Is cycling the panacea to not becoming a fat ............

[Cudzoziemiec]

The point there being, surely, that it's not (just) size but shape that is changing.

[simonp]

Our attitudes to weight gain are unhealthy  - Telegraph

But what really stands out is the sharp contrast in the attitudes towards obesity between the two different eras. The 1967 survey found that nine out of ten people had attempted to lose weight in the previous year, compared with 57 per cent of adults questioned in 2010. Perhaps most tellingly though, forty years ago only 7 per cent of those people who considered themselves overweight had failed to do anything about it, compared with over 40 per cent now.

So people are far fatter now (2% obese then vs 25% now) yet now don't do anything about it.

[bobb]

People had waists a generation ago. The French still have them. Even skinny Brits now have fullish waistlines.

Oi! I'm pushing 40 and I still have a six pack!

It's the opposite for me. I put on weight when I'm cycling a lot. I think I hit a whopping 11st a couple of years ago when I was putting in the miles. I've hardly cycled at all this year and I'm back down to 10 st. (Under BMI rulez I'm officially underweight at 6'0" and 10 st) Horses for courses and all that....

[Clandy]

Our attitudes to weight gain are unhealthy  - Telegraph

But what really stands out is the sharp contrast in the attitudes towards obesity between the two different eras. The 1967 survey found that nine out of ten people had attempted to lose weight in the previous year, compared with 57 per cent of adults questioned in 2010. Perhaps most tellingly though, forty years ago only 7 per cent of those people who considered themselves overweight had failed to do anything about it, compared with over 40 per cent now.

So people are far fatter now (2% obese then vs 25% now) yet now don't do anything about it.

Is it any surprise when <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/wxBXwhgh3Dc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/wxBXwhgh3Dc&rel=1</a>?

[Wowbagger]

Our attitudes to weight gain are unhealthy  - Telegraph

But what really stands out is the sharp contrast in the attitudes towards obesity between the two different eras. The 1967 survey found that nine out of ten people had attempted to lose weight in the previous year, compared with 57 per cent of adults questioned in 2010. Perhaps most tellingly though, forty years ago only 7 per cent of those people who considered themselves overweight had failed to do anything about it, compared with over 40 per cent now.

So people are far fatter now (2% obese then vs 25% now) yet now don't do anything about it.

Is it any surprise when <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/wxBXwhgh3Dc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/wxBXwhgh3Dc&rel=1</a>?

That's a very good point. What's the comparative national food advertising budget comparing the lean 1970s to the gross 2010s?

[oncemore]

My local paper has a bygones section. The photos are noticeably absent of fatties. Maybe this was due to post-war shortages and we are now returning to the norm?
Cycling is obviously very good exercise but unfortunately some people think that cycling is an excuse to eat what they want.

For adults I think it is a result of the transition from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. Until the late '80s early '90s the majority were employed in hard physical work, and so burned more calories in their daily lives. Now the majority have soft, far less physical jobs, and so burn less calories.
In children it is the transition from spending the majority of free time playing outdoors with friends, cycling, running, climbing, walking etc. to nowadays when they are more likely to be stuck indoors sat in front of a TV or playing computer games.

 Consequently people are fatter.

+1. As a kid I was out playing football hours and hours (and some cycling!) every week all year. Even as a 9st teen and early 20s I did hard, heavy, manual labour which very few in UK do nowadays. On the basis of no evidence whatsoever I reckon that that is the reason I have what "fitness" I retain.

[Butterfly]

Fifty years ago most women did not drive and gave up work when married. Consequently, most children were brought up eating fresh cooked food (not neccesarily healthy, but not much fast food) and walking or cycling to get around. They had a parent available to take them to activities and to supervise outdoor play. There were few TVs and the lack of cars on the street meant that playing outside was much safer and they were able to go further without supervision.

Now most children have 2 working parents who drive. Due to time constraints and 'dangerous' roads, they are likely to be driven to any extra curricular activities. The very young may be looked after in a nursery where there is limited oppotunity to run around in fresh air or by carers who often have too many things going on or a lack of interest or knowledge and are likely to sit them in front of the tv whilst they do the laundry or cooking. My parent's generation never had burgers and rarely ate chips. Some of my generation feed their children something and chips 5 plus times a week.

Some of the figure of a 1950s lady was down to fairly industrial underwear.

[Cudzoziemiec]

So Butterfly has shown us that obesity is another of life's ills to be blamed on feminism! 

Maybe. 

[Butterfly]

And cars

[andygates]

There is no panacea.  Whoever said there was a panacea?  He's probably selling something.

[simonp]

And cars

And a culture of fear brought on by continual bombardment with news stories about bad things happening to people in a completely other place.

The attitude to being overweight described in my Telegraph quote above amazes me though. I was shocked when I hit 11 stone having been 9st at 20.

[Nightfly]

There is no panacea.  Whoever said there was a panacea?  He's probably selling something.

Obesity/FLBs = health problems

Universal remedy = panacea = cycling?

Selling a change in lifestyle maybe. Cycling, walking basically doing some exercise.

When some one is exercising, it is unlikely they are able to fill their face.

I ate two mince pies today, one with extra thick Devon cream  .

[Chris S]

The thread title is about not becoming fat. It could well be effective in that. Cycling is one of very few activities that actually has a practical use, so can easily be integrated into a daily routine. If you do that - yes, it's very effective at helping you not become fat.

It diminishes into "just another tool" when it comes to wanting to lose fat already amassed - which is an entirely different thing. I'm fat by any "doctor's surgery graph on the wall" standard. This year. I cycled over 13,000 km. In that time, my fat level stayed roughly the same.

IMHO, losing fat is all about deprivation, hard f*cking work, and being miserable.

[Clandy]

IMHO, losing fat is all about deprivation, hard f*cking work, and being miserable.

Not at all. Do it properly and there is almost no 'deprivation' at all.

[Chris S]

IMHO, losing fat is all about deprivation, hard f*cking work, and being miserable.

Not at all. Do it properly and there is almost no 'deprivation' at all.

YMMV .

[simonp]

I'm slightly heavier than I was 12 months ago. I've cycled 15,000+ km. Swam countless lengths. Rowed probably 300km on rowing machines.  Did a bit of running.

The amount of exercise I've done is 15-20h/week and I have probably burned off on average an additional 750-1000kcals/day through that. But I managed to eat enough curries.

PS Chris: you are not fat.

[Manotea]

IMHO, losing fat is all about deprivation, hard f*cking work, and being miserable.

IMHO, losing fat is all about not eating so much eating sensibly and taking a little exercise.

Whilst losing weight I'm generally more cheerful then I am whilst putting it on.

Not sure this helps...

[geraldc]

There's more choice in food now.

I remember not eating stuff because I didn't like it. Now with more choice and better cooking, there's nothing with the exception of lamb/mutton that I won't eat.

I would regularly not eat my school dinners as they were horrible, boiled potatoes, boiled veg, economy sausages and baked beans etc. Stodgy puddings with custard, jam roly poly, blancmange, tapioca, sago, rhubarb, tinned fruit as dessert etc.


When you look at the food of your youth, you probably didn't eat a fair bit of stuff, and the stuff you didn't like is no longer available.

Ready meals didn't exisit, and now there are Chinese, Italian and Indian variations.

The country got fat when the slow shift from salad cream to mayonnaise occurred. Mayonnaise makes bad/dull things taste good.  

I remember when not liking garlic was the norm.  

When you have an adventurous palate, then portion control becomes the problem.

[simonp]

In the US, standard portion sizes have increased 2x-5x in 20 years. This is because food is now very cheap and it's not profitable to sell small amounts of food.

[bobb]

I would regularly not eat my school dinners as they were horrible, boiled potatoes, boiled veg, economy sausages and baked beans etc. Stodgy puddings with custard, jam roly poly, blancmange, tapioca, sago, rhubarb, tinned fruit as dessert etc.

I used to love school dinners at primary school! It was a bit like that though - boiled to death veg etc... but at least it was proper food. By the time I'd got to secondary school (and Thatcher had taken away our milk!) it was burger and chips all the way. Cheap, processed rubbish. My mum insisted I took a packed lunch with something at least slightly nutritious in it.

Oh and last time I went past my old school I noticed there are no bike racks any more. So I can only assume all the kids are driven there....

[Jaded]

Bikes are a health and safety menace dontcha know.

[Clandy]

I would regularly not eat my school dinners as they were horrible, boiled potatoes, boiled veg, economy sausages and baked beans etc. Stodgy puddings with custard, jam roly poly, blancmange, tapioca, sago, rhubarb, tinned fruit as dessert etc.

That was the golden age of school food! Jam rolypoly, spotted dick, cornflake and jam tart, custard... proper dinners with beef, stuffing, roast potatoes, carrots, peas, or sausages beans and mash… chips were a rare treat on a Friday when fish was on the menu. I was horrified when I saw my nephew's school dinner menu recently. It is nothing like the food we got! http://www.shoeburynesshigh.co.uk/download.php?file=1826 It is far too complicated. School menus should be good simple nutritious food.

[Manotea]

'Homemade' steak&kidny pie, chocolate sponge with chocolate custard, sponge with jam and coconut on top...

[Kim]

There's more choice in food now.

I remember not eating stuff because I didn't like it.

This is certainly true for me.  My childhood from the age of about 3 upwards was an ongoing battle with my parents over food.  On a number of occasions they got fed up and forced me to eat things I found so repulsive I was physically sick.  I had very little appetite and was pretty much permanently underweight.

When I left home for university and was able to cook for myself, I was suddenly a healthy weight.

My weight is pretty stable, though.  I put on a lot a few years ago due to steroids and never really lost it, but it's not something I've really thought about until this year when people started telling me I was looking skinny from all the cycling.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Well that school menu certainly gives a lot of choice. It does seem pizza-heavy though.

No choice and no pizzas at my son's primary school. It's usually soup, which by all accounts is a watery bone-based soup - he hates it - or something like rice-and-jam, which may sound bizarre but is a recognised meal in Poland, for kids at least. All kept cheap cos it's heavily subsidised. But he never ate it, so after the first month we stopped paying and give him something from home. But the irony is he still gets the school meals, cos there's usually someone away, so if there's a leftover meal he gets it!