We have to fight the fat
Options for losing weight are endless, but it seems too hard for many of us to eat less and, move more
by 2025 close to 80 per cent of all Australian adults and a third of all children will be overweight or obese. Eighty per cent, that’s enormous. Precisely.
There are myriad reasons why we have become so fat and often they are complex. For some, it’s not a case of shoving too many Big Macs in their mouths.
Psychological disorders, depression and medical issues can often be behind the struggle. Skinny people don’t scoff — that’s the truth.
That brings me to the point of motivation, or lack thereof, for those of us who have no legitimate excuse.
The point where you look at yourself in the mirror and admit that something needs to be done now and should have been done yesterday. But just why is it so hard for most of us to stop eating and get moving?
This is a question I cannot answer, but, never fear, the advertising agencies are here to help us get back to a more respectable notch on our belts. Have you noticed lately there have been more overt messages on health, eating and exercise than ever before?
The television at night is filled with weight loss commercials. Every second magazine has a celebrity on the front revealing how they lost 15 kilograms.
We have personal trainers that are so popular they only need to use their first names and, honestly, if I see one more #cleaneating on social media I’m going to deep fry a big bucket of chips and eat every single one, in protest.
It’s too much, too much — and the reality is, it’s not working either.
Why? It should be easier to lose weight than ever before. The options, the diets, the programs are endless and everyone in the ads says it’s easy.
I’m not immune to this. I’m not overweight, but I do love food. I don’t love exercise, but I force myself do it semi regularly.
I have to keep a check on it and, like most women, my weight fluctuates.
Between you and me, when I got married this time last year, I was lighter, OK a fair bit lighter than I am now. Oops how on earth did that happen?
I’ve also had my BMI measured and I was told I need to start doing some work to keep my health in check. It does get harder the older you get.
I’m not writing this to shame people who are overweight, but I want people to really look at their bellies and objectively ask whether they need to lose some weight.
The hardest part is probably admitting this to yourself, hard work will follow, but the rewards are surely worth it.
Sitting on that park bench in the mall, observing the growing population, really had quite an impact on me that day — so much so I was only able to drink half my bottle of Coca-Cola. No one is perfect, but here’s cheers to better health. Rebecca Maddern is a Channel 7 news presenter.