A life coach has called himself the ‘weight loss guru’ Boris Johnson needs to help tackle the war on obesity, and thinks people being overweight is a bigger problem than Covid.
Pete Cohen, from West Sussex, appeared on ITV’s Lorraine today, where he claimed that the Prime Minister should approach him for advice on weight loss because he is the ‘guru’ working with the British Obesity Society to ‘really have an impact’.
He claimed that while many may have ‘woken up’ to the health risks of being overweight during the pandemic, many will have piled on the pounds during lockdown – and called obesity ‘the biggest problem in the world today’.
Viewers weren’t convinced by Pete, with some branding him ‘passive aggressive’ and accusing him of not coherently answering questions about how to actually lose weight.
Pete Cohen (pictured) , from West Sussex, appeared on ITV’s Lorraine today with host Christine Bleakley (pictured), where he claimed that the Prime Minister should approach him for advice on weight loss
He claimed many will have piled on the pounds during lockdown – and called obesity ‘the biggest problem in the world today’
Pete said: ‘There’s no question that Covid woke up a lot of people to act, but the reality is coming out of lockdown, the average British adult has put on seven pounds and more. So this is the biggest problem in the world today, it’s not Covid.
He later added: ‘What I want to say to Boris is, “You need to speak to me. I’m the weight loss guru working with the British Obesity Society to really have an impact here, because this is a huge problem”.’
Viewers weren’t impressed with the motivational speaker, with one accusing him of ‘liking the sound of his own voice’ while another branded the interview ‘absolutely cringe’.
One wrote: ‘Hi I’m Pete and I like the sound of my own voice. Watch me take simple questions and rant about people being inherently lazy because as you can see, I myself am completely perfect.’
Viewers weren’t impressed with the motivational speaker, with one accusing him of ‘liking the sound of his own voice’ while another branded the interview ‘absolutely cringe’
A third agreed: ‘He’s as bad as some politicians. Answer the Q dude. What would you do, not tell us what you would do to work out what to do… #talking #obesity #passiveaggresive.’
The life coach went on to say that while Boris Johnson has managed to lose weight after being admitted to intensive care with Covid-19, Britons won’t be following his lead, as people in general ‘don’t like exercise’.
He said: ‘I think we start by saying congratulations, because he has done something positive in losing weight.
‘But if he thinks people will follow him, there’s no chance, because people don’t like exercise and have a very interesting relationship with food.’
The life coach went on to say that while Johnson has managed to lose weight after he battled for his life with Covid, Brits won’t be following his lead
Pete demonstrated how passionately he feels on the matter by kneeling down, to represent the fact that the ‘NHS is on its knees’.
‘He wants to save the NHS,’ said Pete, ‘I’m going to literally get on my knees. Because the NHS is on its knees, it really is. I was speaking to the Chief medical officer of Southampton Hospital.
‘He said that he reckons 80 per cent of people in hospital are there because of underlying conditions, lifestyle choices. And one of those is putting on an excess amount of weight.’
Pete , who on his website refers to himself as ‘The Inspirator’, went on to urge the government to revisit their approach to weight loss, and thinks that the public need to focus on the ‘relationship they have with themselves’.
The life coach went on to urge the government to revisit their approach to weight loss, and thinks that the public need to focus on the ‘relationship they have with themselves’
He went on: ‘If this government wants to win this war on obesity, it will have to do things differently than it did in the past.
‘Because in the 1950s there was no obesity, we have 65 per cent of people in this country who are overweight or obese. The reality is he’s going to do something differently.
‘We need to recognise that when it comes to weight, it’s here, it’s all very well saying we need to encourage people to be more active but it all starts with the relationship we have with ourselves.
‘We need to help people with their will power. We have to help people build their will power, the science of self control and help people feel confident about who they are.’