I am now maintaining my weight, so eating some carbs and really don`t miss rice or pasta as seldom ate, always thought pizza a snack eat, and not keen at best of times. Watch this @clueless1
1) No cakes, chocolate, etc. whatsoever, hardly any high sugar fruits [1], reduced fat/sugar everything, cut down on bread, pasta and spuds, eat lots of veg (but some are high sugar), etc. Strong Chili flavoured cheese helps with reducing cheese consumption. 2) Get a smaller bowl. 3) Get a dog and walk 10 miles min/day. Lost 3 stone in 4 months. [1] Ferment them to get rid of the sugar and make a useful bi-product. That's the problem and the solution.
@Dips, I know what you mean about supposedly healthy and filling stuff leaving you extra hungry. There is science behind this phenomenon. Take porridge as an example. Made the traditional way, porridge is very healthy, and will leave you feeling full for ages. It is mostly protein, fibre and complex carbs. And it's horrible. It's just oats boiled in water. Maybe a pinch of salt to make it slightly less horrible. So we swap the water for milk to make it creamy. Possibly even sugar or some dried berries. Now in addition to the original profile, it is also a mix of sugar and fat. The body can tell when it's had enough sugar, and drives you to stop eating it by making it taste unpleasant. Same with fat. But when you have sugar and fat at the same time (eg porridge with milk and fruit, cake, ice cream, chocolate etc) those chemical signals get all mixed up, to the extent that even if your stomach is full to capacity, the signal to stop eating just doesn't come. Meanwhile the primal 'reward centre' in your brain keeps shouting, this is good, high energy survival food, eat more if it is available. This is one of the main reasons that a simple balanced diet is best. Meat and veg tend notto have that perfect mix of sugar and fat at the same time. Lots of fad diets exist too, capitalising on a single aspect of nutrition and how the body works. Some such fads seem to me to be one step short of slow suicide as they mess with your body chemistry over time, and place excess strain on various systems of the body. Again, this is why a simple diet is best. In my case, tracking calories as well as activity is working. I'm still learning the ropes, but I'm amazedat how much I can get away with without exceeding my calorie quota. I don't feel hungry or lethargic, and most days there's room left in my quota for my beloved dark chocolate. Tracking exercise and estimated calorie burn is brilliant too. Today, so far, I have had a bacon sarnie, a banana, an apple, an orange, a protein bar, two bottles of lucazade sport, fish and chips, and I'm having beer shortly. That should annihilate my quota for today. Except that today was seminar and testing day at our martial arts club. 4 hours of martial arts training earns me loads of calories, so I'll still be within quota.
@clueless1 totally agree its amazing how much you can eat within calories limits. When i use to do fasting days i would have a banana for breakfast, then loads of raw peppers and mushrooms and cucumber and celery etc for lunch the plate would be piled high. Then for dinner i would have a fish in sauce with a steamed bag of veg and that would only be 450 calories for the whole day but it was plenty of food to feel full. Porridge the traditional way also makes me really hungry i dont really have milk because it can flare up my eczema and i dont like it but aparently there is research that shows people with ME have issues with carbs and processing them etc so maybe that might be the reason why. I dont understand how people have cereal for breakfast if i eat cereal im hungry within 5 minutes and then eat loads that day I try to roll with what my body wants some days im starving constantly and eat a fair amount other days it can be barely anything, today i have had one small meal and im so full. I drink so much water so i always can rule out the whole thirsty instead of hungry thing. I definitely think its about finding the right thing that works for your body as we all process food so differently. Being chronically sick you get told to do so many different things that will cure you at the moment people are really pushing jucing and vegan diets at me but my dr has said he would never suggest i should go on a vegan or vegetarian diet because my body doesnt absorb iron very well and even when i eat veggies with high iron with vit c it doesn't help my iron level. Iron Supplements have immediate negative effects on my body but as im borderline with my iron levels they are low but not a big issue eating red meat is the best way to help them. Also dark chocolate is the best isnt. I know i have definitely grown up now because i struggle to eat milk chocolate now it has to be dark always. Have you tried the madecasse bars? They are lovely the sea salt and nibs one is beautiful. I also have to make sure i get lots of salt because if my low blood pressure so any excuse lol
@Dips, I'm the same in many ways. Cereal is just a waste of time to me. Also, you mention about carbs being a problem with ME sufferers. I don't think I have ME, but for a good while I was getting concerned about how I was almost permanently lethargic. I actually suspect diabetes, because I have many of the signs, and I've had some shocking blood sugar readings (far below the normal minimum), but I've been tested for it a few times and always came back clear. Since starting this full nutrition monitoring project, I have a lot more energy. I also have funny blood pressure. It's 'funny' in the sense that it is all over the place. Sometimes it goes a little bit high, but not to a problem level. But sometimes it drops suddenly too low and I nearly pass out. I use this as an excuse to not care about my salt intake too
@clueless1 so glad your diet has helped ur energy levels Have you looked at POTS if your blood pressure is all over the place and with how low its dropping and your almost passing out. i get constantly told i could have that too but mine doesnt reallt suddenly drop or anything its just generally always quite low. I got happy the other day when i actually had a reading of 120/80 i was amazed!!! But i had drunk a sugar free fizzy drink so caffeine helps raise it. As i dont drink tea or coffee i rarely have any caffine in my diet.
When I'm carrying too much weight Im lethargic. It's harder and more tiring to haul all that blubber around. I know what weight I feel good about and I try to stay within 2 kilos of that number. I've got lots of calories left in today's quota so having spagetti with my home made meat sauce and meatballs tonight..
Never heard of POTS @Dips. I'll google it, but to be honest, after much puzzlement among the medical profession, I think we've got to the bottom of it now. It's something called a 'vasovagal response'. The vagus nerve measures chemicals and temperature in your torso, and sends signals to adjust your heart rate and blood pressure. In some people, such as me, it misinterprets certain signals, assumes my blood pressure is toohigh for current demand, and drops it to prevent busting a blood vessel. When I exert myself, such as when training in martial arts, I get very warm and produce a lot of lactic acid and co2. When I then stop, my vagas nerve gets it wrong and drops my blood pressure. Sometimes but not always. Now I know what's happening it is not usually a problem, because I've learned how to manage it (jiggle my legs as though busting for a wee, this pushes blood up from my legs while maintaining the signal that muscles are in use and therefore need feeding).
That was my primary motivation for attempting to lose some weight. I train in martial arts and I burn out to quickly, and move too slowly for my liking. I figured if I lose weight, not only will I perform better in class, but also I'll be more motivated to work on my fitness outside of class. However, so far (about 2 weeks into my diet), I have only lost 2lb, which is exactly on target (i set my goal to be to drop 1 pound per week). 2 pound is not a significant burden. Yet my performance in and out of class has improved loads already, so it has to be to do with what I'm putting in more than it is about my weight. But it's a self perpetuating benefit. The more energy I have, the more I can do, which means I burn more calories and develop more lean muscle, which means I can work harder still.
@clueless1 glad you know whats going on certainly makes life easier when you know Lots of similarities of what goes on with my body when i do aerobic exercise i produce too much co2 and therefore combined with water creates lots of carbonic acid which is the painful acid and i create a huge oxygen deficit within my muscles. Studies have showed ME people produce 20x more acid than normal people. Lactic acid is actually produced during anerobic exercise and is a very mild acid that causes no muscle pain and soreness. I never knew this until the wonderful exercise specialist prof mark vannesses video it seems its a massive missconception that we all think its lactic acid that causes the soreness and it actually isnt. Its always fascinates me when different things and conditions overlap. I find the human body fascinating.
2 lbs is good. You will alzo experience thresholds where your body stubbornly holds on to pounds. You could also be building muscle which we know is healthy heavy. 2 lbs is 7000 calories. How many chocolate bars is that.?
If it's any help i have lost six stone since May 2014. I had to drastically improve my diet due to inflammatory bowel disease and gallstones and several food ibtolerances. I only eat / drink fruits and vegetables, goat's milk Goat's cheese Rice Potato Gluten free bread A little beef sometimes Chicken Fish Tea Water No processed food at all. I am too poorley to exercise so my body shape is poor but at least the excess weight is off. I have bloods done regularly by my gastro team and supposedly I am in very good shape.
Also I would never eat high fat for any reason now having developed gallstones which are incredibly painful. And proceed foods the same - would never touch them again. It's things like tomato ketchup, coffee, vinegar and mayo I miss the most weirdly someone i know who is male takes more protien than I can on my suggestion and also exercises with weights regularly and has significantly positivley changed his body shape. I also learnt a lot about the helpful / harmful properties of foods according to Chinese medicine so I try to stay away from conventional medicine as much as I can
I've been drinking lots of 'healthy' flavoured mineral water - didn't bother to check the sugar content - after all its only water isn't it? Nope - it turns out the brand I was drinking contains more sugar per 500ml than two yummy frosted dough nuts. It slightly annoyed me that the sugar content (in very small text) is quoted per 250ml, but the bottle is marked in cl's - so a cursory glance and you could miss how much sugar is actually in there. The supermarkets should really move these flavoured waters to the soft drinks section.
