Reduce fats

[Tshirt]

Helle I am Tshirt and have multiple health issues after which I controlled my weight for years. However I have been on the slippery path and have put on too much weight which is starting to make life difficult. I don't want to be housebound but I don't walk well. I am going to cut down on all the things which I have been treating myself to so it will be all gluten free without lots of butter or spreads and less potatoes with butter and cheese. It won't be easy because I feel sorry for myself being unable to have fruit and vegetables, sauces etc. At least I can enjoy coffee !

[Zest]

Hi Tshirt

Welcome to the Healthy eating forum. You might find the Healthy eating information in the 'Eat Well' website helpful - it's linked to this forum, and a link is here:

nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/

Zest

[Tshirt in reply to Zest]

Thankyou Zest i have read so much on the site this morning I shall follow your suggestion next. Tshirt

[Zest in reply to Tshirt]

You are welcome. You might also find this article helpful regarding fats, it's from Healthline, and seems quite good:

healthline.com/nutrition/he...

Zest

[Zoea in reply to Zest]

This is a brilliant piece of writing everyone should read this nao (Zest's healthline post). I knew marge and so on were really bad. I've got to get it away from my family now.

[TheAwfulToad]

Before you go cutting down on this and that, I would really suggest reading up on the mechanics of weight loss and weight gain. There will be a lot to take in, and it will be complicated. But it's worth the effort.

By all means lose the white sliced bread, but obesity has nothing to do with gluten or dietary fat, and you certainly shouldn't be cutting out fruit and vegetables - a successful weightloss diet will be 70-80% non-starchy veg, plus a few nice things like butter, cheese and cream.

Also, don't view this in terms of denial - all that's likely to achieve is to make you more unhappy than you already are. You just need to retrain your appetites a bit, and you'd be surprised how quickly that can happen. I posted a bit about this in the "Sugar & Insulin Resistance" thread.

[Tshirt in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Thanks for you advice A T I value it. My complications include having a reaction in my mouth and throat to anything acidic like tomatoes and most fruits or to scatchy food. I get vey big blood blisters because I had predisolone and steroids for years for asthma.

[Tshirt in reply to Tshirt]

I am adding that i have gluten free multigrain bread but use too much butter. I shall take your advice about having smaller amounts of things I like. Thanks AT

[TheAwfulToad in reply to Tshirt]

I think you misunderstood me - you really don't need smaller amounts of anything, you just need to stop eating some very specific things that make you fat. Butter is not one of them. For example, try dropping the bread entirely and have scrambled eggs (fried in butter) for breakfast. Over a fairly short timescale, this sort of thing will become self-reinforcing - that is, you'll start to like the things that help you lose weight.

Are you still on medication? Do you know what's causing the reaction to certain foods? If it's still a mystery, it's not really a big deal. Focus on green vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy; obviously, don't attempt to eat things you simply can't handle.

Oh, and don't eliminate things simply because you like them! You haven't done anything to deserve that.

[Tshirt in reply to TheAwfulToad]

You are right AT for a few years I did not have bread and the weight started to go on whén I discovered a gluten free bread which was not like cardboard. I have a lot of meds for initially cancer, heart attack, asthma ,osteoporosis, and other probs sometimes related to the medicine. I must lose weight to avoid being housebound. Tshirt.

[TheAwfulToad in reply to Tshirt]

Wow ... you've had quite a run of bad luck there. Your meds are probably causing you more harm than good at this point, so if you can shift that weight you'll hopefully be able to get rid of a lot of them. Don't feel despondent - even if you're in a low place right now, there's an awful lot you can do to make yourself better. The trick is to find new foods to enjoy (foods that don't make you fat) to replace the ones that are harming you. That way you'll be able to eat without guilt, fear or a sense of self-denial, and the weight will start to drop off.

[Tshirt in reply to TheAwfulToad]

I think it is funny how a few words from someòne who has listened can help. I am definitely more cheerful about the prospect of rethinking my food now even though today I only made a mediocre effort. I had a filling chow mein and regret having had a couple of spare ribs. Thankyou AT. Tshirt

[TheAwfulToad in reply to Tshirt]

The spare ribs are probably OK. The chow mein, not so much

If you enjoy cooking, spare ribs are pretty easy and much better than you'll get from the takeaway. The marinade isn't exactly ideal weight-loss material, but there's not a lot of it, so no big deal. Add stir-fried cabbage and baby corn, or a side salad, and you're sorted. 90% of this journey will be learning new things to cook!

These recipes are pretty authentic (I eat like this quite often):

theabcchef.com/2014/07/easy...

chinasichuanfood.com/sweet-...

Anyway, this is a pretty good group - lots of switched-on people who will listen and give sensible responses!

[Tshirt]

Thanks happycook. One of my problems is that over the years I have cooked less. Having conditions caused by old injuries and operations make me reach for comfort food too often. Now i have to take more care . I have been interested in what other people are cooking on the site. Tshirt

[Zoea]

Some great advice and links posted already Tshirt (great nickname!). Sorry for your health problems and I would say you are likely to need to address adrenal fatigue (as I'm guessing 60% + of the world needs to) so please have a read of this as a starting point:

draxe.com/adrenal-fatigue-d...

You should also pursue some chelation so to speak so check this link:

realfoodrebel.com/best-food...

Ok loosing weight. Personally I'm about 108 KG and should be closer to 90 really. I'm lucky enough to be seeing a couple of nutritionists / qualified herbal advisors currently (another 3-4 weeks to go, been about 5 so far) so I'm getting some excellent advice. Good breakfasts (oatmeal with coconut oil and seeds nuts maybe blueberries no sugars no honies no syrups or nectars [ever] ; eggs ; avocadoes ; veg smoothies especially things like purple cabbage and you can add an apple to them). Smaller healthy lunches and even smaller healthy suppers.

Sugar is sucrose which is absolutely bad for us (c.f. That Sugar Film) and seemed more addictive than cocaine in a mouse study. Loose any sweet tooth you may have developed.

Fructose from sources like dark berries (blueberries etc) is kind of ok in moderation and basically those fruits are so good you should take them anyway. Glucose is what our cells use to metabolise so absolutely fine in careful quantities.

An avocado a day, only cold pressed oils (olive, grape seed etc), 3 brazil nuts a day for selenium, get enough Vitamin D that's apparently like a hormone and SUPER important so supplement tbh, kelp or spirulina every day but not too much, filter your water please it contains toxins and hormones too I use something called a Zerowater filter and my mum now also does that.

Avoid high GI (gly index) foods and carb heavy stuff like white rice, most breads, pasta, noodles, baked goods which are made from processed flour - you need whole grains with skins and you need dark fruit and veg mixed with quality proteins). Energy should be slow release and from healthy sources. Increase the amount of green leafy stuff you eat as much as you can, at the same time try and eat as large a *variety* of less starchy veg as you can in whatever portions work. Po ta toes - new smaller potatoes (skin on) and purple sweet potatoes are the best but just in moderation still.

There are more cells of bacteria in your gut than there are human cells comprising your body. As a nutritionist put it last week, we're like a donut basically, from your mouth to your anus there's a path and in that lives a lot of things (though hopefully not any actual parasites!). The gut and microbiome is responsible for the vast majority of the signalling chemicals your brain relies on. Therefore if your colons are full of nasty bugs that can make you crave foods that are poor, you'll be doing that, and you'll have to overcome that natural hurdle and switch to better foods of proper portions, while at the same time it's best to work on your microbiome with stuff like pre and pro biotics (really you can sort of do this with just food but there are things like capsules out there that can try add more good bacteria or kill off some of the bad ones or whatever). I read that something like 70% of weight problems can be attributed to the bugs in you. So don't blame yourself.

I am recently starting water kimchi it seems to be doing well but the first batch is too sweet still. I should just ferment cabbage a lot or whatever lol (maybe make yoghurt).

draxe.com/7-reasons-drink-k...

Calorie control - this is the silver bullet to weight loss. It's not the be all and end all but time and time again it's shown to work well. Just read this Reddit link reddit.com/r/loseit/wiki/qu...

I wish I was doing what it suggests myself! I'm trying to eyeball it. We'll see if that works. I also take some pharma drugs with problematic side effects (weight gain and type 2 diabetes being two of the most alarming) so I feel you on the pills as has been said maybe as your health improves you can start to come off some of them (as I hope to).

The elephant in the room. Exercise. You'll want to gradually introduce this (as I am) as your weight improves and your joints feel less strain. The target is something like

-lots of walking (start here)

-cycling but you'll need to go a long way each time eventually for proper benefits

-resistance / weight training. This is IMHO the best part of any Gym (the ellipticals are also pretty cool). The recommendation I read is 10 sets of 3 reps 2-3 times a week or similar. If you want light or heavy that's up to you I tend to like heavy but you may need to slightly alter your diet (though probably not!).

-High Intensity Training. Going all out and getting completely out of breath, for anything from 5-10 mins 4-6 times a week to 20-30 mins 3-4 times a week. However you want to, maybe a treadmill or better a stationary bike at home or away.

(honestly I'm not really doing the last 2 yet but I kind of know what I should be do in).

Yoga and Breathing. Deep breaths are really important, breath with your stomach (diaphragm) this takes practice. Taking long slow breaths (4-6 a minute) can help increase heart rate variability quite easily which is an important long term health indicator.

Bloods: have a lipid profile done. If you can fix anything there with lifestyle changes try and do that and if you are advised to take medication for anything do that too but perhaps with a view to not needing those meds at some point in the future. Worth checking thyroid (though I hear this test is problematic), testosterone and Vitamin D levels too.

Best wishes and that was fun to type out it's helped me focus myself. I hope others find it!

edit: I forgot something. Fresh ginger and garlic daily. Cilantro is brilliant, think about orange lemon or lime zest (you wouldn't want waxed citrus for that). Be careful of things like mayo or sauces or dressings (make them yourself or skip them?). Apple cider vinegar, hemp oil, omega 3s. B12 skin patches regularly but not too often. Hmm... it's a process really try and do what you are able to over time for this. Cardamom is great for blood sugar and if you have high cholesterol you want foods that don't cause inflammatory response. Alcohol is not good at all. Vape to quit smoking and say later quit nicotine. Coffee is proper good but not so much if your adrenals are all over the place. Like some of the fats mentioned above I'd think, it can reduce all cause mortality by a very significant fraction (even up to 1/6 if I recall correctly).

Try mindfulness too.

[Tshirt in reply to Zoea]

Thanks Zoea I will put some of the health unlocked notes into a folder. There is a wealth of info here and I can easily forget things . T shirt

[Zoea in reply to Tshirt]

Just wanted to let you know I added a fair bit to the bottom of the previous post of mine here

[Hidden]

If you can afford a good functional dr, or willing to save up to see one, it's worth the effort and money well spent. (and I'm well overdue for this myself!)

If you have the lengthy, serious medical history as you do, it's not an easy process. I hate to say, NHS has its value but mainstream Drs aren't into holistic medicine even if they understand the value of it.

I find that you get what you pay for sometimes ("you" generally, not you, personally). If you find something else in life which may give you more joy and enjoyment, it's worth finding. In summer, it's not hard to do, whilst in winter, we mostly stay indoors. Friendship, hobbies, fun activities, trips etc. Usually, when you are alone, tired, isolated, and possibly, feeling depressed, or anxious (etc) you would be resorting to comfort eating.

[Tshirt in reply to Hidden]

Thanks another member i know when I started to put the weight on and I blame myself not the medication. When I had self control J was not overweight. When I started to try things which friends and family had because I just meant to have an occasional treat my plan went wrong. I ate too much too often and have not lost the exta I piled on. I trust my medication because I have not had a recurrence of cancer or arrythmia for over ten years. I am looking at suggestions which will help me to stay aware of my limitations I have been a greedy girl.