Why We Eat (Too Much) thread 6

[TheLeadbetterLife]

Whoops, we let thread 5 get away from us a bit there...

I'm going to boringly copy-paste the previous thread opener, because it's too hot to be imaginative.

Welcome to thread 6 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!

Sorry to hear it @Words I live alone, and yes it really sucks when you're ill - nobody to even bring you a cup of tea or a blanket. Hope you're soon feeling better.

How are you doing @Words?

I feel like i am living on borrowed time from a WOE perspective. I have been eating a lot of pasta and pizza these last 2 or 3 weeks. I am miraculously holding steady at 130lbs but I feel like it is going to break at any moment...

Well that virtual chicken soup of Aria's has certainly helped. Sleeping a lot and seem to be over the worst of it now. Thanks @Aria999 !

Need to start tidying up a bit today as I've just let things slide household wise these last few days. Also start again with the gut healthy foods to build myself up again. And crack on with some work tasks I've been shirking.

It's interesting about how far one can push it with the off plan foods isn't it. It does seem to vary.

I've found what turns a few indiscretions into a regular pattern and eventually weight gain is almost inevitably ongoing life stress of one kind or another.

For me it can then become a vicious circle of self punishment in the guise of comfort, and has led to gains of seven pounds plus. Happily it does melt away again, but I so wish I wasn't such an emotional eater.

I think it was Stephen Fry who commented in relation to his sugar addiction that the guards who should be patrolling the border between 'plenty' and 'too much' were permanently AWOL. So are mine.

Morning Everyone. Sorry to spam the thread. Posting here as ever to keep on the straight and narrow.

How is everyone doing?

I need to up my exercise again as the last week or so I've done hardly any with being unwell, and I've noticed a really bad effect on my mood, motivation and energy levels. This can all start to lead to poor food choices if I am not careful.

A day in the big city today. Taking a hearty bean-y Italian-y soup for lunch, to have with oatcakes.

Not spamming it at all, Words, it's good to see some activity on here. I'd love to hear from some of the original posters as to how they are getting on. Sticking to plan and I've lost about 3 lbs in the last two weeks which I'm really pleased with after having plateaued a bit. What I'm really hoping is that this is pushing my 'set point' down each time. I have had the odd bad day where I've gone off plan but this is really working for me.

I agree about exercise helping with mood and emotions. I'm not doing anything other than walking at the moment, slightly scared to start running again although I'd like to go back to C25K.

@samthebordercollie I was wondering if you've had your toe op yet?

@MerelyPlaying ahh, thanks for thinking about me! My op is next Tuesday so I'm running 9 miles everyday at the moment in anticipation of several weeks without even being able to walk far, if at all: I've lost a couple of pounds, largely by stopping the almonds and cashews in the week, so down to130lbs which is fine: I just need to give up chocolate now and I'm sure that following this WOE I won't necessarily put on weight following the op and the ensuing lack of physical activity: Congratulations on your 3lbs weight loss, that's great! Don't be scared of starting running again, it's a nice time of year to run, not to hot, not too cold:

@Words Glad you are feeling better now! Can you get back to your walking soon? It helps so much mentally just being outside: I hope your mother's condition is more stable now: I'm back on soup for lunch now instead of salads: butternut, carrot, leek and lentils, no need for bread it's so filling!

Glad you're feeling better @Words, and fingers crossed with the eating plan for the op @samthebordercollie

I agree about slipping into bad habits if I stop exercising regularly. I stopped for a few weeks in September, after a week away with work put me all out of whack. I hate exercise, so it's very easy for me to put it off, even though I feel so much better when I'm doing it.

I'm back into it now, doing yoga most days at the moment, having gone through a phase of hating it earlier this year. One thing I'll say for yoga - it produces very quick changes to body composition. Not sure how, it's like magic.

I'm not sure where my antipathy to exercise is rooted. It's not the physical aspect, I think it's mental, and might be to do with ADHD. I feel a bit panicky when I'm exercising, like it's preventing me from doing something more important. I feel sort of trapped and out of control, even though I tell myself it's just 30 mins or so of the day.

I've been learning a lot about how my brain works this year, it's enlightening!

@samthebordercollie do you make your own soup? Any easy recipe tips?

I love soup but the stuff in the shops is full of nasties and I have never really made it for myself.

Ahhh some company! That's good!!

Re the lack of exercise, I've noticed a huge decrease in my ability to handle everyday stress and what I can also only describe as PMT like irritability verging on barely suppressed rage - at nothing.

I'm menopausal and this plan plus the exercise have really helped. I remain worried about memory and brain fog as I have mentioned before. It's almost certainly meno related but I am going to insist on further checks I think.

@TheLeadbetterLife - you mention ADHD . I suspect I am not neuro typical. my issue is to become over focussed and slightly obsessed with things ( no surprise to anyone reading my contributions to these threads ). Also usually score higher than would be expected on Asperger's tests online. It's disruption to my routine that can set me off kilter.

Since meno, apart from brain fog and memory problems, I have noticed certain negative issues intensifying in their impact especially extreme aversion to sensory stimuli such as noise, crowds and bright lights as well as a new difficulty with multi tasking and I mentioned this recently to the GP.

Apparently meno and peri meno can noticeably heighten these issues from being a bit quirky to actually quite hampering, which I had no idea about.

This is important as if it's affecting abilities at work, you can be into the territory of requesting reasonable adjustments, quiet spaces, more home working, that sort of thing, which had never occurred to me.

@Aria999 Hi! I agree about ready made soup, it can be highly processed: For my veg sound I don't use exact quantities but make up a big 5 litre pan which lasts us a week: I melt a little butter then cut into chunks and add one butternut, 4 carrots, 2 onions, 2 leeks and a cup of lentils: Fill the pan to the top with water, add 5 stock cubes (2 if I have homemade stock left over from a roast chicken) bring to the boil then simmer for at least an hour: Then I blitz with a blender: If I have other veg like broccoli hanging around in the fridge I chuck that in as well: If the butternut squash is small I add more carrots and leeks, so the colour of the soup is never the same!

@samthebordercollie thanks that sounds lovely! Will try it!

@TheLeadbetterLife I'm obsessed with exercise and not sure its healthier with doing the bare minimum: My Garmin will think I've died from Tuesday onwards as I do 27,000 steps a day, run and walk, and sometimes cycle and swim daily: A few weeks on the sofa will probably do me goog!
@Words The menopause can be very difficult for some women: Have you tried HRT? I've been in the menopause for 5 years now (I'm nearly 57) and didn't suffer too much but started taking HRT a year ago and it has definitely helped with sleep, energy levels and reducing brain fog:

@Words I'm certainly some flavour of neurodiverse, I might have an assessment at some point, but I've learned so much this year that I've been able to start working with my brain rather than against it. It's quite exciting in some ways.

I definitely have a lot of trouble with loud noises, crowds and bright lights. Some noises are physically painful to me - not just in terms of volume but the quality of the sound. Radio static feels like being stabbed in the brain.

Conversely to a lot of ND people though, it's routine that makes me panicky and uncomfortable. I hate feeling tied down to any kind of commitment - even enjoyable things like joining a choir or something. Apparently this is classic demand avoidance and is a feature of some kinds of ND.

My strategy for dealing with this when it comes to exercise is to get into my workout gear when I get up in the morning, so as soon as I feel a yen for it and have a gap in my work, I can crack on without getting distracted or put off by getting changed etc.

In the old days, before I worked from home and was flexible, I tried again and again to force a routine - working out before work, after work, getting gym membership. It never, ever lasted more than a few days.

I can't cope with crowds as I've got older. Coming from a large family, I've always been used to big gatherings but maybe living alone for years has reduced my tolerance or perhaps it's menopause - not sure.

So yesterday I had cake. It was one of those days, I'd just ordered a jacket spud as the 'least worst' option in a cafe, it arrived and was raw, they replaced it and gave me a free coffee that I hadn't requested, I needed cake to go with it .... you know. I've been avoiding refined carbohydrates and sugar for so long.

Anyway I ate the cake. It was good but not spectacular, and quite truthfully after the first couple of mouthful I found it too sweet. I probably should have stopped there! So not only did I not enjoy it much, I then spent the rest of the afternoon feeling as if I'd swallowed a bag of nails, I haven't been so uncomfortable for months. And I had a terrible night's sleep although I've just realised, that could be the second cup of coffee! The cake definitely wasn't worth it.

@samthebordercollie that's probably some of the best soup I have ever eaten. Thank you! Not that hard either.

@Aria999 Ah I'm so pleased you liked it! Not sure it's really on plan because Dr J dosn't like root veg but in winter it's nice and filling:

Well I've now lost 2 stone (stayed the same the last couple of weeks though), but for me the big news is that's I'm no longer pre-diabetic 😊. My blood pressure is now nice & normal - I'm on diuretcs for that, which doc will review once I'm at the lower end of "overweight" (I'm still in the "obese" category ..).

I've been learning to love my slow cooker too, so I'm sure that's making a difference to our electric bill.

I've learned so much from these threads, so thank you everyone.

Congrats @NotSoLittle that's wonderful!

I am finding these days that I go from not at all hungry to totally ravenous in the space of about 5 minutes, does anyone else get this?

Makes it hard to just eat when I am hungry as I can't make the food fast enough...

That is brilliant @NotSoLittle

I'm just checking in to say I do read, but hardly post.

I have been inspired to make my own hummus by this thread and the bloody cost of it! And will never bother with a hop bought again.

I have also been making my own oat milk- inspired by Aldi once again not stocking the good stuff with no weird additives.

I am shocked out how easy it is to make and how tasty. I use the left over oat pulp for my porridge and it's fine mixed with other oats andante with water.

@NotSoLittle fantastic news that you are no longer pre diabetic. 2 stones is amazing. Well done you!👏👏👏

Great news @NotSoLittle - this is what I'm hoping for when I go back for more blood tests in a couple of months. Congratulations, that is a great loss and really inspiring.

@Aria999 have you tried drinking water when you get the 'got to eat NOW' moments? I sometimes find that will calm things down enough for me to prep a proper meal rather than finding a teaspoon and the peanut butter jar.

@stilldumdedumming like you I do read, but hardly post - I've really been inspired by people on here though.

@Aria999 - if drinking water like @MerelyPlaying suggests doesn't do it for you, maybe try some full-fat Greek yoghurt. I find it pretty filling (at least in the short-term).

@MerelyPlaying good luck with the blood tests!

@samthebordercollie - really pleased with my results. Well aware that things are likely to slow down now, weight-loss wise. I've always found winter harder to eat sensibly, but at least with this WOE I'm not having to weigh everything and add up calories, carbs etc. I'm enjoying what I'm eating too, so it doesn't seem like a huge hassle and if I'm still hungry I can eat some more. Eating "proper" food rather than some artificial low-fat type thing has got to better health-wise and in the end I think that's what it's all about.

Thanks @NotSoLittle @MerelyPlaying, good suggestions!

I do Emergency Cheese Snack sometimes too but water / yoghurt is probably quicker and I don't drink enough water anyway.