Would anyone say to some of the larger cadets we have in the Corps male and female, you shouldn’t be wearing that uniform, you should lose weight and openly ridicule them, like people think it is perfectly fine to do with adults? Although when I say adults I mean men, as to say these things to a women would attract negative press with all the “me too” nonsense as my good lady puts it.
What are you on about?
It’s about remembering that as a cadet instructor you are a role model and example to those kids. No one is saying anything about ridiculing anyone. And depending on the situation you could be the only positive role model for that kid.
But obesity is a huge epidemic and its going to get worse. It’s not healthy and it’s not good.
And to ignore good practises, good role models, good examples and good education and direction in favour of this “health at every size” and pseudoscience rubbish that’s getting more air time.
End of the day it’s down to personal goals, not everyone wants to run a marathon, but if you get out of breath running for the bus then you might need to address some life choices.
The person that started this thread asked for advice and help, no one has ridiculed them.
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That is a good point, and this thread has stayed mainly positive and kept away from areas which I imagined it would head towards much sooner. (I had that view because we’ve often hit this topic from the other side when we discuss people who don’t fit in No1 uniform continuing to wear it regardless.)
However, it seems to have done that today and it has started to stray away from productivity.
Let’s keep it civil and productive.
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in truth the uniform should be doing that for them anyway.
If the size of garment isn’t available for the individual, quite simply because no one in NATO is that big, that should be a sign to all
I know of a CFAV who hasn’t worn blues/No2 in 12+ months as they are too big to fit into them, and is why they only wear No3s - not sure what that says about the Army if No3 goes to a larger size than RAF blue!
I asked this question because I wanted to get an understanding of how other staff feel the importance of being a role model to younger cadets and I want to be that role model, hence asking for advice. I did not state I was being ridiculed. However, criticism can make people make better life choices
I serve more as a cautionary tale rather than a role-model. Tomayto tomahto!
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Being a role model has nothing to do with physical appearance. Being a role model is about your demeanour and your actions and how that influences in our case youngsters. If you say lost some weight it wouldn’t make you a better role model. Some people I know who have lost weight are weight loss vegans/pilots ie normally leave it 5 seconds before stating the fact.
As for criticism making people make better life choices whatever that means (what a nonsense phrase that is) is rubbish. If people respond like that then they will spiral down or bounce around through life, trying to meet people’s expectations. This sort of suggests a form bullying to meet a n others perception of what you should do and or how you should live.
For the record I dd lose 1½ stone in 18 months 30 odd years ago, but I remember had to eat so little or odd things and exercise like a lunatic and when I went back to normal life, the weight went back on in a similar time. I did it to see how it would go not for any other reason.
Absolute twaddle
Bill and Ben are twins and both CFAVs
They followed each other through Cadets and now both FS staff and active with unit both having a fist full of qualifications to allow things to happen, both up standing members of society and do more in the community than just the RAFAC.
Bill likes his food and it shows. He’s noticeably overweight with a BMI into his 30s he’s almost classed as obese.
Ben on the other hand is more moderate with his food intake and takes part in charity fund raising 10k runs.
Who is the better role model?
Bill for “beating anorexia”?
Or Ben for maintaining a healthy lifestyle?
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This is a very, very, very, very narrow perspective.
Why are people so hung up on this model revolving around physical attributes and eating habits? Is it just to reinforce something deep seated in their own minds of what they see as bad, or, are they “born again” evangelical types with respect to eating and exercise and on a mission, or, a combination of both.
When I look back my major role models are my dad and one of my uncles who lived with us for a couple of years, when I was younger.
I do wonder about this fascination with eating habits and exercise, as it seems to be a peculiar thing to obsess about when dealing with teenagers, given they will have little or no say in the matter, unless they do the fad thing, which right minded parents nod sweetly to and allow to move into the undergrowth. If I’d said to my parents I want to eat or I’m not going to eat, the response would have been curt and to the point.
Look, in the distance! The actual topic!
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The OP says something a diet plan, why? If they are that concerned get on with it, if you are that bothered and it is obviously something that does bother them by the line
which suggests to me that someone has commented that in the observers opinion they are a bit tubby. They should just get on with it and for advice ask any woman where they work, as they will be inundated with ideas. I may be wrong, but obviously something somewhere has got to them.
it would be interesting to see how many cadets actually care what the staff do or look like. I can’t think in my time in the organisation that I’ve ever been bothered by some of the things some respondents seem to be unnecessarily worried about. Thee are more important things that need addressing than this.
Completely disagree with that whole statement, I’m tubby but not big and I’ve heard many comments from cadets and staff alike about the size of some personnel in the ATC/RAF.
Also, what makes you think just “women” will have ideas about weight loss? Men can also have tips can they not?
Obesity is now being an epidemic in the UK, surely this is the time to start addressing the problem? And the best way we can start this (as members of staff) is to lead by example and follow a healthy timetable
Maybe some people have parents who would actually respond in a reasonable fashion to the request “May I please eat more vegetables?”
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don’t feed the troll people.
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If at any point in their day all that cadets or staff start talking about staff like that, then they must have run out of things to do. It’s never been a topic of any conversation I’ve ever been involved in.
Why just women, because in 35 years of employment I’ve never heard a man talk about an eat less diet, they may do one, but not talk about them like the women I’ve heard many go on about them before Christmas, after Christmas and then in April/May when they worry about holidays. I’ve seen them compare notes, lists, how much they lost or put on and you know what in all these years, it has only made any visible difference to one woman who was really big, but she put some of it back when she stopped.
As for obesity epidemic who knows and how much influence do you really think you or any of us exert? The only way to have that level of influence is to stand up and say I am doing and I think some of you should to, but be prepared for some parents taking umbrage. If someone we left our kids with suggested they should do this or that in terms of changing how they live, they would have been on receive only message.
I don’t wish to upset you, we see these youngsters for at most 3-4 hours per week if the cadet attends both nights and maybe 40% of those couple of hours. They will on average see a school teacher 4-5 hours a week and potentially double that if you consider breaks etc, so where you do honestly think the greater influence would be? We are an after school club, little more, little less and we need to concentrate on delivery in that club environment and not peripheral personal whims or fancies.
We are a military youth organisation and after all we are trying to promote the RAF, that is one of our aims and many cadets do join after cadet service. They need to have a decent amount of fitness to even begin the progress of joining so the best way this can start is by us staff regardless of how often we see them. How can we expect cadets to be healthy and fit if us staff are unhealthy and unfit. It’s embarrasing to even think I should try and run a sports night if I can even do the activity myself, this is the reason why I have asked for tips so I can become a better person and set an example to the kids. Not because “someone has upset” me.
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Because then he’ll get fat…
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To summarise:
Person A wants to lose weight, has reasons, asks for tips on how to achieve their goals.
People B-S are supportive and offer advice.
Person T disparages Person A’s reasons, tells them not to bother, and throws in a bit of misogyny for good measure.
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Welcome to ACC
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The topic please.