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!

Hi everyone, can I join you too? I finished the book at the beginning of the week and have been making my way through the previous threads! I'm so sick of being on a diet and I'm now pregnant with DC2 so keen to manage my weight in a more sustainable way!

The book really made sense to me - I've been dieting since I was about 12 (mad!) and while I used to be borderline overweight, I've steadily gained another stone that won't shift since moving in with DP and his UPFs 8 years ago!

Hi @pennysays I've been vegan 20 plus years with occasional slips ups that I don't get too upset about. I'm switching to plant based really as the vegan UPF market is insane. I do think that some of it has made me gain weight - which is incredible really! Especially reliance on pasta etc in earlier years.

Welcome @redavocado and @pennysays

Leadbetter reading your fermenting update with interest. My starters will arrive any day so getting quite keen!

I've experimented with the slow cooker function on my instant pot today as I found some early medieval goat in my freezer. Resulting stew is reasonably ok, but could have done with longer so bunged the rest back in for another couple of hours.

I'm loving the spring cabbage I can get locally at the moment. It goes with just about anything!

Hi @redavocado and @pennysays , welcome! I hope this plan works for you!

I have been having a not very hungry phase with optional breakfast and have lost another couple lbs (though i think it probably won't last). 128lbs this morning, taking my bmi to a nice round 22 😊

I am also down another two pounds this week. Only 3.5 to go to goal now.

I haven't weighed myself for ages. I have a lame leg that's really playing up - I used to run half marathons ffs!! And so the weight angle is not great news. I'm also wrestling with a couple of lifestyle demons in terms of my disabled dp. And the expectations we both place on me.

Anyway, came on to link to the Happy Pear lads' fermentation Facebook live. I don't know how Facebook links work but here goes
https://fb.watch/iD3POhkzL-/

That's exciting @Words !

another pound down for me, so 6 pounds since the start of January. A bit stuffed up by norovirus last week which caused a 5 pound loss which I promptly put back on!

Its half term here and so DH and I are going to go to some of the local farms to buy local grass fed meat, really looking forward to it tbh!

Also upping our intake of wild fish, which happily for us is easily available as we live in Jersey and surrounded by sea and fishermen/women.

Thanks @Aria999

Well done @FunnysInLaJardin - and happy mousing!

I've eaten out twice this weekend and it's really opened my eyes to how hard it is to cut out sugar and wheat! I had brunch with a friend yesterday and everything was bread-based. Today I went to a football match and everything was fried, most things fried and in bread! It's crazy! Why is it impossible to buy healthy food at a sporting event?!

@redavocado I hear you. At that kind of thing I normally have a burger without the bun (often a veggie or impossible burger as i like them, though I suspect those are worse for upf if anything) and try not to eat very many fries.

It's definitely not on plan but it's less instant bloat than e.g. a pizza.

Those waffle fries are disastrous though, I avoid them entirely.

Thanks @Words ! What is mousing? I like the sound of it!

@FunnysInLaJardin

Mousing is food shopping😃

(I have cats.)

Re the grass and grain thing- grass fed is obviously better but I understand even higher welfare animals in this country tend to be finished on grain. I understand though that the balance over here is better than in American and South American feedlots where cattle are almost entirely fed on grain.

Also I eat a lot of chicken and other poultry which I assume is exclusively grain fed.

I am trying to move to wild rather than farmed fish, like you - the omega 3 /6 disparity is really significant.

As with so much about this way of eating, it's all about not letting the best be the enemy of the good I think.

@Words I love mousing and will be using it from now on, I have cats too 😁

Also really like your phrase about not letting the best be the enemy of the good. Very true indeed

Is it OK to join this thread? I'm a dad not a mum but I've listened to the audiobook and can't find a good chat about it anywhere else. You've chatted to the max here!

I wonder how long it takes for weight to come off. I'm following the plan very strictly with no real change up or down yet.

All are welcome @dadsnet86 !

How long have you been following the plan and how strictly? How much are you thinking of losing?

If you want to post a typical day's food we will try to help.

I lost a fair bit quite quickly, but I was significantly overweight. The pace then slowed up quite a lot. We're all a bit different.

Sorry you say strictly following the plan. How long have you been eating this way?

Hi @Words

Thanks for responding.

I'm on the cusp of obesity in BMI terms but I do actually exercise quite hard and often so I have some muscle. Even so, I could afford to lose up to 20% of my body weight.

I started a month ago but a ski trip got in the way so realistically it's been 2 weeks. I wasn't expecting dramatic early losses. It's great that I've stopped snacking and feeling helpless in front of the fridge but some associated loss would be encouraging! Maybe I need to be a bit more careful with portion sizes, and, although the good doctor doesn't think alcohol isn't too bad provided you stick to the right food, which I have, I should maybe ease back on that too.

OK, so early days then

It might take a while for your body to settle.

Forget about the portion sizes for now if it's all good stuff, and not too much carb.If you are exercising well, it's likely you need it, and you don't want to tip over into starvation mode when the bod hangs on to everything.

I would however highly recommend completely cutting out the alcohol, just for a fortnight or a month say, and see what happens.

That made a massive difference to me - often because it caused me to crave and eat too much of the wrong sort of stuff, other times it just seemed to impede weight loss. I have experimented with this a number of times, and for me, this plan works best on limited /no alcohol. Other too-muchers on here have not found that true for them though, so you just need to experiment a bit.

Keep us posted!

Thanks very much.

More than anything, it's great to hear from people this has worked for.

I'll keep going and let you know if and when anything good happens!

Hi to everyone that's joined recently!

I'm exactly 6 weeks in of following the WWE(TM) principles with no UPF (in practice, this involves a very occasional biscuit, Yorkshire pudding or similar!) and also doing intermittent fasting 16:8.

It's going well overall I think.

My main goal, alongside being healthier in general, is weight loss with a view to losing as much of my 4 stones excess as possible by August.

I'm aiming for around 7lbs a month if possible although I did decide to go for a stone in the first 6 weeks.

I nearly posted at the weekend as I'd lost the first 10lbs in about three weeks at the start then couldn't shift anything more and felt like I was stuck losing/gaining the same 2lbs over and over.

I wondered if it was a 'set point' and vowed to reread the book as I couldn't remember what I'm supposed to do when that happens. I've then weighed myself again today and I've lost another few pounds so I've got that stone (and an extra pound!) off in those 6 weeks.

I know that I can't expect that level of loss all the time and that this way of eating is more about health and lifestyle changes than just weight loss but I'm looking forward to seeing what next month brings!

I'm currently a little obsessed with crunchy raw vegetables like sugar snap peas and really good carrots - plus broccoli salad with vinaigrette, pine nuts and parmesan.

What's been your go-to recently?

Thanks for all your welcomes! @stilldumdedumming are you an archers fan by any chance? Also tell me more about how you do saturated fat as a vegan. I’ve been upping my olive oil but been wondering about coconut oil too. I found the casual dismissal of tofu at the end of the book about cholesterol quite stressful. It’s obviously such a key protein source, especially when moving away from ultra processed foods. But it was declared as unhealthy! I’m going to continue to eat though as I play a lot of sport and simply can’t eat the number of bean required to keep me full and not turn into a 24 hour fart machine.

@PotatoCatkin dessicated coconut in my morning porridge is what I’ve been enjoying this week. Otherwise my diet is always the same. I’m also really into kale with hot and spicy flavours like chilli and vinegar.

Penny - can't help on vegan question, but hopefully someone else can ?

@PotatoCatkin - fantastic work! I've lost four stones. But- boring note of caution alert- it has taken over two years. For me, the weight melted away very very quickly at first, then I remained stuck at a set point for weeks, had a journey into the weeds, came back, did the same a bit later - and here I am with just under four pounds to go.

Even without ever going off plan, I would try not to set yourself too ambitious a target. It's so exciting and affirming to see all the changes take place, and to project that rate of loss forward. I know because I did it as well.

I found there was no way round the stuck at a set point/ minimal progress stage but sticking with it and coming back to the plan when going off track. That is where this community on here really came into its own for me.

Continue to enjoy the food and don't aim for too rapid a loss would be my ( unsolicited) advice!

To answer your actual question- I am really enjoying spring cabbage and new season rhubarb at the moment. I briefly stewed the rhubarb with some blueberries and a little honey and vanilla. Was delicious.

@pennysays yes! 40 years I reckon. I especially love an episode where nothing happens! Which baffles dc and dp!!!

I have not stopped eating tofu. I am 49 and keep reading about its benefits for hormonal balance. I am taking this quite slowly and I am not obsessing over fats but eliminating all the upfs. Don't like the explosion of vegan junk food but i mean shop bought hummus, bread etc.

I do use coconut oil. It features in so many other health 'guru' type woe and its affordable. I think here it's seen as a less bad option. I've been trying to use it for years but it's solid state put me off! It's now a pretty normal addition for me.