Why We Eat (Too Much) Thread 5

[TheLeadbetterLife]

Happy New Year regulars, lurkers and newcomers!

Welcome to thread 5 of discussion, encouragement and advice inspired by the book Why We Eat (Too Much), by Dr Andrew Jenkinson.

The basic principles of this "diet" (it's not one in the traditional sense, as it's meant to be a permanent set of changes), are as follows:

• cut out ultra-processed food
• massively reduce sugar, carbs, refined flours and wheat
• eat a wide variety of vegetables, whole grains and fruit
• eat full fat dairy and other healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil
• improve the ratio of omega 3 to 6 by eating greens, fish, eggs and grass-fed meat, and cutting out ultra-refined seed oils

Important lifestyle changes include getting plenty of rest, relaxation and sleep, as well as taking a moderate amount of exercise (or more, if you like that sort of thing).

You don't need to count calories (in fact, you shouldn't), though it may help to count carbs or glycemic load, at least to begin with, until you get the hang of it.

Some of us share recipes by following each other on Copy Me That - www.copymethat.com/recipebox/the-leadbetter-life/6661160/

As well as the book mentioned in the title, the principles are similar to those espoused by the likes of Rangan Chatterjee, Robert Lustig, Tim Spector and Michael Mosley.

There are many successes on this thread, and the main thing is that we are aiming to make permanent, sustainable changes to adjust our weight set-points downwards.

Join us!

@picklemewalnuts fat free is so bad. There is often tons of sugar added. Full fat fills you up, you really can't eat that much. Our bodies need fat, especially the brain. The only thing our body doesn't need is carbohydrates. Protein and fat is essential.

Good tip about Lidl meat, @Heartbeats0708 !

@samthebordercollie I eat the plain, fat free Greek yogurt/quark/cottage cheese. No sweeteners or sugar. I have a sugar free flavoured syrup (freedomshot) I'm probably going to have to give up! Also, white chocolate options is gorgeous added to fat free quark. But that's obviously not a whole, natural food so will have to go.

What's the pace of change like, do you reckon? Do you see a gradual shift, is it faster if you make all the changes than just some of them? I can't quite get my head around it, the way I have with SW.

Basically I'm not too bothered about losing weight now, though if I do that's a bonus. I want to have a healthier relationship with food, which I think this WOE should help.

@picklemewalnuts did I read on another thread you lost 5 stone with SW? That's brilliant! Don't be afraid if full fat, it really fills you up, you physically can't eat about in the way that you can with sugar. I'm not doing this woe to lose weight, a couple of kg would be nice but as long as my BMI is under 20 I'm not worrying too much)
It's a lot of common sense so to maintain your weight you should be fine, don't be scared! The most important thing is to stop sugar as much as possible, cut out processed food and refined flour products. In doing this you will automatically cut out lots of omega 6.

@picklemewalnuts the full fat thing is scary to begin with (especially if you just lost a ton of weight by cutting it out!)

But the reason the plan is sustainable is that you mostly eat nice things that fill you up (butter, cheese, full fat everything). I don't think it will work as it's supposed to if you don't have a fairly significant fat intake. You will get hungry.

I'm looking forward to getting back on plan this week. I feel twitchy and anxious and I'm sure it's partly the week of carbs. Though the fact that the house is full of partially unpacked suitcases, DH has immediately headed off on a work trip, the cleaners are coming on Tuesday and the kids have to get up for school tomorrow through 3 hours of jet lag may also have something to do with it!

Only 1.5 lbs up though which is good going given the level of cookie consumption that happened 😳

Picklemewalnuts - did you come from Slimming World? I went over to full fat when still doing slimming world properly and used to weigh my yoghurt - you can have loads for one or two ‘syns’ also remember cheese for your Healthy extra A is encouraged. As people have said, full fat dairy is filling and tastes so much better. I used to think of it as savvy syns like avocado. So much better for us than sweet syns.

Re the soup - I used to do soup and bread, now I do lentils with veg and some sort of cold meat.

Yes, I'm slimming world. So effectively I suppose thinking about repairing myself! I still go, it's part of the consistency and accountability.

So you follow the plan and the Jenkinson guidance? I suppose that could work- you just count the syns in the full fat stuff, and ditch the various substitutes.
Use fruit as your healthy extra rather than wheat based foods... that's a lot of rhubarb!

And then over time our set point lowers, our metabolism speeds up, and it's easier to stay on plan...

That could work! Thanks, I hadn't thought of it like that.

Welcome newbies! It’s important to remember that calories don’t count. It’s all about hormones and getting your insulin down. The only thing that doesn’t actually spike your insulin is fat!

I know it can take some getting used to. And I’d love to know if anyone has had their cholesterol levels checked on this plan as I’d be curious to see the results!

One of the things that I like about this plan is that I don’t have to count anything. I did Team RH before starting this and it involved counting calories, protein, fibre, fat, steps, water etc etc and it was doing my head in. I also found it basically impossible to hit my protein target without using processed protein powder which tastes vile. In this approach, you can drop the counting. Calories and syns don’t matter.

Full fat dairy I would definitely introduce - maybe start small, swap your milk to full fat and see if it makes any difference to your weight. Then swap your cheese (low fat cheese is the work of the devil anyway). Then swap your yoghurt.

My weight fluctuated a bit for the first fortnight but then settled into slow but steady loss. If I stick to the principles properly I’ve been losing approximately a pound a week.

Here’s the border collie cake! DH made the sponge and I decorated it. There were two sponge cakes and one was the face and we cut triangles out of the other one to add the ears, so I put chocolate buttercream on the remnants of the second cake, and I’ve eaten a bit of that. It was all homemade, so it felt less bad eating that than the collie face covered in royal icing! Back on plan today, though, and I didn’t slide into oh well, I had cake so I’ve ruined today so I’ll just have more/toast/crisps/takeaway, which is a win for me.

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar what a fabulous cake! It looks just like one of my BCs, Maggie. You are very talented, your DD must have been thrilled!

I'm going to the UK tomorrow for a week to help my dad out following his knee replacement surgery. As I'll be doing the cooking it should be easy to stay on plan!

Hello, @MrsBloatymcbloatface!

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar that cake is bloody brilliant! You clever person!

I love cooking but am a terrible baker; I can do rustic, and that's it! Bet your DD was delighted!

Phew, glad I found you all again, the thread disappeared from my "watched" and "I'm on" lists and I thought I'd lost you!

I've lost 1.6kg, so slow going, but I haven't fully embraced all of the principles yet.

I am really struggling with eating away from home so I end having about three "off plan" meals/snacks a week.

Border collies seem to be the dog of choice on this thread! Here’s mine.

Ok if we’re doing collie pics this is the ‘no mum I absolutely haven’t been digging in your pots’ look.

Ahh lovely BC pics! A bit off topic but here are my two, father and daughter, my running buddies

Aw! Loving the collie pics! PickleDog is rather distinctive, so I won't share her! I can't be arsed with name changing so anyone who works out who I am via my dog would be able to read all about me, embarrassing bits and all.

Obviously PickleDog is the most beautiful girl in the world, and not at all naughty, no not her! She is, however, a really distinctive looking cross breed so not at all shareable.

It's great hearing your reassurances about this woe. I'll definitely switch across, but won't rush the full fat until I'm confident I'm on top of watching the carbs/wheat. I'm on holiday at the moment, so making 'good choices' rather than actively dieting.

Interestingly, I may have had a couple of personality/preference shifts. I know it sounds weird. I'm happily drinking green and herbal teas. I've always liked them in theory, while in practice drinking gallons- literally- of decaf coffee. I also chose a vegetarian 3 course meal tonight. That would not be my usual- I'd feel deprived!

I think I may have genuinely shifted away from a deprivation mindset- shouldn't drink too much coffee, mustn't eat too much rich food etc.

I'm a strong believer in the subconscious. I had a couple of revelations last week about how and why I eat/binge, and that may have been enough to allow me to move on with a healthier attitude.

I mean, it's early days, but I'm optimistic!

Awww, all the collies!

Jesus, when I’m out I tend to go for “least bad”. On Fri I was in town and had breakfast and lunch at Pret - the yoghurt/Bircher muesli pot turned out to have sugar in it and all the dried fruit was sweetened with a mixture of sunflower oil and sugar. FFS. But it was still less bad than an almond croissant.

Pickle, sounds like you’re doing well - hope the revelations help.

Some fabulous updates here, and great progress. Slow and steady wins the race!

Letting go of the deprivation mindset is so liberating, as is no calorie counting! For those who are nervous, absolutely do it slowly and see how you go.

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar that cake is amazing!

How funny about our border collies!

Here is my beautiful girl:

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar

Awww, all the collies!

Jesus, when I’m out I tend to go for “least bad”. On Fri I was in town and had breakfast and lunch at Pret - the yoghurt/Bircher muesli pot turned out to have sugar in it and all the dried fruit was sweetened with a mixture of sunflower oil and sugar. FFS. But it was still less bad than an almond croissant.

Pickle, sounds like you’re doing well - hope the revelations help.

Yes I am trying to pick a least worst option and not stress about it but sometimes the options are pretty poor. The pub near the office is all toasted or grilled sandwiches at lunchtime and cafes are all bread/pastry/cake in the afternoon.

Wish more places did an all day breakfast!

pickle don't be too nervous about full fat dairy, it is lower carb and much more filling than fat free options. Full fat authentic Greek yogurt is brilliant for a snack/dessert or light breakfast.

Cute dogs!
I feel like I am getting a good understanding of what I'm supposed to be eating but it's much more difficult to put it into practise than I thought I think I need to make a list of things I'd usually eat, then see if/how they can be adapted to suit this woe.
Eg I used to have a sandwich for lunch. I swapped that out for veggie noodles/couscous/pasta salad when bread started to make me ill but none of those options work for this. Other than homemade soup I'm a bit stumped- I don't find salad filling and I need things that transport well for work. Any thoughts?

Hi everyone, sorry I've not checked in for a while, I need to go through and catch up with the thread!

Weight set point fans will be pleased to hear that after a shocking reading on the scales after I got back from my Frankfurt carb-fest, I'm back down to the weight I was before.

@Heartbeats0708 I have the same lunch every day. A plate of crudités (broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, celery, carrot etc.) with homemade mayonnaise to dip them in, and a few slices of cheese. I often smear a teaspoon of peanut butter into the celery too.

I follow that with half a cup of raw oats with flax and chia seeds, mixed with raspberries and yoghurt.

It's very filling because there's a lot of fat and fibre. I usually eat all this around 1pm or 2pm, having fasted from around 8pm the night before.

Once a week, I make a batch of mayonnaise in the blender, mix a big jar of the oats and seeds together, make yoghurt and prepare the crudités.

I find this routine simplifies it all for me, because then in the evenings we just have a cooked meal of protein and vegetables in some form (last night it was a Chinese-style chicken curry - just chicken, peppers, onions and cabbage).

I'd never stick to it if I tried to mix up the lunches more, it would be too much to think about. I've found that I've formed a nice, easy habit. The aim of my lunch is to hit my targets for fibre, fat, omega 3 and at least 30 different plants a week, then I'm free to have whatever I fancy for dinner (except carbs...).

@Heartbeats0708

Cute dogs! I feel like I am getting a good understanding of what I'm supposed to be eating but it's much more difficult to put it into practise than I thought I think I need to make a list of things I'd usually eat, then see if/how they can be adapted to suit this woe. Eg I used to have a sandwich for lunch. I swapped that out for veggie noodles/couscous/pasta salad when bread started to make me ill but none of those options work for this. Other than homemade soup I'm a bit stumped- I don't find salad filling and I need things that transport well for work. Any thoughts?

Would salad be more filling with extra protein and fat?

At the moment my at home weekday lunches are often salad and although you don't get that instant stuffed full feeling you get with carbs I'm not hungry all afternoon.

I have a combination of the following, it varies a bit depending what is in stock so I don't have all of them every day. Some spinach, rocket and watercress leaves, a stick of celery, a pepper, a few tomatoes, a hard boiled egg, some cooked chicken, some cheese. Then I use either garlic or chilli infused olive oil as a dressing.

Full fat Greek yogurt if I need an afternoon snack or a slice of cheese.

You could take a pre-made salad to work or pre-made soup.

oh yes I forgot about hard boiled eggs. When my chickens are laying well I eat vast quantities of them. Especially good when made up into devilled eggs, though that is a faff.

Of course at the moment most of the little sods are broody, so I'm lucky to get two eggs a day.