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!

my DH did something similar to this as he was borderline diabetic he was told to lose weight and cut carbs, he used a weightloss for diabetes by Giancarlo Caldesi in a similar vein to Mosley but not 800 calories a day and also a wee hint of eating like the french ( no ultra processed food, no snacking or eating on the go or at desk, three normal meals a day, eating whole seasonal fresh food, smaller portions but nothing banned, no fizzy drinks except sparkling water, if you notice clothes a bit tight do something about it immediately, always sit down at a table and be socialable at mealtimes if you take your time eating and enjoy the food you will notice you are full sooner and stop) he lost 3 stone in 3 months and his blood sugar is no longer in diabetic range, I am doing the same as him but not quite as strict i have bread a few times a week and potatoes or pasta or rice with dinner but at least one carb free meal ( apart from incidentals in veg) every day normally lunch which is salad or hearty soup I have lost 23 lbs in 3 months

Well done @TeacupDrama.

Thanks for that egg recipe Leadbetter - it's right up my street that one, so I've saved a link to my recipe collection.

Yes you are right sorry.

I don't do that part of the advice personally so had forgotten!

@TheLeadbetterLife also thanks for the tortilla recipe though unfortunately I don't have a slow cooker so would have to do the complicated version! I might try it when both kids are back at school. I normally save oil for several uses these days so I could reuse the oil used to boil the veg.

I've been having rather too many treats lately, of the sweet kind.

Today I went in a cafe Nero and impulsively bought a piece of Tiramisu to go with my black coffee.

I ate it all, even tho it wasn't very nice.

Does anyone fancy playing What's on the Menu with me? We're taking the kids out for a birthday tea to a really child friendly pub, and am keen to not go too off the rails. What should I stick to?

Menu

I'm going out for dinner tomorrow and Saturday @AIBConsiderate , so a similar dilemma.

Saturday is to a Greek place where there's no menu I think, they just bring you stuff, so pot luck. I'm not going to bother staying on plan for that. Tomorrow I'll probably have meat and salad/vegetables, though the chef at the restaurant we're going to always puts out a bowl of xerem, which is a kind of corn porridge. It's nice enough in small doses, but should be easy to resist.

The big challenge for me will be limiting the wine intake, as both sets of friends are heavy drinkers and I tend not to pay attention to how often my glass is filled at these things. I am going to try to keep the glass full and not drink it, but I'm always so crap in the moment. It's all fun until the next day.

That Greek place sounds great @TheLeadbetterLife.

Limiting the wine is the hard bit. I very consciously take small sips and also have plenty of water to hand, and think through how awful I might feel the next day. That bit is easy for me as I react very badly to alcohol these days so it's much easier to avoid completely than try to moderate.

@AIBConsiderate - is there a menu you could share?

Sometimes ( am not always this organised though) if I know my choices won't be great, I plan something light and tasty but on plan for the following day to look forward to and hopefully undo any damage quickly.

A favourite ( which I will have today) is a sort of chicken broth with home made stock, bits of leftover chicken, and spring onion and mushrooms all chopped up small. I sometimes add a hard boiled egg for extra protein and to keep me fuller longer.

I was in the office yesterday and a senior colleague I haven't seen in person for ages took me aside and said how great I was looking, and how well, which was lovely of her. She remembers me from my very large days but was too tactful to say!

@Words oh yes - at the bottom of my earlier post!

my tolerance for alcohol has plummeted too, it makes me feel awful for at least a day, often two.

the problem is that when I am drinking it feels great and I have a lovely time. When I’m with big drinkers it’s so hard to remember how it will be the next day.

And I agree about eating lighter on the surrounding days of a big meal. I’ve been eating very light and doing longer fasts this week in anticipation.

Ah yes AIB. The link marked menu, you mean?

Doh!

From that I would go for either something from the grill or carvery, avoiding the chips and roast potatoes and things like fried mushrooms or onion rings, as likely to be cooked in veg oil. Try also to avoid the Yorkshire pud. Don't have the half cottage loaf.

Or one of those salads plus protein if that's too heavy.

No good choices for pudding, but we know that!

( ancient being alert) I do dislike this modern trend of emphasising the receptacle something is served in or on.

Bowl. Platter.

In fact, 'platter' is one of those wince-inducing words.

Argh. I am up this week and not surprised as I've gone off plan three out of seven days.

The margins for error are getting smaller than nearer to my goal I am getting.

The answer's simple.

Stick to the plan. Don't eat cake.

Well I'm feeling very bloated after the weekend, though all the eating out was a delicious treat.

I REALLY need to learn to moderate my drinking on evenings out though. I got pissed on Friday, really pissed. Didn't drink on Saturday, but I can't seem to land somewhere nicely in the middle. I hardly drink at all these days, but when I do I forget to pay attention to how much my glass is being topped up. It doesn't help that I'm a very high-functioning drunk, so people don't notice that I'm hammered.

Maybe I should just quit altogether, it wouldn't be hard. I go weeks and weeks without alcohol as it is, and I can't say that I get any particular gustatory pleasure from it. I do like the feeling of being tipsy, and that moment of pure relaxation from a glass of wine, but it's so hard to stay in that state.

@TheLeadbetterLife - I could have written your post, word for word.

I decided in the end just not to touch it as the pleasure is so fleeting and it invariably makes me feel terrible the next day.

For me it can become a slippery slope into regular drinking too, which then leads to increasingly terrible food choices in my case, and rapid weight gain. Not worth it, I've decided.

I went blackberrying at the weekend and made jam. It's worked really well, so I plan to give some away and have the rest as an occasional treat.

I couldn't resist a naughty batch of scones too, so they are going in the freezer today or I will eat them all!

The last two posts have really resonated with me. Since I gave up sugar my alcohol off switch which was dodgy anyway, has completely broken. Dd got married yesterday and I was so worried about it I only had half a glass of wine and the toast glass of champagne

Dr Jenkinson says alcohol is ok - my problem is not exactly the alcohol but the strong craving for a bacon butty the next day. I have managed to have bacon and eggs instead sometimes but it somehow doesn't do the trick in the way that bread does.

I'm not doing well with the plan at the moment - not enough cooking, too many fuck-it moments, sliding back into sugar without really thinking about it after a good 4 months with almost no back-sliding at all! It is 5 weeks until my next birthday and I haven't weighed myself much in the last month or so. I want to try to stick to the plan until my birthday and see some positive scale movement. I'm away this weekend for my grandma's birthday and there will be cake - in fact, I've got a lot of weekend plans in Sep. I'm just going to go with being as good as I can throughout the week and try to limit damage at the weekends as much as possible.

Yes I always want carbs the next day after a binge.

It's not so much the diet aspect of drinking that makes me consider giving it up, it's how crap I feel for days afterwards.

My plan for now is only to have an aperitif and a digestif when I go out for dinner. Those are the only two alcoholic drinks I actively enjoy when I eat out, when I think about it. The first, refreshing one, and the tot of brandy or whatever at the end. I don't particularly like wine with food, I prefer water. I just drink wine because it's inevitably there, like Everest.

Hello, I'd like to join you. I read the book during lockdown but somehow it didn't stick with me. Picked up a copy for 50p at a charity shop a couple of weeks ago (didn't even remember it was on my Kindle) and it suddenly all made sense. I've known for years that dieting makes you fat(ter), over the years I've done everything from W W to Rosemary C to SW and others in between. I ended up with a very messed-up relationship with food and a BMI of 31.

The only thing that worked was the 5:2 but fasting triggered some awful migraines. However during the brief period that I stuck with it I found my appreciation of food returned and I began to enjoy it again. I cook mostly from scratch anyway, but after listening to 'A Thorough Examination ' I am definitely going to avoid UPF!

I have read my way slowly through all the previous threads and gained a lot of ideas and inspiration from them, thank you for all the suggestions and recommendations.

Welcome @MerelyPlaying !

Rosemary Conley! That's a blast from the past. The only good thing about that was a rather good fat free fruit cake recipe, which was surprisingly tasty.

And food combining ( probably rather less harmful) - anyone remember that?

Already being used to cooking from scratch is a big plus. And regarding the fasting, a couple of us have combined that with this way of eating to good effect.

I do 16 to 18 hours as standard with an occasional 20 hrs thrown in. I've never gone hard core.

Hi I've nearly finished the book - and it makes so much sense to me. I've had a very stressful couple of years (and it's still pretty bad but better). I've actually been taking Saxenda injections which weirdly has made me appreciate cooking again so I'm hoping not too much damage done. I've also finished the thorough examination podcast and seem to have caught the - 'that's not food' bug.

Saxenda is a weird one by the way. But it makes you reduce your calorie intake- aka a famine so a pretty bad idea I now realise! But it's kind of given me a boot. It's made me realise quick loss is not what I want. And it's been quite short lived so hopefully not too bad.

Anyway my contribution is that Aldi is currently stocking a water and oats only oat milk and it's delicious. I've just had it in my coffee (which I believe has been pretty unhelpful as I use an UPF oat milk usually). I was about to start making my own.

Does anyone know whether coconut oil is classed as a veg oil. I use that and olive. Is one better than the other in this woe? I'm usually vegan but I've started eating eggs for my health (cold sores due to lack of lysine in a vegan diet).

Welcome @stilldumdedumming

I don't think coconut oil is too bad but olive is much the better option. Have you tried avocado oil?

Hi @stilldumdedumming and @MerelyPlaying , welcome!

I think coconut oil is a no as far as I recall but happy to be corrected by people with better memories! Olive oil is good, cold pressed rapeseed (canola) oil is kinda ok if you need something with a higher burn point, butter and lard are good.

The electricians have hidden my scales 😫

On the plus side my mirror says the travel flab is going away quicker than usual.

Hi, I’ve bought the book and read it. It makes so much sense. I’ve been overweight since I was 10 and have tried every diet going so here I am.

Does anyone know if soya milk is out? That could be my main problem.

Hi @Threeboysandadog welcome!

I think soya milk isn't great unfortunately (and cows milk is a good source of omega 3). Do you have a dairy intolerance?

There is at least one person on here who doesn't do dairy so I hope you will get good advice. Oat milk should be ok if not full of upfs.