Why We Eat (Too Much)

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Has anyone come across this book? It's written by Dr Andrew Jenkinson, who is a bariatric surgeon in London. Basically, it's about how to lose weight by lowering your body's natural set weight point. This may take a long time but it's sustainable and doesn't fuck your metabolism.

The book goes into a lot of detail about the causes of obesity, because he says it's important to understand why people are getting fat in the Western world. It pretty much comes down to eating too much omega-6 fat and sugar. The overall volume of food people eat doesn't matter.

I'm trying to work out how you would cut that out practically and I wondered if anyone had tried it. It sounds like going lower carb but not low carb as in low carb diets. He suggests eating low-carb breakfasts and throwing out bread (and anything else baked). I eat toast for breakfast most days and sandwiches for lunch. I'm trying to work out practical alternatives that I actually like.

Porridge
Full fat unsweetened yoghurt
Bacon and eggs
Omelettes
Soup
Oatcakes and cheese
Salads

Other rules include no takeaways or fast food or crisps etc, and no snacks, mainly because most snack food is carb-based with vegetable oil in it.

I've cut out pasta but that's no struggle for me as I'm not a huge fan of it. I'd just as soon have rice or, say, bolognese on a jacket or by itself. Agree it's not logical to eat pasta but cut out wheat.

I need to reread the omega section but if you’ve cut out the high sources of omega 6 from processed food, then is it ok to eat the healthy unprocessed ones? I noticed that about wheat/pasta too, although I think he perhaps recommends reducing wheat, so is maybe suggesting occasional pasta is ok?! Or it could be heavily processed wheat junk food to be avoided? Who the heck knows?!!

Tinkling I’d be inclined to eat that tuna mix on some spinach leaves or salad, but would that not be filling enough do you think? I’m currently boiling a couple of eggs as got a hankering for egg mayo, but to avoid using my shop bought mayo I’m wondering if a little bit of butter mixed into the egg would give the same effect? I don’t like much mayo with them so might give it a go...

No... I definitely need a carb to fill me up. Never been able to get that same satisfaction just on protein!

Just bought the book, need to start reading it now, but in on day 3 off no wheat no sugar and I'm feeling better already, just been reading about your breakfast ideas, I had chia seeds and full fat natural yoghurt, but I see seeds and not exactly desirable, which is a shame, I like them and find they fill me up, easy to transport to work etc

Tinkling maybe replace the pasta with some new potatoes sliced up or something like chickpeas.

I'm interpreting the 'rules' as a sliding set of ideals, so ideally we would do all of it, but failing that do as much as we can. I am being strict everyday except for friday and Saturdays evenings. Will drink both nights but have takeaway (tho healthier versions) on friday. Saturdays I will eat healthy but have beer/wine.

I'm not worrying about omega 3/6 too much just yet, other than avoiding veg oil and wheat. I think the ratios of some stuff is high but the amount of chicken or beef you would eat is smaller than say the amount of fish or greens. So it's ok to eat stuff where the ratio is out as long as we eat plenty where the ratio is good.

I'm interpreting the 'rules' as a sliding set of ideals, so ideally we would do all of it, but failing that do as much as we can.

Yes - exactly what I'm doing too.

Re. drinking, I think he says that moderate drinking is OK. He talks about the body not storing alcohol calories as fat, but either using them straight away or storing them on the liver. My layperson's interpretation of that is that the worst it could do is slow any weight loss a little - i.e. if you've drunk some wine, your body will use that for energy rather than the dinner you've just eaten, or raiding your fat cells.

He also talks about alcohol leading to poor food choices when you are under the influence or trying to cure a hangover - the obvious recommendation there is plan, plan, plan so you have healthy things to grab if alcohol induces cravings.

I did dry Jan at the start of the year and since then I've cut down my drinking a lot - basically only one night a week - but it's not something I want to cut out altogether.

Yes I think that’s the right attitude. I discovered the GF section at my local sainsburys today and bought a couple of treats to have when I really really want them. My husband came home with a huge bag of crisps, beer and dairy milk with honeycomb I think it was because ‘it’s Friday’. I really want to break that mindset because I get literal cravings as soon as the weekend comes and go off piste and eat nothing but crud the whole time just because it’s not Monday - Thursday. I did have two pieces of Lindt with hazelnuts earlier because I really fancied it and I enjoyed it.

It’s been a good day today. This post is really helpful to have like minded support.

Oh and good call on the new potatoes. That sounds yummy. I have some in the fridge actually.

Feeling the need for chocolate again it’s day 11 of no sugar for me and the cravings have really ramped up over the last two days for some reason!

@OhMyChrist2020 I don’t think it’s feasible to not eat sugar ever again. What about some high quality dark? Anything 70% and over is very rich and a tiny bit is more than enough.

It’s my Cadbury’s Easter egg that I’m wanting I can’t stand the high cocoa dark stuff. I’ll eventually let myself eat it but I’m wanting to feel a bit more control over sugar before then. Prior to this I was eating sugar all day every day, so I suppose a few cravings are to be expected. Up until yesterday I hadn’t been struggling at all so I suppose I’m a bit disappointed that it’s gotten a bit more difficult. I’ll power through...

Sugar cravings are inevitable - but remember, this is not low-carbing/keto - you won't scupper the whole eating plan by eating something you shouldn't. If you do give in to a craving, draw a line under it and move on.

It happened to me last weekend - I ate some bread - I was annoyed at myself for sure but I took the attitude that it was one slice in a week compared to, probably, a whole loaf that I'd have eaten in the old days.

Gluten free food is highly processed, full of sugar and best to avoid. Surely it's better to eat whole-wheat pasta or rice reheated from cold. That way a lot of the sugar is lost and there is also a lot of reinforced starch which is very good for your health.
I still haven't got to the part in the book where seeds and nuts are to be avoided. Even the Hadza tribe eat them, they are whole foods with a lot of fibre so I don't understand why they are forbidden. I'm sure I will soon!

Thanks Arbadacarba - I’ve really tried hard to move away from the whole dieting mentally over recent years and so am keen to avoid feeling like it’s a short term ‘diet’. You’re completely right, if I have something not ideal (eg sugar or wheat) the important thing is not then to jack the whole thing in or to feel too bad about it. Like you say, it’s still a massive improvement on my previous terrible habits and Rome wasn’t built in a day!

I also think not eating enough at lunch is causing me the pre-dinner cravings. Had no carbs at lunch yesterday & today so I think I’ll add some potato tomorrow and see if that helps.

@samthebordercollie apparently it’s because they are high in omega 6 and we have too much in our western diet. I think the grand plan is to eliminate as much omega 6 as possible so we have a better ratio of omega 3 in our cells, and then when you do have omega 6 it’s from natural sources like nuts and seeds rather than processed foods and vegetable oils. I don’t think he wants these healthy staples eradicated forever, although it’s hard to say because his book reads more like a medical research paper at times rather than an eating guide, if that makes sense. I feel like he just wanted to explain to the general public that this is what he believes to be true, and leave it at that.

Someone said on a PP that he didn’t actually wanted to tell anyone what to eat but the publishers requested it.

Chia seeds look to have three times as much omega 3 as 6 so looks like they might be a good choice.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_ratio_in_food

By the way, if any vegatarians on here are considering buying some flaxseed oil I strongly recommend getting the capsules rather than just buying the oil. I had a teaspoon full of some earlier and it was not nice!!

The sugar cravings are what I am struggling with too. Not bothered about cakes or biscuits, but it’s the chocolate I miss. I ate some Dairy Milk earlier. DH always has some chocolate in the house so it’s hard to avoid. I will try some getting some dark chocolate as I actually do like it and has to be better than the milk?

Aside from that have done ok with food today. Made burgers for dinner from scratch - surprisingly easy and everyone liked them. DH and kids had theirs with a bun, but I had mine with salad, avocado and garlic mushrooms - it was very nice and I didn’t actually miss the bun at all.

I think that the final chapters of the book could be a bit more informative - I completely understand the reasons behind his thinking and he has obviously done a lot of research, but I would have liked more detail on how you actually change your weight set point.

I've been reading this thread with interest as am halfway through the book and really intrigued by this style of eating. I have successfully lost weight in the past, but have always struggled to maintain and ended up back where I started each time. This book provides a valid explanation for that and I'm hoping to be able to follow this eating plan to reset my set weight.

That's good news Trevor

I've been exactly the same, Tired, I've 4 dress sizes in my wardrobe. It has to stop.

I am fine with breakfast (usually have porridge, although I need to find something to replace the sultanas I add for sweetness) and lunch (have made tuna salad with olives and feta, salmon with courgette and soy, scrambled eggs with tomato and pepper, berries with full-fat Greek yogurt so far this week) but dinner tends to be based round carbs.

I do cook from scratch at least 5/7 meals each week and tend to add extra veg, so that's a good start. The kids love pasta, so I'm not sure how I'll manage replacing that - may have to just dish up a much smaller helping for myself when it's a pasta dish as I really don't want to start cooking two separate meals.

My other problem is we get a takeaway once a week (usually Chinese) which I can't really opt out of (my widowed father joins us and it's his treat) so I need to find out what is the healthiest thing I can order - any suggestions?

Stick with rice, rather than noodles, and have a small portion of it. You'll not avoid wheat and sugar, as it'll be in just about everything but steer clear of anything obviously sweet and sour or sauces like hoisin or plum.

Indian is easier - lots of healthy options from a decent one.

Duck from the Chinese restaurant, if not in sauce, would be fine. If you could bear to have crispy duck and not have the hoisin and pancakes, just the duck, spring onions and cucumber, you'd be totally on plan.

I should think seaweed would be OK and beansprouts.

Or you could choose to have whatever you like as a planned treat on the principle of reduction not elimination.

Foo yung? It's eggs

Thanks everyone, I think I'll try the duck and see if it is filling enough, can have some rice with it. I have eggs a lot for lunches, which puts me off the foo yung, though it's probably the best choice really.