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| Struggling to lose weight? It’s not your fault – blame your friends | Struggling to lose weight? It’s not your fault – blame your friends |
| (12 days later) | |
| As we approach Christmas party time, I make my usual annual psychological commitment: time to get healthy, I tell myself, so that December’s excess doesn’t have too much of an impact on my waistline. I vouch to get off the sauce, get on the exercise bike a bit more, stop eating so much cheese. Somehow, I decide, this will result in a new, fit, lithe me. | As we approach Christmas party time, I make my usual annual psychological commitment: time to get healthy, I tell myself, so that December’s excess doesn’t have too much of an impact on my waistline. I vouch to get off the sauce, get on the exercise bike a bit more, stop eating so much cheese. Somehow, I decide, this will result in a new, fit, lithe me. |
| But there is a problem. The problem is that I made this vow in the summer, too, in the run-up to the summer holiday; and in the spring, in the run-up to my book coming out; and in January … you see where this is going. Every month, every week, a meaningless commitment that I believe will change my life. Spoiler alert: it never does. | But there is a problem. The problem is that I made this vow in the summer, too, in the run-up to the summer holiday; and in the spring, in the run-up to my book coming out; and in January … you see where this is going. Every month, every week, a meaningless commitment that I believe will change my life. Spoiler alert: it never does. |
| Moderation in all things – so don’t ditch the biscuits just yet | Julian Baggini | |
| Now, however, new research suggests that I can just blame my friends. A study has found that people are far more likely to make unhealthy eating choices if they are with a friend who chooses a fatty option on the menu. It’s called altruistic indulgence – a form of solidarity, a way of saying: “Don’t worry, your terrible diet is OK.” It’s the “Sod it, let’s get some shots” of restaurant dining. | Now, however, new research suggests that I can just blame my friends. A study has found that people are far more likely to make unhealthy eating choices if they are with a friend who chooses a fatty option on the menu. It’s called altruistic indulgence – a form of solidarity, a way of saying: “Don’t worry, your terrible diet is OK.” It’s the “Sod it, let’s get some shots” of restaurant dining. |
| I’m an impressionable eater. My husband has noted that all it takes in a shop is for an assistant to talk to me for me to make a purchase. I will sometimes even team up with the assistant and back up their sales pitch outside the changing room: “She’s right you know, wenge is absolutely your colour.” Food is the same. | I’m an impressionable eater. My husband has noted that all it takes in a shop is for an assistant to talk to me for me to make a purchase. I will sometimes even team up with the assistant and back up their sales pitch outside the changing room: “She’s right you know, wenge is absolutely your colour.” Food is the same. |
| I’m always faintly impressed by people who can say no to a host who offers a slice of tart. I’m always too worried it will make me look uptight (I am also far too desirous of tart). But I have remarked that there are others who do. Is this a case of a simple lack of willpower? Some will say yes, and this is where the fat-shaming that remains so prevalent comes in. Obesity becomes a question of strength and weakness, and all other factors fall by the wayside, despite the fact that these factors – hormones, genetics, mental health, addictive chemicals in junk food, food placement in supermarkets, advertising, technology – all have scientific underpinnings. The difference between being fat and not has never been as simple as the ability to say: “No pizza for me, thanks.” | I’m always faintly impressed by people who can say no to a host who offers a slice of tart. I’m always too worried it will make me look uptight (I am also far too desirous of tart). But I have remarked that there are others who do. Is this a case of a simple lack of willpower? Some will say yes, and this is where the fat-shaming that remains so prevalent comes in. Obesity becomes a question of strength and weakness, and all other factors fall by the wayside, despite the fact that these factors – hormones, genetics, mental health, addictive chemicals in junk food, food placement in supermarkets, advertising, technology – all have scientific underpinnings. The difference between being fat and not has never been as simple as the ability to say: “No pizza for me, thanks.” |
| We are bombarded by conflicting dietary advice. Last week, a group of US scientists got together and said it’s high time that we end the “diet wars” that have plagued so much obesity research – that is the eternal grudge match of fat v carbs. What matters for most, they argue, is the quality of the fats and the carbs that you are eating. “Nutrition and human physiology is much more complicated than nuclear physics,” said the study’s lead author, Professor David Ludwig. | We are bombarded by conflicting dietary advice. Last week, a group of US scientists got together and said it’s high time that we end the “diet wars” that have plagued so much obesity research – that is the eternal grudge match of fat v carbs. What matters for most, they argue, is the quality of the fats and the carbs that you are eating. “Nutrition and human physiology is much more complicated than nuclear physics,” said the study’s lead author, Professor David Ludwig. |
| US researchers seek to end carbs v fat 'diet wars' | |
| We want a one-size-fits-all approach, a quick fix. Women are primed from an early age to monitor their friends’ diets. My generation grew up reading other women’s food diets in magazines: one particular feature was called Fridge Raiders. The magazine would take a photo of some D-list celebrity’s fridge, and then a nutritionist would trash their diet. “She’ll be the size of a house if she keeps consuming this many boiled eggs.” | We want a one-size-fits-all approach, a quick fix. Women are primed from an early age to monitor their friends’ diets. My generation grew up reading other women’s food diets in magazines: one particular feature was called Fridge Raiders. The magazine would take a photo of some D-list celebrity’s fridge, and then a nutritionist would trash their diet. “She’ll be the size of a house if she keeps consuming this many boiled eggs.” |
| So looking to our friends feels natural to many of us. What I have noticed, with regard to many of my slimmer friends, is that although we may collude in a pizza on a Tuesday, they will not view this as an excuse to throw any healthy eating plan out of the window. For their next meal, they will compensate with a salad. Oh, and they will exercise. | So looking to our friends feels natural to many of us. What I have noticed, with regard to many of my slimmer friends, is that although we may collude in a pizza on a Tuesday, they will not view this as an excuse to throw any healthy eating plan out of the window. For their next meal, they will compensate with a salad. Oh, and they will exercise. |
| These are useful lessons to learn. We are forever looking to other people and cultures for inspiration on how to lose weight. Call it French-Women-Don’t-Get-Fat syndrome (a book that fails to take into account just how much French women smoke). Following the routines of others can help to an extent, but it can also be a fast track to misery, as was hilariously illustrated by the book I’ll Have What She’s Having, in which Rebecca Harrington tries out many infamous celebrity diets. “This is a flavour profile that would appeal to a cat,” she wrote of Liz Taylor’s weight-loss tuna salad. | These are useful lessons to learn. We are forever looking to other people and cultures for inspiration on how to lose weight. Call it French-Women-Don’t-Get-Fat syndrome (a book that fails to take into account just how much French women smoke). Following the routines of others can help to an extent, but it can also be a fast track to misery, as was hilariously illustrated by the book I’ll Have What She’s Having, in which Rebecca Harrington tries out many infamous celebrity diets. “This is a flavour profile that would appeal to a cat,” she wrote of Liz Taylor’s weight-loss tuna salad. |
| This leads me to conclude that rather than imitating others’ diets, we really need to start recognising that all bodies are different and that a tailored approach to healthy living is needed. For me, tragically, that means no more cheese in the house. | This leads me to conclude that rather than imitating others’ diets, we really need to start recognising that all bodies are different and that a tailored approach to healthy living is needed. For me, tragically, that means no more cheese in the house. |
| • Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist | • Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist |
| Diets and dieting | Diets and dieting |
| Opinion | Opinion |
| Obesity | Obesity |
| Nutrition | Nutrition |
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