Why We Eat (Too Much) Thread 2

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Shiny new thread to continue on with! I hope everyone keeps going.

For any newbies, this thread is based on a book by Dr Andrew Jenkinson. The main principles are to cut out sugar, wheat and ultra-processed foods, while eating fresh natural ingredients. It works!

Previous thread: thread 1

BrightShark
Congratulations on losing 5kg, that's a lot in a short time!
Not sure about all of them but quinoa, buckwheat, spelt, millet, teff, wild rice are some of them.
I bulk my salads out with chick peas, lentils, beans, linseed etc.
Brown rice and potatoes of course on this WOE

One thing I'm finding is hard is snacks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all fine. For snacks, I would usually have healthy-ish things like Graze crunch or similar, but these all contain sugar and vegetable oils.

Has anyone tried making their own roast salted broad beans? What about things like flax-seed crackers?

Other things I'm planning are to make my own houmous (done before, should be easy as long as I'm organised about it), and mking home made (nut free) energy balls made with honey for fuelling long runs.

Hello everyone, can I join you? I saw the book referenced on the first thread and have been working my way through it for a few days. I'm always up for a geeky read and nutritional science is fascinating.

I've been pretty lucky in that up until my 40s (I'm in my mid-60s now) I had never really needed to 'diet' as such. My weight was pretty steady and just cutting back for a week or so would accomplish what I needed. That was until I waited until I was in my 40s to give up smoking and all hell broke loose. It took 2 years of serious calorie counting and taking up residence in the gym to shift most of the lard and I managed to keep most of it off for the next 5 years or so until work and family problems lead to me taking my eye off the ball and my weight shooting up.
Around 6 years ago my Asthma nurse suggested low carb (not keto), so intermittently I've been LC ever since. Over time I've refined it to between 100 and 120/day without actually cutting out any food, I'm not much of a sugar fiend, I don't even like cake. We don't eat much processed food, but we do have veggie oil although we have a lot of EVOO and cold-pressed rapeseed oil too. We've never really watched our Omega ratios although I remember researching this quite a lot back in the 90s when my mum was quite ill. LC seems to work fine for me and I don't struggle with it much at all but what happens is that I suffer dreadfully from 'carb creep'. Every time I go on holiday or Christmas, Easter etc, my carbs go up, only a little, but that's the slippery slope until a few months later, I'm mainlining bread (my downfall), portions have grown, crisps are bought and there's ben & Jerry's phish food in the freezer.

I climbed back into my comfy lc cocoon last week, it's not too different from this WOE and I'll be implementing more of Jenkinson's ideas over the next few weeks.

I wanted to share a discovery. I weigh myself more or less daily so I have a record of when I'm on the wagon and when the wheels fall off going back 6 years. I don't normally look at it but I did this morning and was surprised to see that since LCing, each 'round' has brought my weight down further than before and it has never gone back as high as previously! I'm hoping that this might be my set point resetting, if so what I really need to do is accelerate the process so that each round doesn't take a year or I'll be 90 when I get there 😄

Anyway apologies for the ramble and here's my graph 6 year graph.

Eating low(ish) carb should take away most of the snack craving but my goto is boring, plain old baby's. They're actually just Gouda cheese, they're portion controlled and keep for ages in the fridge.

I've made salted broad beans, I like them much more chased bought ones which are always over-salted to me (I don't eat much salt, and don't use it as a condiment at all).

Had a delish halloumi bake last night. One of my fave meals!!
Banana for breaky today, Greek salad for lunch..and dinner will be the stir fry I didn’t have last night!!

I’ve not tried roasted broad beans but might give it a whirl. However I do roast chick peas and they’re really lovely. Makes me feel like I’m eating knobbys nuts!! Yum!!
I struggle with lunch ideas. Nut free (allergic) and quick. I’m veggie too. Always end up with a salad/cheese etc.

Discussion about grass fed beef has been really useful, thank you! I eat quite a lot of beef - mince in cottage pie or spag bol, and steak regularly because it's DH's favourite meal. It's good to know that it isn't automatically bad for you. I do also eat a fair bit of chicken, so I must cut down on that. Must buy more lamb!

@HighlandCowbag thank you! Do you precook the chips at all or just chuck them in raw? I will definitely look out for dripping and lard next time I'm shopping. Problem I have with the airfyer is quantity. I bought the biggest one I could get, but it still won't do a great job on chips if I try to make as many as I do in the deep fryer as there's no bubbling oil to keep them separated.

Shake them a few times Rags, that's what I do. They aren't perfect granted, but still nicer than oven chips tho I am partial to M and S triple cooked beef fat ones.

I threw my deep fat fryer away years ago lol, so our memory of deep fried proper chips has faded. Will try and remember to take a photo next time I do them, they look pretty authentic.

But I suppose if you are using beef fat or lard, no reason not to use the deep fat fryer.

I'm making potato salad for the first time in years, I can't wait

I'm not eating rice any more, I've tried it once since starting this and I could feel it spiking my insulin and switching on my insatiable hunger. Potatoes are fine as long as I eat them with protein.

Thank you @samthebordercollie

@Throughtheday

Mackerel, could you keep some of those individual mini cheeses in a fridge at work? Then if you get hungry you know there's something on-plan waiting for you.

Other filling suggestions that I used with my DS's school lunches when he tried wheat-free a few years ago: full fat milk in a thermos flask, eggs, cold roast chicken, Spanish omelette type things, bean salads. And no, he didn't like the latter.

My favourite filling salad is spinach with lots of avocado, hardboiled egg and stilton, but I've never tried transporting it. The moment of the grand opening might knock you out! Along with anyone within 20 feet.

Love the sound of the salad but not sure the children would like to come back in my classroom after eating it 🤣.

Mini cheese is a good idea

Ugh. I was in a tricky work lunch situation today and was too polite not to eat a sandwich- my first bread since April. I didn’t enjoy it, I’ve had a stomach ache all afternoon and feel rubbish.

The good news is that I am definitely not craving more bread so will just carry on as before and not beat myself up, or give up for the rest of the day/week as I would have done previously.

@BangingOn it's funny how cravings disappear. I'm not eating biscuits or cakes and have no wish to do so. Even red wine (the only alcohol I like) seems too sweet now.

Im pleased to be maintaining my weight with this woe. I was worried that 6 weeks off running and cycling (I run at least 60 miles a week) while my knee is undergoing treatment would result in some weight gain but not at all. Just goes to show it's more what you eat rather than exercise which is responsible for weight.

Re Quinoa..if you haven't eaten it previously do be careful.. It has a substance called Saponin in the coating which can cause really bad stomach upsets if you are allergic to it.. ( as I am, it seems ) I found this out at my ( v.v,v embarrassing/explosive ) cost.. I wont say any more.. ...

In fact the pain for 2 hours beforehand was so bad that I thought that I had gallstones .. and then..... Well, you really do not want to know!..

If you haven't tried it before , may I recommend that you start with a very small portion and see if it is for you ..

@samthebordercollie well done for maintaining, that’s great. It’s true that we can’t out run our mouths, diet is the key.

That said, I’m still managing 3 x 30 minute runs a week plus 3-4 pole classes, which is definitely helping me tone.

@BangingOn exercise is very important in so many ways! But I think I was doing too much, a book I read explained your body goes into shock mode and slows down your metabolic rate to compensate for the physical over exertion. Thé body is very good at self regulating through homeostasis. Am really looking forward to July when I can start exercising properly again with my dog. Unlike me he has put on a little weight not running with me even though we are still waking 8 miles a day.

However I do roast chick peas and they’re really lovely

Ooh, this is an excellent idea! I'll try that.

Morning all! How is everyone getting on this week? I've been flat out at work, so haven't been able to post as often.

Had a lovely compliment yesterday from someone who hasn't seen me in ages and mentioned I had lost weight and was looking well. It was encouraging to know that my weight loss is beginning to be noticeable to people other than myself and my DH now.

I have a couple of tricky days ahead as my DH and I are going out for dinner this evening. However I've already checked out the menu online and there is a melon starter and duck with vegetable stir-fry main, so I'm not even going to look at the menu in the restaurant and will order those. If I wait until I'm in the restaurant I'll be hungry and tempted by something unsuitable, so it's easier for me to decide ahead of time.

Also have a BBQ this weekend and a staff meal next week. The staff meal is a limited menu with main and dessert. I've picked a good main, but there weren't any suitable desserts, so I may end up off-plan unless I have the willpower to leave it on the plate. Which isn't likely...

Morning Tired and Bored ! Eating out is tricky isn't it but I think with most plans there's the element of planning ahead if possible. I've had a great first week with lots of delicious food. As a family I have always cooked lots of pasta based meals as that's what the children really enjoy so I'm struggling a little bit now with my meal plans for ideas that they will embrace too. Welcome any easy family meal ideas as I work full time . I've done lots of rice based meals and jacket potatoes and meat , veg potatoes but wondered if anyone has some new tried and tested family friendly ones ?

Mine love noodles with chicken or tofu and various stir fry type veg with various sauces. You could do it with rice noodles.

And we had fajitas last night, I just had mine loose on the plate.

Congrats on the noticeable weight loss, @Tiredandbored!

I’ve done three full days. I don’t really miss wheat! Not managed to have a day without a can of coke but everything else has been on plan. I do want to quit but am just so tired and behind with everything!

@badlydrawncat your graph is really interesting... I agree it looks like your set point weight is decreasing over time. It’s the opposite to what happens on a low fat diet yo-yo. Further evidence that this is the better and more sustainable way to lose weight!

@Tiredandbored good idea to plan ahead, when you’re not hungry. It’s great that you can access menus online nowadays. Makes it much easier. I think the best way for me is to limit how many times I eat food prepared outside the home. I haven’t decided my limit in normal times but it’s been easier during Covid.

I’ve set myself quite an ambitious target to have lost 15kg by August Bank Holiday. I’ve nearly got to 6kg but I’m sure the weight loss will slow down. If I can achieve this it would be amazing but I’m not going to limit portion sizes or fat etc to get there. I want this to be sustainable. I’ll just have to see what happens naturally. One of the things I need to do is go to bed earlier. That might help speed it up without changing my food intake.

My boss complimented me yesterday on Zoom for looking so well- she wanted to know what I’d done and said I looked glowing. I told her about the weight loss. Amazed that she can see the difference in my face / shoulder area so quickly!

Well done @Tiredandbored it feels fantastic when other people start to notice the weight loss. Not that you’re doing it for external validation but it is nice to know it’s noticeable

Collywobble I cook separately for me a lot of the time. Dh is a builder and needs stodge, dd is a fussy veggie teenager who lives on hummus and pita and salad and ds is a suspicious 7 year old.

But I cook most things I used to cook, just from scratch. Pasta is a bugger but we don't eat a lot anyway and I'd just swap my pasta for rice I think for something like spag bol, or maybe new potatoes.

Planning is definitely helpful. But 1 meal out of 21 isn't going to be the end of the world. I would avoid wheat, it really doesn't seem to agree with me now but I'd have anything else if it was a special occasion.

I've lost another lb this week. Which is amazing considering I was struggling last week and have had a drink most nights. So altogether 12.5lb in total I think. Hopefully will hit the 1 stone mark next week or two. And most importantly I don't feel like I am on a diet and am not looking forward to hitting some random target and 'stopping dieting'. I'm going to eat this way forever, allowing life to get in the way occasionally and not beat myself up if I struggle. I may slightly tweak things if I think Ive stalled a bit, but that will just be upping veg to replace potatoes or rice slightly. But I've eaten potatoes most days so far and it's still working.