With parts of the world in the grip of an obesity epidemic, it’s clear that there’s more to losing weight than eating less.
Allow me start by confessing that I can be a bit of a smug bastard at times. Usually when I have just accomplished something quite hard that you are finding quite difficult.
Like weight loss.
About three years ago, I decided that I was fed up carrying a big spare tyre and put myself on what I understand is now called the Tim Noakes or Banting diet (lots of salad and protein – no booze or sweets) and shed 12 kilos. I was also walking or running about 5kms every day. It took about six months.
So it’s easy: just eat less and exercise more, OK?
And if we all did this – all the Fat Boys and Fat Girls, all the Northern European Whales that I saw by the pool on a recent holiday in Mauritius – if we all did this, we would all be fine. No more obesity epidemic, no more Type II diabetes, and so on. We just need some more grit and willpower – of which I clearly have loads – and this is one global problem that can be knocked on its head quite quickly.
Then three things happened, more or less simultaneously, which have convinced me that my viewpoint is wrong and that losing weight is a damned sight harder than just eating less and exercising more.
First, I acquired a gadget called a Jawbone UP24. This is a fitness tracker, worn around the wrist, which is accompanied by a smartphone App. The App tells me how many steps I’ve taken each day – my target is 12,500 – and it communicates this to Discovery Health, which awards me points. I can also enter everything I eat and drink, which the App sets off against my steps or runs or other exercise, revealing to me how many more calories I have left for the day. Big exercise day = lots of calories. Idle, sitting-on-bum day = many fewer calories.
The second thing was McKinsey’s think-tank, the McKinsey Global Institute, sending me their latest study on the subject. Called Overcoming Obesity: An initial economic analysis, it’s an eye opener. You may already have seen some of the headlines: as a mega-problem, Obesity is right up there with Smoking and Armed Conflict, each one costing the planet around $2-2.1 trillion per annum. In comparison, the fourth horseman of this apocalyptic group – Alcoholism – costs a mere $1.4 trillion.
This won’t take long, I thought as I sat down to read it. All we have to do is eat less and exercise more.
One hundred and twenty closely argued pages later, I have discovered that more than 30% of the world’s population is obese, and if we carry on doing what we’re doing about it now, that number will rise to 40% by 2030. McKinsey’s team of experts looked at no less than 74 interventions in 18 separate areas, many of which are very cost-effective, but none of which will work on their own. By the authors’ own admission, this is a highly controversial and highly contested area. They liken their work to that of a 16th Century cartographer: we look back on those crude maps with amusement, but in their day, they served a purpose and helped lead us to where we are now.
Among the factors highlighted in the McKinsey report: portion control, the availability of high-calorie food and drink (i.e vending machines in offices), active transport (i.e. cycling & walking to work), labelling, media restrictions (what can and can’t be advertised) and education.
The third thing that happened to me was that I caught a cold, probably picked up on the plane back from Mauritius, and it started to rain in Knysna, where I live. I don’t exercise when I’m ill, and I’m notoriously ‘fair-weather’ about it, too – if it’s raining, I’ll leave it until tomorrow. Among many other things, the McKinsey report also made it clear that yes, exercise is vitally important – but you’ve got to have somewhere to exercise in the first place.
So there I sat, reading the facts and the figures about fat, snuffling and coughing a bit, but still entering everything that I ate or drank into my Jawbone App. And doing no exercise. By mid-afternoon for several days this week, I was already over my allotted calorie limit – with an evening meal still ahead. Throw in a glass or two of wine and I was in deep calorific trouble.
Then I remembered corporate life in Johannesburg in the 80s and 90s, when I gained the weight that made me look like a small Michelin Man. Into the office at six, a good 12 hours of work, a snack here, a toasted sandwich there, no time to exercise, and even if I had wanted to, where would I have worked out at the south end of Eloff Street? Don’t be ridiculous! Get home, knackered, a couple of scotches to get the wrinkles out, supper with a glass or two of wine. And certainly no smartphone apps back in those days.
With hindsight, I’m amazed I didn’t turn out to be twice the size.
Modern knowledge and some smart technology leaves me way better placed to keep track of these things now. But I also have two other key factors going for me: I live in a very beautiful environment which is highly conducive to exercise, and I’m a freelancer now, no longer a corporate super-hero, so I can take as much time to run or work out as I need and adjust my day’s schedule accordingly.
Without these perks, I’d be just like everyone else – a Fat Boy Waiting. To put it another way, without a whole lot of things in your favour, losing weight is not just difficult, it’s damn near impossible. Hats off to everyone who’s done it, but if you’re trying and battling, have a look at the McKinsey Global Institute report Overcoming Obesity: An initial economic analysis https://email.mckinsey.com/1e1452ffblayfousub6r4yuyaaaaabzdciogtesol4yyaaaaa
It will at least give you an idea of the dimension of the problem and also give you some insights into how to beat the system.