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.

Love the potato skin idea!

That’s quite a week! I hope the sun is at least shining where you are

Morning, I'm struggling to understand the position on honey. I have some lovely local stuff. Not having any other sugar (that I know of). It doesn't taste as sweet as the normal shop bought stuff but I don't want to ruin my attempts to ditch sugar.

Had a slack moment and had KFC yesterday but no bun. The cooking oil tasted funny so maybe my taste is changing?

Ooh, quite like the potato skin idea, that's a good shout!

Morning @cupofdecaf, honey is basically sugar so it is important not to have too much of it or just use it as a substitute for sugar. However a small amount is not going to do much harm, especially if you're eating it with a good meal (e.g. a spoonful of honey with your porridge). I'm very much of the opinion that you try to improve your nutrition from where you are now - if, for example, your normal breakfast is 3 slices of white toast slathered in margarine and dripping with honey then starting to have some Greek yoghurt or porridge with honey is a massive step forwards. For me it is more important to find a way of eating that is sustainable in the long-term, so if that means I have a wrap with my fajitas or a takeaway with my family once in a while so be it, as it's still much better than how I had been eating. If my weight loss plateaus at a higher level than I want then I may become stricter.

I have honey on my porridge, but I don’t eat porridge often. To me, honey is natural and isn’t processed to I think it’s fine. Potatoes turn to pure sugar in your blood stream within 30 minutes of eating them but I eat them way more often than honey.

Hi. I am currently listening to the audiobook and think its great so far! Definitely a woe that I can get into.
Only thing is, its 10 and a half hours long and Im struggling to find time to listen to it. Its going to take me a while but Im really keen to get going. I am also a bit foggy brained so need to listen 3 times over or so to understand!
I have so many questions and dont want to annoy people by filling this thread so would someone mind me pm ing them with q's?

@Jaynespain, put your questions on here because I can guarantee other people will have the same questions as well. And I certainly will not know all the answers, but between us all we might be able to help you with most of them. We're all quite new to this and are working it out as we go along, so don't hesitate to ask anything.

Thanks for the reply's re honey. I'm having museli with greek yogurt and a bit if honey. It's delicious.I was having weetabix before so this should be higher protein. If I'm organised I defrost some frozen berries but not always.

@cupofdecaf are you having dried fruit on your muesli? Dr J isn’t a fan due to the very high sugar content, so that plus honey may be too much, especially for breakfast.

@Jaynespain I agree, post on here x

Tiredandbored thankyou. I suppose I am pre empting that peeps might think I should finish the book and not be lazy! With an audiobook, I cant look at any recipes that might be at the back?

It would be great if there was a list of do's and dont's and what you can have and can't! Like a condensed version.

I have dieted my whole life! I am 54yrs old and these days when I attempt diets, I dont lose so the concepts of this book resonate with me. However, having done Atkins etc, I struggle to see how having things like potatoes are ok? I had some fried pots in butter with breakfast this morning and have read upthread that its not recommended to have fruit with breakfast. Is that the same with potatoes? Is it because its a carb? Have I blown it already on day 1!

So, are recipes that just use whole foods ok to make?

How do you know how much Omega 3 and 6 are in oils? (and food) Eg I bought an extra virgin olive oil in Lidl last night but now am worried its not arecommended one?

How do you know a yoghurt is full fat? They dont seem to specify this? Literally every yoghurt I pick up said low fat!

I will leave the Qs at that for now and thankyou in advance for any answers!

The book isn’t like that I’m afraid. No dos and donts and no recipes. It’s very much open to interpretation.

I have potatoes for breakfast so it’s fine. Potatoes and rice are allowed but nothing wheat based and nothing processed for the first stage so that’s all you need to focus on for now. Extra virgin olive oil is also fine.

Basically just cook everything from scratch, no jarred sauces, no condiments. Real food like grandma used to make. For example yesterday I had fried potato and poached eggs, a jacket potato with cheese and broccoli, steak, sweet potato wedges and mushrooms.

Erm.. well I just don’t buy low fat yoghurt lol. You should only really have Greek yoghurt or natural yoghurt so there’s no sugar in it but I do still have normal yoghurts at the moment. I get the yeo valley organic ones.

Just remember it has to work for your life or it just won’t work at all. I don’t think I could do this if I had to go to the office every day because I am cooking 2-3x per day.

The key points I've taken from the book as the biggest areas of focus for me are

• reducing/cutting out high-sugar foods and wheat.
• where possible avoiding veg oils and replacing with olive oil.
• not eating processed foods.
• being more mindful and not eating because of boredom, but only if I'm actually hungry.

I'm not going to get hugely tied up with my omega balance, though am trying to eat more fish, choose line-caught if I can, free-range eggs etc.

I'm definitely eating much healthier meals and am enjoying good portions. Not having to count everything is brilliant, yet I am still losing weight.

@Tinkling, the days I'm at work I usually take leftovers from the previous night's dinner, or I throw together a salad, adding something like tuna, feta, tinned mackerel or smoked salmon to increase the protein.

Jayne there are no recipes in the book unfortunately. But if you find paleo recipes these are pretty good for this but not nuts and seeds.

I have been eating fish, potatoes, sunday roasts, stirfry, lots of salads, steaks, lots of eggs and cheese and natural yoghurt and fruit. Splash of honey to sweeten a salad dressing or a 1/4 teaspoon on yoghurt once or twice a week.

At stage 1 you are just cooking everything you eat from scratch, and changing cooking oils over etc if you want to. So technically you can have anything. I've cooked everything from scratch (apart from planned cheat nights), swapped from veg oil to butter/lard etc, and cut out wheat and anything at all processed.

[quote Tinkling]@cupofdecaf are you having dried fruit on your muesli? Dr J isn’t a fan due to the very high sugar content, so that plus honey may be too much, especially for breakfast.

@Jaynespain I agree, post on here x[/quote]
You make a good point about dried fruit. It's very basic so is 5% raisins. I'm going to change to porridge when I've finished this bag. I might not get any more honey either. Eggs are great for breakfast but with a baby it's not always realistic.

On a different note I've found this way of eating very compatible with breastfeeding. I'm not hungry, get the diary in but off the sugar highs/ lows.

Just started reading this thread which looks very interesting. At the moment just posting to keep on my watch list. Will come back later.

Thankyou for the replies.

Can I also check if you can use any butter? Is there anything I should look for?

I eat lots of dark rye ryvitas. Are they ok?

I see people on here having bacon? Isnt that very processed?

How are people making overnight oats? How much milk? Can you use cream? What do you use to sweeten it?

I did say I had lots of questions! :)

Hi all. Not been a great week for me. My dad is quite ill - he has stomach cancer. All complicated by the fact that he is in Ireland and I am in the Uk. Not exactly easy to go over at the moment although at one point on Monday I was going to. My sisters are all there so he does have help. And is having radiation which we are hopeful will at least enable him to eat.

Anyway. The stress led to some bad choices and quite a bit of wine. There were some good choices too though. But such is life and i will plod along. I held of reading the thread as thought it would make me feel guilty but actually having read the posts since I last read it I feel enthused again. And instead of the beef sandwich I was planning for lunch I had an omelette with cherry tomatoes, feta and chopped pepper and red onion. Was yum.

@Tiredandbored - for your lasagna Sainsbury’s do sliced butternut squash as lasagna sheets. They are with the prepared veg. Or I have a Hairy Dieters recipe where they use leeks. You cut them in to long pieces and then slice down the length a bit to open and unroll them and use them in place of lasagna sheets.

@Jaynespain - welcome! I think you might be better off reading the book rather than listening. I know I wouldn’t retain the info purely through listening. I bought the book on kindle initially but then bought the book so I can dip in and out easier and re read sections.

@Jaynespain - yes to butter. Grass fed is best. I use Kerrygold. I know Ryvita is processed but it’s much better than bread so probably not too bad. Bacon is processed yes but you can buy better quality bacon that is less processed.

I am unpacking due to a house move and have found my copy of Jamie Oliver - Veg. There are loads of compliant recipes in there and ones that only need a minor change (eg. Courgetti instead of spaghetti). I'm so relieved as I could only think of a few dinners.

Fajita chicken is lovely just piled into a baked potato - or even the hollowed out and crisped up skin if you want it less carby and more hand-eatable.

Just a few meals I can think of that will only need a bit of tweaking

Shepherds pie
Spag bol with alternative to pasta
Omelette
Steak
Pork chops
Lamb chops
Roast dinner (no yorkies tho)
Indian style curry using tomato as a base and ghee instead of veg oil
Chilli con carne
Lasagne with quark top and alternative to pasta layers
Burgers served in giant mushroom not bread
Any type of stew including tagine
Chicken tikka skewers, prawn,fish, steak skewers etc
Stroganoff
Chicken breast wrapped in parma ham
Any fish tray bake thing
Stir frys with rice not noodles
Jacket potato plus toppings
Sausage and mash (good quality sausages should be ok in moderate quantities)
Liver, onions and mash
Any type of pie topped with mash instead of pastry
Salad
Budda bowls
Cheese and fruit
Fruit and yogurt
Tapas dishes
Soups

You can literally eat anything except bread, pastry, flour products like Yorkshire puddings. Cook it in butter or lard. You can have chips if you want them! If you aren't used to cooking from scratch, just cook what you would normally have but make it yourself.

Puddings will be thin on the ground because no sugar. Dark chocolate mouses have been made and enjoyed and there are recipes for chocolate cream pots as well. You can have strawberries and cream etc.

There are very few things you can't have. Breakfasts and lunchtimes are more difficult because traditionally bread or cereals based but evening meals, nothing much is off limits. Pile your veg/salad high, plenty of protein and I've personally just had half size portions of carbs like rice and potatoes.

I've lost 1-2lbs every week.

I’m sorry to hear that @Peridot1 that sounds incredibly difficult

Is anyone else sick of food? Like I’m hungry so I’m eating but I am just not excited by it any more, it’s not even like I want to dive head first into pizza and ice cream, I don’t really want anything. Is this what happens when you get ‘over’ your addiction to junk? You end up just eating so you don’t die and not for pleasure?

I vaguely recall this happening before, it’s not like the food is rubbish or tastes bad. But I don’t look forward to anything any more and I get to a point during a meal where I just can’t eat anything else despite not being stuffed. Last night I had steak and it was beautiful, perfectly cooked, no fat on it, melt in the mouth. But I had to force the second half in because I knew I’d end up hungry if I didn’t (and it cost a lot!)

I feel like one of those people who eat to live. I’m not sure I like myself like this

I'm the opposite @Tinkling, I'm getting excited about my meals, trying new things and having a really healthy plate of food in front of me that I don't have to weigh, count or record.

I've just been to the grocery store and was thinking to myself as I drive out of the car park that I used to leave with doughnuts, cookies, cake and bags of sweets (every week and that was all for me) whereas today I was driving off with smoked salmon, tinned mackerel, loads of veg, sweet potatoes, feta, parmesan, berries and Greek yoghurt.

@Tiredandbored I felt like that at first but I’m over it now. Currently making a roast and have no desire to actually eat it. Basically I’ve lost my appetite

Thanks @Tinkling.

I never get put off my food so I can’t relate to how you are feeling. Maybe you need to spice it up a bit? Are you trying new dishes?

It’s quite interesting when you think about it. Fat and sugar together creates a specific mouthfeel. Dr Chatergee calls those foods ‘bliss’ foods. Maybe you are just adjusting to not having that ‘bliss’ feeling. You could try to trigger that response other ways but Chatergee reckons we don’t need that experience every time we eat.

I'm the opposite too Tinkling, I am really enjoying what I am eating, mainly because I am not pandering to dh and his fussy tastes for shitty carb based shite. My appetite has decreased tho, even yesterday I wasn't starving after 25g of cheese all day til 7pm.