More a press thing than a medical thing. It’s not that doctors in the UK don’t consider obesity a co-morbidity, it’s that the press would not report them as ‘unhealthy’.
Realistically and in a healthy way you can only reduce 1 to max 2 kg per month
Depends hugely on where you are starting from. The principal limitation is the emotional attachment to food and food associated activities which are, of course, not trivial…
Realistically and in a healthy way you can only reduce 1 to max 2 kg per month
I lost 20 kg over 12 months, but for some of those months I was travelling a lot or just couldn’t be bothered, so really it was more like over 7 months. It came off a lot faster at the beginning than at the end – by the end I was struggling to lose 1 kg per month even though I was eating the same.
Whether what I did was “healthy” depends on who you ask. I semi-fasted (and no alcohol) for 3-4 days per week, aiming at 500 cal though probably more like 700. Other days I ate more or less normally, though paying more attention. I eat very little sugar or sweetened food anyway, and for sure no soda.
After I stopped I bounced back up by about 5kg over a year, most of which I got rid of over a month recently.
johnh wrote:
I lost 20 kg over 12 months, but for some of those months I was travelling a lot or just couldn’t be bothered, so really it was more like over 7 months. It came off a lot faster at the beginning than at the end – by the end I was struggling to lose 1 kg per month even though I was eating the same.Whether what I did was “healthy” depends on who you ask. I semi-fasted (and no alcohol) for 3-4 days per week, aiming at 500 cal though probably more like 700. Other days I ate more or less normally, though paying more attention. I eat very little sugar or sweetened food anyway, and for sure no soda.
After I stopped I bounced back up by about 5kg over a year, most of which I got rid of over a month recently.
I’ve had a very similar experience. Three times in my life I’ve lost about the same amount of weight in about the same time, but it all crept back again at about the same rate as johnh reports. By now I’ve more or less given up. I’m more interested in being generally in good shape than having a BMI below 30.
johnh wrote:
After I stopped I bounced back up by about 5kg over a year, most of which I got rid of over a month recently.
That is exactly the thing most people fight over their whole life. Some call it Jo-Jo effect. Others simply choose to stop for good.
BTW, the implication of overweight was heavily communicated in the Covid context here, unintended pun but to the point. It was written again and again that lots of dead people were obese. I for instance was put onto the risk list and got my vaccination early due to that. (first time my weight actually sped something up….)
Being obese is something a lot of people think is because people eat wrong and generally are idiots who misbehave. Well, it is easy for the slender to say that. And while it has got some truth in it, a lot of it is genetic as well. There will be people who never get fat, others who from a particular point and age simply can do what they want and nothing helps.
I have been underweight up to about 30 and then gained weight over about 10 years to the point where I have been fighting up and down for the last almost 20 years. My father was the same. I can loose weight over a few weeks but it creeps back on, even if I forego all the “bad” foods which cause it. If I want to keep it low, I have to eat like the proverbial bird, which is simply not in my nature. The other big problem is that if you eat only about 1000 kcal per day, the body adapts to this and the moment you eat 1001 kcal it will store it as fat. That is why diets should never last longer than a few weeks at most, as that is why the Jo-Jo effect will in most cases get you fatter than ever before. Dieters often end up gaining weight rather than loosing it.
Now that I am in safe Medical class 2 territory with a BMI between 30 and 35 (I try to keep it at around 33) my doc told me it is better to achive a stable weight than to diet for more, if I want to loose weight, I have to do more exercise with the same kind of calory intake. Also what works for me is low carb more than anything. My doc sais, with my height and weight I need about 2500 kcal / day to keep my weight and should not go below 2000 kcal/day when trying to loose. All in all, I lost 15 kgs over the last year and managed to keep 10 of them off permanently, fluctuating between a regain of 2-5 kgs.
I will try to evenutally get under BMI 30 but my doc sais as my cholesterol values and everything else are absolutely par for the course (BP, cholesterol, sugar) it is more important to achieve stability and in no case gain again.
The first poster in this thread has sadly died of cancer. And a whole load of people there have lost their medicals. Another one narrowly avoided death. Most of that is lifestyle related…
You can lose weight, effortlessly, and keep most of the gain (I mean the loss 
) and it is by eating a plant based diet. The reason why most people lose weight and then regain it is because they achieved it by eating less but eating the same junk as before and they get hungry. The key is to stop eating the junk which loads you up with calories. A plant based diet fills you up so you don’t feel hungry. Everything else is still there e.g. you have energy as before. But hey it’s all been done before, and belongs in that linked thread
Peter wrote:
The key is to stop eating the junk which loads you up with calories.
What exactly do you mean by “junk”? Big Mac and pizza or also, e.g. a home cooked pasta, chicken salad etc.?
Normal pasta is very fattening. As is white bread. Chicken (or any meat) is not much good for you (weight gain, elevated cancer risk, etc). Chicken brings elevated prostate cancer risk; if you have to eat meat (and often one has while travelling) then fish is the best, but most European fish is contaminated (metals or antibiotics). Alaskan wild salmon is the only uncontaminated fish available currently.
Almost everything is OK in small quantities.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
Now that I am in safe Medical class 2 territory with a BMI between 30 and 35 (I try to keep it at around 33)
Good news is: With that BMI rang you are pretty well in the Sweet Spot.
Despite the fact that BMI in general is vastly overrated, it is also an important question on what you optimize for when trying to identify your target BMI.
While there is some (hence not undisputed) evidence that longevity is generally associated with lower BMI, there is also as good evidence that e.g. to protect against osteoporosis a higher BMI is better.
There currently seems to be a majority of researchers to support the idea that a BMI of below 35 is “good enough” and below that threshold health impact is much more related to other factors and therefore lower BMI does not help.
And that is the easy situation of “static BMI”. Situation even gets more complex when we look at the effect of (consciously) loosing weight. There is pretty strong evidence, that (in both genders but for female even stronger than for male) despite cases of excessive weight (BMI>>40) weight loss is generally related to higher mortality rates. There is many explanations what could contribute to this seemingly paradox situation – most of them come down to the point that it is extremely difficult to maintain a calorie reduced but still healthy diet.
It’s 20 years old but I’d still regard it as a good overview:
that it is extremely difficult to maintain a calorie reduced but still healthy diet.
That’s bunk
weight loss is generally related to higher mortality rates
That’s because the national health services in the 1st World are very good at keeping people alive, regardless of quality of life.
to protect against osteoporosis a higher BMI is better.
Of course, because osteoporosis is effectively controlled by load-bearing. You just pay a big price elsewhere for the extra weight in the form of fat. It would be better to go to the gym, ride a bike, etc. Or if you want to just carry extra weight, stick some bricks in a backpack
