Interesting Links for 24-06-2014

[andrewducker]

• Emails Show Feds Asking Florida Cops to Deceive Judges
  (tags: police usa law fraud )
• Homeless figures treble among private rental tenants
  (tags: uk housing )
• No, the media didn’t ignore your anti-austerity march - it just wasn’t that interesting
  (tags: protests media bbc UK )
• A map of Europe, by number of bankers earning more than €1million

Comments

[gonzo21]

I found that whole 'It's scientifically impossible to maintain weight loss' thing to be actually incredibly irresponsible, and I'm glad it's being refuted with some very solid looking numbers.

My brother is life-threateningly overweight. And he can't be arsed changing his diet. So every article he sees on the internet that reinforces his idea that there's no point in even trying? That's actually contributing to his increasingly inevitable early-grave.

The pathology of it is quite interesting, because he has this very strong filter in what he sees with regards his dietary intake. For example, he earnestly believes that he needs at least 4500 calories a day. And if something contains 20% of his RDA of fat? THen he has to eat at least 5 of them, because he cannot have less than the 100% RDA of fat/sugar/etc.

So articles telling him there is no point in losing weight? Make me quite angry actually.

[andrewducker]

The thing with weight loss to me is that if you go into it saying "I just need to exert self control for X weeks and I will be ok and then I can go back to being me" then you're fucked. But pretty much everyone does that.

Instead it requires you to look at what "healthy" looks like for you, and decide that you want to be that person, and pay the price for being that person. And that's really hard for most people. But it is doable, if you really want it.

Edit: Obviously, for some people with medical conditions no matter what they do they're not going to lose weight. But most people can eat better than they do and be fitter than they are. I certainly could, on both counts.

[brixtonbrood]

I think we need to talk less about weight loss and more about weight maintenance. There's a definite mood (especially amongst women) that anyone who isn't overweight yet still counts their calories is some kind of vain eating disordered freak. But I reckon we'd get much better results as a society from a "Only eat enough to maintain a stable weight in the long term" message than "OMG you are suddenly obese and must lose 3 stone immediately".

[andrewducker]

Having a lifestyle that gives you a stable, healthy situation is definitely going to be healthier than "I am unhealthy until it makes me very unhappy, and then I switch to being ultra-strict with myself until I can't take it any more, and then I go back to being unhealthy."

There's a big difference between "Having a healthy diet" and "Being on a diet", and I think you're right that the former is better for you - I do wish it was more common across society.

[bohemiancoast]

Except that after some time of going 'people can get to a healthy weight' the NHS then moved to 'obese people can probably maintain at 10% less than their current weight'... and are now at 'obese people can probably maintain at 3% less than their current weight'.

There's no evidence for any of these propositions. What there is evidence of is that people who are prepared to both calorie count indefinitely *and* do 7-10 hours of moderate intensity exercise a week (which is quite a lot) can often (not invariably) maintain a small weight loss.

None of this means that your brother wouldn't benefit from healthier eating and exercise choices. But they're his choices, not yours.

[soon_lee]

I am looking at the phrase "scientifically impossible" and twitching.

Just insert the relevant "Princess Bride" quote here.