Have you read the story of a man in England, whom was thrown off a plane for being too fat because he couldn’t fit in his seat? Whilst I understand that the airline has a point and needs to comply with its policies and safety procedures, the gentleman has a point also, obviously there are two sides to the story. The hard part to accept in this case is that it is completely unfair for the airline to accept payment for a single seat, have him aboard the flight, only to kick him off because he couldn’t fit in his seat, nor afford to pay for a second one as requested there and then. For an obese person (and I know what it is like to be obese) this is the most humiliating situation to be in. But it’s an unfortunate circumstance with no real answer on the spot. I believe that valuable feedback should be directed to the airlines to at least accommodate a growing world to a certain degree. An example would be to warn seat dimensions prior to booking any passengers and allow the passenger to decide/assess whether his or her body will fit. Many may argue that obesity is a disability which is to a degree because obese people are limited with their physical flexibility, however should not be held in the same class as someone who has no control or choice over their disability. In most cases, obesity is created by the individual, excluding those who become obese due to other medical conditions beyond their control and not related to obesity itself. Let’s not forget that we can control what we put in our mouths. When I weighed 136kg/300lbs, I never considered myself as disabled. I longed for the experience to fit in a normal pair of jeans, or to fit in a seat in a cinema or plane for that matter, or even to fit in the “real world” so to speak. In knew that if I wanted to experience these luxuries, I had to change my life and my diet and move my body. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.

I watched a story on A Current Affair about a guy named Kyle who lost 77kg in a year and now is left with a large amount of excess skin as a result. He now expects that the Australian government should foot the $40,000 bill to surgically remove his excess skin, claiming that he should be rewarded for the effort that he put in to losing all of his weight. He believes that if the Government is willing to provide funding for lap-band surgery, then his case shouldn’t be any different. While his efforts should be commended and that he has the right to be upset about the funding of lap-band surgery, I don’t believe that his surgery should be funded.

In 2000, I reached a significant milestone of my own, reaching my goal weight of 69kg, after losing 67kg in 13 months on my own and without any help from surgery, gyms, personal trainers etc. I lost my weight sensibly by creating a healthy eating plan and by walking in my backyard around my clothesline. I too was left with a massive amount of excess skin which eventually needed to be removed surgically because no exercise was going to get rid of it. It never actually entered my mind to consider having the Government fund my surgery. At the time, I reached my goal, I was left with excess skin and it was my own decisions to have it removed. No matter what the cost was to me, I considered it my own reward for actually losing my weight and providing myself with a longer life. Unfortunately our world is accepting obesity as part of our normal lives more and more and frankly I believe it is crazy. I think we need to open our eyes to the growing obesity concern and do something about it. Yes I believe that we should encourage people to lose weight and yes I believe we should commend those who succeed, but I don’t believe that our Government should be funding lap-band surgery or removal of excess skin. There are so many other millions of causes that we should be putting our taxes to for example, breast re-construction for cancer patients. If you are interested to learn more of my personal experience with removing my excess skin, refer to my book The Clothesline Diet which describes my journey in great detail. I invite you to sahre your view.

I was reading a leading story in Melbourne’s Herald Sun labelled “Heavy Cost of Obesity”. According to the statistics, Australians are heading to spend $745.6 million dollars on counselling, low-calorie foods and shakes, diet cook books, lap-band surgery and lipo-suction. That’s not even including gym fees or personal trainers. In Australia there is 62% of adults that are overweight. Gym memberships and personal training is going up, but so are the obesity figures. 

Come on Australia, what are we doing to ourselves? While we are spending a fortune on fast food, we are spending just the same, if not more to lose the calories. It goes to show that we are getting fatter quicker, than losing it and it seems we are accepting it as a normal part of life. I lost 67kg/150lbs in 13 months on my own, without spending any more than my weekly shopping budget. I’m sure that you can do the same. It all comes down to common sense and going back to basics. Think about it this way. Hundreds of years ago, we didn’t have the technology that we have today, but managed to survive on the basic food sources. Now that we have almost everything at our fingertips, we are just abusing it and taking things for granted, especially our bodies. We all need to wake up, shape up and get on with it. Natural foods, good exercise and common sense are the keys to losing weight and you can do it on your own. Let me be your example that it can be done and cost you nothing more than a healthy grocery list. Feel free to let me know your thoughts.