ONE WEEK AT A TIME beginning August 18th 2020

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  • posted by Squidge
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    Morning everyone!

    Interesting about alcohol – as with Sunshine-girl, drinking or not drinking doesn’t seem to impact on my weight at all. I only drink dry wine – I imagine beer or something very sugary would be different. Even so, I think it’s a good idea to avoid it while trying to lose weight and improve our health. I haven’t quite managed that, but I’ve seriously cut down.

    I’ve lost a pound this week. Not any old pound, but the one which has moved me from ‘overweight’ to ‘normal’ (according to the NHS BMI calculator). My target weight is roughly in the middle of the normal range, so I have about a stone to go, but I’m going to take a moment to celebrate this victory.

  • posted by SunnyB
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    Morning … just to weigh in on the alcohol debate, personally I find any type if alcohol impedes weigh loss, I suspect because of the stress it puts on the liver to process it. During weigh loss phases, it is definitely something I actively avoid or only very mindfully indulge in.

  • posted by Jeremy Fisher
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    Well done Squidge. A huge well done for that important milestone.

    In terms of alcohol – I’ve been avoiding it mostly. There’s a lot of sugar in it firstly, but as important for me is that I’m less likely to keep to plan after I’ve had alcohol. It’s much easier for me to stay on track without it. A couple of stressful days in the last 2 days have meant I have had a couple of glasses of wine each night and on neither occasion have I kept the calories down after having them!

  • posted by Squidge
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    Thanks, Jeremy. I’m making a vow to myself to stay within the healthy weight range from now on. I stayed in it for about two years after losing weight with the BSD and have learned from this ‘blip’ during which I put some of it back on.

    The likelihood of snacking while drinking is a good reason to be cautious of alcohol whilst trying to lose weight and develop good habits. I guess that just like with food, it effects different people differently – and what we drink and how much also make a big difference.

  • posted by petiteketo
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    Hi All,
    checking in again, just done the second weigh in after 10 days I have lost just short of 6LB so am very pleased weightloss slightly less since last weigh in but to be fair did less exercise as husband not available to supervise my resistance work.

    Waitaminute your past weightloss has really inspired me 12kg loss is what I’d like to achieve then I would be at an acceptable weight for my frame height etc. I agree with Squidge and others this WOE is about taking control and planning but this is not always easy as sometimes life gets in the way. Every evening meal is usually 3 different dishes because my husband has his own eating plan, my daughter is autistic so her food choices are different due to sensory difficulties and now my BSD recipes . I really need to plan ahead!!
    However we always eat together as a family at the weekend and I am learning to adapt my husbands recipes to low carb and calorie. He is an excellent cook and has always done the cooking but now I am having to relearn my cooking skills.
    Sunshinegirl get the clothes thing I’m almost glad we could not visit Italy this summer due to the pandemic because I’ve no idea what I would have worn! Tons of summer dresses and bikinis but not a good look stretched over a barrel middle! I’m hoping in the next couple of weeks to be able to get back into a pair of jeans I am restricted to one pair because they are “boyfriend” fit ie loose and baggy but stretched tight on my stubby fat legs.

    For me even after 10 day s of this WOE I think it is ditching the alcohol that is making a difference when I have lost more fat I will introduce the odd glass of red wine to see how that affects things.

    Take care all and have a good weekend.

  • posted by The other me
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    A large glass of wine will knock anyone out of ketosis. Red or white has 14 tablespoons of sugar in one bottle.

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    Hi all, I am not suggesting anyone should continue drinking when on a diet. What I was saying was when I gave up I didnt lose any weight – however, it was about 6 years ago and I wasnt on a diet and my weight remain steady. Right now on this plan I dont usually have any alcohol and, yes I do lose weight and when I ‘cheat’ and have a few drinks I regain weight. It is what your body gets used to. I exercise every day – I have been swimming every day for the past 3 months (only odd day off) and it doesnt make any difference to my weight loss at all. Because I swim every day as a normal part of my life my body has adjusted to that. A bit frustrating as I am doing around 500 calories per swim. But as we now know, calories in and calories out is too simplistic a calculation. Back to the wine, I am on this diet for the rest of my life, not always 800 calories but always low carb. I cannot give up everything for the rest of my life, there have to be some treats. And it is only occasionally. By the way, I dont do ketosis, it is not possible in the longer term i.e. 4 years on the plan.

    Sent a FB note to the local charity shop asking if they were accepting donations. First they were closed for lockdown but when they did reopen they didnt want to be going through other peoples stuff. Note back today – yes they want my stuff so I had better get on with the clear out.

    Have a good weekend everyone. Keep on keeping on…

  • posted by JGwen
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    I know we have interested observers, and people who have the chance to travel on the forum so I wonder if people here have an answer to a point that was raised today.

    I was talking with someone who has done a lot of travelling in Europe, who made the point that its normal to have bread with each meal in France, or pasta or pizza daily in Italy and you don’t have the levels of obesity in those countries.

    I don’t know the answer to that one, I have not spent enough time travelling around Europe to see what the eating patterns are for people with different body shapes.

    Does anyone have an opinion?

  • posted by ADD6605
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    Hi everyone,
    Very well done Squidge for reaching the normal BMI range.I was looking at some muffins bought at Costco this morning for my daughter,husband and Mum (rarely shop there so my daughter had requested them) and debating whether to have half of one then I have just read your post and checked how far I have to go to reach my normal BMI range,I have 21 pounds to lose to get there.No muffins for me,pleased I read your post,it came at a perfect time🙂 Dawn

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    Hi JGwen, obviously I can only speak for France. It is strange that the French start the day with a baguette – a whole baguette dipped into their coffee. At lunch they usually have 3 courses served with a bread roll. The courses are usually a green salad with oil and vinegar, main of meat and veg or salad and a dessert of plain yoghurt with fruit. Oh and a glass of red wine. It is eaten slowly usually eaten with friends or colleagues so there is a lot of chatting and conviviality with some not even finishing their food. Because of the larger meal at lunchtime the evening meal is often a green salad served with fish or ham or chicken. Maybe a bread roll to mop up the dressing from the salad. Oil mixed with vinegar is supposed to aid digestion and increase metabolic rate. I am not French so I dont follow their dietary habits and in discussion with a French person I told them what I ate ON MY DIET and they said I ate too much. The French do not snack and the 4pm gouter (snack) is for children only. If I go to the cinema (oh those were the days), if it is an adult film as opposed to a childrens matinee, the snack bar is usually closed except for serving coffee or cold drinks. The baguette is not the same as English sliced white bread or even your bread rolls, it is made differently (I dont know the secret) and that is what makes it rock hard in a couple of hours. Eating bread does not make you fat, eating lots of bread does. Also the French rarely have a carb accompaniment with their meal, so no potatoes or chips (except in tourist restaurants and McDo). A French person will have one glass of red wine with their evening meal, not a bottle. It is all a matter of portion sizes. Maybe eating the main meal at lunch also has a good effect on digestion. The evening meal is usually eaten quite early. They tend to cook from scratch and use natural products. The obesity rate in France is around 15% but that has gone up from the 6% when we first moved here 15 years ago now there is lots of low fat, low sugar products and I think that will impact of their weight and health. Overweight and obese combined is around 27% against 65% in the UK. I am sure the French will get bigger as they open more McDonalds and KFC but our nearest KFC is 50 km away on the way to Bordeaux.
    You mention Italy and pizza. The pizza that was invented in Naples is a very thin crust mainly with tom puree and vegetables like peppers and some meat – rarely cheese and they are a quarter of the size of your typical dominos. The pizza eaten in the UK is the American style usually thick crust with lashings of cheese and the size of a dustbin lid. Also, as tourists you see what they have for lunch, like the French they will eat very lightly in the evening.
    Wendy probably has much more of a French lifestyle than I do and can tell you more of their secret.

  • posted by Jeremy Fisher
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    My wife is very slim. She eats a normal diet with plenty of carbs, including regular ‘naughty’ snacks. She just eats normal amounts of everything and doesn’t overeat.

    Growing up in the 70s very few people were overweight. And yet we had carbs with every meal and often puddings after each meal. The difference was that we only had 3 meals a day, and those meals tended to be meat/fish and veg. AND no snacking.

    Carbs are only evil if you snack between meals, overeat or have very carb heavy meals a lot of the time e.g. pizza, pasta and don’t eat in balanced way.

    Having said that, as far as dieting goes I find a low carb diet MUCH easier as I get far less hungry. When I reach my target weight I aim to go back on carbs again, but my goal is to be on a 70s style 3 meals a day and not be eating between meals as a way to be sensible and, hopefully, maintain my weight.

    I would also add that I find gluten free carbs stimulate my appetite much less than anything that’s wheat-based, so I’ll also be aiming to stick to that.

  • posted by Squidge
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    I think the difference is as Sunshine-girl says, people in these countries do have a bread roll or pasta with their meal – but they don’t have large meals with more carbs in, nor do they snack much, if at all. In the UK, and America, if we had a bread roll with a meal, we’d still have the potatoes or rice – and we’d have had carbs with our other meals, and cakes, sweets chocolates and biscuits/cookies in between.

    Dawn, I only had a few pounds to lose to get to a healthy weight this time, but when I first started the BSD I needed to lose 35 lbs to get to my target. I did it, and kept a lot of it off. You can too! I promise you it wasn’t willpower – I don’t have much. I did it by swapping the carby things I used to like, for other foods I also like. Why have half a muffin, which is probably a bit bland, dry and stodgy, when you could have a tub of juicy strawberries, or some nice crunchy nuts, or a little piece of tangy cheese?

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    I now find the usual white carbs like rice and pasta so bland and are only there to mop up the sauce and pad out the meal. When I first started on the plan I would make hubby the same but bolognaise sauce with some pasta or a chicken curry with rice. Now when I say ‘what do you want with that’ he says nothing, it is enough without the stodge. I would love some creamy mashed potatoes or a jacket but I cannot bring myself to eat it so I would never make it. Dont forget folks, I am very low carb for diabetes control and would still eat the occasional carb if it didnt send my BG sky high. But it does, so I dont.
    Last time we were in the UK we went for a pub Sunday lunch and after telling them I didnt eat carbs (in simple terms i.e. no spuds etc) anyway, when it arrive it was piled high with Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes and roast potatoes. I felt so sick. Obviously I didnt eat it. Also one meal out I ordered boeuf bourguignon and said no chips and the lovely young lady brought me a separate plate of chips just in case I couldnt resist. They were sent to the other end of the table – I didnt order them because I cant resist them. Low carb eating is a lot more common now but back then they looked at me like I had 2 heads.

  • posted by ADD6605
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    You are right Squidge.It’s a matter of retraining my mind not to automatically want any of the odd bits of rubbish I may come across.Going to have salmon with salad for tea and really looking forward to it.I lost 18lbs last year when I first did the fast800 for 6 weeks but unfortunately put most of it back on as I came completely off it during a stressful few weeks and all of my cravings came back,I should have just put it behind me and got straight back to this woe but I didn’t.I won’t let that happen this time.Going to try to not weigh myself until Sept 1st,would love to be down into the 10’s by then but even if I’m not I know I will be well on my way there🙂 Dawn

  • posted by JGwen
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    Hi S-G, It was the point about the french system of having a bread roll with every meal that had me flummoxed on the issue on how carbs are eaten in other cultures without causing weight gain. –

    My upbringing was the traditional 3 meals and limited snacks and I struggled with weight from childhood. – I had been thinking it was my mothers tradition of having bread, or pastry, or potatoes with each meal to fill you up. – But that was the tradition she had grown up with, and is from the generation who managed to stay slim even when eating like that. I hadn’t thought about the fact that some cultures continue to eat like that and do not struggle to keep the weight down until it was raised today, by someone who continues to eat the continental style and is very slim.

    I have to admit that my diet as a child was probably carbs topped off with carbs. – I ate veg, but not meat or fish so my mother would make up the plate of food with extra carbs. But probably there were more processed foods, like crisps, and breakfast cereals in my diet and fruit then there would have been in her childhood.

    I do wonder if its also the speed of eating that has a difference with the french diet. – So having a bread roll with a meal which you eat over 2 or 3 hours may not cause the same insulin spike as the UK norm of spending half an hour eating a meal.

  • posted by caronl
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    Hi JGwen, you have started an interesting discussion. I confess when reading Gary Taubes, I kept wondering how he reconciled the low-carb message with a – seemingly healthy – rice based Asian diet…. Here in NL, the population has generally been fit, slim and healthy. If I am on a day out with friends, including lunch, I guarantee that they will almost to a man/woman bring out a dark wholemeal cheese sandwich for lunch! The Dutch traditional diet is high in dairy and carbs, particularly wholemeal bread, pulses and potatoes and higher in fish. Breakfast can be porridge, lunch a sandwich with glass of milk, and evening a stew with vegetables and potatoes. Hearty stuff for a generally physically active population. There are a few aberrations – ghastly deep fried over-processed croquettes to name one!

    As you and others have said, the difference with a UK diet, or indeed a UK 1970’s diet, is no sugary breakfast cereal, little confectionery (an apple or banana is a usual snack if anything), and a more sober approach to portions and a hatred of waste. That’s my take on it, at least, as an ex-pat. With, sadly, the usual caveat that obesity is becoming a growing problem as take-aways rise and home cooking falls.

  • posted by Waitaminute
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    Hi all,
    Geez I’m glad we got off the alcohol thread. It was starting to sound like I imagine an alcoholics anonymous meeting to sound like 😂😂..
    I found what sg said about the French way of eating interesting, maybe it is all in the eating the main meal for lunch..bit hard to do when you are a couple and one works but still weekends could accommodate that quite well.
    When I was growing up, my Dad was a single parent of us 3 kids and he made sure we ate a good breakfast of sausages, tomatoes, eggs, mushrooms and toast usually..lunch was mainly a salad sandwich and dinner was varied but not carb laden. Snacks were usually salami and cheese and cabana and those type of foods. Being European he would more than likely have grown up with quite carb heavy food himself, so it was unusual that we didn’t.
    It was only later after leaving home and cooking for myself and my family that the carb laden foods “graced” our table and I started to put on weight.
    stay safe, healthy and happy 😊🖐️

  • posted by wendleg
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    Hi everyone. I am just catching up after a busy time with guests. What I would add to the discussion about the French way of eating is that they do have a certain discipline about meal times. Lunch is midday and it would not be the done thing to chomp a bag of chips in the street in the afternoon. They don’t do all day grazing and it can be difficult to get a decent meal outside the designated times.
    That said, there are many many fast food restaurants in France which are thriving.The kids I used to teach loved all that stuff, scoffed sweets and biscuts at break times and yes at ‘goûter’ which is around 4pm. I don’t think the picture is that rosy any more as far as gastronomy is concerned. The French generally do cook more but cheap, processed food is readily available and consumed in busy households.
    Yes, bread is a feature of every meal. Our kids in the school canteen were allowed a small roll to avoid waste. They always had 3 courses for their meal…crudités or a slice of ham for starters then a meat /fish and veg course which could include pasta, rice etc and then cheese or yoghurt and fruit. Chips and pastries were only ever available once a week. Kids had the option of eating at the school canteen or going home ( they had time between 12pm and 1.30pm !.) There was no option of bringing a packed lunch with bags of crisps and chocolate bars .

    Kids do snack, adults rarely do, in my experience. Yes, the evening meal is much lighter. So you could say that fairly decent habits are established early on.

    I think also that there is a respect for food here . Food is VERY important to the French and they can talk for hours about their favourite dishes, restaurants etc etc. Meals are occasions and not to be rushed but there are variations on the generally accepted pattern with office workers eating at their desks and I honesty think obesity is becoming more of a problem.
    I do think that on a trip anywhere a Brit would be keen to get to destination and grab something to eat on arrival whereas a French person would stop at midday for lunch as a matter of course !

    That is my experience. When my weight discard started to become noticeable to my colleagues they were interested to know how I had achieved it ( after surreptiously asking our ‘concierge’ if I had had bariatric surgery !!!!!) They were pretty shocked when I said I ate very low carb..no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, beans , oats etc and thought it was unsustainable for them. Remember these same colleagues would have biscuts and other sweet treats in the staffroom at break times and even Haribos appeared when we had meetings as if even more sweet ‘treats’ were necessary in challenging times!!’

    So the French do have some well established good habits around food and the way meals are perceived but they are far from perfect !
    I can’t contribute to the alcohol debate as I don’t drink…and don’t want to practise 😉

    Our guest leave tomorrow and then things will get back to normal here. I will be starting the new thread tomorrow and beginning my week with a 36 hour fast which I have been unable to do while we have been catering for guests !
    See you tomorrow everyone !

  • posted by Squidge
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    It does seem that discipline is the key. One bread roll (or biscuit, square of chocolate, glass of wine etc etc) won’t make us fat, unless it’s on top of the amount of food we actually need, and we have something like that every day, or every mealtime, or every mealtime and in between too!

    Anyway, I avoided all the carby ‘treats’ this week, and am another pound lighter. Slow and steady progress will get me to target weight, I’m sure.

  • posted by JGwen
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    Question for WindyJulz, – How is it going with the coconut feed for your horses? Did you manage to find a place to buy it?

    The one point I was going to mention is if they are barefoot then its easy to check you are feeding the right amount. – If there is any inflammation going on, you will notice that you have to rasp weekly or more than once a week to take the horn back, as soon as you are using the right level of coconut that will change and the growth / wear pattern will be in balance again.

    ————–

    Regarding the ability to stay slim and still have some bread and pasta. – I wonder if the secret bullet is the state of gut bacteria. – With a healthy range of gut bacteria its easy to be insulin sensitive, but if you have in the past put on a lot of weight as a result of a high carb diet maybe its not enough to cut out the carbs, maybe you also need to work on improving gut health. So for example, cutting down on the carbs will reduce the level of gut bacteria which can digest carbs, but because you are still eating carbs you may still have higher levels of bacteria able to digest sugar than is healthy, so you will have an insulin spike at a lower level of carb intake?

  • posted by EC
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    hello all
    I’m extremely late to this week’s thread and have been pretty remiss all round; including not using MFP which I’ve been generally diligent with the past few months…..so i feel I have almost undeservedly not gained more than one kg-however…i need to call it in now-I was here a couple of years ago and want to say STOP!! to undoing the good of the past few months and the support here

    Re the alcohol “chats”….I also have not noticed extra gains or losses with or without, but like Jeremy, it definitely does influence my inhibition-(or lack thereof) and with COVID I do admit, I have been more likely to access a tipple

    Re the carb/protein discussion, I’ve never (as a pescetarian/vegetarian) been a fan of high protein or even very low carb diets except when dealing with BSL and insulin resistance issues in the short term

    I listened to a very interesting programme on an ABC Radio National (Aus) programme on Saturday in regard to appetite/satiety and food choices on the weekend; https://radio.abc.net.au/programitem/pgEGZAPLd7.
    …not sure if it’s available outside Australia.
    To some extent, reiterated the work of Valter Longo (The Longevity Diet) that high protein diets long-term are pro aging/potentially cancer inducing, but low calorie diets are anti-aging so I’m very curious to see where we all land with this
    COVID continues to challenge with family interstate (esp Melbourne)….but thankfully no-one in any physical danger

    So….a new week tomorrow!!….

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    Not had a great week but have managed to remain at the same weight. Having made our decision to return to the UK – not really wanting to – had a chat with daughter and she said yes that’s fine – in a couple of years. Okay, that’s not what I expected and I guess that was our original plan as I will be 70 in two years – OMG!!!! So our plan now is to go back for Christmas and do the full 14 days quarantine and they will do it with us as we have no plans to go anywhere, kids will be off school and adults still working from home and lots of board games. We are just desperate to see them and then I will feel better.
    On the subject of why I dont seem to lose weight when I exercise daily (swimming) I have just watched a video which explains clearly why the calories in calories out calculation does NOT work. It also talked about homeostatis or the body having an inner balance and wanting things to stay the same. I have put a link on the Take A Look At This thread. Also the fact that eating say 100 calories does not equal having to do 100 calories of exercise to burn it off. You have to do a heck of a lot more.
    Still got my 21 day challenge to do, I keep getting side-tracked so starting today. Have a bit of a challenge on as daughter and her partner are doing it too.
    See you all on the new thread tomorrow. Keep on keeping on…

  • posted by wendleg
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    Hi everyone ! Good to see you checking in EC !
    SG, I think you are doing the right thing going to the Uk for Christmas to spend some special time with your family. You can talk things through properly and hopefully feel a bit calmer.We have no plans to go anywhere out of France just yet. We have our trip to Sarlat coming up in a few weeks.
    Well for once I am on time so I will go and set up the new weekly thread !

  • posted by wendleg
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    The new thread is up and running !

    One Week at a time beginning August 25th 2020

    See you over there !

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