If you’re anything like me, you can’t look at food without putting on weight. But also, if you’re like me, you detest diets, can’t stand so-called health foods, and things that are ‘good for you.’ That said, I generally do try, most years, to “go on a diet", as long as I don’t call it a diet, because when I’m “on a diet", my mates and work colleagues, as with anyone, will usually have fun at my expense. Beneath my self-deprecation and jolly nature, I hate that.
I know I shouldn’t be so ‘portly', or ‘pleasantly plump', but I have probably gone past the point of no return in my desire for a ‘six-pack’ or ‘abs.’ Most of us know whether we are overweight or not, but for those who need a little more reassurance or scientific validation, we can calculate our body mass index, or BMI, which measures our ratio of weight to height. It is calculated as kg per square metre, and the calculation is usually categorised as either underweight (below 18.5), normal (18.5–24.9), overweight (25–29.9), or obese (above 30). This offers a specific rating that allows health professionals an objective bodyweight upon which to base patient discussions.
It’s inescapable, isn’t it? Whether it’s Weight Watchers, Atkins Diets, Intermittent Fasting, Joe Wick’s Shift Plan, the 21 Day Dash, the Carnivore Diet, Cider Vinegar, NutriSystem, the Keto Diet, the Mayo Clinic Diet, the Ginger Tumeric Miracle, The Cut, Jane Fonda’s Workout, the 7-Day Shed, Lean in Fifteen, Belly Burn, Dr Mollen’s Anti-Aging Diet, Jenny Craig, and the new age Mounjaro and Wegovy jabs, you can’t get away from being guilt tripped by it all, can you?
Consumer Health explains that all these seek to empower their clientele to make the lifestyle changes that they say will “align with your weight loss journey", and as such, they may include coaching, technology, peer support groups, and/or even medication, that can promote the belief that weight loss is a coherent reality for them. This may be facilitated through subscription platform lifestyle change, weight loss, meal plan (diet) style commitment, or psychological approaches.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a commercial operation, merely the tip of the iceberg, or a genuine healthcare provider; they generally explain that if you're overweight, weight loss has undeniable health benefits such as reducing the risks of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. Look, I know these are the fragile realities of our physiologies, our lives and lifestyles... but me... I just don’t want to hear it.
That said, I’ve just finished reading a UK NHS article based on the harmfulness to our health of what are seen as ‘ultra-processed foods', those which include emulsifiers, dyes, lecithin, preservatives, dyes and sweeteners, and are frequently high in calories, saturated fats, salt and sugars. Their experts offer that generally, if a product has even one ingredient that you don’t find in your kitchen at home, and its wrapped in plastic, it’s ultra-processed and can be harmful.
Apparently, in developed countries, about 60 per cent of our current intake consists of UPS enhanced foods, and ironically, many of those, like cereals, yoghurts and in-house produced breads, would be on a ‘hit-list’ of the most likely. Flavoured yoghurts contain added sugars, fake fruits and artificial flavours; Chocolate, although most of us’ guilty sin, will usually contain more than twenty processing ingredients.
On balance, its antioxidants do have benefits on cholesterol counts; Cereals have added salt and sugar for flavour, as in their raw form they could taste like eating cardboard; and potato crisps include so little potato and so much salt, they are known only as crisps nowadays.
But they are still a weakness... it’s so hard to open a packet of crisps without finishing it. Isn’t it?
Ray Petersen
The writer is a media consultant
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