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Certainly good to have an open discussion about it here, I never expected the thread to take off like this, but it’s good that it has. I suspect that your percentages may well be wrong, in that far more people have mental reasons for their eating habits, in fact I suspect it is far higher. There are many reasons; depression, stress, anxiety, low self esteem, pain, grief, enough reasons that we all experience them at some point in our lives. They are so interlinked too eg low self esteem can cause weight gain, fix the weight gain and the self esteem comes back, and equally fix the self esteem and the weight may drop off, but where do you start on that cycle? Push the weight piece too hard and that just crushes self esteem even more. As I mentioned, acute and chronic pain (back pain and sciatica) over years, ironically caused by rowing but also heavy lifting in the garden which ruined my lower two discs were a major factor for me. Add to that a perforated stomach leading to a laparotomy (think emergency C section type incision cutting through all my stomach muscles vertically) which destroyed my core strength and added to the pressure on my back. That was my start on comfort eating, mild depression and lack of exercise, leading to weight gain and more pressure on the back and and and… The start of the route back for me was finding a good pain consultant who got me an MRI scan to diagnose the problem, then gave me root nerve block injections into my discs to numb the pain. The most remarkable thing about this is that it demonstrates how much pain is mental as well as physical. The injections wear off after a few months, but deadening the pain allowed my brain to perform a kind of hard reset, so the nerves which had become over sensitised to pain no longer triggered at such low levels, and the pain largely went away. My back still hurts, but it is a totally different sort of pain and quite manageable. Just as another example of the mental aspect of pain. At one stage I could not stand for more than five minutes without severe buttock and leg pain, requiring me to crouch down to relieve it. Mrs Stu and I went to a concert where we were going to be standing for two hours or more, so I was understandably nervous. It turned out that once the music started, I completely forgot about it and was able to enjoy the whole thing without thinking about it. Only when walking back to the car did the pain return. I digress. Just examples of one of many different factors which can influence eating habits. Complex indeed.

Hello I am Tony Parham and have owned my yellow Westfield Seiw with swept wings since 1995 . Along with our son (user name Wolfdog) toured Europe back in 2008 including Stelvio pass to Italy. As I have now rejoined from a while back and have joined in January will it be possible to get a 2023 calendar as I believe I have a couple of photos published on it via Martyn Vann !!

Whilst the causes may be very different for me Dave, I too lost around 7 stone before lockdown started, but then for some reason fell off my metaphorical horse and during lockdown I managed to put about 90% of it back on. I KNOW I can do it again, but as you say it is a lot more difficult second time around. This pic is my motivation. Over 20st vs 13st 10. Same shirt, was probably unironed in the first pic too, but was stretched so tight the creases didn’t show 😱 🤣

Hi! I think/believe we're coming upon a distinction here: with weight management as well as with other areas in life there are fundamentally different starting points and hence fundamentally different solutions required. What I'm trying to say is probably easier to explain in quite simplistic dimensions of just two distinct groups of people, just to get the point across. However, I'm a firm believer that life is not binary - plenty of shades of grey out there. Anyway, here goes and sticking with weight management to make the point. The majority of the population can probably get their weight under control with the simple solution of eating less and moving more. For most people it is probably also entirely their own fault and their own lack of discipline if that doesn't happen. However, for maybe as many (or as few?) as 20-25% of us that is absolutely not the case. There are far more profound matters involved, Dave was hinting at some and I won't go into it, but I have learnt a lesson or two about such, too. We "just" have to be honest with ourselves when we try and figure out where we stand/start. Whether it's deciding how to maintain our weight, or reaching a healthy weight, or any other choice of how we live our lives. For most of us it will simply be a matter of "choice", but unfortunately not for all of us. A mistake to avoid would be to apply solutions/excuses for group "A" to group "B" - and vice versa! Last proviso: While I may sound quite self-assured and certain in my words, I am not. I may well be entirely wrong about everything I just said. The above is just my current life experience - hopefully more will be added to it...

When I bought my Westfield it was a considered purchase, and one i had thought about for some time. I to had a little knowledge on cars. Could do oil changes brake pads etc but i have attempted so much on this car and if its not your main point of transport you can start something an go back to it. Its been fun, just into my 7th year of ownership. Nothing brave about it. When I bought it I thought why do more people not do this, and the conclusion I have come to, its having somewhere to put it. if you keep it somewhere away from where you live its too much hassle to go get it so they don't get used and sold on. A lot of people don't have a garage and when they do 98% of those are filled up with "stuff." That my opinion anyway ha 😁

I've slowly gained 2st. Since I retired 5 years ago.. I found eating the same foods but 1/3 less in bulk has helped stem the increase in weight. Wifey and daughter make oh so nice cakes so I can't stop having them either, just have 1/2 a portion now. Still like chocolate but instead of munching a whole bar of cheap stuff like Cadbury or Roses, I now buy better quality like Hotel and Lindt and limit myself to a 1/4 of what I had before. A bonus to having home made cakes is a lot less sugar goes into their making and the same with decent chocolate. Booze,. Yes I do drink beer wine and occasional single malt but again, less than I used to but better quality drinks and I appreciate all that I consume and never feel hungry. Couple other things I can recommend is drink lots of water and gentle exercise, just walking is good enough for me. Another good topic Stu for us guys on men's health, great idea. Bernie.

First day off with dry roads for a good while. Couldn't resist a quick blast

Recently added a 228i to my stable as my normal car. I really like it, and no run flats 😄

I Withdraw my last post, i was way out of order and apologise to Dave.

If you currently have the folded aluminium top brackets and have any plans to put either a 75mm core radiator and high power fan on, or a 55 rad/intercooler/high power fan set up, I'd say these were near vital. I went through about three sets of alloy brackets in a month or so, with the weight of the 75mm rad and fan just continually cracking the alloy brackets.

This is the sort of dogmatically damaging approach that also leads to umpteen mental health issues, from body image problems to full blown eating disorders, let alone depression, anxiety and addiction. All of which then tend to either make the original issue of weight gain worse, or in the most catastrophic cases, cause such a massive reversal that physical health can be damaged permanently, even to the very extreme cases of death.

Evolution has played a dirty trick on some of us more than others. We are a famine species so are wired up to binge when we can. When you add sedentary lifestyles and food-toxic environments then some of us are going to have a hard time of it. Understanding what works best for you is the key. Whatever works is good.

In my case, I think I can take a relatively simplistic view of it. I know that I put on weight when I eat too much, and particularly too much sugar which brings on major cravings. I do eat due to stress and depression, and have also suffered in the past from severe back pain which limited my ability to exercise and increased comfort eating, a classic vicious circle. Most of these things are made more complex by mental factors. I also know that after two or three days without sugar, my cravings go away, and that when I exercise my mood improves and I am more likely to eat more healthily. As the weight comes off, aches and pains go away and exercise becomes easier too. I had a bad chest infection which knocked me over for about five weeks at the back of me of the year, and am now feeling a bit more like my old self. Currently I have cravings under control and am eating much better, but need to start some exercise soon. Will get there this week hopefully.

The X3 is a ditchfinder. I don't think the tyres will make much odds Sorry, couldn't resist...

Radiator brackets made from 1.5mm stainless steel, made to replace the standard aluminium ones due to the fatigue issue with them. Fit and forget! Mounting holes left off so can be fitted to suit your hole pattern.

Just so we are equal, I am pulling this stuff from thin air and gut feelings too 👍 My thoughts are that all over (or under) eating issues are ultimately driven by mental issues of a whole variety of causes, why else would perfectly intelligent human beings consistently cause themselves damage through these behaviours? So, given the number of people that are overweight, I just believe that the number of people whose poor eating is driven by mental issues, rather than just it being their fault, is much higher than your 20 to 25%. Those issues might be one of those mentioned above (depression, stress, anxiety, pain, grief etc), or something like addiction to sugars led by the tsunami of marketing which we all face everyday. This is not necessarily a mental health issue, but is still mental in origin and makes the issue not just one of fault.

I used the email on address sheet from last club mag. www.jurysinn.com/hotels/hinckley-island It has changed name to Leonardo Hotel and Conference Venue Hinckley Island. Hope its right now I've booked it.

Hi! Yes, the discussion is definitely flowing and you've hit the right spot! 🙂 I'm very intrigued in what you're thinking of my percentages, which admittedly I plugged out of thin air so I'm not precious about them. However, I also have a long history in rowing and through all these years learned (was taught) that anything and everything can be fixed by pulling yourself together, biting through the pain and pushing even harder. Well... of course it didn't work all the time, of course I often fell short of this approach etc. but that was the mindset of the people I grew up in and the successful ones openly celebrated that approach + the fruits of this were measurable and indisputable. So, I frequently ponder how much actually can be solved by this, how much more damage is being done by it and for many people and problems this approach is absolutely useless. I can certainly speak for myself in that before I started rowing (at about 15) I was a very, very wet blanket... and thanks to what I went through in competitive rowing I'm only a wet blanket now. No deep stuff needed, I just had to learn to bite. What worked for me surely must work for a few more folks out there...

Interesting, here's a really good TED talk on the illusion of pain and why things hurt: https://youtu.be/gwd-wLdIHjs

It is good we are discussing these issue frankly and openly. I was quite shocked when I was speaking with the dietician as to how complex this can be. As I said I have had weight issues all my life at this was the first time some aspects of the problem was explained. It seems bizarre that a person might be eating so little that their body stores everything it can as it thinks it is being starved, which then leads to more issues. That doesn't apply to me but one can see how easy a person might develop an eating disorder if they keep being told eat less.

Thank you.

that it undoubtedly is. My niece is in her final year this year of university, before becoming a Clinical dietician- perhaps similar to the person Chris saw? It’s been a real eye opener for the rest of the family just how medically complex her studies have been and how incredibly complex a subject it is. (Obviously we’re talking in this instance way beyond weight control, and into the realms of drug and treatment interactions, within the hospital, as well as the effects on recovery etc.) The links to mental health beyond the simplistic/basic are fascinating too. Personally, I have (medically diagnosed) depression, that will come and go over time, (returning with a vengeance post lock down), which is also partially linked to PTSD. I don’t speak to use any as an excuse. But it makes all sorts of complications to life, weight loss included. Personally. What I’ve found in the last year or so, is all the good habits formed while loosing six stone, around 2018 ish, seemed, when my “spin” seemed to get knocked off axis somewhat, post pandemic, to almost get reset to some of the decades ingrained bad habits from before. Frustratingly, they’re not all gone, and loosing the weight a second time, so soon, is soooo much harder.

Dave, you have very eloquently expressed what I ineptly waffled around earlier. The big challenge in my mind is how you balance the need to keep personal responsibility in place, empowering people to feel they can take action to help themselves, whilst avoiding the kinds of very damaging impacts you described by a fat shaming type approach. I’ve yet to square that one away in my head, and although I personally don’t get affected by it, I have two daughters who we have to be very careful with to maintain their self esteem in the face of relentless social media/TV images. it’s certainly a very complex topic.

Welcome back Tony

Welcome back Tony!

Yes I get that Chris, however it is the fact that is someone keeps saying eat less and you do and it still does not work there has to be a reason. it is not looking for excuses it is looking for valid reasons as to what is going wrong. Understanding what it is is the key but unless you know we really are putting a sticking plaster on a cut when we should be taking the knife off ourselves. I am ever optimistic that what I learnt yesterday will help me to lose it and keep it off

All that is true, but ultimately, the simplistic eat less do more is true, as is the eat too much, get fat. The key is to figure out what works for you, not someone else or some generic average. From my perspective, all the complications are potentially dangerous as they can provide excuses. Knowing them may help tailor eating habits, but again, if you eat too much for you, for what you eat and what you do, weight goes up. There was a really good program some years back, maybe Horizon, which addressed all these points and reached the conclusion I make above. It debunked pretty much every myth I had been holding on to so desperately for such a long time. Yes, expert nutritional advice will help, of course.

As I said I had my first session with an NHS appointed person yesterday and previous to that I would have agreed with your statement. It is sort of true, however when I said that to her she replied " if I had a pound for every time I hear that I would be very rich" She is a fully qualified nutritionist and expert in weight loss management. The problem is we are all differrent. My brother drank and ate to excess, he would clear huge meals did not exercise and yet was stick thin all his life. He was not unique, we all know people like that and envy them. Then there are people who are the opposite eating little yet losing nothing. What is a known issue is our metabolism changes as we age and our bodies are designed to carry fat in the winter from early man days. How we burn that fat off is the key. for some, like my brother, it was likely his Thyroid was over active like many others but as they have no issues and are not overweight they are lucky. My own Thyroid function is a bit slow but the endocrinologist Consultant will never prescribe a drug level to be over active so two people same meal one will burn it off the other will only burn part off. So some of the things she said, fruit eaten raw is great, if in a smoothie bad as the process of blending makes the fructose come out and that gives a sugar spike. Processed food is bad, even say Bran flakes which are healthy contain sugar, and if you look at any label it is shocking how much is in there, look at baked beans for that as an example, the bean is good but the sauce contains a lot of sugar. So many other things, stress is a real issue for weight gain, we eat for comfort. Eating too fast, means we derive little benefit so instead of the body burning some reserves it looks for sugar spikes. Sleep. We need quality sleep that is 7-8 hours per night of deep sleep. Already I have had several articles sent to explain in detail by her and they make sense. As she said if losing weight was as simple as the statement then we would not have the obesity epidemic we have. For me I have been following calorie reduction diets for years with some success, but actually my calorie deficit needs to be higher than the information I had previously been given. Yes at the end I make no excuse but I have a better understanding of where I have gone wrong after yesterday than I had before.

Have a great day @Chrisn01 & @jeff the joiner 🍺🍺🎂🎂

As @SootySportsaid, drink lots of water. The ‘you aren’t hungry’ you’re thirsty’ trick works well, following this thread I’ve started doing that again too - get the munchies, down a glass of water instead. Or two, or however many it takes

As of this morning, I’m 19st 11lb. I’ll update once a week to keep myself honest!

Just received my storm cap for the caged westy from sbfs ordered in December and arrived today, no pics as the car’s in bits 🙄 after the wee altercation at Donington before Christmas , so once parts arrive I’ll get some pictures excellent service and they kept me up to date via email so really happy with their service

Have a great day @Andy Malone - Editor & @Jim RS 🍺🍺🎂🎂

Fine weather in Surrey today, so I got out for a blast to Newlands Corner, followed by a thorough wash & shine. Main jobs for 2023, apart from keeping it between the hedges, include updating the headlights to LED (smaller diameter with black surrounds - recommendations welcome!), and replacing the seats with lighter carbon / composite.

Just two days into 2023 and two meets under the belt already 😂 Yesterday... Today...