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!

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar thanks! I guess it could be a sleep thing, I have been staying up late.

I also started having unsweetened applesauce on my morning yoghurt as well as honey. Would be sad to have to stop as it's sooo good but that is a systematic change. I can't think of any others.

I am 5' 4 so yes still in the healthy range. I start developing the dreaded stomach overhang at around 135-136 lbs. c section pouch so it doesn't take much to make it ugly.

Today I'm off for a hike in the neighbouring county, starting from a beautiful little village. * One of my favourite circuits. It's good to feel my walking legs coming back.

Then calling in to my favourite supermarket, Booths, hoping to hit yellow sticker time if I can!

I'm a smidge up today on yesterday which is disheartening and why I should try to avoid weighing myself too frequently. Still, 3.5 pounds down in first week back on plan, which is a very good start. Weight loss will I suspect slow down from here on in, but never mind.

@Aria999 my money would be on sleep disturbance too, and / or something hormonal? Are you drinking plenty of water? That can help , oddly if it's fluid retention. Hope it settles back into the comfortable zone soon. I'm sure it will.

@ TooExtraImmatureCheddar - hope dh has recovered!

Usual breakfast and lunch for me today ( taken as a picnic) then the roast pork this eve. ( maybe with some stewed apple aria ! ) I will try very hard not to over-indulge.

Have a great weekend everyone. Forecast not bad so hope we all get to see some sun.

• clue: where Whistle Down the wind was filmed

Sounds lovely @Words hope you had a wonderful hike.

We had a little hike too this morning, organised by a group called hike it baby. It was my first attempt at hiking with two kids and no DH. It was wgreat fun and DS seems to have made a new friend (as he rather mournfully pointed out he doesn't make friends very easily so this is exciting). And I managed to get backpack containing DD on my back without help (though she was lurching around at a rather alarming angle for a few seconds).

On the food front I am going to experiment with dropping the applesauce and see if things change. I have had a few early nights and still not losing any lbs.

Wow that sounds intrepid aria! What a great idea for a group. Glad DS had fun. Is it possible to do wilderness walking over there, or is it all on set trails?

I had a good time on Saturday. Late spring in the English countryside is just so beautiful with the hawthorn and meadow sweet in full bloom, and the birds singing their hearts out

Then in Booths, I resisted: their almond croissants, their coffee renoirs AND some discounted fancy chocolate truffles. I think I qualify for sainthood. It should at least have meant at least another few kilos down in itself, but alas not.

As I had a fairly meaty weekend I think I will have a mainly veg day today. Cauliflower cheese is suggesting itself to me. Made some rather tasty spicy red pepper hummus yesterday so will have a think how to use that. Maybe with a medium hard boiled egg.

This week I am embarking on a work-related walking challenge of 10,000 steps a day or more for a month. Hoping this won't be too much of a problem around work.

My weekend walks will boost the daily average considerably so the overall totals won't be a problem, but I think it has to be achieved each day. Just a question of working it into the routine.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Hello everyone, I’m still lurking.

I’m still completely sugar free, just on bmi 30 now so one more lb and I’m overweight rather than obese. The weight is coming off really, really slowly but I guess it goes on slowly when going the other way too. Currently around 2lb a month, but it’s going down so I’m not too bothered by that.

I’m now trying to cut down on crisps and peanuts at the moment as although They technically tick my woe box as no sugar (plain crisps all flavoured ones do) they sure don’t help.

inspired by the Wim Hof program last month, I’ve been switching the shower to cold at the end and bizarrely it’s also making a difference.

scampi and salad for lunch today, I’m trying to cut down a bit on meat too.

Billy, does turning the shower to cold really help? As in makes you lose weight? How random! My dad's house has really shitty hot water and when I was a teenager there was never enough hot water so you were quite often forced to have a cold shower, and even now when I go back for a visit it's a lottery. The water comes from a private well and is absolutely icy. I therefore luxuriate in having long hot showers in my own house - shall go back to my childhood and splutter through a cold end instead! My weight loss sounds like yours - about 2lbs a month. I am trying to speed things up slightly before I go on holiday at the end of June, by cutting potatoes/rice/oatcakes out. I only started yesterday so I will report back on any progress. I only have 6 lb to lose to be under BMI 30 and I'd love to get a bit closer before my holidays start.

Aria, I meant to say that you are giving me hope that if I lose enough weight my C section overhang will disappear! I was gloomily accepting it as a fact of life and considering saving up for a tummy tuck but put off by the fact that you have to be already at your goal weight.

I think it’s more that it is invigorating so I’m not thinking about food as much so it’s more that it’s helped regulate my mood which in turn impacts on my eating habits.

I’m not brave enough to go straight in yet, I start warm than turn to cold.

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar yes it's very tolerable when the stomach is small enough. I mean when naked you can still tell, there's a bit of a shape if you know what I mean, but knickers hide it.

I seem to carry ALL my spare weight on my stomach these days so there isn't much safety margin.

I have contemplated tummy tuck in the past too. And may do so again in future if the weight keeps creeping up!

@Words no not much off trail close to us. We have two lovely very big wild forested parks very close to us so we did a little trail in one of those. And the kids played in the fountain at the start and got very wet! Luckily it was hot so they dried off fast.

Morning. Still hovering around the same spot weight wise.

Re tummy overhang, that happened to me and I have never even been pregnant. It's threatening to make a reappearance but I found before that regular Pilates really really helped. Stopping that, together with several kilos weight gain really made a difference - in a bad way. I hope to get back to it after the long weekend.

Yesterday's food was:

Breakfast:

Green smoothie ( kale, cucumber, parsley, apple, celery, ginger and turmeric) with apple cider vinegar and flax seed. It sounds utterly repellent doesn't it, but it tastes surprisingly good.

Lunch:

Green salad and vinaigrette, hard boiled egg and some of that spicy red pepper hummus I made at the weekend. ( chick peas, tahini, roasted red peppers, garlic, olive oil, Tabasco, cumin, s and p all whizzed together)

Couple of home made oatcakes and cheese, just because

Dinner:

Spanish ham and griddled asparagus
Then
Cauliflower cheese with spiralised courgette and garlic fried with butter ( the courgetti mixed in with the cheese sauce and that was delicious and gave me a few ideas of what else to try!) and a few boiled new potatoes done on the griddle.

NO PUDDING. NO CHOCOLATE.

Writing it down, I ate far more yesterday than I realised! They were however modest portions ( by my standards), and a good variety plant-wise. I certainly need that after the madness of the last few weeks.

<adds Pilates to To Do list>

Words, your food yesterday sounds delicious, especially the courgetti. And I fancy trying to make my own hummus as well.

Down to BMI 31 this morning - finally shed the half pound I've been hovering around. It is annoying, though - yesterday I was 2lbs up and then whoosh, overnight 2.5lbs off to a net loss. The next pound off will see me at a stone down from my original starting point in March 2021. This is embarrassingly slow, but it is because I spent essentially June - Feb off the wagon and only restarted properly this March when I got fed up of not fitting into my clothes.

Thanks tooextra !

You were around when I first joined the thread round about this time last year, having done my own version of it since the previous October. So it's very nice to see you back!

Great work on the weight loss, slow and steady wins the race and all that, however frustrating it is. I suspect those words will haunt me as I think I am in for a struggle to get back to where I was before chaos descended, but we will see...

Here's the recipe for the red pepper thing. I would suggest to use more red pepper and I overdid the garlic a little. ( hence note to self!) Though it settled overnight and is now lovely. The Tabasco really lifts it, so do include that. Can't post it on copy me that as it was in the book that came with the blender:

Slow but steady wins the race! Words Glad to see you back and back on track!

My weight is holding steady, I'm back running but much more slowly than in the past and fewer kms a week: Just wanted to add my 2 cents about the tummy overhang, I had both my DC by C section and don't have any over hang at all as long as (like Aria) my weight stays below 60kg (I have a very narrow frame!)

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable long weekend.

Sam - glad you're back running, that's good news.

Yesterday I decided I'd try beetroot again, as it's filed in the 'veg I don't like much' folder. However given the many marvellous health benefits they apparently bestow, I decided they needed another chance.

Roasted them in olive oil and sea salt. Absolutely delicious. Served with feta and green salad. Trying a beetroot soup thing today, with horseradish I think.

In other news I've dinged my back again, fortunately not as badly as before. Just gently stretching up and it went. Unmistakable slightly sickening pain in the muscle tissue. I've been super careful at the gym to avoid anything that puts immediate pressure on my back, so feeling a bit cross.

So it's painkillers and anti inflammatories, wheat bags and hot water bottles and gentle stretches for me this weekend. Plus a therapeutic massage this lunchtime. Miraculously, the therapist is working today, and that really helped last time. I want to try my hardest to keep mobile, maybe doing several shorter walks each rather than one longer one.

For loads of reasons I need to keep on track with the exercise and the eating, as am so recently back on board.

Didn't get much sleep last night and so need to be aware of false hunger too ( really like that description ) today.

@Words that beetroot recipe sounds delicious, I'm also not a huge fan so I'll give it a go.
I am wedged on a huge plateau. I'm trying not to be too disheartened and focusing on the positives. I've been doing this for about 5 weeks and apparently it takes 6 for insulin sensitivity to begin to return. So let's see what the next 5 weeks bring.
I am a bit stuck on breakfast ideas. I'm going back to work FT soon (early starts) so need some no cook (or fast cook) ideas. I have been having leftover supper veg followed by Brie on rye, but it gets a bit repetitive. And I'm trying to cut back on eggs (constipation and I think they make me puffy). Any suggestions gratefully received!

Oh I was going to say eggs, hard boiled or frittata or something but see that's a no.

I'm not a huge breakfast eater but how about:

Greek yog and berries
Green smoothie
Cheese and oatcakes and apple
Porridge
Kefir ( fermented milk, meant to be good for the gut, tastes lovely)
Cold chicken in some sort of dressing

Any good?

More beetroot exploration.

Just made this. Utterly delicious.

I loathe beetroot but the roasted one does sound kinda edible.

I tentatively think the apple sauce was the culprit for the weight gain. I stopped having it and despite consuming (over the last 4 days) a peach waffle, a cheese toastie, and two lots of pasta I am once again under 132lbs.

It's strange and crazy how one seemingly fairly innocent thing can make the difference between success and failure.

On a related note I would advise anyone who is a bit stuck to take a look at any sugars they eat regularly - even if it seems small it can make a big difference.

Hi everbody-peeps!
For some time I've been trying to find some decent evidence that confirms the claims of Why We Eat Too Much. After much googling, I can't find any scientific trials.
I can see that many on Mumsnet have tried it and found themselves losing weight. However, is that just because you have cut down/out refined sugar carbs etc? Does one end up putting on weight again, like the normal diets he decries, or do you really re-stabilise at your "natural" set point and burn off excess calories?
What, after 18+ months are your experiences of staying at your new weight? Does the Omega3/6 rebalancing theory appear to hold water?
Thanks for any thoughts you have about this. Yours a lifelong skeptic of everything!

Hi @Skylarking953 did you check out the various trials he references? I thought it all sounded good but I'm no expert!

Personally speaking I lost about 10 lbs initially (last spring / summer) then bounced back 2lbs and have stayed the same weight ever since except the few times I have come off the rails and eaten too much bread / sugar. After doing so I have been able to return to my set point though often quite slowly.

I eat quite a lot including a ton of cheese and bacon and I don't count calories. Yay!

It's clear from the thread that it doesn't work for everyone. I think the theory is very plausible and it works for me personally but it's probably more complicated than it seems.

I asked DH (academic in an unrelated subject) to sense check the scientific method - he thought it seemed broadly well researched and plausible but not as conclusive as jenkinson makes out.

Thanks so much for this Aria. I wouldn't have the scientific background in this area to know, sadly. I think it's more the "grand theory" that he builds from them that I wish were properly tried and tested. Authors are bound to overstate their case I guess.
Not knowing your weight, I wouldn't know whether 10lbs took you to any sort of healthy set point. I am stones overweight, I wonder where I would end up? Do people end up somewhere that would be constituted a "healthy weight"?
Thanks for any thoughts in advance...

Totally gone of the rails in the last week.

I was feeling crabby and weepy and having the most intense cravings which I, shamefully, gave in to.

Then my period came early and it all makes sense. Seriously, my hormones sabotage me in the most unbelievable way. Does anyone have any success with getting them in line? I suffer from PMT (poss PMDD) so badly that I become a different person and get into the mindset that I don't matter and I'm not worthy, so why should I care if I feel like shit? Why should I look after myself?

Trying to get back on it today, but I am so annoyed with myself and will have to go through all the sugar cravings again as I come off the bad stuff.

What an idiot I am.

Hi @Skylarking953

Welcome to the thread!

Like you, I like to see proper research to back up anything like this, and one of my issues with the book is that it doesn't even seem to have any examples of e.g. patients of Jenkinson that have tried it.

That said, I have lost 15kg on this plan (well, 17 actually but I put a couple back on when I started eating too many carbs again!), which has taken me down to a healthy weight for the first time in 20 years. I'd been overweight or obese pretty much my entire adult life.

It's not been difficult to keep it off either, as long as I stick to the changes. As I said, I started eating more carbs / sugars and slacking off on my regular exercise, and it was creeping back. I'm back into good habits again now and it's coming off again.

Jenkinson's ideas are essentially the same as people like Mosley, Chatterjee, Lustig and so on, so he's in good company. Not sure about the omega 3/6 stuff, but there are other compelling reasons to cut out trans fats, seed oils and UPFs, which is where most of the omega 3 comes from anyway.