There has been some discussion on the Guardian about weight and health issues lately, with two articles posted yesterday.
The first by Juliette Jowitt sought to uncover why more than half the UK is overweight, even though official figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) suggests that UK adults consume less than the recommended calories per day and most meet the suggested activity levels. The second, a commentary by Alexandra Jones, described Jones' experience as the fat kid at school and how it took a visit to the GP to teach her about food discipline.
Weight and health issues seem to be popular topics, going by the number of comments (more than 500 each) on the articles. Among many other comments, it was pretty much establised that the respondents in the HSCIC's survey probably under-estimated their caloric intake while overreporting the amount of physical activity they received in the 4-week period of observation.
The recommended daily intake for an average female is 2000 calories - pictures of its equivalent that I found online suggest that I consume more than that on a daily basis, and many have commented that those are generous caloric estimates as well.
As for the 150min of moderate physical activity per week (or 75min of vigorous activity) - I used to hit that with 2 x 90min of ballet a week back home, but even then I was gaining weight due to lots of eating out with friends and several-course working lunches and dinners. Now, due to my injured ankle, I clock about 105min of brisk walking a week, 25min of beginner's swimming lessons and another 60min or so of gentle yoga and ballet exercises. I've lost weight since coming here, but I owe that to eating out less as much as I do to getting more exercise.
Reading the articles and comments brought forth some thoughts about food and eating habits here.
The first is the amount of bad food on sale, namely sweets, chocolates, cakes and crisps. The variety and amount of such food in shops and supermarkets in the UK and Ireland is simply staggering - I was stunned the first time I walked into an Apple Green service station and still gawk at the rows and rows of tasty cakes and chocolates each time I'm at Tesco. The past week has mostly involved me walking into a store, staring at cakes and treats on sale and thinking, and thinking, and thinking about whether or not I should buy a packet of something - I finally caved in yesterday with a packet of mini lemon cakes.
Which brings me to the next thought about how thin people also think about their weight and how much they're eating. Some of the commentors who've since lost weight identified with how Jones treds the fine "line between willpower and obssession" - while I perhaps don't obssess over my weight as much as they do, I'm constantly thinking about it, despite having always been about a size 8. I really love food, talk about it all the time and make such an event out of eating - but I spend a lot more time resisting temptation than giving in. There're always thoughts about whether or not to have one more piece of chocolate, wehther I should buy some cake, whether to have KFC or make my own dinner, whether I should have sugar with my tea, whether I should eat this now that it's after 10pm, etc.
I think it helps to know how much is too much and stop before, for example, you finish the entire tub of ice cream. Which brings me to thoughts on portion sizes. Chocolates here come in massive bars - a regular Snickers is twice as much chocolate as what I'd eat in one sitting. I probably have my mum to thank for having always cut down Cadbury bars into two-square blocks and putting them in a container, as a portion of chocolate has always remained around that size to me. Even today, my practice is to pop one portion of chocolate into my mouth, enjoy that, then pause to think whether I want another (yes, always), and whether I can or should have another. It definitely helps in controlling the amount I eat, compared to if the habit was to wolf down one huge Mars Bar and, still feeling dissatisfied, reach for another sweet treat. Let's not forget either that starters here can come in main-sized portions, while the large mains are accompanied as well by half a plate of chips or mash - too much food even for a big eater like me!
In addition, the ingredients used in food require examination too. While consuming fat doesn't neccessarily make you fat (see the Business Insider's excellent piece on nutrition myths), the consumption of cream, cheese, and butter on top of all the sugar, carbohydrates and oil that we eat adds up - I can't bring myself to use many recipes as they call for cream and double cream or lots of butter. The teaspoons of sugar in the cups of coffee and tea we drink throughout the day can accumulate to a fair bit too.
Even supposedly healthier alternatives to snacks can be more unhealthy than we'd think, as evidenced by the below packet of Tesco dried fruit. One serving contains a whopping 22% of our daily intake of sugar due to the cranberries and blueberries having been sweetened with syrup and concentrated apple juice! Fruit juices also seem to be consumed in place of water a lot more over here, and reports have illustrated just how loaded with sugar they are.
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| Half a packet of this would almost max out your daily intake of sugar |
Moreover, lunch choices don't seem to help much either. Many people opt for smaller meals like salads or sandwiches for their mid-day meal, perhaps to avoid the post-lunch slump, when in fact dinner should be the smallest meal of the day as you'll have less time - as well as do a lot less - to burn off those calories. Also, salads are only healthy when they're not laden with high-caloric dressing, and a quick look at the nutrition guide on a packed sandwich should be enough to make you reconsider picking up that sandwich for lunch - really, something that leaves you hungry in less than 3hrs but with the caloric content of more than a third of your daily intake is not worth having.
There we are - just some thoughts that have been churning about from those discussions. Happy eating and healthy living! (Or at least try...)
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