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.

No I don't think he does. He says to avoid fruit as it will possibly cause a sugar spike mid morning, but potatoes or a rice dish like kedgeree would be fine. Or even a fry up as long as you don't have toast with it.

I had salmon and veg tray bake. Made a dressing with olive oil, lime juice and zest, chopped chilli, honey, garlic and a splash of soy sauce. Was very tasty and have enough left for lunch. Debating banana and yoghurt now. Not actually that hungry if I'm honest. Running tomorrow so may save it (down to last yog, need to nip shopping again) for a post run breakfast. Know fruit not recommended but will be 10am by the time I can eat, then if I get hungry early I can always have lunch at 12.

@TrevorTheMushroom
Ah thanks I thought as much. I'll read the book as I'm sure it will be very informative, but not sure if I can do a diet without almonds and cashews unless a couple of cheat days are allowed.

@samthebordercollie To be honest, I'm still trying to get my head around it all and wondering whether saying nuts are off the menu wasn't quite right. The key thing is the balance between omega 6 and omega 3 that you consume. Modern western diets contain too much 6 and not enough 3. Nuts are quite high in omega 6 but I guess if you were avoiding other sources of omega 6 and consuming lots of omega 3s then it might be ok to have a few nuts from time to time.

Definitely read the book and see what you think. His arguments are quite compelling. I do think it requires a bit of interpretation at times to work out what you should be eating though.

I think we can all interpret it however we like, he hasn’t given any hard and fast rules and clearly that was my problem around breakfast assuming it was no carbs but actually it was no fruit. Equally I don’t have breakfast until around 10:30 so even if I had fruit, I don’t think it would be an issue?

I personally am not actually overweight (BMI is like 24.9 or something) although I want to lose around a stone. I am scared of eating the fats if I’m honest (calories - can’t break that thinking and have an event I want to slim down for) but I like the idea of cutting down on all the processed crap which is what means I’m about to tip into the overweight category. As I mentioned before, I have binge eating disorder and if I can cut the cravings for cake and biscuits and learn a better way of handling my emotions then I generally eat healthily.

I am petrified of cancer so any reduction in processed crap can only be positive which is why I really like this plan. However! I would absolutely eat healthy nuts and not feel bad about it (but not have Nutella ) - maybe not 3x per day every day, but they’re a much better snack blood sugar wise than fruit (and I don’t particularly like fruit all that much). I’d just portion control it as they’re so easy to overeat.

I haven’t re-read the book yet and haven’t had the best week so far.

For breakfasts when I used to do the low carb bootcamps I started having full fat Greek yoghurt with some blueberries and a sprinkle of seeds. Berries are lower in carbs than other fruits and combined with full fat yoghurt less likely to cause a blood sugar spike. I know he’s not keen on seeds but it’s all better than toast and jam! It might be an options for you @Tinkling at least while you get used to no carbs?

Thanks @Peridot1, I don’t really like fruit tbh so I can’t see me eating something like that!

I was clearing out the cupboards earlier and discovered Daim bars and other deliciousness and felt a little sad. And then I remembered that I can still have things like that - just not as a staple part of my diet. It made me feel a bit more relaxed to remind myself that ok, sugar is shit for us and we shouldn’t be running on it all day every day. But, it’s ok to have it, just don’t plan all meals / snacks around it.

I am the worlds worst for getting through half a pack of biscuits when I’m hungry when actually I could / should have a banana. They’re both sugar but the biscuits are processed crud and the banana is what nature provides for us. So cut the biscuits and eat the banana. It sounds simple and it is. I’ve just had porridge made with pure porridge oats, 1/2 ff milk, 1/2 water and 3/4 of an apple. Stirred through 1/2tsp of vanilla (pointless, won’t do that again), some cinnamon (needed more) and drizzled over 1tsp of honey (didn’t need that much). All of those are natural ingredients so although carb heavy and frowned upon by our dear doctor J, for a quick(er) breakfast every now and then, I don’t think it’s bad at all.

Bacon, eggs and potato skillet tomorrow!

Sustainability is the most important thing for me - I want this to be a forever way of eating, not to do it for a few months, stop, and watch the weight creep on again.

I'm doing what is manageable for me. If my weight doesn't ultimately settle in the right place I will look at a stricter approach, but I am not worrying at this stage about a bit of ketchup or commercial mayo, for example.

Same for me @Arbadacarba. It's no good for me doing a diet, losing 2st, putting 2st 3lbs back on. And going in ever increasing circles.

I'm telling myself I'm not dieting, I'm eating clean and wheat and sugar are exceptional treats for holidays and high days only. I really enjoy healthy good anyway so it's not a real hardship, I enjoy cooking healthy food. Food that is not healthy, just food for calories in sake not so much. Beyond switching oil I'm not even going to worry about omega ratios yet either. I won't worry about the odd little thing sneaking in either. Am making shepherds pie later. Will all be homemade apart from either flour or gravy granules to thicken the gravy. Going to check label on granules and see which is the 'worst' option.

Felt a bit headachey yesterday and this morning, think sugar withdrawal kicking in a bit. And I was peeing all bloody night so obviously got rid of a lot of retained fluid. Suspect that's a combination of alcohol and bread over the weekend.

Just had a lush med veg, salmon and cheese omelette. Made with leftovers from last night. Am bloody stuffed. I've been for a run this morning, would normally have a biscuit or three around now as a reward for running.

I'm not worrying about calories either. I've done slimming world in the past and once you cut out processed junk it's surprising how quickly the calories drop as well without noticing. And he does dispel the calories in vs calories out myths as well. Obviously if you are having fried egg, steak and mushrooms with chips every day for every meal you are going to get bigger. But I think if you follow the principles of the book you will struggle to overeat meat and veg and salad and even unprocessed potatoes.

But I think if you follow the principles of the book you will struggle to overeat meat and veg and salad and even unprocessed potatoes.

Exactly - it's a self-limiting way of eating both in the volume of what you eat, and the calories you consume. That works for me as I know that in the long term, I wouldn't be able to keep up weighing and measuring of everything I eat.

Yes absolutely, agree with all of that. I’m just making lunch now. Sausage (naughty processed crud) but fried potatoes with onion, mushroom, spinach and pepper with garlic and salt, and maybe a poached egg.

I know what you mean about still worrying about calories, but if nothing else I think the book has reassured me that calorie restriction is a massive waste of anyone’s time and in actual fact adds to the problem.

I’m currently re-reading the David Gillespie book about sugar (read it ages ago and it convinced me to try and give up sugar but I couldn’t manage it then). I’m just at the part where he’s explaining how fructose is metabolised differently in the body and so goes undetected by the body’s hunger regulation system.That’s why it’s all too easy to eat a shit load of sugary crap and barely feel like you’ve eaten (despite the huge amount of energy contained in the ‘food’). I’m still amazed that I’ve had over a week with zero refined sugar and haven’t even missed it! This is huge for me as I’ve tried and tried to cut it out before and was never able to.

I am so looking forward to starting. My only question marks are over the oat milk I drink (it has rapeseed oil in it) and which fish to buy- even Ocado/M&S has a limited selection of line caught, it’s all sustainably farmed. But does this mean it is grain fed?

@HighlandCowbag is the peeing a lot a thing?? I've been up in the night needing the loo every night this week; II managed 3 pregnancies without having to get up in the night !

@freesolo I always do first few days of a diet, I also drank far too much fri and sat which won't have helped. It does calm down tho.

@BangingOn

I am so looking forward to starting. My only question marks are over the oat milk I drink (it has rapeseed oil in it) and which fish to buy- even Ocado/M&S has a limited selection of line caught, it’s all sustainably farmed. But does this mean it is grain fed?

I don't think you should get too bogged down by the detail of how the fish is fed in the opening stages of the plan. It's unlikely that eating a grain-fed fish would throw you off course. It's the sort of thing you can fine down later on, if you find you're not getting the results you hope for.

If you can find an alternative for the oat milk that doesn't contain rapeseed that would be ideal, but, again, it's more important that the plan becomes a sustainable way of eating for you. If oat milk is one of your staples and there's no alternative you can tolerate, leave it in your diet for the present at least.

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for this thread

I got the book and will start reading soon. My BMI is 23.5 so no actual health concerns but I do want to get fit. I do watch my calories but not undereating (around 1600 kcal/day) and try to approach it rather from the health point of view than losing weight per se.

I have a problem with snacking too & I love pastry (not envy)

Doing my best to drink water too (hardest part, I swear!) so I got myself a sippy cup (😂) & got to 2L/day. On the bad days I still drink about 1.5 L.

This is a fascinating subject looking forward to reading the book

Thanks @Arbadacarba. I don’t drink that much oat milk, probably no more than 100ml per day. I’ve done some digging and it’s not cold pressed rapeseed oil, but also not chemically produced.

I think you’re right about not getting too hung up on every detail. I’m so used to very prescriptive diets that I need to adjust to this one being different.

I am doing well on the exercise front- I’m up to week 5 of Couch 2 5k which seemed impossible a few weeks ago. I’ve also done 2 yoga classes and 2 pole classes this week so I am aching but feeling virtuous.

I'm also finding it hard not to think about the calories. I've been eating more cheese than normal and trying to get it into my head that this is not a bad thing to do. Yesterday, I fried some vegetables in butter and it felt really dirty (tasty though )

I must say I’m struggling with the calories I know I’m consuming. I do want to lose weight and I don’t want it to take a year, so eating cheesey risottos, bacon and cream is a bit scary. I know it’s all healthy though and I don’t get that bloated feeling I get from crap so I am hoping I can keep the demons at bay. Overeating in any way (including having too many calories) can easily trigger a binge for me. I think in a week or two it won’t be so mentally draining coming up with meals although I do feel tied to the kitchen. I’ve had to cancel seeing my friend today because I haven’t got anything I can take with me for lunch to meet up with! Normally I’d just take a sandwich or a tuna pasta, or some processed breakfast biscuit crap and a can of Coke - she didn’t want a short meet up between lunch and school pick up.

Ah that's a shame about meeting your friend. I guess over time you'll get used to this way of eating and find it easier to chuck something together. Maybe you might even inspire her to eat with fresh ingredients!

At the moment it feels like a bit like just needing to trust that this way of eating works (when it goes against everything we thought we knew). I guess we'll start seeing results soon and know that it does. And other people on here have said it is working for them.

It is a different way of eating, but it does feel instinctively right to me. It's just old fashioned food is all. It's a faff when we aren't used to cooking at lunch time or breakfast, just grabbing a sandwich or cereal etc.

Tinkling, crustless quiche is fab for picnics, google for a slimming world one but swap the ff cottage cheese or quark for full fat cottage cheese or even cream. Or mini egg muffins or frittata.

Last night I was going to cook shepherds pie but had swimming after school then dh didn't fancy it. Dh had giant fishfingers, chips and beans and I was having jacket potato with cheese and salad but no bloody cheese left (thanks dd) so had tuna and sweetcorn with loads of butter. Was lovely, didn't need the mayo at all.

Just had homemade minestrone soup I had in the freezer from a few weeks ago and picked the pasta out, hand a handful of grated cheese instead so didn't even miss the pasta. Already 2lbs down but that will be water weight. Would be nice to lose a little the first few weeks tho. But am also training for a 10k run in September so will get more toned so need to allow for that effect.

I don’t own scales so can’t track progress in terms of lbs! But I know I’ll feel it in my (too tight) jeans.

Maybe we can share meal ideas to help each other? I’ve put a list together and I’m working my way through.

I think leftovers for lunch is going to be the way forward for me, just had leftover Mediterranean vegetable risotto - 2.5 minutes in the microwave - easy!

Tonight I’m planning spinach and garlic cream cheese stuffed chicken breast with sweet potato and mixed veg. I’ve just ordered all organic grass fed meat and the chicken breasts are MASSIVE! I’m going to cook 3, one for my husband, one for me (with a bit off for one child) and the third for lunch tomorrow (again with some off for other DC). They won’t eat sweet potato but I have some alpha bites that need using up.

Thank you for this thread. I arrived at a similar eating style without reading the book, although I've heard of the doctor from one of the podcasts I subscribed to.

I'm not super strict with it, so I still eat some sugary food, and some processed food. But because I'm now prioritising protein I ended up cutting carbs like pasta and bread right down, and I don't miss it. I also take omega 3 supplement. Now I just have to watch my omega balance a bit more.

I think coconut oil being saturated fat mostly should be ok to use? Not listed in the book so wonder what other people think.

@Tinkling I think that's the purist way to do it , with no scales. I have quite boring meals, like salmon in tin foil, with asparagus and leek (last night's tea) and a lentil bake with ratatouille.