The Royal College of Physicians has lashed out at the NHS, saying its policy to fund bariatric (gastric bands or bypass) surgery is “inconsistent and unethical”.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!

NICE guidelines suggest that anyone with a body mass index over 40 is sufficiently at risk from related health complications to warrant referral for this type of stomach surgery.

Only problem is that primary care trusts are moving the goal posts and only 2% of surgeries are actually taking place. Apparently they have to balance the conflicting concerns of a limited budget and competing ailments … which means that only the “extremely ill” are getting referred.

Couldn’t see that one coming!

It’s been a long time since something has stirred up such a reaction in me. Let me attempt to explain why.

First, bariatric surgery is a lot like closing the door after the horse has long since bolted.

But we live in a culture that gives way too much credibility to twisted medical logic. We are brainwashed into believing that the only “solution” to obesity is either drugs or diet … poison, or deprivation!

What do either have to do with “healthy consumption”?

Then when people succumb even further to their addiction, they are told they need drastic surgery to save their lives, or at least improve the quality of their lives!

Highly qualified medical experts sit there and tell us that we are living longer and getting fatter and so demand for their services is growing and we should embrace this, not resist it.

And gastric surgery doesn’t come cheap, running anywhere from 6,000 pounds to over 10,000 pounds!

Not one of these “authorities” suggest that the real solution to the problem should be happening a long time before people eat themselves to a BMI of 40!

Their hands are tied. They can only deal with the sad reality. What’s a poor surgeon to do?

We hang on their every word. Our culture embraces their wisdom. Our entire health care system (including people working in the fitness industry) is set up to bring them customers.

All justified by the mitigation of reasonable risk, which of course is hard to argue against, especially for the unqualified masses.

And no-one seems to see anything wrong with what’s happening!

In fact, when they nod their heads sagely and point to “new UK research” that suggests responsibility for 75% of the problem can be attributed to our genes, we actually buy this stuff … hook, line and sinker.

“I knew it … it’s not my fault! I am absolved and now someone else can fund me out of this self-imposed nightmare”.

In spite of the fact that someone has died from complications arising from this type of surgery!

“You can’t possibly appreciate just what a burden this is to me”.

People are getting sicker because we’re eating too much of the wrong stuff. The “victims” (there’s no shortage of these) feel that if the fallout from other lifestyle choices like smoking, alcohol and drug addiction can be funded by the NHS, then why not food addiction?

Funnily enough, I actually see no flaw in this logic.

In fact, food addiction is perhaps even more insidious because you cannot quit eating “cold turkey”, so you have no choice but to exercise restraint and apply intelligence.

Only problem is the “intelligence” is not coming from the “intelligent”!

That’s why we think that sugery, drugs and dieting are the only solutions.

Because we’re told they are! That’s why bogus diets are one of the biggest industries known to mankind … and why any doctor or individual with a few letters after their name can write a book about controlled deprivation and make millions.

We let them. Atkins, et al. What did we learn from them? That carbohydrate restriction doesn’t work?

That’s precisely my point. We learn nothing!

And that’s precisely why we will not solve the problem by continuing to embrace this neanderthal mentality. In our headlong, phobia-based rush to rout out “quacks”, we have succeeded in creating a good old boys club that writes its own pay cheques with absolute impunity.

In a culture that hangs on its every word out of nothing but insecurity.

Because, quite frankly, that’s the best we got!

And these “economic geniuses’ (sorry, did I say that?) have succeeded in turning “health” into “medical”.

Don’t believe me?

Google anything with “health” in your search query. Do you see stuff about drinking clean water and eating more fruit and vegetables?

Occasionally.

But ninety nine times out of ten (settle down boys, deliberate error), you’ll see either someone trying to hock supplements, or information about ailments and disease.

We have succeeded in making “health” entirely about managing a “lack of health”.

What a beautiful business model!

All based on fear and desperation … and the knowledge that people will pay just about anything for relief, but can be counted upon to ignore all the signs, even as they court their addictions like a drunken teenager hoping to get lucky.

Now all we have to do is battle amongst ourselves to see which of us get the lion’s share of the NHS pie.

Oh … and keep trotting out important-sounding stuff about “evidence-based” research, so that the average working schill will continue to fund the gravy train and not ask too many awkward questions.

Bariatric surgery … 35 compensation claims in the UK since 2003.

21 in the last two years alone!

1 death.

When will someone wake up and realize that our most capable resources should be channeled into prevention rather than another highly profitable cure?

My guess?

No time soon.

OK, I’m sorry, I’ve been diabolical about updating this blog … but what better way to restart, than with a post about Christmas strategy?

Let’s face, with all the best intentions in the world, very few of us are going to have (or want) the resolve not to over-eat at this time of year. It’s just going to happen and that’s the way it is.

Why?

Because, if you’ve been following a diet, even if you have succeeded in shedding a few pounds, you probably still know very little about human nutrition.

So, when confronted by roast chicken, baked potatoes, Christmas pudding and, and, and … you don’t have a prayer.

It’s called “addiction”, though we prefer to talk of “appetite”, or “cravings” if we are feeling up to confronting our demons honestly. But any way you cut you are unlikely to feel in the mood to deprive yourself over such a time of generous spirit.

So, what am I proposing?

Well, I’m a realist. I’m also a food addict, so I’m not talking at you from some loftly height. What I can tell you is what is working for me.

For the last year, I’ve slowly modified my eating habits so that I can eat fewer calories while still enjoying my food and feeling adequately satiated after meals.

During this time I’ve had mixed success. In fact some months I actually went backwards and put on weight and felt less in control.

But I have learnt some wonderful perspective … and I have successfully shifted about 28kg’s in all that time. Nothing dramatic, but eminently satisfying none-the-less.

Anyway, back to my strategy. Because I have trained myself to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables (and less animal products and cooked meals), I can enjoy a huge roast chicken dinner without holding back.

I can also over-indulge with far more alcoholic punch than “should be” permissable … and not feel bad for even a second.

What I’ve noticed is that in the days that follow, I automatically return to “normal” and I simply, painlessly and effortlessly go back to consuming less. Which means I can have fun, even go overboard … but not put on weight, or feel guilty.

Now that’s liberating!

So, gradually learn to eat according to your natural design. Then, when it comes time to let your hair down a little, you can do so by choice and have great fun to boot.

If that’s a secret, the cat’s out the bag.

I do not subscribe to the idea of depriving yourself on occasions. Once you learn how to eat correctly, this will no longer be a big factor in your life and you can enjoy yourself without any negative emotions or fallout.

For any readers who are interested in learning more about how to master your bodyweight and the art of healthy eating,  may I suggest you visit my other site here.

I would also like to tell you about a new blog I have been working on called Body Mind Freedom. Unlike “Follow Me Slim” where I will be talking specifically about fat loss, “Body Mind Freedom” will delve into any aspect of natural, holistic health.

May I wish all my readers a safe and peaceful holiday and a productive and fulfilling 2010.

Thank you for all your support.

Lose Fat, Not Hope.

This morning on BBC there were two ladies talking about a really interesting and controversial topic … discrimination against fat people.

Legislation already exists protecting people from abuse and hate crimes connected with their religious views, sexual orientation and race.

These are overt markers of difference that share one common denominator … they are considered “beyond choice”.

Being fat is considered by many as different in that it is assumed that being fat is a result of lifestyle choices.

And this creates some more interesting cultural preconceptions.

You see, the two ladies that were being interviewed were obviously hurt by the constant barrage of disparraging comments that is such a significant part of the daily lives of morbidly obese people.

Their view was that they should enjoy similar protection to those categories already enjoying protection from hate crimes … no problem there. Abuse and violence should not be tolerated by any reasonable society, I agree.

But when questioned as to whether they believed that their condition was the result of free choice, their immediate and instinctive response was that it was a genetic condition that involved too much discipline and deprivation to be tolerable for any sustained period.

Certainly for long enough to be considered effective to lose sufficient weight to fall below the abuse radar.

Two perfectly rational, reasonable people completely mired in the destructive mentality of dieting. To these ladies, the only way to maintain a “normal” figure, was to deprive oneself of food.

The possibility that morbid obesity has anything to do with the type of food they choose to eat, did not begin to compute.

And neither of the two presenters raised the issue.

Quite clearly, fat people eat too much … and should eat less to become lighter, or smaller. So the paradigm is entrenched … with the “fat” ladies, with the presenters and with the general public who e-mailed in their comments to the show.

Not one person talked about what to eat, only how many (translation: how many calories) was eaten.

So we get back to this crude strategy of the calorie equation. You put on weight when you eat more calories than you burn. If you can create a deficit by exercise, the opposite happens. It’s all about the math.

And it is … but what no-one tells the general public is that calorie deprivation (dieting) can not be sutained on a non-nutritious diet! And that’s what most people eat.

Calorie-dense rather than nutrient-dense food.

Commercial refined grains, plus excessive meat, cooked foods, salt, sugar, flour and dairy. The stuff the ads, our doctors and all the nutrition professionals tell us we should be eating in moderation.

And we can’t tell people the truth, because those that are qualified to dispense the truth are trained within systems funded by the companies that profit from sales of calorie-dense “foods” … the refined food, meat and dairy industries. So, actually, it occurs to me they may not even know the truth themselves, so brainwashed they have become in order to keep their licenses!

And the politicians sanction all this because of … politics (tax revenues, etc). And saddest of all is that everyone keeps perpetuating the myth. All under this guise of acceptability.

That is, you can only dispense nutrition advice if you have an acceptable qualification like nutritionist or dietician.

Yet these people are the same people telling everyone to eat in moderation, eat variety, eat meat, eat cooked whole grains and consume dairy … oh and 5-a-day. Folks, that’s no where near enough. Especially if your cooking it to death or eating it out of a can!

It’s legalized insanity … and it’s why so many people are fat and screwed up.

And when they get sick as a result, they can then plug in to an even more formidable economic machine. And that is the medical machine.

Doctors trained by schools that are funded by medical companies and pharmaceutical companies to continue perpetuating the myth that people get sick because they have bad genes, habits they can’t help and because declining health is inevitable with advancing years!

And people like me who say “hold on, this is hog wash” aren’t even able to speak our minds without multiple disclaimers in place just in case people think what we have to say is anything more than “information”.

Yes, you can go to a doctor for a gastric bypass … that’s acceptable. And all men over 50 should be put on statins … we’ll take that proposal seriously!

But if some clown like me suggests eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, drinking more water, getting daily exercise, sunlight and fresh air and taking steps to reduce stress and take responsibility for your own happiness … this is now sacriligious and I must be muzzled at all costs, just in case people find out the unprofitable truth.

So people will continue to think that their health is outside their control and that they are fat because of some genetic predisposition.

And yes, my qualified and smug friends, that can indeed be the case.

But if you are really honest you’ll accept that for the vast majority of morbidly obese people, it’s mindset and choices, not genes. And while we’re being honest, won’t any of you also accept that the system currently in place is not working.

That’s why kids are getting diabetes. And why middle-aged people are showing signs of neurological damage.

Not because the gene pool has crashed in the last 20 years, but because the advice being dispensed out of professional channels is misleading and agenda-based.

Only when we can face the truth, can we begin to fix the problem. The fish stinks from the head!

We don’t need more legislation preventing people from acting like animals. (OK, maybe we do). We need a system that reinforces an unpopular truth … recovering and maintaining your health is possible if you learn to do the right things.

You can’t even find the truth easily through the search engines … because the key words people type in are rooted in the very misconceptions I am talking about.

So when you Google “healthy nutrition” you get sites with page rank that tell us to follow the food pyramid, eat more grains, meat and dairy. And show us a host of medical resources, when we should be learning about health, not patholgy management.

This stuff is killing people and they don’t know any better!

Until it stops, our precious NHS is going to get progressively less viable and people will continue to think that they must go on diet to be viewed as socially acceptable.

We have created a nation of addicts … a captive market for food manufacturers, drug manufacturers and medical equipment manufacturers.

And we grease the wheels with a team of impressively trained drones all spouting the same nonsense. All part of a politically sanctioned chain of health care robots.

And we might also need access to medical care if we have an acute condition. So fear will continue to rule the roost on every level.