If you want to lose weight then say No, says Tony Drury ….
It’s a daft joke:
Person One: “When did you start to lose a few pounds?”
Person Two: “When I stood on some ‘Speak Your Weight’ scales and the voice said, “One at a time, please”.
BMI or Body Mass Index
Silly, yes. But also reflective of one of the most challenging aspects of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The guide most General Practitioners (GPs) use is the Body Mass Index (BMI) . This is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared: see www.nhs.uk/BMI . The guidelines used are a BMI of 18 – 24 is a healthy weight, 25 – 29 is overweight, 30 – 39 is obese and over 40 is morbid obese. The general medical view is that ‘overweight’ is unhealthy while ‘obesity’ can cause Type 2 diabetes, cardiological problems, cancers and physical difficulties amongst other medical conditions.
But my guess is that you know all that. Many of you will be in control of your weight (brilliant) but, sadly, others will be fighting the consequences of excess pounds on a daily basis. People lie about their weight. They rarely give an honest answer to the question “How much do you weigh?”. If asked the question on a medical form, they’ll deduct up to seven pounds.
Type 2 Diabetes
I have a friend who is undergoing clinical help with his Type 2 diabetes. His latest escapade was when he had an appointment to see the nurse for his periodic weigh-in. He was forty minutes late because he refused to leave home without having had a bowel movement (which he reckoned was worth a pound off his weight). When he finally arrived at the surgery another issue arose because he declined to stand on the scales without taking off all his clothes. There is often sensitivity about revealing one’s weight.
Wegovy or Ozempic
Losing weight is the topic which makes lots of money for writers of dietary books, gyms, slimming clubs and suppliers of weight-loss drugs such as the current headline maker, Wegovy. It also is a lucrative source of income for private medicine which provides bariatric surgery (a gastric band costs around £15,000). The NHS has limited obesity services.
You Must Say ‘No’!
There is another way to lose weight as I reveal in my book ‘“You Must Say “No”!’ I am seventy-seven years old but better late than never. On 23 November 2023 I weighted around fifteen and a half stones. On 24 January 2024, sixty-three days later, I had lost thirty pounds weighing in (truthfully) at thirteen stones, three pounds. That represented a loss of body weight of 14%.
My Meditational Mantra
I tell all in my diary ‘You Must Say “No”!’ which was published on Amazon Books this week. In its simplest form I set myself a daily menu of fruit for breakfast, a nutritious seeded loaf sandwich for lunch and whatever Judy, my long-suffering wife, cooked in the evening (perhaps pasta bake or chicken and roasted vegetables). I fought hunger pangs and hunger pains (there is a difference). I once stared at a cheese sandwich for two hours knowing that if I bit into it my diet was over. So, the title of my book became: ‘You Must Say “No”!’ I also used this as a meditational mantra: I have been trained on how to use meditation for your peace of mind. I walked at least five miles every day around Bedford Park chanting the mantra.
Shedding The Pounds
Every morning, I stood naked on the bathroom scales, made in Beijing, and listened to a Chinese lady saying “your weight is 201.6”. I rarely put weight on but could go day after day without shedding the pounds. I had a panic attack on Christmas Day evening when I stood at the kitchen door pleading with myself not to enter and take a flapjack out of the biscuit tin. One strange phenomenon was that the next morning I could not recall in any detail the pain of the specific event.
But the weight began to reduce and as I achieved each target, I became more invested. Similar perhaps to the reformed alcoholic who knows they cannot sip an alcoholic drink.
Maintaining Weight Loss
Sixty-three days after the start date, I reached my target but there was no celebrating because the task ahead is to retain the weight loss. I am surprised at the attention it has attracted. There are moments of sheer exuberance such as buying a pair of jeans with a waist measurement two inches smaller than before.
However, this article started with a poor joke and the reality is that diet and weight control are subjects which blight people’s lives. According to NHS and Government statistics, 64% of the UK adult population are either overweight or obese. Child obesity is rapidly becoming a major issue for the educational authorities.
My proposed diet won’t solve these challenges but it’s a better route compared to weight-loss drugs and bariatric surgery.
