Why We Eat (Too Much) Thread 2

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Shiny new thread to continue on with! I hope everyone keeps going.

For any newbies, this thread is based on a book by Dr Andrew Jenkinson. The main principles are to cut out sugar, wheat and ultra-processed foods, while eating fresh natural ingredients. It works!

Previous thread: thread 1

Thanks @TooExtraImmatureCheddar for the new thread, I found the previous one really useful, it's great to be able to get ideas and advice from everyone.

Plaice marking. 🐟

Place marking too

Thank you for the new thread.

What does everyone have planned for today meal wise? I hardly ate at all yesterday as there was a crisis at work and I was on back to back calls almost all day, so I’ve woken up very hungry this morning. I’m planning porridge with chia seeds for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch and a lentil and paneer curry for dinner.

Good morning! I'm planning porridge for breakfast @BangingOn, then I think I'll either have scrambled eggs or else smoked salmon on rye crispbreads for lunch. Dinner is our regular Saturday Chinese takeaway, which is not on plan but I have mine with boiled rice and I split my portion and take extra veg so I'm only eating a small amount of my main. Not perfect, but a whole lot better than what I used to take.

Thanks for the new thread!

Yesterday was terrible (because I had the sugar). I had a headache pretty much all day and didn’t want to eat anything else other than sugar. It’s insane what it does to your brain.

Anyway today is a new day, I have a long walk with my friend in the rain! Then home to do housework, I really want to clear out the playroom this weekend.

It’s my mums Birthday today so she’s over with my stepdad for cake and presents. I’ve got chicken in the fridge for dinner, I think I’m going to stuff the breasts with Philadelphia and serve with veg. the kids can have those leftover French fries and I’ll have new potatoes. Breakfast is going to be porridge, not sure about lunch yet. Maybe egg fried rice.

Hope everyone is ok x

Thanks for the new shiney thread!

Yesterday was a lot better than it could have been. Took my dm and aunt out to the garden centre (aunt is ill) and we were potentially going to have lunch, but just had drinks as aunt wasn't well enough to eat. So I didn't eat anything until 4pm, which was a few olives and some cheese. Then for tea it was takeaway day. Dh and dd fancied kebabs/pizzas so I had the grill thing they do, which is basically grilled lamb and chicken. No pitta bread with it and just had the salad. Was half a bottle of wine and a few beers down by this point and still a bit peckish. Had a frys Turkish delight and a bowl of strawberries and cream. Preferred the strawberries tbh and wish I hadn't bothered with the chocolate.

Tea tonight is steak with beef fat chips and med veg. Lunch will probably be scrambled eggs.

Not much planned for today. Housework mainly and a bit of uni work to do. Will have a few drinks tonight but not many.

Going out for a barbecue this afternoon - likely to be a lot to drink! I will try to avoid bread etc and just eat the meat and salad. I can’t get too hammered because I’ve signed up for a bouldering session tomorrow at 1 - must attempt not to smell of drink!

Thanks for the new thread!

Haven’t decided on lunch or dinner yet. One thing I have noticed when cutting out sugar is that when I do have it again, it tastes almost unbearably sweet!
For a long time, I thought wheat/bread didn’t agree with me but with experimentation I’ve discovered that actually it’s shop-bought baked goods that give me an upset stomach/bloating and I’m fine with homemade spelt/wheat bread. At the moment, I’m avoiding the wheat but it’s been interesting to chart the effects on my body of the very processed baked goods.

Thanks for the new thread - wow thread 2! I’ve never stuck with any other WOE long enough to still be around for a second thread

I’ve just had my porridge and think I’ll be having left over pasta bake tonight (I followed a recipe from the good food website and the quantities were massive! I reduced the amount of pasta they said but it’s still made LOADS, I think I’ll have to freeze some). Not sure about lunch, the porridge keeps me full for hours so might just have a bit of cheese if I feel peckish.

No exciting plans for the day, it’s a bit drizzly but we’re about to go out for a long-ish walk but no other plans.

Hope you get over your sugar rush @Tinkling, it’s shocking how easy it is to fall back into eating it!

That’s interesting SulisMinerva, I have digestive issues with a few things (garlic and onion being main culprits) and am funny with wheat sometimes, but perhaps it’s the more processed stuff. I’ll keep an eye on it when I do eat anything containing wheat. I’ve got a recipe for oat bread that I’m going to try too.

Thanks for the new thread TooExtraImmatureCheddar!
Went for a very wet run this morning, starting to feel a little more human now as Covid is disappearing. Haven't had much appetite at all this week and I'm terrible, if I like something I'm happy to eat it every day so this week has been salad niçoise for lunch with fromage blanc chia and flax seeds, and in the evening green salad with whatever I cook for the family. Tonight will be chilli, I never eat rice so that's not a problem.
I've lost weight but it is more due to Covid than the WOE. I'm like @OhMyChrist2020, BMI was already under 20 and approaching 19 now. I don't want to lose any more weight, just continue eating less sugar.
A lot of podcasts I listen to now are saying one of the best ways to test our visceral fat level (too much of which can lead to heart disease, diabetes etc.) is to ensure your waist - hip ratio is 0.8 for women, 0.9 for men. For those who don't like the scales it's an alternative way to measure your health!

For a long time, I thought wheat/bread didn’t agree with me but with experimentation I’ve discovered that actually it’s shop-bought baked goods that give me an upset stomach/bloating and I’m fine with homemade spelt/wheat bread. I agree. When I was eating supermarket bread, I would quite often wake up with stomach cramps. I had no idea what the problem was until I was talking to a friend about losing weight, and she suggested I try giving up bread as a start. I realised that the cramps had gone! But if I eat sourdough from the local bakery it’s fine. DH has also noticed that supermarket bread gives him indigestion. Anyway after reading this book I now just have bread occasionally, and only ‘proper’ bread, and generally my stomach is fine.

Thank you for the new thread!
This week has been hit and miss. I drank a bit too much wine the other night and regretted it the next morning - I haven’t yet decided if the hangover is worth it (interestingly not a headache, but a stomachache).
Food wise I have been generally on plan - except for the occasional biscuit or cake people bring into work and offer round. My willpower is not yet strong enough - when someone hands me something I find it too hard not to eat it. I have been taking in fruit for everyone to share hoping that others will get the hint!

Meals this week have been -
chicken lemon traybake with potatoes
prawn and vegetable rice
Root vegetable & bean bake
Spinach, lentil and paneer curry

It hard sometimes though as making everything from scratch takes so much longer and the DCs aren’t always very keen! They didn’t like my curry and instead ate a chicken ready meal . I will keep trying though - they liked the chicken and prawn meals.

Breakfasts have been overnight oats (I know not to everyone’s taste, but I find it easy and keeps me full if I make it with milk and add berries, chia seeds and a dollop of yoghurt).

Weight wise I haven’t lost as much as I would like - probably due to the biscuits and cakes at work - however I definitely haven’t put any weight on and my clothes feel fine. I think I just need to be stricter about the sweet stuff.

Oh and the excitement of the week was I found a local shop that sells lovely olive oil, and all sorts of goodies made from EVOO!

@PickAChew

Plaice marking. 🐟

Kudos for the bluezone pun.

hello I am trying to follow this plan but I am struggling, went off abit and had some sugar and wheat and now had a headache for the last 2 days and its awful :(

How is everyone managing the cravings? I was ok first but seems to be harder now.

Going to read the threads again and try and get into a meal planning habit.

Hi there, have been lurking on thread one for last couple of weeks. On the strength of this thread I've bought the book which I'm getting through slowly. I've downloaded it onto kindle which has meant I've had to struggle through the first few chapters about metabolism before I could get to the food bit.

I've picked up from the thread no sugar or wheat but potatoes and rice allowed which I've pretty much followed for last couple of weeks . Weighed myself after about 5 days and had lost 3 lb but having had a weekend away last weekend have put it all back on, so I'm trying to stabilise my eating and will weigh again next week .

I'm mid 50s and have yo-yo dieted for last 30 years, the first time I was mid 20's and only weighed about 8 1/2 stone, but have spent the rest of my life doing various low fat diets and eating far too much sugar . Weight now around 11 st 10, my highest ever.

Pretty much stopped cooking around 5 years ago when I stopped eating meat (I vary between vegan and then adding in dairy/eggs/fish) . My son and husband very much meat eaters so we have things like burgers, sausages, pie and lasagne where I'll get them a meat version and me the veggie one. And when I cook it's pasta, with ready made sauce and garlic bread.

My diet for the last 12 months since I've been WFH has been

B - toast with peanut butter and jam, or wheat based cereal

L - tinned soup with toast and cheese spread

D - as paragraph above, veggie ready meal or pasta.

Snacks - cheese and crackers/ Nutella bars / chocolate / mini cheesecakes / cheesy wotsits

Obviously I've had to make a major adjustment food-wise. I thought I'd be able to do it with eating rice and pasta and so far, so good. I've been eating a LOT of fish !

Anyway this is a rather long post, feels a bit like a confessional ! Will go back to the book and post again about what I'm managing to eat .

I've enjoyed reading everyone else's food diaries .

Welcome @shinynewapple21 and@chickychicchic, we're all finding our way through this new way of eating and helping each other along, glad to have you join us!

How are you feeling @samthebordercollie, are you fully recovered from covid or still struggling?

How's the BBQ @TooExtraImmatureCheddar?

@Tiredandbored

Welcome *@shinynewapple21* and@chickychicchic, we're all finding our way through this new way of eating and helping each other along, glad to have you join us!

How are you feeling @samthebordercollie, are you fully recovered from covid or still struggling?

How's the BBQ @TooExtraImmatureCheddar?

Thanks! So have you all completely gone sugar free? How are you dealing with cravings?

I'm not 100% sugar free. I still have sultanas with my porridge and quite often have a square of 70% chocolate with my coffee after a meal. However I have cut out all biscuits, cake, doughnuts, sweets etc. Never drank fizzy drinks, so no change there.

I have reduced my wheat intake a lot, but not to zero. I don't have bread or pasta, very occasionally (once a fortnight?) have a wrap or home-made pizza.

I know this may mean it takes me longer to get to my target weight, but the whole point of this WoE for me is that it is something I know I can do long-term whereas if I'm too restrictive I know (from past experience) I'll get fed up and give up.

Well I’ve had a terrible day of sugar, again. Binge eating disorder rearing its head. I already know tomorrow is a write off as well, because I know myself and fighting it will just lead to misery and a bigger binge.

Monday is a new week!

Hi all, I've been totally off plan today, drank far too much yesterday and have eaten crap today!!

Back to it tomorrow

@Tinkling oh you poor thing, are you OK? Don't worry about the sugar, put everything on hold until Monday. Always easier to start good habits on a Monday!
Im not sugar free either. Still eat chocolate (mostly 70%) every evening. I always have green salad instead if the pasta/rice/potatoes the rest of the family eat so no change there. And I eat fruit that definitely isn't sugar free (neither is the red wine!)
@Tiredandbored definitely on the mend, just terrible muscle fatigue in my legs. Running much more slowly than usual. It's strange as breathing is fine.

Try not to feel bad Tinkling - as was explained in the book, food cravings incredibly difficult to resist, which is why we are all where we are now!. Just focus on how well you have done up to now, and how much better your body feels when you eat healthily - but don’t feel guilty for not managing it every day.

I am trying to focus on new interesting healthy food, to take my mind off the unhealthy food! Bought some delicious garlic stuffed olives today from the Spanish deli.