Why We Eat (Too Much) Thread 4

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Hi to all regulars and lurkers!

Here's the 4th thread, based on the ideas in Dr Andrew Jenkinson's book. We've seen some amazing losses on these threads, and the benefits for me can be summed up as 'no counting, no starving'.
We don't count calories, and if we're hungry we eat. We're focused on quality.

General eating principles:

No sugar
No wheat (which reduces unhealthy carbs)
No ultra processed foods, and in particular no processed/ultra refined oils
Honourable mention to tipping the balance of omega 3 and 6, but that’s mostly achieved by doing the above.

His principles also include trying to sleep more and reduce stress, and take regular (moderate) exercise.

If any of this sounds promising, please feel free to ask questions and come and join in!

Oh, and don't apologise for being negative, we've all been there, that's what these threads are for.

I had a meltdown on this very thread (or possibly the one before) a few weeks ago.

Re: lunches, if you're buying from M&S anyway, there are lots of things you could get that are preferable to a pasta salad. Packets of sliced meat, peeled boiled eggs and so on. Make yourself a deli spread.

Bags of leaves do go wilty. I think green peppers, raw cauliflower, raw broccoli, carrot sticks and things like that are a better bet for lunches, as they last longer and are more interesting to eat.

If I am desperate and end up somewhere like M and S for lunch I either go for something like a poke bowl, or something with mixed grains or if all else fails suishi. It's not ideal but preferable to pasta or a sandwich.

I wouldnt do the all or nothing approach either if you feel frustrated. Why not leave lunch as it is, and really get your evening meal sorted out first. Changing everything all at once is a Big Step.

Also what I have found really liberating is just cooking for me. I sort ds out as he is 7 and is in bed usually when me and dh eat. Then I cook what suits this woe, if dh doesn't want it he can make his own. But generally I can cook one meal. We have pasta sometimes,I use red lentil pasta instead for my portion. And I haven't even thought about carbs yet. I have potatoes or rice most days.

I made a crustless quiche yesterday for lunch for me the next few days. I didn't have any salad in so just chucked a couple of slices in a tupperware box. Lunch sorted. Took about 10 mins yesterday to make, then 25 mins in the oven.

Had quiche for lunch, and having leftover Sunday roast for dinner, potatoes AND a Yorkshire pudding. Is it 100% on plan? Nope. Is it better than a ready meal, or a supermarket pizza, or pasta with garlic bread? Yup.

Hi all,
I was last on thread 3. Then I broke my ankle, went on holiday and fell off the plan totally.
I've been floundering around, eating crap and getting steadily heavier since July...........
I hadn't weighed myself since then but I was about 16 stone 5lbs then. On Sunday I was 16 stone 11lbs - eeep!
So, I have given myself a damn good talking to and got back on plan.
(Well, apart from the yorkshire pudding with dinner yesterday!)
I'm currently focusing on being (mostly) wheat free and dropping as much processed sugar as possible.
I have scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. By the time break comes at work (am a TA) I could quite cheerfully eat my own arm. But I'm trying an apple.
My danger point (as I've said before) is when I get home. But I am trying to have some rice cakes and then leave the kitchen.

One thing I was wondering about were Naked bars - they claim to be cold pressed and purely fruit, no oils or added sugars etc (and they are rather flipping yummy). Not as an everyday thing but as emergency food and out and about snacks. Wondering if they would count as UPF?

I am going to keep a food diary for the next couple of weeks.

@JeffVaderneedsatray hi again!

Generally if i read the ingredients and they are all actual named foodstuffs (no E numbers, niacin, dessicated extract of whatever, etc) then I assume it is not ultra processed. I'm scarcely an expert but I think you have to do the best you can with the information you have!

Ran out of inspiration for dinner, was still hungry after it and had a late night toast binge.

Waiting with slightly morbid interest to see what the scales say in the morning!

@JeffVaderneedsatray
I’m just starting out on this (but seems to be working…) so definitely not an authority (!) but if I understand correctly you shouldn’t let yourself get really, really hungry so wondering if you need to eat more for breakfast??

Kittykatkin Part of the problem is how late our break is - I eat breakfast at about 6.30am and break is 11.00!
I do wonder if I;m confusing hunger and thirst sometimes.
I'll get there!

I'd be careful with nakd bars personally no matter what the ingredients say, they will be packed full of sugar. I'd treat them as a treat rather than an emergency. A piece piece of fruit would be better I think.

Mixed day yesterday. Crustless quiche for lunch but dinner was an M and S dine in pie, mash and veg. Cooked by dh so I didn't have much say and I didn't get home until 6.30pm so wasn't in a position to be picky. I did leave most of the pastry tho.

Dinner is a fry up and not sure what lunch will be yet, probably an appple and cheese or maybe scrambled eggs.

NSV of my jeans being too big yesterday. And sunday my blacksmith was a bit shocked at how much weight I'd lost in 8 weeks. Tbf scalewise it's not been that much, probably half a stone, but I've toned up a lot as well from doing the ponies myself. So look slimmer because of that.

I haven't posted in ages as life has been really hectic recently, but just wanted to drop in quickly to keep this thread active for me. I'm still losing weight (despite having had 2 birthday parties in one week recently!) and just wanted to encourage those of you struggling with cutting things out entirely that I do the same as a pp and allow myself some wheat/sugar items occasionally.

This helps me fit in with family meals and also means it is more sustainable for me as I'm not feeling deprived. However, it is MUCH reduced from what I used to eat and I don't have anything in the house that I would find difficult to stop eating so I'm not tempted to overdo it.

Morning. So many positive stories and tips here. I find the thread so helpful.
Someone I hadn't seen in a while told me I was looking fab yesterday and asked what I was doing. Made my day.

My weight is hovering around the same 2lbs and up and down each day. Is this what happens at a weight set point?
I'm planning to just keep going and see what happens next without worrying too much about a drop. We are on holiday next week so I'll probably have a few things that are off-plan but will be less stressed/sleeping more/ walking more so it will hopefully balance out.

A point on eating more fat. If I simply have 2 boiled eggs at breakfast I'm really ready for something by break. If I have them chopped up with some butter then I am fine until lunch. Some fat really helps with satiety for me.

Tired It's great that you are still managing to lose weight even with being relaxed occasionally regarding the 'rules' of this woe
Neeko it's normal for the scales to fluctuate. The best news is that you are getting compliments from other people who you don't see often who have noticed the positive effect.

At last I'm down 1kg! Despite eating bread for the first time in ages this week. We were invited for a gastronomic lunch on Monday, lots of little courses with wonderful sauces and a mouthful of fish each time, so bread was required to mop up the sauce. The bread was delicious and as it was made from ancient grains (buckwheat, spelt etc) it didn't completely break the rules unlike what I had from the dessert trolley

I'm back running around 50 miles a week, and have also gone back to drinking alcohol only at the weekend and even then not that much. Have signed up for some races in November and it would be nice to be a little lighter to do them so added incentive to keep to the woe except of course I'm still eating lots of almonds and cashews

Sneak peak on the scales today - looking might be 2.5lb off by Friday for the week if I keep at it.

I'm so in the zone at the moment. I had a reactivation code from Hello Fresh that I used this week, so dinners have been a breeze. I've made sure to have better snacking options in the house for when I do need something. I'm trying to identify my flashpoints ahead of time, and plan around them:

• Tues dinner, I'm usually knackered and get partner to bring something easy back eg takeaway or supermarket pizza
• Snacking in the day. Stay away from the crisps, we have fruit, cheese, pickles, yoghurt, oatcakes so pick something from that!

Just checking in as well, since everyone seems to be. Got the in laws here at the moment so mixed bag for me (plus ça change), but I'm definitely at a new, lower set point since the Summer, because the scales are sticking firmly at 75kg no matter what I've been eating.

This is actually fine for my height and frame, and is a healthy weight, but I do want to shift it a bit lower all the same. I want my final set point to be 73kg, though I'm relaxed about it maybe taking a long time to get there. I was at my previous set point of 77kg for the best part of 3 months.

Unless that was a plateau? How do we know the difference? Is there a difference?

@TheLeadbetterLife I think a plateau is just when your set point stays put for a while.

I don't think there's any way to tell if it has stopped going down permanently or just for a few months!

Well in spite of eating pasta x4 thus week and the toast extravaganza I am only up 1lb so there is hope. Back to being cooked for this week, phew!

Hi Everyone
I have been lurking for a couple of months but this is my first post.
I am that person whose weight profile is the zig zag but ever increasing. I attended SW for 2 years, lost 1 stone quickly but struggled to do more without getting very fed up with the 'rules'. It makes sense that my BMR had reduced & weight loss stopped. Got totally converted to spray oil and 0%fat Greek yoghurt. The following year I tried a bit of 5:2 but that was unsustainable for me. Back to SW again by this time I had reverted to (almost) my first SW start weight. I'm sure I paid lots of money to get almost nowhere!
Roll on another year & in the first lockdown I read (audio book) The Obesity Code. Heard about weight set point and intermittent fasting (16:8) to reduce insulin resistance. I did find that a long overnight fast did reduce the need to snack during the day - but eventually I reverted to my favourite granola for breakfast. Also mindful of the zigzag weight loss/gain I want to find a WOE that works.
This summer I read about the book WWE(TM) and ordered it for holiday reading(!) Then I found this series of threads. Slowly read the book alongside all 4 threads & finally got through them all last week. So much sense about sugar being the main issue. Also fascinating about omega 3 & 6. Got to give this a go & hoping for a new life change (not a diet!).
I can't throw anything out - so I have used up all sunflower oil & now only have EVOO in the house. I make all my own bread rolls (about 20-30 a week to keep a teen lad full). Now made with EVOO. I have eaten far fewer of them & stopped using spreadable butter. Changed to EVOO for roast pots & the new spray oil bottle is heading for the food bank. My DS commented on the potatoes, asked what was different & said they were MUCH nicer.
Changed my breakfast to full fat Greek yog with an apple cut up (it is like eating cream!). But still my weight was not changing & I have now increased 7lb over heaviest SW weight.

Severe talking to myself about snacking. I can eat huge amounts of chocolate especially when driving (daily 1 hour commute). So from beginning of Oct I am going sugar free for 1 month. This is a huge craving to kick before I can cope with more (including no wheat). Can't believe it this morning - 3lb down since Friday!
Baby steps - but thanks for reading (post far too long I know) & I'll carry on gathering tips and joining with you.

Hi @PC20 , glad to hear the lbs are starting to drop off for you at last!

Today I am making a concerted effort to drink more water. I drank my whole 700ml water bottle at work and am currently making my way through a second 700ml bottle (refillable not single use) this evening.
I realised yesterday that while I THOUGHT I was drinking multiple cups of tea a day at work what was ACTUALLY happening was that I was making a drink, taking a few sips and then getting caught up in the start of school then tipping a nearly full cup away at break to make a fresh one which I maybe drank half of.........
I made a concerted effort to drink more water yesterday evening and my usual wanting to eat my own arm didn't happen today. I was peckish at break but not ravenous. Either the increased water is helping or my body is getting used to being well fed less often!
I like this WOE because I can generally fit it in around family meals (which, due to teenagers with ASD and disordered eating , are fairly tricky anyway) - I just leave things off my plate.
This evening we're having savoury mince. DH will have his with pasta, I will have mine with peas. Grated cheese on top.
This evening I felt bread calling me so I had some cheese instead to fend it off! Its still calling. I am, in fact, imagining how buttered bread dipped into my mince would taste. However the bread can take its tempty ways and sod off!

Thanks @samthebordercollie, I know weight naturally fluctuates as I have been addicted to weighing myself for years! I just was wondering what happened to others in terms of the scales when at a weight set point. How do you know you are at one? Sorry - I probably didn't word it very well!

So far with this WoE @Neeko I have found I will lose a few pounds then my weight will settle at a plateau, then (for no apparent reason) I'll lose a few more pounds then plateau again.

I'm not sure why and how long I remain on the plateau varies from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, but I have just kept going with the same meal plans and at some point my weight loss has kick-started again.

I've now lost a total of 33lbs and am comfortably sitting in the healthy BMI range, which is something I've only ever managed previously after very strict dieting with incredibly tight restrictions.

Thanks for that @Tiredandbored. It's all so interesting, isn't it? I have no plans to stop this WOE and, now that I am (just) into a healthy BMI, I'm ok with my weight sticking for a while. We shall see what the next few weeks and months bring.

I'm the same as Tired, will stick at the same weight, or lose 0.5lbs, or put 1lb on them all of a sudden drop 2lbs. I find the 1lb on goes as quickly as it came.

Mixed day yesterday. Jacket potato with tuna and cheese for lunch with loads of salad, then Chinese for dinner. Didn't have much tho. And rice rather than noodles, and black bean sauce rather than something sweet and sticky. Need to sort Thursday evening out, am knackered by the time I get home so we resort to takeaway. Think it's time to dig the slow cooker out maybe. Or batch cook and use the freezer.

hi all, does any one know if aldi rye crackers are on plan, the ingredients are rye flour and salt. I can't remember if rye flour was an acceptable alternative, Tia

@NeverTooOldToTry I'm not sure about rye bread. It looks to me like it's better than wheat (it's omega 3 ratio is 1 in 6 if I am reading it right) compared to wheat at 1 :17.

Two pounds on this morning. I was good all week but did have cocktails Saturday night which were probably full of sugar. Oh well I’m carrying on