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!

Morning everyone. I'm 6 days in now. I think the worst of the sugar cravings have passed (headaches etc). 11 stone 2.4 this week so I think that's 2 pounds off. I'd have kind of expected that though because my first weigh in was after a week of stuffing my face on holiday 🤣

Finding the diet quite a lot of effort still. I'm not used to cooking quite so much and finding the time for that is quite hard. Also still having to think a lot about WHAT to eat and not just reach for the low fat sugar free stuff. However, how amazing does proper butter and full fat greek yogurt taste! Can't remember the last time I had that. We've eaten lots of fresh fruits veg fish cheese dairy etc and drastically cut back on the carbs. I did have a bit of dark chocolate and probably over indulged on that and the cheese. I still think I'll probably have to calorie count as well as do the diet because my self regulation switch seems to be broken 🙈 will it eventually sort itself out?

I had thought I'd been doing 16:8 fasting but then it turns out I haven't because I've been having a milky coffee for breakfast and that breaks the fast - silly me had only really been thinking about foods. So I've some things to improve on this week.

How is everyone else doing?

Morning @Dunkindonuts8 !

Sorry to hear you are finding it hard. It is sometimes tricky to think what to eat though after a while you do build up a range of things that are standard go-to options and it gets a bit easier.

I think the off switch is one of those things where everyone is different. A long time ago I was bulimic but I haven't had that sort of problem for years so I can't tell if the WOE would have helped.

However, over time I do think I have started to want less food and smaller portions on this woe.

It hasn't made all that much difference to me because I was an ok weight by that point anyway, but it may have helped shed that last annoying couple of lbs.

@Dunkindonuts8 well done on your 2lbs off: I'm glad you're finding things a little easier to follow now: A milky coffee is a 'dirty' fast, I wouldn't worry too much about it: I have both tea and coffee black and can't imagine tea in either (that's what living in France does to you!)
I've lost 5lbs in 3 weeks, BMI down to 19:2 since my operation: Not intentionally, in fact I thought I'd put on weight but the opposite has happened: I'm eating far less generally as I'm not hungry from running every day, plus less dark chocolate and no nuts which has probably helped:
I agree that you can't eat exactly what you want especially if you really like the food, limits are still needed:

Morning everyone.

Oh, no, it's the afternoon already. How did that happen?

I've been a bit undisciplined lately due to having lots of visitors. Drinking more than usual and several meals out / big dinners at home.

We've got a clear run before Christmas now to get on top of things again. We like to be very good during Advent, then have a proper two weeks of feasting at Christmas - by which I mean starting on Christmas Eve and going through to Twelfth Night, rather than eating Quality Street and mince pies for the whole of December.

I agree about not eating whatever you please. That only works if you're very disciplined about only eating when hungry, which I am not at all.

I have accepted that my eating is disordered and I will always need to moderate my intake consciously, even if I'm not precisely counting calories.

A colleague of DH's has just brought me out lots of oatcakes from the uk.

It's amazing! A quick and easy lunch whenever I need it (without having to bake the damn things).

When I run out I will need to look at mail order options.

Had my general checkup yesterday- don't really understand any of the stats but they are all good, cholesterol low etc

Amazing given all the dairy!

11.2.4 this morning.

That's incredible in 3 weeks Sam. Your body is obviously good at listening to what it needs and knowing it needs less with less exercise. Do you think you'll go back to as much exercise once your foot is healed?

Yes I really love my food so limits are definitely still needed. It was an interesting first week though and plenty to build on this week. Even that's a revelation for me - usually if I've not lost loads of weight the first week then I throw in the towel and move onto another diet haha.

I'll have to be more disciplined this week in setting myself limits. I think I'd wrongly gathered from the book that if you eat the right foods then your body will learn to moderate itself - but for some people, like me, who have always struggled with weight, I accept that's unlikely to happen.

I know calorie counting isn't part of this way of eating but I think I'll run it alongside it for a while just to check I'm not going crazy with them.

If you were to count calories, how would you set them? Clearly 1200 calories would be too much of a deficit and lead to the to dieting he talks about in his books - but there must be something somewhere I can look up to see what would be a sensible amount for me to eat and hopefully still lose a few pounds slowly along the way?

@Dunkindonuts8

Maybe if you want to look at calories you could to begin with spend a few days trying hard to eat only when hungry and just observe your calorie intake.

That would give you something to work with. If you lose weight over that time then it was probably ok.

Personally I never plan to count a calorie again but I can understand why it would make you feel more secure ☺️

But you will probably need more calories than a low calorie diet as there is a lot of fat and protein in this plan.

@Dunkindonuts8
No, I'm going to start being more moderate with regards to exercise. I think my body was in a permanent state of stress from doing too much. And lots of cardio at age 57 isn't a good thing. Core body strength is far more important in old age. So I'm definitely going to keep on with the Pilates and weights, only run 4 times a week which is plenty enough to keep fit, with a session of swimming and cycling per week too.
Seeing the surgeon later today, fingers crossed the bandage will be taken off. Started back driving and teaching fave to face yesterday and it was fine.

Hi everyone. Hope you're all doing ok? How did your appt go @samthebordercollie

Has anyone else found this woe has made them super thirsty? I'm getting concerned about how much I'm drinking 😂

Hi @Dunkindonuts8 Interesting, no I haven't noticed more thirst. I never drink enough water though.

Hi @samthebordercollie that's interesting to hear your body is enjoying the exercise break. You were doing a lot I guess.

@Words how are things? Haven't seen you in a while.

@Janeaustensquill how's it going?

@Aria999 hi - thanks for checking - I was doing fine and then went a bit mental on Monday and ate a whole packet of florentines and then sourdough bread. So gained the 3lbs back but had a good day yesterday and the 3 came back off - so I think it was water weight. The problem is not planning meals so I need to do a shop…

@Dunkindonuts8 thanks for asking! The appt with the surgeon went well, scar is healing nicely and screws still in place. I didn't realise how much surgery I had done, no wonder my foot is so swollen! I found an extra wide model of running trainer I can get on and no longer have to wear the post op shoes. And I can drive again! So back to teaching face to face. I will be able to swim and cycle in a souple of weeks too. In the meantime am still being careful with what I eat, but really not hungry. I think the healing process takes quite a lot of energy too, which could account for the weight loss.

Hi how is everyone doing? I've felt good this week. Weight today 11.1.4. think that's 3lbs down from my starting weight a few weeks ago. So progress is slow, but I'm not hungry and I haven't had to count calories. If it kept up at a pound every 2 weeks or so then I'd be happy. Ok focusing on the slow and steady part! I think I'll add in some exercise next week - 30 day shred or something similar. Hope everyone has a good weekend x

I need this.
Joining today 👋

@TheLeadbetterLife do you literally weigh your protein?

Welcome @CantSleepCountingSheep I can't remember exactly when I started this plan but I've lost over a stone since August (18lbs since the beginning of the year but I wasn't following this woe back then).

The most amazing thing for me is the disappearance of food cravings. I feel hungry, but not desperate 'must eat immediately or I'll faint' sort of hungry that I used to feel. Time restricted eating has made a huge difference to me as well, although I don't think that's part of the original plan. I've done so much reading around this subject, I can't remember which book was which!

No, I just have a rough idea of the relationship between the size of the portion and the amount of protein.

Sounds great!

Hi @Dunkindonuts8 how are you getting on? Have you found that the cravings have died down now? How about @Janeaustensquill and other newer members?

Another pound off for me last week. I'm going to ask if I can get my bloods done again, the diabetic nurse said they should be done again after three months. I'm curious to find out of this has lowered my glucose levels. I'm still keeping to time-restricted eating as far as possible, an eight-hour window. How is everyone else doing?

Hi @MerelyPlaying , it has gone quiet hasn't it!

I hope your glucose levels turn out to be better. Mine were near the top of the acceptable range (everything else was in the middle or better), probably because I drink Too Much Wine. Ah well.

I'm holding fairly steady at 128-129lbs (bmi of 22) and feeling happily slim. I hope DH can resist making pie this thanksgiving as last year it took months to recover!

Hi everyone. Sorry for being so quiet! To be honest - things are going scarily well! Food doesn't occupy my every thought anymore, I regularly fast from 7pm to 12 noon (a dirty fast as someone put it - can't cope without milk in my morning coffee!) I'm not craving foods anymore. I'm no longer looking as food in terms of calories and I'm looking at each food to see how nourishing it will be. I'm enjoying eating things I've not eaten for years - full fat yogurts, proper butter, proper gravy - I've not stuck to the way of eating religiously - there's been a few wholemeal bagels with my soup and last night I had a wholemeal wrap - so there's still plenty of carbs going on! My tastes have definitely changed - I always used to find some fruits like raspberries too tart for me, but now I really enjoy them. I had a tiny taste of chocolate spread the other day (which I used to eat by the spoonful 😳) and it was far far far too sweet. I can't say I've really bothered about cakes or sweets either - I just look at them and think "I don't eat those kind of foods anymore" or "all that sugar would really upset my microbiome" and that's that. If I really fancy something then I'll have some yogurt and fruit. I've lost 5lbs in 3 weeks so far. That's quite amazing to me because I've never managed to lose this much weight without serious serious effort and being totally fed up and grumpy about the whole thing. I haven't had to count any calories. Once I got past the initial 7 to 10 days, it's been pretty easy! I don't want to speak too soon, but might I have found something that actually works for me?! X

@MerelyPlaying well done on the steady weight loss and @Dunkindonuts8 wow, 5lbs with not too much effort and enjoying what you eat, that's brilliant!
@Aria999 I remember your food saga for Thanksgiving last year, weren't you still eating pumpkin pie at Christmas ? I hope its a smaller feast for you this year.
I lost another lb last week, so down to about 125 which is bmi of 19. I have a very straight up and down narrow frame so it's my ideal weight but wouldn't be for everyone. Haven't been it for a few years. Strange that stopping cardio has resulted in eating more mindfully and losing half a stone!