Tag

Obesity

European Obesity Day 2016 – ScotlandvsObesity

“Obesity is one of the most challenging public health concerns of the 21st century. It is an epidemic that is sweeping Europe and about which not enough is being done.”

The European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) have designated this Saturday, the 21st May, as European Obesity Day (EOD16).

If you have read my most recent British Journal of Sports Medicine blog or my Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine Lay Views, you will appreciate and accept that I share EASO’s desire for increased awareness and action to address the ravaging effects of obesity, not only on our economies and health services, but on the lives of those directly affected.

Obesity is a disease that almost always leads to other conditions and is it telling that European Obesity Day lies within Mental Health Awareness Week.

May 18, 2016 0 comment

Health Obesity

My View on Activity Equivalents proposals from RSPH

written by Stephen Morrison

Gove’s Intentions

In 2014, Michael Gove, the then Minister of Education , suggested that schools should use traditional punishments to discipline malcontent and miss behaving school pupils (1).

One of the suggested punishments for classroom indiscipline was running laps of the playground.

Not only could this be viewed as a form of corporal punishment, outlawed across the UK by 2003 (2), but for the overweight and inactive it could even be regarded as cruel and unusual punishment.

The sport that I love (and occasionally hate) touted as a means of reprimanding rebellious kids. Lanes replacing lines and exhaustion replacing detention. It earmarked running as a punishment and children would arguably soon learn to despise running.

April 18, 2016 2 comments

Cycling Triathlon

Spinning at Pure Gym

written by Stephen Morrison

It is Friday night and the boys are spending the weekend with their father. Woo Hoo!!!

Before you think too badly of me, please let me explain. I love the boys dearly and I enjoy almost every moment of their company, but their visits to their dad give Teresa and I chance to do things together and go out together to places that we wouldn’t take the boys.

Like Pure Gym. That’s right. A Friday night alone and we went to the gym. Together.

We love training on our own and have different training regimes and preferences, but there is something sweet (who says romance is dead, although we are now in different rooms. Me, writing a blog and Teresa, writing a research paper ) about going to the gym together and swapping workout details on the way home.

Not only are we a couple who train together, but we have a married couple who train us. Wee shout-out to Personal Trainers Christine and Spencer Peek of Peek Fitness.

But back to tonight’s date night. Teresa was booked into Zumba and I was planning on….actually, I had no plan. Part of the reason I have PT sessions with Spencer is that he works in Puregym and he is currently helping me become competent and confident with weight training.

I was training with him yesterday, so tonight I wasn’t sure what to do,

Call it fate but an opportunity presented itself. My puregym membership is a pure bargain. Included in my £10.99 monthly membership is a whole weekly schedule of free classes. Most classes are booked a week in advance and things like Combat and Spin are usually full.

But not tonight. Tonight, I was asked if I wanted to take a spare seat in a Spin class. I don’t know if it was my coffee date with spin master Jen Wilson or my current desire to be become overweight, but I instantly said yes.

Yes, you read that correctly. I would love nothing more than to be overweight. Rather than obese, which I am currently.

So, I found a bike at the back and adjusted my seat, once , twice three times until I felt that the saddle, pedals and handlebars aligned with my short armed, short legged and pot bellied physique.

The class was set to last 45 mins, but within 5 mins I discovered a problem, The belly that I had let return last year probably wasn’t a consideration when Matrix, the spin bike brand, designed their bikes. Every time we crouched down, I was given a reminder of why I want and need to lose fat.

Belly is going to get you at Pure Gym

Yes, I had my own built in air bag that almost devoured the bike. It wasn’t comfortable, but maybe I need to sometimes feel uncomfortable. That isn’t an invitation to fat shame me (enough of that in the last blog), but every time it hit the frame , I pedalled that little bit faster. I pushed myself a little harder.

And I end up enjoying it. It was challenging, it made me sweat and it was fun. The instructor encouraged us and he delivered what was basically a great interval training session

I will definitely make spin a weekly thing. Not least for the reason that I want to see my feet. Now, that WILL be a progress picture

Here’s to my next Friday night spin in Pure Gym

January 22, 2016 0 comment

Health Obesity

Man V Fat Football- Red Card to The Sun

written by Stephen Morrison

This Girl Can is a national campaign developed by Sport England and a wide range of partnership organisations. It’s a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets.

SportEngland’s #ThisGirlCan campaign has been a remarkable success. Over 2.8 million women have been inspired to be more active by a campaign that celebrated women in sport. A campaign that promoted positive body image and even more importantly, positive self image.

It made many women believe more in themselves and has given them the confidence to become try athletes.

It made stars of ordinary women and showed the world that they could be extraordinary.

SportEngland have recognised that this is a winning formula and intend on replicating it for other groups who could benefit from being more active.

One of those groups is the obese. Physical activity, on its own, will not make them slimmer, but the benefits of physical activity are well documented (least not by me).

I am a member of a group of obese men. 40,000 obese men. 40,000 obese men who are determined to reach a healthier weight. Many of them also want to be more active and enjoy the same activities as others, without feeling embarrassed or anxious about their appearance or fitness levels.

These men all belong to Man V Fat , the brainchild of my friend Andrew Shanahan. For the past few years it has been a supportive on-line community, where men of every shape, age and background offer each other advice and encouragement. It is a place where we aren’t judged, belittled or mocked.

Not like in the real world.

I have spoken about my own experiences as an obese runner. I had cruel words and wet liquids thrown at me as I tried to better my life. I will not paint myself as a hero. I crumbled and for months, I didn’t run. However, I realised that these were a few insignificant idiots who hurt me for a few seconds at a time.

It was not as if 1,800,0000 people were sharing a joke at my expense. I can only imagine how humiliated that would make me feel.

Unfortunately, I know a few men who know exactly how that feels, thanks to The Sun.

Man V Fat has stepped out from the shadows of the internet and we now have weight loss classes, cycling groups and hopefully, this year Man V Fat running groups.

We have even launched a Man V Fat Football League to give our guys the chance to play football. Men are as body conscious as women. We worry about our wobbly bits and fear that others will judge us. In a survey, many of our men responded that they wanted to play football.

The Man V Fat Football League would give them a safe and fun environment to showcase their skills, to build their confidence and to help them on their way to healthier and happier lives. The fantastic Football Fans In Training initiative has proven that football is a successful vehicle to attract men and unsurprisingly, 90 obese men (to take part your BMI has to be over 30) turned up, on a bitterly cold evening, for our inaugural matches.

I watched some video highlights and was amazed at the speed, skill and strength of the players. Watch this for a goal:

This should have been a night to remember for all of those who participated and an amazing start to an initiative that I cannot wait to bring to Scotland. On Man V Fat we celebrated and congratulated those who had been so brave to step onto those pitches.

And then, in the morning, all our cheers turned to first despair and then anger.

The UK press were in attendance at the event and many, such as the Daily Mail, published glowing reports. However, for reasons only known to themselves, The Sun decided to indulge in some good, old fashioned fat-shaming.

Red Card for The Sun

Rather than praise the efforts of the players and use their stories to inspire others, they chose to mock and ridicule them. They also chose to use some pretty lame and tired jokes at the expense of guys simply trying to have fun and improve their lives.

This is the newspaper that gave Katie Hopkins a platform to abuse the obese and regularly calls for “fatties” to do more to ease the burden they place on the NHS and society as a whole.

The Sun could have and should have approached this more positively. They are the new media partners of Great Run , a running series whose showcase, The Great North Run, is as much about the charity runners and plodders who take 4 hours to complete the race as the elites that are finished after an hour. Just how will they cover these events? Will the headlines read “Run, Fatty, Run”?

These footballers are not professionals, living their lives in the limelight. They are ordinary men, with families and feelings, who by getting up, getting out and playing football are doing extraordinary things. The Sun has bullied and belittled these men for simply doing what everyone asks of them. They took responsibility for their own health and made the effort to get active.

These men did not deserve to be portrayed this way and they deserve our full support. Despite the abuse and the embarrassment caused, these men will not give up. These men can and will show true grit and prove to the likes of The Sun that they are made of stronger stuff.

These Men Can.

January 21, 2016 18 comments

Health Obesity

Be The Change

written by Stephen Morrison

Day 2, in my quest not to be mistaken for Santa Claus this year, was nothing to write home about and it was certainly nothing to write a blog post about.

I exceeded the recommended daily number of steps (10,000).

December 17, 2015 0 comment

Health Rewards Journey Physical Activity

I would walk 5 million steps

written by Stephen Morrison

I set myself a step count challenge at the beginning of the year. It was to walk at least 5,000,000 steps in 2015. As of today, I am delighted to proclaim that I’ve reached my goal!

5 million steps might seem like a lot, but it all started with a few small steps and one step at a time. With new challenges ahead and a target of 7,000,000 steps for next year, it’s as good a time as any to reflect on and share the steps and changes that helped me lose 170 lbs and become more active. Steps that I will also need to read and heed.

I hope these steps help you as much as they have helped me.

• Small Steps. The first step is to make them small. Don’t try to alter your lifestyle overnight. If you are overweight and inactive you probably took some time getting there. Getting away will also take time. By making small and independent changes you can assess what works for you while not overwhelming and overloading yourself physically or mentally.

• More Steps. Walking more was key to getting me more active. You can get started anytime. I use a Garmin Vivofit (and my beloved Garmin 620), but many smartphones are now equipped with step count apps and a simple pedometer works just as well. Start by simply walking more short journeys. Try taking stairs rather than lifts and escalators and bouts of purposeful walking which can be 5 mins rushing to work or trying to keep up with a five year old. My personal favourite is trying to get to a public toilet. Which ties in with the next step.

• Drink More. Not more beer or wine, unfortunately, but water. It can help with satiety and can increase your metabolism, although this is arguably insignificant. It might be a myth, but the sage advice of drinking first when feeling hungry helped me and led to more purposeful walking. If plain water isn’t your cup of tea, have a cup of unsweetened green tea or mix it with some squash.

• Eat Squash. This, pumpkin and other high in fibre alternatives to traditional starchy foods like potatoes. Potatoes themselves aren’t that bad, according to nutritionists. It is mostly what we do with them. Like frying them and covering them in ketchup. Same for pasta and rice. Often it is a case of what we add to them and how large a portion we have.

• Don’t Go Large. My gran taught me to clear my plate, but one lesson I learned was to go small. Smaller portions and smaller plates. Also don’t be afraid, when you feel full, to stop.

• Stop. When you start exercising more it can be addictive. It releases endorphins that often make you feel euphoric and unstoppable. We enter a boom and bust mentality. We over train and struggle to maintain which can lead to injury and to us giving up, especially when our losses become less significant.

• Involve Your Significant Other. A hard lesson I learned was that it is important to ensure that you balance your desire to get healthier with your responsibilities as a partner or parent. Combine both. Go for family walks, play in the park with the kids. You might be surprised at how much fun it is.

• Have Fun. Often I am asked what the best activity for weight loss is. I love running, not because it’s a fat burner, but because I enjoy it. I enjoy races and I enjoy challenging myself. I also enjoy lifting weights, kicking pads and striking balls. I do what I love, and love what I do. The exercise or activity that will get you fitter and leaner is the one you will enjoy and the one you will do, consistently.

• Be Consistent. It is easy to get overwhelmed by early success with later smaller losses and even plateaus undermining your confidence. If you maintain your new adopted behaviours you will succeed. Stay the course, don’t give up. Don’t fall asleep on the job.

• Sleep. Obesity is often linked with lack of sleep. Causality or correlation, I don’t know. What I do know is that when I am up late, I eat more and I eat more junk. When I am tired, I exercise less, I have less self-control and stress more.

• Don’t Stress, Be Happy. One of the by-products of stress is cortisol. This can lead to increased insulin production and is often linked to the accumulation of abdominal fat. Try to eliminate or remove elements from your life that bring you down. Unclutter and spend more time on you and less time playing games on social media.

• Use Social Media. There are many great groups and people to inspire and support you. Without boring friends with pictures of salads and accounts of your latest run (guilty of both), you can get accountability and share and try new ideas.

• Try new activities and become a try athlete. Variability can make your training more fun and more productive . Set yourself challenges that will help you reach your goals.

• Set Goals. Identify why you want to lose weight or get more active and make a plan with short term and long term goals, making them attainable but stretching, realistic but challenging and specific but flexible. Your goals will change as you change and you will reap the rewards.

• Reward yourself. Consider schemes such as Vitality or Bounts that reward you for being physically active or simply treat yourself to a new pair of jeans to show off your progress.

• Show off. Be proud of your success and don’t dwell too long on your mistakes. Most weight loss journeys encounter bumps and detours before we reach our destinations.

My final tip is not to wait. Not for January or even until Monday. What steps can you take now to make 2016 and beyond healthier and happier for you and your family?

November 13, 2015 4 comments

Health Journey Obesity

Sugar Rush

written by Stephen Morrison

Now that fat is no longer the bogeyman, we have a new villain carrying the can (pun intended) as the main cause of obesity.

Step up sugar and soda drinks. They join bacon on the list of things we love that seemingly hate us and our bodies.

As someone who has lost 12 stone and who is a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Ambassador, I applaud Jamie’s efforts to highlight the sugar content in many soft drinks. I think we can all agree that many of us drink too much soda and our waistlines and gum lines are paying the price. A reduction in sugar consumption has shown to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar levels and fat in the liver. I cut my sugar drastically and now look younger, have better skin, lowerered my blood sugar and even cured myself of sleep apnoea. Of course, I also cut my calories and lost lots of weight, which might also have contributed to my healthier look. It’s never one thing, as my friend Rannoch will often say.

The idea of introducing a sugar tax and displaying more clearly the sugar content on foods is not a new one and it has been successful in other countries; notably Mexico which saw a 6-12% reduction in soft drink purchasing over two years and up to 17% reduction in lower income households. Some research suggests some simply purchased cheaper brands, but the impact on the soft drink industry in Mexico is real.

Taxation can work. A 20% sugar tax could generate £1 billion each year. Money that our NHS and partners could use to fund health initiatives. Money that could be spent on saving lives and educating future generations.

We constantly read about how much the obese cost the NHS with greater need for larger beds, larger machines and increased treatments. This tax could help to address this burgeoning bill while possibly helping us to trim our waistlines.

What’s not to like about taxing sugar?

Well, for a start, it IS a regressive tax. Sugar consumption is greater in poorer communities and obesity is more prevalent in poorer communities. We already heavily tax people’s smoking and drinking habits and simply taxing another unhealthy product shouldn’t be much different. Yet, we are seeing a backlash. People are reading every day that something new is killing them, that something that was killing them is now good for them. They are confused and they feel that they are being told what they can and cannot do and what they can and cannot consume. This is fuelling apathy and mistrust.

Yes, we can shake our heads and our fingers and suggest that they accept some personal responsibility, but I cite my FSEM Lay View that suggests that we need to win both hearts and minds.

Before we rush to demonize sugar, it does have some benefits. Ask any runner how much they love Jelly Babies and sugar has proven to reduce cortisol levels caused by stress. It is never one thing.

We should look beyond the proposed sugar tax and look at the other (less controversial…to consumers, at least) proposals that Public Health England support and call for. Proposals that need to be considered before a sugar tax is implemented.

Reducing portion sizes. Am I the only person who buys family sized bags of sweets with the intention of making them last and then races to the bottom of the pack? We could, of course, show some self constraint, but many of us that are obese have a destructive relationship with food. Urging us to eat less does little to reduce our urges to eat more. Increasing a litre of Coke by 20 pence will not necessarily prevent people from still buying it.
More regulation of how high sugar goods are marketed, especially to children. For me, cereal manufacturers are almost criminal in their pursuit of young consumers. The shapes, flavours and marketing of breakfast cereals entice children and too many parents associate a bowl of cereal as a greeeeeaaaat way to start the day, not knowing that often a third of the bowl is sugar.
Further controls over how high-sugar foods are displayed in stores. In my local Tesco (naming and shaming, but not alone), the end of every aisle has high-sugar foods on promotion. These goods are heavily discounted to the extent that it is often not much more expensive to buy four of five bars than one. Again, we could criticise people and parents, but does that actually achieve anything? Instead, let’s encourage better promotion of healthier options and motivate and inspire people to make healthier purchases.

Sugar isn’t just found in huge quantities in soft drinks and sweets. It’s hidden everywhere. Ready meals that are so convenient often have up to 40 grams of sugar in each pack; barbecue sauce has as much sugar as a glazed doughnut and often fat free translates to extra sugar. Manufacturers want their foods to both taste better and be preserved for longer. Sugar achieves this.

If we are to reduce the amount of sugar to the recommended level of 5-10% of our daily calorific intake, we need to encourage and enable people to cook simple and wholesome meals. If we are to tax sugar, use some of the proceeds to create nationwide cooking campaigns that bring children and parents together and make learning to cook fun. We need to address the myth that eating healthy is more expensive and we need to look at how our food manufacturers and retailers produce, promote and price food.

The largely ineffective Responsibility Deal provided little incentive to businesses to fulfil their pledges and it has been argued that many of its successes would have happened without it. We cannot rely on food manufacturers to think of anything but their shareholders and, as such, they need to be regulated and given incentives (or penalties for non-compliance) to reduce sugar levels in food.

And finally, let’s move more. Being active doesn’t give you a free ride (well, unless you are cycling) but it can allow you to have a little of the things that we enjoy. Remember, it is never one thing.

October 28, 2015 5 comments

Health Journey Mental Health Obesity

All The Bad Things…

written by Stephen Morrison

Although I will no doubt, at some point this week, look back on my highlights of the year and in many ways it was an amazing year (any year that we and the ones we love experience good health, is, I suppose a good one), I firstly wanted to reflect on something else; on something maybe a little different from many of the other end of year blogs and on something that might just reveal (maybe a little too revealing) a few things about me, that might just resonate with a few of you and hopefully, if anyone recognises similar “things”, might make you take action now.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I’ve accumulated some extra baggage these past few weeks and I’m determined not to let a slip derail me. So it got me thinking.

What are the things I don’t miss? What are the things that the old Stephen hated and what are things that I never ever want to see, feel or experience again? What are the Bad Things about being not just obese, but morbidly obese?

This year, I intend on experiencing many new things but first let’s look at some of the old things I that I’ve thankfully put behind me. They’re not in any order other than when I think of them (this blog maybe isn’t as polished as most, as I just write what I’m thinking).

Candida- I’m nothing, if not honest and apologies to those that I’m possibly about to disgust, but I believe in warts and all. This is one weight related complaint that I’m happy to be rid of. The smell, the rash and the moisture that it caused under the folds of my skin weren’t the most attractive and were one of many things that made me constantly self aware.
Plantar Fasciitis- Every morning, makng those first few steps was agonising. I would struggle to make it to the toilet and on many occassion had to reach out to the wall for support.
Sitting Down to do the Toilet– Well it does lead on from the previous. The folds of my belly (ies) made the traditional means of urinating impossible and I had to sit down, taking extra care to direct my stream. This is maybe a little too honest, but I more than once had accidents caused by the fat around my mid section.
Intimacy– Not only was it physically difficult to make love, with a sore back, poor stamina and breathlessness, but my obesity severely affected my ability to attain and maintain an erection (hell, I’m even surprising myself with the openness of this revelation, but then again, it’s basic science). I was also never comfortable being naked. I thought that my form would disgust my wife, just as it disgusted myself. Even now, I’m still not 100% comfortable with how I look naked, but then, who does? Even cuddles were impractical as I could never hold someone close or hold them tight.
Self Loathing– Despite telling others I was fine, despite puting a smile on for the camera and despite being the first to self depricate, I hated what I had become. I often felt hopeless and useless. I hated myself for being unable to change; for being unable to restrict my eating and for being unable to control my cravings.
Cravings– One biscuit, sweet or chunk of chocolate was never and will never be enough for me. In the bad old days, I’d eat some junk only to go hunting for more….lots more! And I was like a bloodhound. I could locate the stashes of sweets that my wife felt compelled to hide from me. And once those stashes were exhausted I would then eat the stuff that initially I had ignored for tastier items. I was like a shark, frenzied by blood. I make no bones about using the animal references as my behaviour was that of a wild animal. Be it leptins or plain greed, I was never satisfied and once made myself sick so that I could eat more. Now, that’s what I call an eating disorder!
My Mum’s Tears– This one is maybe cheating, as she has only recently revealed this to me. But my mum used to cry herself to sleep worrying about my weight; worrying about how her son was likely to enter an early grave and how she would have to bury him. Just knowng, that I’ve taken just one weight (pardon the pun) off my mum’s shoulders is ammunition enough to keep me rightous.
My Own Tears– I’m not afraid to admit it. I cried. Maybe it was the increased estrogen in my moobs ( I’d like to say that I’m well shot of these too, but still got a bit to go), or the fact that I’m a sensitive guy, but I was never blind to my obesity and would regulary share a tear when I was…
Feeling that Everyone was Laughing at Me– Some argue that obesity is becoming socially acceptable…not in my world. Everytime I struggled to get on and off the bus ( I used to stand at the front, regardless of whether there were seats); everytime I entered a clothes shop and looked in desperation for size xxxxl jeans and shirts (soon all I wore was baggy, loose fitting sweat pants and jerseys…..not ironic, just really sad); everytime my belt snapped or trousers ripped with the pressure; everytime I had to explain my job role was a “Lean Practitioner” (like Six Sigma); everytime I took off my winter jacket, only to realise that I had soaked my shirt in perspiration: everytime kids said; “Mummy, look at that fat man” and everytime I ordered a Diet Coke and two Quarterpounders I worried that people were just about to burst out laughing. And sometimes my fears were warranted, Because, laugh they did.
Isolation– Ok, this one was partly self imposed but it was still mainly (I’m still quite shy) weight related. I didn’t go out. I didn’t attend work parties. I stopped playing badminton and football. I didn’t want to be seen in public and eventually I didn’t even attend my my parents in law’s Sunday dinner. I’m still not exactly a social butterfly, but I’m no longer housebound.
Fatism-People are Fattist. FACT. And let’s ne honest, can we blame them? How stupid must I have been not to recognise and act on my obesity? How greedy must I have been to get so large and how lazy must have I been? Everytime I applied for a job, only to see someone less talented get selected; everytime I made a valid point in a meeting or everytime I saw somone looking at me disdainfully I felt judged on how I looked rather than who I was. Even now, it pains me to see how fat people are portrayed and treated. But, at least now, I’m not victim to it.

I could go on and might some day revisit this list (with maybe some more light hearted “things”) but this has been quite emotionally draining and as cathartic as it’s been, it’s all a bit dark. Prior to this blog my earlier writing was lighter, funnier and easier to read. Let me know what you think and in 2013 I might try to make you smile a bit more.

January 2, 2013 8 comments