'd be a right fat tw@t
It's built up though that last couple of years and getting harder to work off since I turned 30 20 years a go

 

More fat than thin?

No way, plenty of us tubbers I'll agree.

 

That's because you think we choose to be fat & unhealthy, is that correct???

Although I'm not unhealthy.

 

When I put weight on it's because I consume more calories than I expend.

When I lose weight, the opposite is the case.

This applies to the vast majority of the population, with only a tiny fraction of people unable to control weight due to medical conditions or taking medication/treatment.

If people eat and drink too much they get fat. Simple as that really.

 

I think I'm one of the lucky ones in that I can eat more or less whatever I like and my metabolism along with a decent amount of exercise (walking and cycling) means that I seldom put weight on. After my accident in january, however, in 3 weeks of inactivity, I put on over half a stone which took 8 weeks to get rid of. So I fully understand how some people easily pile it on, my daughter being a good example - although why she had to wait till gyms reopened before exercising is beyond me. I really don't think there is a simple answer for all people, but, exercise and eating sensibly will be of some benefit to everyone.