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!

Rice salad would pack well for lunches. I often have oatcakes and cheese, or like Jesus says put more stuff in your salads. Mine usually have cheese of some kind and meat/tuna. I don’t make my own mayo, though, and I do eat cured meats like salami, Serrano ham etc.

I eat omelettes a lot for lunch, although they don’t travel well. You could try frittata?

Thank you all for the suggestions, some good ideas here that I hadn't thought of! Frittata is perfect.
I work best when I have a plan- that is, a portioned out meal, ready to eat. When its time to eat, if I don't have something ready to go, my mind just goes blank. Lunchtime is always rushed and I tend to go for the easy option pot noodle today
It's interesting what pp said about not feeling stuffed after a salad, I think that's my objection to them, but if I think about it properly I hate that stuffed feeling. Always makes for a sluggish afternoon.

I eat rice cakes with Philadelphia cheese and a slice of smoked salmon for lunch. You could buy the tiny tubs of Philadelphia and assemble it at work. Or I have oatcakes, cheese and a little sweet chilli jam, with an apple.

Cheese and apple is my go to light lunch. I also sometimes just have yoghurt though only if I didn't already have it for breakfast!

If you have a microwave you could try a reheatable meat and veg combo.
I had fried Brussels sprouts with crispy bacon for lunch today.

Some great lunch ideas here! Leftovers from night before are also an option perhaps?

Re salads- I've been using the ready bagged leaves recently as I figure that's a good way of getting a decent variety, and there seems to be less waste - then add parsley, toms, red pepper, celery etc, and some form of protein, or a sliced avocado. It does need a dressing of some kind so a flavoured olive oil is good, or take in a small jar of two thirds olive oil and one third vinegar, s and p, maybe some mustard, shake vigorously and apply.

Yy to boiled eggs. I hard boil several at once and store in fridge till I need them.

Or, brown rice with shredded chicken, moistened with some cooking juices and maybe a roast red pepper or roast toms stirred in with chopped spring onion or chives is fine eaten cold if needs be, and travels well. You could crisp up some chicken skin and cut that over the top for crunch, if you were feeling fancy.

Leadbetter great news on set point triumph!

Mason salad jars look good. You layer them up ahead of time, there's some trick to it (dressing first or something) so it stays fresh.

I'll have to look it up. Essentially it's a packed lunch salad though.

I find adding things like bacon, sweetcorn, cheese, peanuts/seeds to salad really helps keep it interesting and tasty.

I try and cut everything to the size of sweetcorn kernels. It's easier to eat and you get loads of variety in each mouthful.

hurrythefoodup.com/how-to-pack-a-salad-in-a-jar/

Thanks for all the tips and ideas all! I've had a much better day today as I had a plan and knew what I was doing from the start. It's been quite heavy on chicken, wholegrain rice and various vegetables but I'm taking it as a win (and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow which makes life easier).
I didn't know oatcakes were permitted, I will get some as I think that will make my cracker habit easier to break.
I'm trying to think of this as more of a gradual change to a healthier way of eating than a diet, so not beating myself up over the odd slip. I also cannot afford to waste food that I already have in e.g. curry sauces, tinned soups but I can use them and not buy any more and start thinking how I'll replace these meals when they're gone.

@Picklemewalnuts - that article is great, thank you - so useful and doing it that way there's no need to take the dressing separately to stop everything going soggy. Brilliant. In place of glass jars I use sistema lidded bowls/ mugs, which don't look as pretty, but are very practical.

@Heartbeats0708 . That sounds exactly the right approach re stuff you already have in. On oatcakes if you're being super on plan, maybe try for those with olive oil rather than veg /palm oil ( clearspring organic are ok from memory, but quite pricey.)

Or you could try making your own? Dead simple and very cheap. Recipe:

www.copymethat.com/r/2zT5RyJFM/scottish-oatcakes/

I don't add the sugar and it works fine.

It takes a while to get into the routine of eating this way and that's absolutely fine. For me, it was my all or nothing mentality that led to my yo yo weight issue in the first place!

I buy olive oil oatcakes in Tesco - Patersons is the brand. Not specially pricey!

Hello again, I dipped in a few weeks ago but then things got very hectic at work. I've started quite gradually with breakfast - I have succeeded in swapping my usual cinnamon-raisin bagel for Greek yoghurt. It was awful for the first few days (headaches, low blood sugar) but now my body seems to have adjusted - to the point where I had a bagel the other day and got headaches in the opposite direction!

For my remaining meals, I'm trying to raise vegetables/protein/fat and decrease carbohydrate. It's fairly slow but my feeling is that if I do this slowly then long-term it might stick better. On the whole my blood sugar feels much more consistent and I don't get big dips in the same way. I've also more or less given up eating between meals. Omega 3/6 will wait till the next phase I think. I don't know if it's showing on the scales, but I definitely feel better and I think my clothes are looser. (I've tried to avoid weighing myself too much as then I react to the numbers).

Can anyone say what change makes the biggest difference, or is it everything?

Hi @orangejuggling that sounds promising!

Initially all I did was swap out morning cereal for yoghurt with lots of off plan honey, cut out bread, change to full fat everything and eat more cheese. I started losing weight right away. It helped that I stopped wanting chocolate after making the above changes, I had got into the habit of eating it every evening.

I suspect the main difference was from cutting out bread and cereal.

I have since swapped back from whole to semi skimmed milk because none of us actually like full fat milk (i only have it in tea anyway), and I am eating a bit lower carb than I was initially. But I still have pasta once or twice a week. Rice often, potato mostly when DH is away, bread very seldom.

Also butter and olive oil and not vegetable oil, though I was mostly doing that anyway.

@Heartbeats0708 I'm doing very similar and not buy new off plan stuff, and running down what I have in gradually (and letting DH eat it).

I have no bread in but have had it a couple of times a week when out. I am having whole-wheat pasta once a week.

The book advocates a step by step approach, you don't have to do everything at once and it makes sense that if you start slowly and adapt to each change before moving on your are less likely to fall off the rails.

I'm a bit confused about oats. And rapeseed oil...

Full disclosure, I haven't quite read the middle of the book! I did the first 1/3-1/2, then skipped to the last part that's more practical.

There's a lot of information and I think I'm forgetting what to do faster than I'm putting it into practice.

Aren't oats autumnal? Like nuts and other grains and seeds?

I'll get back to the book now I'm home, but those are my biggest questions, oats and rapeseed oil!

Hello, sorry to barge on - I was on the first thread many moons ago (with a different username). I was just wondering if anyone else had seen that Tim Spector’s Zoe app is finally launching in the UK next month! Will anyone be signing up? I’m very tempted but am expecting it will be pricey!

Autumnal ? Not sure what you mean - will have to dig the book out as I must have missed that bit!

Rapeseed oil - I think probably not but maybe it's ok if it's processed in a similarly clean way to extra virgin olive oil? I think someone went into this once about oils, but I have forgotten the details. I really hate the taste of rapeseed anyway, so stick with olive oil.

Oooh Madame would be very tempted. Is that the one that analyses your gut bacteria and recommends what to eat from the results?

Yes! It also checks your blood sugar & blood fat responses apparently. It’s mostly the personalised food recommendations I’d be interested in though.

@Words he said summer foods are good- leafy green veg- autumn foods are not- nuts, seeds, grain.

But I need to re read, especially the middle bit i haven't read at all!

sounds good!

[quote picklemewalnuts]@Words he said summer foods are good- leafy green veg- autumn foods are not- nuts, seeds, grain.

But I need to re read, especially the middle bit i haven't read at all! [/quote]
In terms of the omega 3 and 6, yes, although it's a bit broad for me, as I tend to think of leafy green veg as being year round or winter things (cabbage, sprouts, kale), and Summer to be full of fruit and tomatoes.

Anyway, when it comes to oats, rice, chickpeas, spelt flour, nuts and so on, I have them wholegrain and within the carb limit of ~80g. I can't see how that would be a problem.

Oh right, great! I need a reset. There's a lot to take in!

Another pound off this week. This is great, having hovered around a set point for weeks before Xmas then gained a lot when I lost track with my back injury ( albeit that melted away very rapidly)

Combining fasting for 18 hrs with this, plus reduced chocolate intake, moderated potato intake, attention to portion sizes and absolutely no snacking seems to have done the trick.

For those worried about full fat, there is however, lashings of butter, Greek yoghurt and this week double cream in my diet!

Long hill walk today as gorgeous weather forecast, then roast duck, goose fat roasted potatoes and greens for dinner. And next week I am on my holidays!