Help and advice re weight loss

[Puppychops]

During A bout of Covid, I was able to listen to Dr Jenkinson’s book “Why we eat too much”.

Is anyone on here eating the way he suggests?

Post meno, veggie and needing a sensible plan for weight loss and health.

Losing the will to follow anything 😢😢

[Professor-Yaffle]

Hi Puppychops.

I eat broadly in the way Jenkinson advocates, although I already did so before I read the book. I find it's a very sustainable and enjoyable way to eat. I do like his style of writing too. I often recommend this book to people.... it's somewhat clearer than other books that have a similar message.

I like that he moves away from an emphasis only on GI (this seems to have been quite a buzz topic for a while) and he encourages us to think about GL too which is arguably more important than GI. I eat a slightly lower level of carbs than he suggests. He says aim for glycemic load of 80 per day I aim for 50 or below most days although I don't count and some days I do eat more carbs.

The nice thing about his ideas is that it doesn't involve any counting of anything. And I like that he explains very clearly how calorie counting is actually counter-productive to weight loss. It's such a shame that this message is not more widespread. Although having said that, there is actually an article in the guardian about it this weekend......

I'm pretty careful with my Omega 3:6 ratio - this is one thing I really pulled my socks up with after reading his book. I eat a lot of line caught oily fish and I avoid corn/grain fed animals when I can. Don't keep any oils in the house other than EVOO, although I mostly use butter for cooking. I have also begrudgingly cut back a little on nuts and seeds 😭

As I recall he didn't say much about vegetarianism but perhaps that's because I wasn't looking out for it. Having listened to the book do you feel you would be able to follow the principles whilst eating a vegetarian diet?

[Puppychops in reply to Professor-Yaffle]

Would you be @ble to give me an idea of what you eat?

[Professor-Yaffle in reply to Puppychops]

Hi Puppychops.

I hope it doesn't gross you out too much reading about what I eat as I am definitely not a vegetarian.

Bear in mind that I eat as Jenkinson advocates plus I eat a bit less carbohydrate too...... Lots of people could achieve a weight loss and good health without cutting carbs back as far as I do, depends on how your body currently functions, insulin resistance, leptin resistance, cellular metabolic health etc.

In the week I don't eat breakfast - Jenkinson wouldn't like that. I have herbal teas or decaff coffee instead. On the rare occasion I wake up hungry then I eat a couple of soft boiled eggs or some full fat greek yogurt.

I have a lunch based on low carb vegetables and salad topped with some fat and protein. So typically it's a mixture of 6-8 vegetables, sometimes cooked, sometimes raw or salad items. I make a home made dressing or sauce at least once a week (sometimes mayo which I make myself to avoid the vegetable and seed oils the commercial stuff is made from, sometimes I make a dressing from roasted tomatoes or red peppers and cream cheese or full fat greek yogurt, I love a peanut dressing too, sometimes just fresh herbs and olive oil). Then on top of the dressed veg/salad I add protein and fat. For me it's usually oily fish (sometimes fresh but usually tinned fish - in brine rather than oil as they have a better Omega 3 profile) and/or eggs and/or cheese (I love goats cheese, blue cheese and all the cheeses really). Sometimes if I fancy a hot lunch I make something like grilled asparagus or broccoli with soft boiled duck eggs and some truffle oil and parmesan.

For week day dinners I normally have a massive portion of home made vegetable soup. I make soup in very large batches and freeze it. Typically I have several portions of at least five types of soup in the freezer, always a green vegetable soup and a cauliflower soup, I also make mushroom soup, tomato soup, chicken and vegetable soup etc etc. Some of them are more like casseroles. Each day I defrost a soup and then when I reheat it I add whatever fresh veg I have in the fridge and usually some frozen spinach too. Then I add decent portions of fat and protein - so sometimes I add add a couple eggs and poach them as I reheat it and sometimes I add chunks of meat (usually lamb or other grass fed meats - I also keep portions of cooked, high quality/welfare meat in the freezer to add to salads and soups for extra protein). Sometimes I add cheese or cream and occasionally toasted seeds and nuts to my soup.

If I want a more substantial dinner for some reason, I also have other homemade dishes in the freezer, usually leftovers from big stews or traybake that I make at the weekends.

I don't snack much. I eat quite a bit of full fat greek yogurt and I also eat 100% chocolate on a regular basis - usually just after lunch. I generally use butter to cook with or olive oil.

Don't eat much that has been cooked in a factory or overly processed. The most processed things I eat are probably the 100% bean to bar chocolate and the dairy products..... oh and sometimes pre-made condiments like marmite, soy sauce, mustard. I mostly eat fresh veg but I do keep a couple of staple vegetables in the freezer.

Most things people buy that have been pre-made can be made at home. I draw the line at making my own wine though and I do have quite a bit of wine at the weekends so that's another manufactured product I enjoy 😀

I only really buy things that you could find in the greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger or cheese shop (I avoid the bakers).

Fridays and at the weekend I spend lots of time cooking. I typically have a nice egg and smoked salmon brunch or eggs and spinach or a prawn omelette. I entertain quite a bit so I often cook things like moussaka, roast lamb, steak, curry, stew etc at the weekends. I cook a lot of Ottolengi food as he is quite a vegetable focussed chef and quite carb-light. Sometimes I make a low carb dessert at the weekend too. If I fancy bread I have a supply of homemade lower carb bread in the freezer - I seldom do fancy it these days. Unless I'm in a restaurant where the bread is homemade and looks really excellent - in which case I eat some. Or if I am someone else's house and they have made fresh bread then I eat some. I do sometimes cook with carb heavy food, for example I make fresh wheat pasta at home sometimes with my pasta machine. Wouldn't do this on a regular basis though.

If I go out for dinner then I eat whatever I fancy, including dessert - but I do choose where I go quite carefully so I know the food is made in the restaurant and made from quality ingredients. If I go on holiday I eat things I wouldn't normally eat like pizza and bread. But even on holiday I tend to only step away from my regular eating habits for something really high quality though..... so I will always say no a Jammy Dodger or a banana at 11am in the office, but I might say yes to an award winning gelato in an Italian Piazza.

I think Jenkinson is all about not eating any processed food, avoiding too much bread and pasta and avoiding vegetable/grain/seed oils. Not too many sugary fruits. He's about eating a good volume of food and making sure you eat enough fat. Avoid massive does of Omega 6 and up your Omega 3 substantially. If you're inclined to you can definitely can fit more carbs in than I eat and still eat broadly by his ideas. He is an advocate of eating some potatoes from what I understand. I think he suggests making changes one at a time. Starting with cutting out processed foods.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts if you give it a go.

Take care puppychops.

[Puppychops in reply to Professor-Yaffle]

You are a complete star!This is exactly what I needed to read.

I had in my mind the main elements were

Reduce omega 6

Increase omega 3

Eat fat and protein

Cut bread but not necessarily completely

Avoid processed food and sugar

He makes it clear it may take several months to start to see a change.

No calorie counting, no diet foods just try to keep to a GL of 80 per day to begin with.

Will I lose weight? I’m ok with small losses and good food 😎😎😎

THANK YOU

[Professor-Yaffle in reply to Puppychops]

Hi Puppychops.

You're welcome.

Small losses and good food is the way to go, I agree. Life's too short to not have good food!

I imagine you will lose weight this way, especially avoiding sugar and keeping you GL down. And the important thing is that you will also be lowering your set point not just your weight 👍

And if you happen to have an indulgent day and eat some cake or a pizza, don't punish or starve yourself, just go back to how you want to be eating the next day.

Hopefully you will check in and let us know how it's going.

If weight loss is your aim then you might also want to check out the weight loss forum. There are quite a few people there eating this way - they will often say they are eating LCHF (low carb, high fat) which is a somewhat similar way of eating to Jenkinson's book. They also do things like weigh-ins but you don't have to do that bit of it. I comment there and read others posts but I don't weigh-in anymore. It's quite a supportive community.

[Puppychops in reply to Professor-Yaffle]

Oh husband eats meat, each to their own.I miss how full it kept me

[Professor-Yaffle in reply to Puppychops]

I'm WFH today so I'm gradually making a green soup from these vegetables. Just boiling up chicken bones from the weekend first, to make a stock. Then will gradually prep the veg throughout the day. I will also add frozen spinach and might rummage around for more herbs and also probably a bit of fresh ginger for a kick. I won't use the whole cabbage - just half I think.

I always puree my green soup and (then add some textured ingredients when I reheat it) but I also really like a chunky green soup!

Green soup ingredients.

[Zest]

Hi Puppychops

I hope you're feeling better, and recovering well. I've not read the book you mention, so can't comment on it, but I would like to wish you the best and hope you enjoy participating in the Healthy eating forum. Welcome!

Zest

[Puppychops in reply to Zest]

What a lovely reply, thank you 🥰

[Lizzo30]

Hi I have always found that the only way I have lost weight is by walking it means you can eat what you want within reason , yet recently I have lost weight from eating more alkaline foods or rather an alkaline smoothie I use 1 /3 cucumber and 2/3 honeydew melon I put it in the liquidiser with a large cup of cold water , this has got rid of long covid heartburn and made me lose weight - you must've heard of the trend for celery and I am guessing the benefits are due to the alkaline content of the celery, our Cocker spaniel Charlie has type 2 diabetes and I make him a smoothie of 1/3 melon 2/3 cucumber and it has really reduced his diabetes

[Puppychops]

Thank you

[Puppychops]

Thank you