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!

I have lost it a little bit too. Bread is creeping in!

We are about to travel so it will just be damage limitation till we get back I fear.

Good luck everyone.

@MerelyPlaying - I hate waste too, and all too often that becomes the justification for ploughing on through some off plan food item I am not actually enjoying.

A few months ago I recall very vividly scraping the second half of a piece of not very nice but expensive cake into the food recycling caddy. It felt both sinful and liberating at the same time.

First bite taste best. Usually. Unless it's Stollen, in which case...

God I love Stollen.

I need to remember that ‘first bite’ thing.

i have put on about 2lbs since the start of this month.

However I am delighted to say that I got my blood test results yesterday and my blood glucose has gone down from 43 to 39, meaning that I’m no longer classed as pre-diabetic.

if anyone has any doubts at this way of eating, it really does work - stick with it.

Obviously I need to keep on it now (once Christmas is out of the way) and not relax too much, still got a couple of stone to lose but I’m very relieved and pleased.

I remember going on a fitness retreat years ago and someone said eating up leftovers is like using yourself as the bin. It’s always stuck with me…not that I always manage to defeat to eat rather than throw!

i am new to all this and hoping to start after Xmas is there a link to recipes etc people have recommended?

I bought a smallish box of Lindt at the weekend because we had friends over and ended up finishing them off: I'm not buying any more, DH isn't bothered and neither are our 4 kids, so I'd only end up eating them!
Dh finished up most things, he hates waste too: If he doesn't, the donkeys and goats get left over dry bread and the dogs and hens most of anything else:
I'm still down at 57kg, but as Christmas is on a Sunday here, no Boxing Day or days off in lieu it will just be like a normal weekend, as will New Year, so no excuse to eat or drink too much!

@TheLeadbetterLife
Goat Curry 😱😱😱

@Picoloangel Here is the site some of us use to store our recipes. Not all are on plan - but it's obvious which are not!

http://www.copymethat.com/recipebox/the-leadbetter-life/

Leadbetter sourced and set it up for us. It's really easy to use and such a great resource. I use it a lot.

Or just ask for ideas if you like.

@samthebordercollie Oh wow- goats, donkeys, living in France.... you're living my dream life!

@MerelyPlaying That's fantastic news about no longer being pre diabetic. You can't argue with blood results can you ? Well done - you must be thrilled !

On thé cholestérol side of things, my recent results were great, and having lost nearly four stones, my BMI is now only slightly over, despite eating industrial quantities of full fat everything.

Yet in the accompanying leaflet, the NHS was all about eating those sugar laden, chemical filled low fat products.

Thank you so much @Words 😊
I needed some new recipe inspiration as well as to get back to healthy eating so this is great.

hello everyone and merry Christmas

I’ve been ignoring the thread for a while but thought I’d pop back to let you all know that it does actually work. My interpretation of the woe is no upf no sugar so no sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, puddings etc.

The last few months have been crazy busy. Dd got married, they are buying a house (still living here until completion) I’ve not relapsed, I’m still sugar free but have had more savoury snacks and wine. My weight has settled around 5lb up on my lowest but that’s ok it doesn’t feel like it’s set to balloon again and definitely will reduce again in the summer. I’m still not eating sugar and have no desire to but I won’t risk restarting as I can not trust my sugar monster.

Hi all!

@samthebordercollie those goats look delicious.

Interesting how a bunch of us, after a little slippage off plan, have found our weight has settled around 5-6lb / 2-3kg above our lowest point. I too feel like I won't balloon, and even though I am still aware that my eating is disordered, I am much more in control than I used to be.

I'm comfortable being a couple of kilos over the ideal at the moment, and I'm not going to worry about it until after Christmas. I'm visiting friends abroad right now, and despite all the Christmas market temptation I have been relatively disciplined, without feeling like it's a huge struggle. I look at all the crepe stalls and really think about what it would be like to eat them, and realise I wouldn't enjoy it enough.

Part of it is also delayed gratification. I'm much more excited about the upcoming turkey on Sunday than the bratwurst and waffles.

That's a really interesting observation Leadbetter.

I recall the last few pounds down to my previous lowest point at the end of the summer were very hard won, so I expect it to take a little while to shift this extra weight, but I'm comfortable with that.

I have two lovely new-to- me skirts which at size 12, fit where they touch ( as my Dad would say) - they will provide an excellent post feasting incentive.

The very idea I can now wear skirts is a whole new world . It was leggings and voluminous tunic tops before if I wasn't wearing trousers.

Haven't posted in a little while but I have been following. I think I've decided to introduce the things from this WoE in stages. So previously every afternoon I was having a bag of crisps and a bit of chocolate/couple of biscuits. Then every evening more chocolate for pudding. If I want a snack I'm having fruit, but haven't needed to have much at all.

The big things I need to do are eliminating bread, sugar from my tea, and fizzy drinks! I am going to start reducing bread in the new year. I am a bit nervous about the other two. Will probably have to switch to herbal tea.

I've also come across Corinne Crabtree, which I'm doing alongside all this. I now weight 1.5kg less than I did in the middle of November. I didn't weigh myself for a month after that, but am pretty sure I've lost most of that in the past couple of weeks. Obviously there will be a gain over the next few days, but will be trying to indulge only for certain key meals.

So I have one question at the moment. Does anyone have a recipe for homemade baked beans that fits with all this.

There’s a nice Delia recipe for baked beans with pork that I’ve done before - I might make it myself actually.

This one’s also nice, from an old whole food vegetarian cook book I have:

Here’s the delia one: www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/american-mexican-and-caribbean/boston-baked-beans?amp

Happy Christmas Fellow Too- Muchers! I'll shortly tackle the veg prep then am going on a long walk to stoke my appetite for the deliciousness ahead.

My veg order arrived and I realised ( speaking of too much) I have over ordered by quite a margin. Soup making is on the agenda for Boxing Day I think.

Whatever you are eating today, enjoy ever mouthful and have a great time.

Happy Christmas!

I am grateful for the support and encouragement received on here, going to try and post a bit more often next year. I’m not going to worry about what I’m eating over the next few days, Christmas is here and I’m going to enjoy it. Back in track in January, I am so pleased both with weight loss and the blood results, I know this works.

i hope you all have a good Christmas

Hello again all. Wondering how everyone is doing?

As expected my weight is drifting up again - unsurprisingly given the number of delicious sweet things I've allowed myself over the holiday ( Christmas cake, stollen, naice chocolate.) I've been reasonably restrained with cheese and bready things but my margin of error with sugar is very narrow. Not fair!

I've got one more big meal at New Year, and between now and then I want to re focus on portion sizes, and ensure the 'just one won't hurt' mentality doesn't entrench itself regarding the sweet leftovers.

Also back to my routine at the gym. I've intensified it slightly, in the hope that might help. It certainly improves my sleep and sense of wellbeing. And those in turn help to regulate appetite and impulsive food choices too. Here's hoping.

Hi Words and everyone.

I'm still very much in laze-about-and-eat-mince-pies-when-I-feel-like-it mode. My body seems to be crying out for rest, and I'm not going to argue with it. Especially when I've been called "in" to work most days of the holiday so far (it's from home, but I'm still annoyed).

The weather is lovely and sunny here, so I'm hoping that I'll feel like going for a hike tomorrow.

I'm eating far more than normal, and a lot of it is sugar (albeit home-made treats), but there is a commensurate amount of fibre, as all my pastry etc was made with spelt flour. We're also having things like turkey salad and lots of pickled vegetables, so it could be worse I suppose. I'm not drinking much, so that's something.

I'll gradually ease back into normality next week, and start fasting regularly again on the 8th Jan I think.

Hi all.

The less said the better about my Christmas consumption!

I feel like I'm 3 or 4 lbs up but have no scales.

Will sort it out next year.

Scales up a little here, maybe 1kg but I haven't been drinking or eating too much, perhaps a little extra chocolate but that's all: I've been doing Caroline Girvan weight training for an hour every morning, as well as hiking and cycling (whenever weather permits) so am trying to convince myself it's muscle instead of fat! In any case, it doesn't matter: The chocoate is lovely, New Year we're going to the theatre with friends then seeing in the New Year but we won't be having a massive meal and I'll be driving so that will save a few calories!

Well I’m feeling pleased with myself, as i
managed to get off my arse and go for a hike today in the end.

Need to get into doing yoga regularly again, as my back has started to ache.

Hello All!

@Aria999 - like you said to me, it will come off again!

@TheLeadbetterLife - excellent re thé hike. The weather here has been so ghastly - mainly driving, freezing rain- the lure of the log burner, cat on lap and a book has won out. I'm hoping for better weather soon, meantime trying to keep up with the gym. I find if I get my kit on first thing it somehow makes it easier to go, rather than faffing around getting changed later. I find that the thought of getting changed can become a real barrier, which is so daft. ( I think we've discussed this before.)

@samthebordercollie sounds like your foot is healing nicely- that's great.

Well that's all my celebrations and meals out over with, I am (by choice) not going out at New Year. I am annoyed with myself because I have eaten quite a lot of junk over the last week, not even particularly enjoyable stuff. And I have put on quite a bit of weight, I'm not admitting how much!

I still have some snack foods to use up, I will space those out, but I am already looking at a tin of biscuits and one or two other things and thinking they could go to the food bank collection. So, I'm going to ease myself gently back in by trying to extend the overnight fast until I am back to 16:8 which seemed to work well. No more refined carbohydrates (oh, there's just one mini mince pie left, can't waste it.)

I need to remind myself how well this was working last year, and how much I was enjoying my food with lots of cheese, butter, olive oil etc. Today I'm going to do a meal plan and I'm hoping I might get lucky tomorrow with some reductions on things like smoked salmon.

Please keep encouraging me by posting about your progress in the New Year, I am going to try and post on here at least once a week as I need a bit of accountability to keep going with this.

We’ll keep posting @MerelyPlaying ! I love new year for getting into good habits.

@Words we probably have discussed it before, but I do the same as you in getting into workout clothes when I get up. I find getting changed is a psychological barrier to anything. I don’t usually work out first thing, but if I’m dressed ready I can do it as soon as I get a yen.

That sounds like a great plan@MerelyPlaying. Keep posting! What are you considering for your menu plan?

I find intermittent fasting helps my overall sense of wellbeing especially with focus and concentration - and is easier to achieve than I imagined, being food obsessed.

I have an early supper then miss breakfast - which I was never all that keen on anyway. I've never managed a whole 24 hours though. It varies between 16 and 18 usually. I use the free version of the Fastic app to keep on track. I didn't start introducing this until I'd lost a fair bit of weight already though.

One last blow out meal here tonight - yellow stickered smoked salmon ( I had the same idea as merely ) then salt marsh lamb from the freezer with roasties and veg, more cheese and umm, chocolates.

Oh and...

I also bought a tin of amaretti biscuits because I liked the tin and they were on offer. So one or two of those as well.

After all, they're only small. So the first bite ( which we all know is the best) is the last one too. So that barely counts, right?

Have a great day everyone.