Is it our fault WE’RE SO FAT?
When a TV star spoke out about weight issues, it got us all thinking.
There she was, looking toned, her washboard stomach on show in a tiny bikini and saying,
I don’t think there’s any excuse for woman not to stay in shape. We just need to stop gorging.
Grrr! Tv star Linda Barker, 52, got even curvy woman in the recent comments. Woman need to learn to say no, she went on.
And just as we’d had a stomachful of her opinions, she twisted the knife again. When did the American-style muffin become suitable for breakfast? It’s a great slab of cake, a great slab of fat. Why are we so willing to waddle into the obesity stakes with America?
How dare she? we all fumed. Doesn’t she understand it’s just not that easy. We can spend our lives on diets but the fat still settles, doesn’t it?
Complex causes
Even celebrities aren’t immune from the problem. Dawn French Pauline Quirke and Denise Welch have all talks publicity about their weight battles. And Fern Britton admitted just what drove her to having her gastric band in 2006.
I was cycling like mad and nothing was happening. I was unhealthy. I’d been recovering from having children, having a divorce, all those emotional things, she said.
Absolutely! We women and our diets are linked to so many things that it’s not simply a case of cutting back. Nutritionist Mary-Lou Harris from New You Boot Camp understands. It’s far more complicated than not eating pizza and cream cakes, she says. Our bodies all work differently. Stress can cause weight gain, and while some women have an active lifestyle, others work in a desk job, are single mothers or have a big family. What works for one, won’t for another.
And women in the real world don’t have personal trainers and instant post baby tummy tucks. Mum Naomi Sayle, 49, from Bridlington, says, I had two children in my thirties, so no amount of diet and exercise will give me a washboard stomach, and then there’s the stretchmarks. Some things aren’t easy to change without a hefty bank balance or surgery.
But before we completely roast Linda alive and serve her up with extra helping of potatoes for our Sunday lunch, she might have a point. The Office for National Statistics has revealed that worrying 57% of adult woman are overweight or obese and we all know that’s not good for our health. Similarly, other figures* reveal the average woman only lasts a month on a diet and will go on 16 in her lifetime. So aren’t we just a little to blame for giving it too easily?
Linda says all we have to do is pull on our trainers and use some self-control and then we too can look like her. Fantastic! How about we all start straight away – just as soon as we have a nice cup of tea and polish off those biccies!*
