Precisely. It's not because you don't know better. It's not because you've been 'conditioned by mass media'. It's just because you choose to.
That's it. Choice.
80% of Britons unhealthy
- Thread starter Uther
- Start date
Precisely. It's not because you don't know better. It's not because you've been 'conditioned by mass media'. It's just because you choose to.
That's it. Choice.
I agree that it's down to choice, ultimately somebody goes and picks food off a shelf and puts it into a basket, I can't deny that - if they walk past the fruit and veg into the confectionery section - then it's a bad choice, but a choice nonetheless.
The problem with this approach, is that it's easy to stop there and come to the hasty and almost certainly false conclusion, that poor choice alone, by itself is the direct cause of this problem.
We're programmed to want sugar and fat, it's in our DNA to get as much of this as possible - when presented with a vast selections of food to choose from all under one roof, and more than half of it is loaded with excess unnecessary sugars and fat, the decision making process is always going to be distorted - and poor choices will be made, time and time again.
/Anecdote
On my way back from the swimming pool I stopped off at Tescos only an hour ago and what I found was interesting (yeah I'm sad)
Literally, everything that makes up the food stock from the front of the shop to the centre comprised of the following food;
Rows of Chocolate, Crisps, multipacks of each,
Rows of Coke, Redbull, Pepsi, Tango, etc
Fridges full of Sausage rolls, high-fat pasta, microwave meals (rustlers etc)
Rows of Biscuits and more snacks - multipacks of crisps etc
Revolving stands covered in big bags of Maltesers, Revels, Minstrals etc
To the side - a fridge full of pizzas and crap microwave food - followed by cakes, brownies and creamy deserts.
Before the checkouts themselves, you have to walk through a maze of chocolate and sweets, weaving left and right either side of the checkouts, before you finally make it - and even then, they have mars/snickers/kit kats on a small rack in-front of you where you stand.
Right at the back of the shop, there was a fruit and veg section and stuff like eggs, milk, bread etc - you practically needed a pair of binoculars to see it from the door.
I got home and I have a Dominos pizza leaflet in my letterbox
/Anecdote
It seems to me, that the average person going into that shop - is almost being subjected to some sort of willpower test, everywhere they look their vision is filled with poor choices, a person with even a moderate craving has the odds stacked against them.
At what point does anyone notice this insanity? How has the government allowed a basic food shop to turn into this - is it ******* blind?
The problem with this approach, is that it's easy to stop there and come to the hasty and almost certainly false conclusion, that poor choice alone, by itself is the direct cause of this problem.
We're programmed to want sugar and fat, it's in our DNA to get as much of this as possible - when presented with a vast selections of food to choose from all under one roof, and more than half of it is loaded with excess unnecessary sugars and fat, the decision making process is always going to be distorted - and poor choices will be made, time and time again.
/Anecdote
On my way back from the swimming pool I stopped off at Tescos only an hour ago and what I found was interesting (yeah I'm sad)
Literally, everything that makes up the food stock from the front of the shop to the centre comprised of the following food;
Rows of Chocolate, Crisps, multipacks of each,
Rows of Coke, Redbull, Pepsi, Tango, etc
Fridges full of Sausage rolls, high-fat pasta, microwave meals (rustlers etc)
Rows of Biscuits and more snacks - multipacks of crisps etc
Revolving stands covered in big bags of Maltesers, Revels, Minstrals etc
To the side - a fridge full of pizzas and crap microwave food - followed by cakes, brownies and creamy deserts.
Before the checkouts themselves, you have to walk through a maze of chocolate and sweets, weaving left and right either side of the checkouts, before you finally make it - and even then, they have mars/snickers/kit kats on a small rack in-front of you where you stand.
Right at the back of the shop, there was a fruit and veg section and stuff like eggs, milk, bread etc - you practically needed a pair of binoculars to see it from the door.
I got home and I have a Dominos pizza leaflet in my letterbox
/Anecdote
It seems to me, that the average person going into that shop - is almost being subjected to some sort of willpower test, everywhere they look their vision is filled with poor choices, a person with even a moderate craving has the odds stacked against them.
At what point does anyone notice this insanity? How has the government allowed a basic food shop to turn into this - is it ******* blind?
I always have a fear that insects infest the vegetables or fruit i buy, it puts me off and likely a lot of other people. (Obviously, even confectionery isnt immune, but largely much less likely)
Until clean-roomesque hydroponically produced fruit/veg are the norm, this will always be a negative.
Until clean-roomesque hydroponically produced fruit/veg are the norm, this will always be a negative.
Man of Honour
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Seriously?
I'm just saying its a possible issue, i still buy it as i enjoy most of it.
Though the issue with fruits as well is that most of them are bred with Sugar in mind and nothing else, you barely see more bitter apples in stores.
Soldato
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To be honest,I dont really care either..i eat whatever i want thats convenient,im only 11.5 stone so not exactly breaking the scales.
Eat what makes you happy.
I think the major reason people are unhealthy is because of the amount of bloody stress everyone's under these days,Comfort eating.
- Lack of affordable housing.
- Rising bills & not so rising wages.
- Job uncertainty & 0 hour contracts
- Long shifts 11-12+ hours...nobody wants to make a healthy family meal
- Children (looking after them) and also worried about their future.
Might seem like im going a bit OTT with what i said about,but it definitely all contributes to our lifestyles.
So move back in with mother and/or father and stop having kids. Solved the issue.
Soldato
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I'm not sure this adds up to reality though, many other countries have to put up with much worse than what's in that list, yet they don't seem to be going the same way as us.
If you look at some of the Asian countries, especially Singapore - they work some of the longest most stressful hours in the world - far more than us, yet they're in the top 10 of least obese countries.
People need to manage their time better. Its that simple.
Whats the point stressing about job uncertainty, raising bills, lack of affordable housing when you are in a hospital bed due to an unhealthy life style.
The British culture is work, work, work, work, work and not think about their own well being. A bad habit which needs to stop.
Whats the point stressing about job uncertainty, raising bills, lack of affordable housing when you are in a hospital bed due to an unhealthy life style.
The British culture is work, work, work, work, work and not think about their own well being. A bad habit which needs to stop.
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Hey man, that 100,000£ a year excel sheet viewer (banker) isnt going to run itself is it?
/s
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Not until they've bled you dry of everything you own down to £23k
On a more positive note... stay unhealthy and spend the last 30 years of your life feeling crap and immobile , or stay fit and have a reasonable quality of life until the end. For me I don't expect to live much longer by staying fit but I do expect it to reduce the number of rubbish years near the end.
Only if money is valued more than health
Not if a heart attack triggered from stress doesn't kill you first.
Not looking forward to my work medical in 2017
Lifestyle changes are needed for most but having said that most don't do easy office bod jobs 9-5 sitting away plucking at a keyboard, often i don't know where i will be working from day to day so very hard to plan anything in advance
Lifestyle changes are needed for most but having said that most don't do easy office bod jobs 9-5 sitting away plucking at a keyboard, often i don't know where i will be working from day to day so very hard to plan anything in advance
Soldato
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It's all because it's too easy to do nothing nowadays and parents are petrified of letting kids out because they'll come back groomed, pregnant or with a paedophile. The generation that raised the teenagers and sub 35yr olds has a lot to answer for.
People are content to let them sit on phone doing nothing but play games. We need a way of making people active. I was active until I got knocked off my push-bike. I'll be getting back on again soon because I am fat.
People are content to let them sit on phone doing nothing but play games. We need a way of making people active. I was active until I got knocked off my push-bike. I'll be getting back on again soon because I am fat.
Re supermarkets, Asda are the worst offenders with muffins and other types of confectionary piled high at the entrance. Then by contrast the greengrocery section hosts the most tired looking selection of nearly out of date fruit and veg you never want to see.
And of course all the supermarkets have had tins of chocolates for £4 piled high since before Halloween, which not only tempt people in their own right but offer an easy present solution for someone looking to buy a gift for friends/relatives.
Both the missus and I have managed to keep most of the weight loss off this year with a combination of exercise and food management. You can have a sweet treat but in moderation and only if you earned it with a two hour walk or forty minutes on the exercise bike. However it can be an uphill battle and even a healthy lifestyle doesn't offset the little problems that can develop (without turning this into a medical thread) such as a touch of carpal tunnel or a nice juicy haemorrhoid...
And of course all the supermarkets have had tins of chocolates for £4 piled high since before Halloween, which not only tempt people in their own right but offer an easy present solution for someone looking to buy a gift for friends/relatives.
Both the missus and I have managed to keep most of the weight loss off this year with a combination of exercise and food management. You can have a sweet treat but in moderation and only if you earned it with a two hour walk or forty minutes on the exercise bike. However it can be an uphill battle and even a healthy lifestyle doesn't offset the little problems that can develop (without turning this into a medical thread) such as a touch of carpal tunnel or a nice juicy haemorrhoid...
That's not really how things work though. My girlfriends Grand mother is in her late 80's and is in good health generally, she was helping tidy up on Christmas morning and last year helped us move house by cleaning the kitchen (she insisted on helping despite us telling her not to).
You're much more likely to have a better quality of life AND live longer if you look after yourself, it's not a case of you just peg it early and avoid years you'd rather not be alive anyway. That's cognitive dissonance at work.