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.

[quote Tiredandbored]@Jaynespain, I was the same as you with counting calories - it feels very strange to not count and total all my meals. What I'm doing to (hopefully!) prove to myself that it's unnecessary is doing a fortnight during which I don't count any calories and I also don't weigh myself. I'm hoping that by the end of 2 weeks I'll still have lost weight and it will prove to me that I don't need to count calories then.

My fortnight ends this weekend, so I'll let you know how I've done!! 🤞🤞

What is good is that I'm much more aware of my body and how I feel - sometimes I found myself eating supper just because I had calories left for that day, not because I was hungry, whereas now I'm only eating if I'm actually hungry.[/quote]
Thanks. I think I will wait until you report back! If it has worked for you, I might have more courage to do it myself! i think for me, its only been a fortnight so im still learning as I go.

I’ve just made a tuna & broccoli pasta bake for tonight, which I know isn’t strictly speaking on plan but he does mention wholemeal pasta being ok and Tim Spector says pasta is fine and good for fibre so I’m going with it.

I’ve still just lost the initial 2lbs but I worked out that my bmi is now 19.9 so I’m guessing this is my preferred weight. I suspect that attempts to lose a further half a stone for holidays etc in the past have been the route of my dieting trials. So I’m not aiming to lose any more and would be very happy to stay at this weight and continue to eat lots of cheese and cream etc. Whilst working out my bmi on the nhs website I looked at their nutritional guidance but after I read a paragraph that started with ‘We all know that saturated fat is bad for us’ I decided to stop!

So much of the eating guidance is out of date and incorrect now. I was looking at my son's homework for food technology and it was all about having two-thirds of your plate carbs, not eating saturated fat, having low-fat products (which are often high-sugar) etc. It's no wonder it's so difficult to know how best to control weight when so much of the information is inaccurate. Unless you have the ability, desire and opportunity to read and research other sources, which many people don't, the only dietary info easily accessible is the same as what was being promoted 30 years ago.

Thankyou for the snack tips everyone. Im finding i am eating so much veg it must be good. Im having porridge and berries for breakfast not to the letter but better than a bagel with jam. Im not weighing myself yet just gradually being aware of what im eating and cutting the crap. Dipping in and out of the book to try and keep in track, this thread is very helpful xc

I cooked air fryer potato wedges with lard tonight and they tasted lovely. They also didn't burn, just browned nicely. I've never considered using lard before but I was pleasantly surprised.

I’ve had a horrendous day full of sugar. Was baking cupcakes and just ended up falling into the sugar trap, eating buttercream, sweets, and French fries from the oven. I don’t think I’ve eaten one of my five a day or any protein.

Tomorrow is a new day!

A new start tomorrow @Tinkling, one bad day will not have much of an impact as long as you don't let it become two then three or four bad days which then become a week and more of poor eating choices.

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar, do you want to start a new thread so we can link to this one before space runs out?

new thread

Here’s the new thread - come on over!

Have you had any luck with this? I’m a vegan and I have no idea how to plan along these lines….

@Zanage1
Hello!
This is an old thread, you will find the new one here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/4245218-Why-We-Eat-Too-Much-Thread-2

I have the book - yet to read it (I have a bad habit of buying books on healthy eating, etc, letting them sit on the shelf and kind of assume that I'll learn the info through osmosis. Doesn't work.)
It arrived earlier this week, along with one called Hooked, about ultra processed food.
I started doing second nature this week - that's low carb too so I will start reading and incorporating the two.
I followed the blood sugar diet about five years ago, and was quite successful with that; but the carby cake habit crept back in. I've put back on about a third of what I lost - but definitely time to make a fresh start.

@Cinderella78

I am a vegan attempting to follow this book. As I understand it, we want to keep insulin (and therefore glucose / sugar) down, cortisol down, omega 6 down, and we want fats, protein and omega 3 up. And keep eye on Glycemic Load of foods.

As a vegan, I am struggling to find enough foods....but also, understand the logic?

@DysonDiva He DOES say to quit wheat...and then says pasta salad is ok as pasta salad for lunch. Later on he says he doesn't want us to quit carbs entirely, as he doesn't want us to go keto or to crave the carbs, so he says rice and potatoes are ok for dinner, and oats for breakfast. But pasta makes little sense...maybe it's best to have wholewheat and is suggested so we don't fall off bandwagon? ALSO, I want to know if quinoa or buckwheat are ok, as these are complete proteins and as a vegan I want to eat them. Very little info online about Omega 6 ratio and Glycemic Load of those grains.

As a vegan I eat legumes and pulses for protein, and the only one he mentions is chickpeas, which he says you can have in a salad at lunch and as hummus as a snack. Can I eat all the other pulses and legumes? How do I decide when there is so little info online about the Omega ratio and the Glycemic Load of pulses and legumes?

NUTS: This is hard. We can't have nuts. So we want high-fat meals...as a vegan this is JUST avocado and coconut milk / cream / oil / flakes. Nuts would be ideal choice, but as he said above "Walnuts' high Omega 3 is rendered useless by its high Omega 6". However, why is coconut ok? I believe it has higher Omega 6 than 3, as do chickpeas and avocados and olives and which are recommended, and tomatoes which are allowed.

As he says oat breakfast is ok, I have been having chia pudding. I checked and chia has more Omega 3 than 6, and fewer carbs than oats so surely must be ok. Have been using pure coconut milk to mix in, and a chopped date as he said "a little honey is ok" and surely one date is equal to a little honey? I have also been having flax / linseed as it's a good fat, low carb and low omega 6 and high omega 3. Am tempted to also have hemp but unsure as slightly high in 6 (but similar to grass-fed beef, which he recommends)

He knows the consumer is confused about what to eat. We want clarity. The fact this thread exists shows the lack of clarity provided by the book. If I am throwing out all my nuts and dried fruit and vegetable oil, I don't then want to mess it all up by eating a legume or carb with wrong Omega ratio or Glycemic Load. May as well have just eaten a nut (and got all the great nutrients it contains, which I need as a vegan).

Also I know he said "eat greens" but I found a chart online that says Beet Greens and Chard are much higher in Omega 6 than 3!

I wish he'd included a grid breaking down ALL the ratios and Loads of common foods. Anyone got any insight on any of this? :)

Anyone have any updates on their weight loss and weight set point changes with this way of eating? I'm still 10lbs down and sticking there without much effort at all. Still 50lbs to go until I reach my goal but slowly and steadily getting there.

@Sarebear1984

Anyone have any updates on their weight loss and weight set point changes with this way of eating? I'm still 10lbs down and sticking there without much effort at all. Still 50lbs to go until I reach my goal but slowly and steadily getting there.

@Sarebear1984

There's a current thread here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/4452191-Why-We-Eat-Too-Much-Thread-5