Hey, I’m New

Hello all,

I’m new to this site and trying to find ways to get healthy through everyday common household foods. Not really into taking medicine, unless I have too & not doing surgery for weight loss.

[QueenTea]

Hello & welcome. An admin should be in touch with information shortly. I’m fairly new but trying to lose weight & be as fit & healthy as I can be. I’m trying not to snack & cook from scratch as much as possible. I tend to batch cook at w’ends & freeze for the week. I’m loosing between 1 - 2lbs a week & doing more exercise. I don’t eat meat so most of my meals revolve around veggies with brown rice, quinoa or pasta. I have coeliac disease so have to follow gluten- free diet. I also eat lots of eggs, cheese, oats, yoghurt (dairy & coconut) & fruit. Best of luck🙂

[HOBIEONE]

Welcome to the forum FG74 ! Have a look on previous posts about LOW Carbs etc. That's what is important. Please read & it WILL change.

[andyswarbs]

Hi Hidden when you say "not doing surgery for weight loss" are you saying you want to avoid surgery that your doctor has recommended for weight loss? That is important because if you are under doctor's orders then we need to know that before we give advice. If we give advice that contradicts your doctor then you need an explanation why that advice is given. Then you can consult with your doctor and justify to the doctor why that advice seems helpful.

Also is any potential surgery to do just with weight or are there other complications?

I realise we're all strangers here but the clearer picture you feel comfortable providing the better advice we can provide.

For instance there are risks with a low-carb and it may not be suitable for people with some medical conditions. Even my favourite lifestyle, that of a whole food plant based diet may not be suitable. So any information you can provide will help.

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to andyswarbs]

Thank you for bringing this point up, andyswarbs . Not all diets and medications are right for everyone.

[Hidden]

No, my doctor has not recommended surgery. I’m trying to avoid that option by getting my weight under control so that will never be an option on the table. I have a few friends that have suggested weight loss surgery prior to the doctors recommendation, to help get hypertension or diabetes under control. But for my friends, it also seems like a temporary solution. After 2 years, the cravings are back and the old habits are starting to re-surface.

[andyswarbs in reply to Hidden]

In that case I don't see any problem in people here recommending dietary changes. As I alluded to above my recommendation is a whole food plant based diet. You might think of this as being vegan, but it is vegan with the emphasis on health. So you can go to a supermarket for instance and replace almost every meat product with a vegan alternative. This allows you to continue your current lifestyle with minimal changes, you are just picking up a pack from a different shelf.

However these vegan alternatives are not necessarily aimed as being healthy. A popular ingredient, for example, is coconut oil, so you are just swapping saturated fats from an animal to those of super-concentrated coconuts. One can argue whether one is healthier than the other but I would argue that neither is super-healthy.

I am not saying that you should not eat meat alternatives. Just consider them a step in the direction of removing meat from your lifestyle.

To get to super-healthy the move should be made towards whole foods and plants. So black beans for example are incredibly healthy. Get them in ready cooked tins (without added salt if possible) and just open the tin and eat them. Add some raw salad for a very well rounded meal. Add a piece of fruit and you are in seventh heaven.

So, you might ask why do I recommend this. Because it has been shown time and time again in both research and anecdotal evidence that people who follow a whole food plant RELIABLY AND SAFELY based diet

- lower their bad cholesterol,

- lower hypertension

- lower their weight (your primary goal?)

- reverse diabetes

- and more

Depending on your taste buds you might find initially that more plants do not appeal to you. So initially I would add some dressing of your choice. But as you get used to eat more veggies and salad the need for dressing will reduce and reduce.

If you want some motivation then a starting point might be to watch Fat Sick and Nearly Dead rebootwithjoe.com/watch-fat.... That film was my introduction to how what I ate made me sick back in November 2015. I can see myself on the sofa at that time watching it. I hope it gives you the motivation also.

[poseymint]

I've been a fatty my entire life and I'll tell you the big problem for me was SUGAR sugar sugar! It was a dependency- had to have it and thought I would probably die without it. haha NOT TRUE! I feel great without it! I got off sugar in 2015 and have slowly lost over 20 kg. I went mostly plant based last year- not a perfect vegetarian, about 90% whole foods, organic. No fast food, no junk. My cholesterol and A1c came way down into normal and my achy joints/inflammation went away- sleep apnea went away from the weight loss or plant based or both. I also have Sjogrens syndrome (take meds) and I think that is better too.

I tell you the truth I could not have lost weight if I was still eating sugar because I'm out of control with it. I can't eat just a little bit, so I had to get honest with myself. It really only takes about 1-3 days to get over the craving. Just get through the first day. You won't believe how strong you'll feel when you get some mastery over food. If you can't cut out everything at once, just quit your worst food. I'm now working on quitting white bread, oats cereal. The video "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" was totally motivating- great video. Also love "What the Health?!" and "Forks Over Knives". My doctor got really angry at me and that was motivating too. A nurse in the clinic had lap band surgery, lost a lot of weight fast, now appears to be putting it back on. That is sad. Good luck- you can do it!