Overweight and Obesity in Australia in 2023 and future projections.

[Roobs321]

BMI would gasp and see me as terminally underweight, but I've always been a lean person, never get sick, fast metabolism, not a fussy eater, seldom get takeout and thriftily never let any food go to waste, occasional light exercise (more for mental and movement, not required to burn). Not very fussed about my physical appearance and have never remotely been a foodie. Never been bored and have always been a bit of a preoccupied nerd, wouldn't be shocked if that tendency had some minimal impact. Possible I have an underlying health condition of some sort but I'm stable at this weight (that fortnight of xmas indulgence already came off without lifting a finger) and in my mid 30s can still stuff my face without consequences. I think genetics play a role, mother's side of the family is like me, very lean, more birdlike, and I tend to prepare sensible simple plain meals comparably to my mother. My peak BMI was about 25-ish fifteen years back when I was a young adult in military training. I think you need at least one good hearty meal per day with meat, veg and carbs, and around that I might have cereals, fruit, snacks, coffees. I'm a very moderate drinker as well (been drunk maybe once or twice since the 2000s), stopped putting sugar in things in my youth, don't buy chicken/red meat (prefer fish, beans, veges, etc.) and haven't lifted any actual weights in a decade. I live in the tropics too and the sports I did as a child were more cardio endurance.

I do all those small everyday lifestyle things too, like parking towards the far end, gardening with watering can, taking the stairs, happy to stand & squat a lot, etc. The body part I'm most in love with are my ankles, love that carefree nimbleness and ability to move around in a flash (will miss that mobility with age). My biggest peeve with large people is how they often take forever to get from point A to B, and you feel the fee-fi-fo-fum giant rumble, grates like an eternity and gets on your nerves, whereas if I'm covering the same distance it's virtually instantaneous and you could hear a pin drop. I think skinny people subconsciously listen to their bodies and can go long periods without thinking about food, but I'm also not one to judge, everyone has their own personal and hereditary history and I can imagine some morbidly obese people out there with more moral authority who eat far less and exercise far more than I do.

Apparently being 'underweight' is just as unhealthy too, other side of the coin, it's not the desired image in the culture and can correlate with some form of eating disorder, but I'd struggle to bulk up and don't really feel much motivation to do so. But yeah, I'm not going to meet the average body type anyway, this works for me and my relatives of similar build live long lives.

 

[dumb]

i was quite healthy about 10 years ago, probably the healthiest i'd ever been apart from my late teens. gym membership. i'd lost about 25kg to get to that point, so would have been just tipping into the obese side of bmi. incidentally after the weight loss i would have been about 21ish on the bmi scale, so healthy weight on that scale, but people were asking me if i was well, even my doctor describe me as looking lean and hungry. others have described that as my gaunt period.
from there i slowly drifted out to about 92kg. this was some time after having to drop the gym membership, health/parenting reasons.

trying to play the long game. there will come a point where i might shift to maintaining rather than cutting but the hope is healthy food practices should be in place then and so weight fluctuations if they happen are less severe and require less drastic intervention. hit the bike 1 or 2 times less a week.
for me i suppose i'm lucky that my unhealthy habits have never been at ridiculous levels. i rarely drink anymore, and that's for some time now. i've never ballooned in a way that says 'i've given up on life', more just unobservant about portion control. this onion article explains my life at various points.

Scientists Discover Gene Responsible For Eating Whole Goddamn Bag Of Chips

ITHACA, NY—In an announcement with major implications for future generations of big fat hogs, Cornell University geneticists announced Monday that they have isolated the specific DNA series that makes an individual susceptible to eating a whole goddamn bag of chips.

www.theonion.com

 

[Roobs321]

i've never ballooned in a way that says 'i've given up on life', more just unobservant about portion control. this onion article explains my life at various points.

Scientists Discover Gene Responsible For Eating Whole Goddamn Bag Of Chips

ITHACA, NY—In an announcement with major implications for future generations of big fat hogs, Cornell University geneticists announced Monday that they have isolated the specific DNA series that makes an individual susceptible to eating a whole goddamn bag of chips.

www.theonion.com

I always eat a whole bag of chips in one sitting, but it's like a special treat a few times a month, and I might have it in place of a meal. I'm a slow eater too so a bag of chips can last me hours whilst bingeing some tv show (Jarrad McVeigh once mentioned being like this, taking forever to eat things so as to enjoy it). Something I notice with larger people is they sometimes gulf their food down in relaxed situations when they don't really need to, whereas if they took a bit longer they'd probably feel more full. Bit like The Tortoise and the Hare, I can slowly and steadily eat huge moments.

My portion control has got worse with age. In my 20s it was like 5 cadbury squares for dessert, and tim tams might last a week. Now, a cadbury lasts 2 sittings.

 

[GROTTO]

I always eat a whole bag of chips in one sitting, but it's like a special treat a few times a month, and I might have it in place of a meal. I'm a slow eater too so a bag of chips can last me hours whilst bingeing some tv show (Jarrad McVeigh once mentioned being like this, taking forever to eat things so as to enjoy it). Something I notice with larger people is they sometimes gulf their food down in relaxed situations when they don't really need to, whereas if they took a bit longer they'd probably feel more full. Bit like The Tortoise and the Hare, I can slowly and steadily eat huge moments.

My portion control has got worse with age. In my 20s it was like 5 cadbury squares for dessert, and tim tams might last a week. Now, a cadbury lasts 2 sittings.

I think its good to indulge in some foods that you like that maybe on the more unhealthy side of the diet. I mean almost no one on here is competing in some form of body building comp, so why punish yourself unnecessarily.

Probably not the best time when one is about to fly, but I would enjoy a bag of chips with a drink at a bar, only when traveling back to Adelaide.

You hit the nail on the head here about slowing down food consumption. I consciously whenever alone, almost always take a very very long time to finish a meal. For me it at least, it prolongs the enjoyment of eating a good meal and I can savour the flavours. Its a pain in the arse if youre with family and or friends. However taking your time to consume a meal is a very underrated way of assisting the process of losing weight.

I do avoid deep fried food though in general. Thats not to say if I have the occasional gourmet burger and I have the option of adding a few fries and or onion rings in the burger, I wont be saying no to that lol.

 

[Caesar]

Mate you can find a study of a million people to "support" what you're saying but its still irrelevant. All that proved is people stopped exercising and started eating pastries again.

It is an undeniable fact weight maintenance isnt impossible lol. Cals in/cals out.

Yes it’s difficult to stick to. Everyone prefers pizza to chicken breast but let’s not kid ourselves, what you're preaching is simply peoples choices. Nothing else

you are entirely missing the point

 

[Sydney Kicker]

I've been a distance runner for at least 40 years (now 53). As I get older and the weekly kms drop down (from 8-9hrs per week at my peak to 3-3.5 hrs per week now) my weight slowly went out from about 79kg to 86-88kg where I've stabilised for a few years (I'm 1.93m so still well in healthy BMI range).

Food (sugar, fat and restaurants) are a real vice so I'm doing a lot of little things to help keep the status quo. Like parking 1.5km from work, always take the stairs up to my floor, started wearing a step counter and record my daily steps, make my own muesli etc). I don't drink much (3-4 standard drinks per week I'd guess).

Although I'd consider myself fitness wise in the top 1% or so for my age, I'd still like to get my weight down to the low 80's. As others have said, the belly fat has grown over time as the metabolism slows and proves impossible to shift. Otherwise my body is pretty good.

I would love to see more government intervention in the form of junk food advertising bans, sugar tax, improve the built environment etc. Just to help those along who are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I don't subscribe to the theory it's impossible for obese people to lose weight and keep it off, but it's very hard for most people without assistance.

 

[Twoslabs]

My story 53 turning 54 this year.

180cm tall and at my peak hit 125kg, now at 81kg.

Covid has actually been a blessing to me, worked in a CBD office and junked everyday for lunch, these days still WFH, so rather than something deep fried washed down with coke and kit kats, it's something home cooked with chilled water with lemon/lime slices for lunch.

Also losing 3 hours of commuting I go for a walk everyday for 45-60 mins and catch pokemon.

Funnily enough I think the main change was rather than having junk available literally sitting next to a vending machine I now have to go out and chase that same junk which being the anti social introvert I am is a solid "no"

 

[beez]

A lot of it is genetics, and DNA is hard to deny.

How do you explain the fact that overweightedness/obesity was nowhere near as common 70-80 years ago if it’s about genetics?

I'm just going to piggy back off these thoughts because...

Yeah, it's a bit of genetics and DNA, but it's actually epigenetics and hormonal changes that explain how ****ed we are as a society. Our environmental exposures change our DNA and our food consumption changes our hormonal responses. Our baselines change.

A simple explanation is over-consumption of carbohydrates (mainly simple carbs but it can be complex carbs too) over a sustained period of time decreases our testosterone and increases our estrogen. Estrogen being associated with the female hormone and leading to greater fat storage. Further, it's challenging to access our fat storages because of how we metabolise food. Further to this, having less testosterone and less muscle leads to a lower BMR and hence needing less calories for maintenance.

Two of the most obvious ways to increase testosterone which we're all generally aware of are consuming an improved proportion of carbs/proteins/fats and strength training/muscle building.

So, while what Caesar says is generally correct, the reason that it is so difficult to maintain weight loss is that when we lose weight our hormonal responses stay out of whack because we don't build back up our baseline testosterone levels sufficiently.

For anyone who wants to lose fat (note, not necessarily weight, FAT) it is better to eat more. More eating will give you more energy to build muscle which will increase your BMR so you can, guess what, eat even more!

What is the easiest way to build testosterone levels for anyone of any age? Strength training of any sort. Get out of breath. Seriously, walking back and forth in your backyard with a 5/10/20/50kg bag of sand is one of the simplest ways to improve your fitness.

(lots of caveats to these thoughts but you get the drift)


* And just as an aside. Excess consumption of simple carbs over a sustained period of time is shown to contribute to anxiety/depression. What is shown to decrease our anxiety and improve our mood? Exercise, and to a lesser extent, increases in our testosterone levels. Seriously, if you battle anxiety/depression, one of the best ways to manage it, develop positive thought processes and improve your hormonal responses is strenuous exercise of any type. Move a heavy box from point A to point B and I guarantee you'll feel better. Run for the bus and you'll feel better. Carry your heavy shopping bags and you'll feel better. Get a tennis ball and piff it at the wall 100 times and you'll feel better.

 

[GROTTO]

My story 53 turning 54 this year.

180cm tall and at my peak hit 125kg, now at 81kg.

Covid has actually been a blessing to me, worked in a CBD office and junked everyday for lunch, these days still WFH, so rather than something deep fried washed down with coke and kit kats, it's something home cooked with chilled water with lemon/lime slices for lunch.

Also losing 3 hours of commuting I go for a walk everyday for 45-60 mins and catch pokemon.

Funnily enough I think the main change was rather than having junk available literally sitting next to a vending machine I now have to go out and chase that same junk which being the anti social introvert I am is a solid "no"

Well done on your weight loss.

Im glad you posted your age, weight and height. Its so relevant in understanding and appreciating a person's weight loss.

I literally purchase no junk food or "small treats" when grocery shopping, as I know I would smash literally all of them most likely that night, lol.

So in effect, it does become a "special treat" if I have to go out and get it specifically.

I dont miss them or crave them, but if they are happening to be sitting in my pantry, its game over. Urges are strong.

 

[raskolnikov]

Never go shopping hungry.

 

[craigos]

People who claim they're fatties purely because of their genetics are insufferable. Take some responsibility, yes you may never be able to look like a model or elite athlete no matter what work you put in but you can sure as hell do enough to not be overweight.

I say this as someone that put a solid 4 kgs on over December (got a bit loose) and am working to get back to being a solid 8.5/9 body - (face is a bit munted so I need the high figure, figure).

 

[DickieKnee]

Christmas day was at my nieces place so I caught the train out there and walked to her place from the train station. Everybody was amazed I walked from the train station saying I should have rung and they would have picked me up. My niece is early 30s, it was a 20min walk, beautiful weather and a dedicated walking track that literally passes the end of her street. Still people couldn't believe I walked that far.

 

[WCErevival]

I'm surprised at how low the healthy range goes in BMI. Im bordering the healthy/overweight ranges but I work out regularly and eat reasonably healthy. If I went down to the lower end of the healthy range I would look like a corpse. I dont even know any male that skinny. Not even my elderly Dad.

 

[GROTTO]

I'm surprised at how low the healthy range goes in BMI. Im bordering the healthy/overweight ranges but I work out regularly and eat reasonably healthy. If I went down to the lower end of the healthy range I would look like a corpse. I dont even know any male that skinny. Not even my elderly Dad.

BMI is really only a guide, dont stress if youre borderline or a few kgs over. Mind you, you didnt mention your age, height or sex. Hard to gauge just off BMI alone.

The real issue is when your BMI is clearly in the overweight category or higher.

burge13 made the best comment on here in regards to BMI, look at yourself in the mirror and be honest, you can tell if your a fat f**k or not.

The obesity pandemic in Australia and America is really looking at fat f**ks who are clearly carrying too much weight.

 

[raskolnikov]

Christmas day was at my nieces place so I caught the train out there and walked to her place from the train station. Everybody was amazed I walked from the train station saying I should have rung and they would have picked me up. My niece is early 30s, it was a 20min walk, beautiful weather and a dedicated walking track that literally passes the end of her street. Still people couldn't believe I walked that far.

I had dinner with friends at an Indian restaurant NYE. After dinner we decided to go around to one friend's house about a 20 minute walk. I said that I'd walk to walk the dinner off. All of my friends looked at me horrified as they jumped into their cars.

 

[craigos]

I had dinner with friends at an Indian restaurant NYE. After dinner we decided to go around to one friend's house about a 20 minute walk. I said that I'd walk to walk the dinner off. All of my friends looked at me horrified as they jumped into their cars.

If we're out with our partners us lads tend to do this as well, except we stop for a pint on the way.

 

[phantom13]

BMI measures me as overweight/obese depending on the time of day I weigh myself. 184cms and anywhere between 98-102kgs.

BF% hovers between 10-12%.

32 inch waist.

Workout 5/6 days a week.

BMI as many have mentioned is an imperfect tool and as many have mentioned is fine a general use population the tool. The issue stems from the fact that we don’t use it that way.

Plenty of health agencies, insurances companies and even doctors apply it universally.

There’s no question that we have an issue with health (especially diet) in Oz but BMI should be scrapped as a tool for measurement as it’s too misleading in both ways (I mean as an excuse too, the BMI discussion has come up with people I know who are clearly overweight and they use me as an example as to how they aren’t because my BMI is terrible but I’m in great shape).

 

[faible]

BMI measures me as overweight/obese depending on the time of day I weigh myself. 184cms and anywhere between 98-102kgs.

BF% hovers between 10-12%.

32 inch waist.

Workout 5/6 days a week.

BMI as many have mentioned is an imperfect tool and as many have mentioned is fine a general use population the tool. The issue stems from the fact that we don’t use it that way.

Plenty of health agencies, insurances companies and even doctors apply it universally.

There’s no question that we have an issue with health (especially diet) in Oz but BMI should be scrapped as a tool for measurement as it’s too misleading in both ways (I mean as an excuse too, the BMI discussion has come up with people I know who are clearly overweight and they use me as an example as to how they aren’t because my BMI is terrible but I’m in great shape).

It definitely loses relevance for athletes, particularly strength or power athletes who tend to carry a disproportionate amount of muscle. People trying to argue a bloke who's carrying a heap of muscle having an 'overweight' BMI means they're not overweight themselves are just lying to themselves.

I'm not sure there's a 'better' quick tool out there though, as the next step involves having some way to measure things like body fat etc.. etc...

 

[phantom13]

It definitely loses relevance for athletes, particularly strength or power athletes who tend to carry a disproportionate amount of muscle. People trying to argue a bloke who's carrying a heap of muscle having an 'overweight' BMI means they're not overweight themselves are just lying to themselves.

I'm not sure there's a 'better' quick tool out there though, as the next step involves having some way to measure things like body fat etc.. etc...

I tend to agree but the issue is that it gives them a reason to.

Out of context a BMI number means nothing but as a raw number can be taken negatively. If you can’t justify it away people will.

I don’t really mind it as a “rule of thumb” but Id be pretty mad if insurance companies start charging me a premium over a skinny chain smoking glutton (which is unlikely).

 

[Gralin]

It definitely loses relevance for athletes, particularly strength or power athletes who tend to carry a disproportionate amount of muscle. People trying to argue a bloke who's carrying a heap of muscle having an 'overweight' BMI means they're not overweight themselves are just lying to themselves.

I'm not sure there's a 'better' quick tool out there though, as the next step involves having some way to measure things like body fat etc.. etc...

I'd argue that being in a healthy BMI range doesn't mean you're actually healthy and for this reason it should be scrapped as a measure

 

[GROTTO]

I tend to agree but the issue is that it gives them a reason to.

Out of context a BMI number means nothing but as a raw number can be taken negatively. If you can’t justify it away people will.

I don’t really mind it as a “rule of thumb” but Id be pretty mad if insurance companies start charging me a premium over a skinny chain smoking glutton (which is unlikely).

Im comfortable for people like yourself who genuinely would have a higher BMI and though classed in the "overweight" category, would not be the case in reality.

The problem is that the average Joe out there sees that BMI has limitations and then thinks it doesnt apply to them. Most people in society are overweight, thats an undeniable fact.

In terms of someone falling in the overweight category, I would comfortably say BMI is right 90% of the time. Its not a perfect measurement, but it applies to the overwhelming majority of people.

 

[GROTTO]

I'd argue that being in a healthy BMI range doesn't mean you're actually healthy and for this reason it should be scrapped as a measure

Youre not suggesting someone can be overweight and healthy? Thats not congruent.

 

[phantom13]

Youre not suggesting someone can be overweight and healthy? Thats not congruent.

I am. I’m actually obese by this mornings measure.

 

[Gralin]

Youre not suggesting someone can be overweight and healthy? Thats not congruent.

That isn't what I wrote.

I said that being in a healthy BMI range doesn't mean you are actually healthy.

This thread is a classic example on focusing on weight as the source of all issues.

Yes there are a lot of issues that weight can cause, yes being very overweight is bad for you.

Being skinny doesn't mean you are fit or healthy though, just like being overweight doesn't mean you're unhealty

both are just measures of how much fat your body is carrying, its a visual cue of that, but it doesn't mean much else

plenty of skinny people have high cholesterol, aren't actually fit, just skinny, can be diabetic etc

plenty of people carrying a few kegs can be fit and have their health markers in the good range, ie blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, liver function etc

 

[DickieKnee]

I tend to agree but the issue is that it gives them a reason to.

Out of context a BMI number means nothing but as a raw number can be taken negatively. If you can’t justify it away people will.

I don’t really mind it as a “rule of thumb” but Id be pretty mad if insurance companies start charging me a premium over a skinny chain smoking glutton (which is unlikely).

Insurance companies now won't touch a smoker. The BMI calculator I use tells to measure waist even though I fall into the the "healthy" BMI range. Like I said earlier you know if you are carrying fat if you are being completely honest with yourself. I probably need to lose 4-5 kg off my gut, giving up the beer for a month would get me there, but it's oh so hard lol.