It’s been a while since my last post. To be honest I just didn’t know how to form this post, so it was a useful read rather than a rant!

There has been much in the news recently regarding the links between obesity and infection rates of Covid. This has led the UK government to “Wage war” on the amounts of sugar we eat and recommend we all exercise more. All very noble you may think, but it’s a sticking plaster (at best) as it does not address many of the reasons why obesity has increased so much.

At this point I’d like to add this is not a political post, successive governments have failed to address the issue and (this might hurt some people’s feelings) we as individuals have failed to address the issue.

Obesity is not a conscious choice. As I have written before nobody sets out to be so overweight, they can’t move, have chronic health conditions and face daily abuse from others. If you believe it’s all a matter of willpower or lack of, then you may want to stop reading now.

During lock down rates of depression have soared and so have the sizes of people’s waistlines, but still we think that banning sugar rather than investing in mental health services is the way to cure the obesity crisis.

If you believe that sugar is addictive look away now, IT IS NOT. What is true is that highly palatable foods that really light up our brain’s reward centers are what we reach for when we are feeling like crap. When we are feeling like life is not going our way, we also tend to have a “what the hell attitude” to food. If we have messed up and eaten one cookie we may as well eat the packed. Food is not just about, calories and macros. Food triggers emotions and both good and bad.

The problem isn’t sugar, fat or carbs, the problem is we have so much calorie dense food easily available to us and we can easily lose the ability to listen to our bodies hunger and fullness cues. Research into “mindful” eating, being fully in the moment when you eat, shows it can help retraining us to recognise the difference between true hunger and cravings. It takes time to learn and for some this is harder than it is for others, especially if food has been used to relieve stress.

We are right back at investing in people’s mental health again.

If the government wants us as a nation to make better food choices, it has to provide an alternative to low price convenience foods. These alternatives need to be accessible to all. My fear is that good nutrition and fitness is becoming a luxury item.

It is undeniable that there are higher rates of obesity and health conditions related to obesity in poorer communities. If governments really want to address the issues for generations to come, they need to make more nutritionally dense foods affordable and easy to get hold of to those families in need.

If you live in an area where the only food shops are fast food outlets and the nearest supermarket is an hour bus ride away your environment is making choices for you.

When a bag of apples can cost more than a burger and chips (“Eat out, to help out”, economy before health!!!)  there are a lot of changes that need to be made so a healthy choice isn’t financially dependent.

From an exercise standpoint to see local authority run sports facilities still shut after restrictions have been lifted because it’s not financially viable to open with reduced numbers is extremely depressing. Back in the 80’s/90’s there was a slogan used it was “Sport for All”. We now seem to have got to a place where its “Sport if you can afford it”

How can we as individuals make a difference? For a start we need to take responsibility for those areas that are in our control.

Don’t believe that small things don’t matter, they do. Eat slowly to dial in to your hunger and fullness cues. Walk more it’s free!  I know people will say that doesn’t give enough training effect and long term it may not. What it will do is get you in the habit of moving, get you outside and hopefully the benefits will encourage you to seek out other challenging activities.

It is important to understand that the brain’s reward center is stimulated by success, hence why once it has one cake it wants another. You can make it work for you in a positive way with exercise, but often we set our goals to high, we never achieve success. The brain doesn’t have the drive to make us keep going.

Setting small achievable but not too achievable otherwise it’s not enough to spike the happy hormones, and the brain will trigger those chemicals that push you to seek further reward from the activity.

We need to do is to lead by example, if we create an environment where we are more active and have a healthy relationship with food then those around are more likely to as well. I know this isn’t always easy and there are times we all slip up and that is normal, the aim is to try. Lifestyle changes are hard, and results will come quicker for some than others, try not to judge or compare yourself.

 

If governments want to change the nation’s health, they have to look at the root cause of the problems, and not just the sugar coating.

 

Take care,

Laura

Want to work with me online visit http://www.laurawoodley.com