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.

Cupboard of Doom

I need to get organised and hard boil some eggs that I can keep in the fridge and grab when I’m hungry but pushed for time. Yesterday I went for a run first thing, then had work meetings back to back from 8am until 3pm by which time I was starving. Usually I would have grabbed toast/biscuits etc and was proud of myself for not reaching for a quick fix.

Yesterday I ate:
B- overnight oats with kefir and chia seeds
L- cheese omelette
D- steak with a spicy black bean and sweetcorn salsa
and one thing satsuma said a snack.

I have a fight every year with courgettes. They grow like weeds and you get 3 months of thousands of bastarding courgettes. I always have a debate with dh and ds about how many we plant, 2 is 1 too many but I always set about 7 or 8 off to pick the best 2. Then dh and ds get sad when I don't plant them all. But there is only me and ds that eat them.

Have found a lakeland yog maker for £27 on amazon. Very tempted though would have to sort cupboard space for it.

@HighlandCowbag we only eat one courgette a week tbh, and last year planted just one plant and had loads. One was absolutely massive as well, more like a marrow. So that did is for two weeks! It’s broccoli we get through, but that was more like tender stem and I’m not a fan really.

Well after my very good breakfast yesterday (scrambled eggs, 2 bacon, avocado, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and spinach) I went for a 4 mile walk and ended up feeling very sick after. Presumably from all the fat not being digested whilst I was yomping. I had lunch but didn’t finish (left over toast) and come dinner time still wasnt fancying much. So I made potatoes wedges and smothered them in salt and balsamic vinegar which was nice. Had a bit of ketchup right at the end. Oh and a banana and a glass of milk.

I have woken up starved today but don’t fancy repeating that breakfast. Not sure what I’ll have to be honest. I think I fancy poached eggs.

Making a bolognese tonight which I’ll just have with salad. Kids and DH will have pasta.

DC aren’t fully on board with it for obvious reasons. We are working our way through all the junk and then I won’t be buying it any more, it’ll be special occasions or a specific trip to the shop. We have LOADS though from my lockdown hoarding days so it’s going to take a long time to get through.

They do enjoy the simple meals though, like salmon and potato, and stuffed chicken.

DH eats anything I give him so more than happy, but he won’t not eat pasta and bread. To be fair he’s always maintained his weight just fine and I do feel like I will treat myself to pasta once I’ve got this WOE ingrained. I do love tuna pasta and spaghetti bolognese.

There is always one courgette you look at and think 'hm. Another day or two until I pick you'. Then you look again and it's the size of a well grown toddler. Luckily the chickens like them but by august even they look disappointed with the marrow sized ones. I do have one neighbour who loves stuffed marrows so she will take a few off me. I always feel like Baby in Dirty Dancing walking round the corner 'I carried a courgette' .

Lol at the toddler-sized courgette! 😂

I would love to be green-fingered and able to grow my own veg, but any plant that comes within a 10m radius of me just wilts and shrivels. I am a master of killing them.

Weighed myself this morning, another 2lb off which is really encouraging. Ate well yesterday too - porridge for breakfast, the tuna dish I posted an image of for lunch, beef and blackbean sauce with rice for dinner and then had berries and Greek yoghurt followed by a rice cake for supper. I know I'm only supposed to have 3 meals, but was hungry in the evening as I didn't have enough protein for my dinner.

@Tiredandbored he does say snack if you need to. I always seem to need a snack in the afternoon but I’m aware I am still eating too many carbs and that is probably why

Yes, I'm trying to listen to my body and if I'm hungry I'll take a snack but will try to make sure it's healthy.

I get a slight hunger mid-afternoon but have found a cup of coffee is enough to quell it until I get dinner, so don't mind having something later in the evening.

Evenings used to be my downfall as I'd sit and munch my way through all sorts of carb and sugar heavy treats whilst watching TV, so this is still an improvement on that.

Anyone got any exciting menu plans today? I'm going to try tinned mackerel for the first time today - planning to have it for lunch along with a Greek salad with feta and olives.

Two egg omlette cooked in butter with half a random can of mackerel thrown in. I think this meets the criteria of protein heavy breakfast!

Planning food for the rest of the day and will hit 70g protein but 100g of carbs (including tea and a mocha coffee). I can't remember what he says re carbs...

It's leftover Gousto for lunch and a new Gousto for dinner today.

I have an EasyiYo yogurt maker which is basically just a large flask really. I don't use the overpriced and strange tasting sachets you can buy, just use it to make my own. Then strain it afterwards (through good quality kitchen roll and a colander) to make it nice and thick.

He suggests reducing carbs, but not focusing too much on it as the quantity of carbs will naturally drop as you cut out wheat etc. Eventually, if you want to get your set point lower he suggests reducing to approx 100g and perhaps even as low as 80g per day.

I'm not worrying about carb totals at this stage, especially as the vast majority of my carbs are coming from veg. If my weight plateaus at a higher set point than I'm happy with I may focus more on them then.

@samthebordercollie yes of course, my results are not amazing though it's all been edible so far. There's lots of versions online but I use half a tub of live yoghurt and 1 litre UHT full fat milk.

Microwave the milk for 6-7mins until it reaches 180 degrees. Let it cool until it gets to 110 degrees. Add a bit of warm milk to the live yoghurt and then slowly mix it all in together.

Pour it all into a big mason jar, wrap in fetching fleece pyjamas and leave overnight somewhere warm.

In the morning I strain it through a thin cotton napkin for a couple of hours until it's a bit thicker.

This is the bit where I end up googling "what's wrong with my yoghurt?" This time it was a bit too thin before straining so I re wrapped it and left it a bit longer to develop.

I've bought a mesh bag for straining but it didn't work, either the yoghurt was too thin or the bag is rubbish, not sure yet so I'll try again next time.

This is the first time I've remembered to use the whey but it's meant to be good in all sorts of things.

@Tiredandbored I am taking the same approach to carbs. I am eating lots of pulses and occasional, small portions of rice but not obsessing over higher carb vegetables (although I’m not hugely bothered by potatoes anyway).

I’ve made a really nice lunch today which I am eating half of now (hot) and the other half cold late afternoon. I am exercising at 18:30 tonight and don’t want to do it on a full stomach but also wouldn’t end up having dinner until after 20:30 so this seems a sensible approach, with a small supper if needed.

I softened some garlic in butter then added butter beans, mushrooms, fresh basil and passata. I stirred in big handfuls of spinach until wilted and then added a few cubes of feta. It needed some lemon juice and chillies to give it a kick but it’s lovely and really filling.

I weighed myself today for the first time in a year and I'm even heavier than I thought!

13,11 at 5' 2", no wonder I look like my neck is eating my face! Oddly my jeans still fit though, maybe they've squeezed all the fat upwards instead?

@CornedBeef451 Try mixing a few spoonfuls of skimmed milk powder to your milk before making the yogurt to make it thicker.

@TrevorTheMushroom thanks I'll give it a try.

@CornedBeef451, your description of jeans squeezing all your fat upwards really made me laugh!! 😂😂

@CornedBeef451

I weighed myself today for the first time in a year and I'm even heavier than I thought!

13,11 at 5' 2", no wonder I look like my neck is eating my face! Oddly my jeans still fit though, maybe they've squeezed all the fat upwards instead?

Ugh, weight sucks! My jeans are so tight they’re giving me a wedgie and camel toe, so I’m impressed that yours still fit! Never mind, we’re on the right track now and you’ll never be that weight again.

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar I think I've just put it on in new and interesting places rather than the normal stomach area!

@CornedBeef451
Thank you for your yoghurt method!
I'll definitely give it a try. It takes a long time to make anything fermented but I'm sure it's worth the wait.
Dr J seemed to think that just by cutting out sugar and processed foods you lose a stone easily so don't worry too much. It's really encouraging to see other people here have lost weight following this way of eating.

Oooh, I'd love to lose a stone just doing I am doing. Have had nothing processed at all and no sugar apart from fruit and I haven't even had much of that!

Had omelette for lunch with rainbow trout flaked through it, with red peppers and then cheese on top. Then dh and dd were whining for chinese Thursday again so they've had that and I had duck salad with homemade dressing.

Not sure if I am still a bit peckish tho, debating a bit of cheese and an apple.

Also might have had a finger slippage re yoghurt maker and amazon .

Hahahaha @HighlandCowbag, you caved in first!! 😂😂😂

But that means I can now buy a spiraliser guilt free, doesn't it???

Absolutely Tired, go for it . You will probably use it eating the way we are, I'm going to drag mine out as well.

This yog maker has 1.8 and 1.6l storage pots, how much yoghurt do I need to add? Am going to nip to pick some up after school run before it gets here. Are we talking individual pot size or one of the bigger ones?

For a litre of milk I'd use a small tub I think, hopefully someone else can advise.

Just marking so I can come back and read soon. I've had success on low carb before and was a healthy weight for several years on it but fell off the wagon due to stress and found my weight went up so fast after.

Need something sustainable with family life - growing teen so chucking the bread bin out for everyone is not an option. I do wfh so could eat fresher and better than I currently do.

Ooo i would love to lose a stone eating like this. Real, delicious food.

I made bolognese last night and couldn’t bear to not have spaghetti (although it’s GF). I had a tiny bit, smaller than the kids and had a spinach and rocket salad with it. I have left overs for lunch and no pasta for it because actually, I didn’t need it at all. Am going to bulk out the salad with cucumber, tomatoes and carrot though to add some crunch.

Spinach stuffed chicken tonight with sweet potato wedges and veg. Breakfast today is potato skillet and poached eggs.

I’m wearing jeans I haven’t worn In ages because they kept giving me a muffin top. I don’t know if I have stretched them to death (they’re old) but they seem to be fitting quite well actually. So I am feeling so much more confident, I’ve dressed nicely today and even done my hair and make up!