Sign o' the Times - Prince

Sign o' the Times - Not a good advert...

According to an article in ‘The Times’ today, leading international experts are saying that ‘Britain is institutionally prejudiced against the obese’.

‘Weight discrimination is rife, and doctors need to be trained not to dismiss heavy patients, according to the World Obesity Federation. About half of obese people say they have felt judged because of their weight in social situations and when seeing a GP or going to hospital. A quarter of all people admitted that they would give a job to a thin candidate over an equally qualified obese applicant’.

Well I’m not sure that comes a big surprise. Because we ALL judge. It’s in our DNA to take stock of anyone we meet and size them up. Firstly, to see if they offer a threat – I do it myself, I seem to look at people and go through a facial-recognition programme to see if I recognise them. I’m not sure that’s unique to me but it’s something I often find myself doing – mostly when I’m walking in Cardiff City Centre. Having lived in Cardiff for 8 years I get lots of positive results. The strange thing is, when I’m a long way from home with a zero chance of meeting anyone ‘familiar’ I still do it – how weird is that – or is it just human nature.

Anyway, back to ‘The Times’ article and we know not all Obesity is self-induced and Obesity due to a medical condition is super-miserable. A prolonged course of high-dose Prednisolone will ruin the waistline of anyone unfortunately fortunate to be prescribed it. I gained 15kgs in a matter of weeks during my GBS recovery, which took ages to shift. A tight ‘Lifestyle and Exercise’ routine did the job and got me back to normal.

As it does for the general head of population. A normal and healthy BMI of 25 or less can be as little as 200 days away for anyone who puts their mind to changing their lifestyle - even for those as heavy as 130kgs and 1.83m tall having a BMI of 38.8 (classed as ‘Severely Obese’ btw – not FAT anymore).

I know this as many of my clients have achieved just that.

As a Lifestyle Coach, it’s really frustrating that I can’t help more people in the UK achieve a healthy, fulfilling and extended life at their ‘Natural Weight’. It’s a real no-brainer. The health benefits are plain and simple, yet folk would rather moan about being ‘discriminated’ against, rather than taking action. 

Elimination of the ‘Obese Discrimination Issue’ all together would be a far better use of time and energy IMO. Reversing ALL of the health issues below, should be a priority for anyone with a BMI of 25+ let alone 30, 40 or even more – my record encountered so far is 65! 

·      High blood pressure

·      High cholesterol

·      Type 2 diabetes

·      Heart disease

·      Stroke

·      Gallbladder disease

·      Osteoarthritis

·      Sleep Apnea

·      Cancer

·      Mental illness

Aren’t these reasons enough to lose weight?

Our ‘Buy Now – Pay Later’ attitude, sugar-loaded fast food and sedentary based lifestyle means the ‘Obesity’ issue in the UK will grow at the same rate as the nation’s waistlines.

As for changing how we perceive overweight people – I can’t see that changing as ‘Overweight = Lazy’. Day’s off through illness and special working conditions also frighten potential employers. My crusade is to help people firstly realise there’s help out there to change and then make a positive, prolonged drive to never feel discriminated against for being ‘Obese’ ever again.

1025 Marathons, 248 Ultras, 9 Guinness World Records & 15 Marathon des Sables