Hi everyone, new here. Weight loss question

Hi Eli ! Thank you so much for your elaborate answer! I appreciate the lengths you have gone through so much ! I did not know about any apps for this so that is new to me and I will be checking them out for sure. Also the additions to Huel sound a good idea. I do take multivitamins but just once a day. A thing I will have to change is the 3 to 4 hours between meals. I tend to snack little but often through the day. A habit that will need to change. I hope to get back to exercise but am recovering from a torn ligament, and the resulting muscle wasteage, which seems to take forever ! So baby steps exercise wise for now. Hence me concentrating on the calorie side of things for now. Lastly stress causing weightgain? Do you know anyone who is not stressed or extremely busy? Stress seems a way of life for me… never enough time… always too much to do ! An interesting thought !! Thanks again for your comprehensive answer !!

Thanks user 3532. I had not heard of those. I will check them out !

Marguerite, given you liked my previous message, I’ll try to clarify what i wanted to say. The problem of restrictive diets is that your body will behave as it would behave under a famine. We’re designed to be “famine resistant”. Our body will consume less calories when there is a famine.

But this is the opposite of what you want to do when you want to lose weight. You want your body to use calories freely, not to spare them as much as possible. So ironically, starving ourselves is not really a good idea. It “works” but as soon as you relent, you tend to gain all the weight back.

So what you really want to do is to eat “clean” food and eat a ton of it and then do exercise as much as possible. For exercise, you need a daily (or one day on and one off) routine like this: warm up, some strength training (body-weight exercise are more than enough for most people), then aerobic (walking or running slowly for at least half an hour) and then some stretching (very important!) and “cool-down”.

Clean food is grain, legumes, veggies and fruits. Nuts and flax seed are also clean if you eat them in small amounts. You must use a b12 supplement if you don’t eat any animal product. If you want to eat animal products, I think maybe the best is a small portion of fresh (without preservatives) meat.

Huel will provide you grain and legumes and flax seed in powder form. You need to add veggies and fruits and you’ve a reasonable diet that you can eat without worries. Veggies and fruits tend to be more satiating than other food groups, so the more you eat of these the better it is. Eat these until you’re full.

This is a summary of the the content of these two books.

I’ve also to say this. The main problem of Huel in powder form is that it’s unpleasant to eat. So you can’t really rely on it to solve your eating disorders. There are also some health problems due to the powder form. Our bodies are designed for solid (plant) food. I think Huel bars are much better but they’re more costly.

Personally, I’ve stopped eating powder food (including Huel) a year ago. I just couldn’t eat enough calories with it. I liked the convenience and the taste of bars but they were too costly and I couldn’t afford them.

P.S: The “twennybar” is a Dutch alternative to the Huel bar and it’s more or less the same idea.

Thanks again user 3532 !! I will need to read the books. I have been eating fruit and veg predominantly the last year and no red meat, very little if any white meat, some fish. The problem might be the lack of exercise as I have been struggling recovering from a torn ligament. Was told for ages to rest and not put weight on it, then suddenly that I had muscle wasteage due to inactivity and this as an added problem. So much for following doctor’s orders ! So cannot up the exercise at the moment as need to slowly strengthen the muscles again. My logical thought was that as I cannot up the exercise, I must reduce the food, whilst still having all the minerals and vitamins I need. However, I did not manage that on the fruit/veg regime, always hungry! and eating too much as a result. So I thought with Huel, I’d at least be able to control amounts whilst being certain of still getting the nutrients. I love the convenience by the way. No thinking of meals, shopping, preparing, eating, washing up… wow :slight_smile: but I see what you are saying. I wasn’t thinking only powder for the rest of my life was an option !

Marguerite, the problem may be that veggies and fruits provided too few calories, and then you compensated by eating significant amounts of olive oil and meat. With olive oil (and cheese) it’s very easy to eat a lot of calories. All fatty food are 1) very dense in calories 2) not capable of making you feel satiated and 3) they go straight to your belly. Meat is also somewhat fatty (fat content depends on the cut actually) but at least it’s satiating due to protein content and the protein doesn’t go straight to your belly. But the reality is that the body has no use for the protein and it’ll do more harm than good. It’s satiating precisely because it’s bad for you.

I’m relatively newbie at exercise so I can’t help very much with that. I don’t think it’s necessary for weight loss, but it’s necessary for health. You should probably be able to lose weight without exercise, but at the cost of wasting some muscles and slowing down metabolism. Connective tissue like ligaments can take a lot of time to heal. Good food will help healing. Try to exercise the other leg and the arms while waiting. Do low intensity exercise on the healing leg (connective issue requires low intensity exercise to become fully functional again).

EDIT: If you’re wondering about white meat vs red meat, white meat used to be slightly more healthy in the past when poultry wasn’t factory farmed. Now it’s factory farmed and it’s maybe worse than red meat. Wild fish is currently very polluted. Factory farmed fish may be the best. Eggs also aren’t that bad. Dairy is very bad. But why not eat beans? They’re the best source of proteins for us and they’re not polluted and they’re cheap.

2nd EDIT: Your have probably followed “low carb” diets in the past. Carbs are like 50% of caloric intake for “normal” people in western countries. They used to be 80% a few centuries ago and they still are around 80% for healthy people. Anyway, the low carb diets will encourage you to do the opposite of what I’m saying. They encourage you to cut your caloric intake by cutting carbs. They manipulate you into eating less calories by telling you that you “should” eat meat. You then lose weight but at the expense of your health. Eventually you’ll eat bread again because you crave it so much and meat is so unappetizing, and weight will come back. At this point the low carb gurus will tell you that you’ve failed because you lack self-discipline. They’ll tell you that you’re a “carb addict”. That’s like saying to a lion that he is “meat addict”. It’s pure nonsense.

You need a food that is dense in calorie and satiating and healthy at same time. Guess what is the name of this food? Grain. Potatoes. Starches. Etcetc. Beans are also extremely good but they’re more heavy in protein.

EDIT: Just look at this movie (here is the trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBvIweCIgwk

Every time they speak about water in that movie, you can replace with carbs or with grain or bread or oats or something like this. In fact carbohydrates are precisely carbon and water and they do provide hydration too!

I’ve forgot to mention, you can increase caloric expenditure by turning off your home heating system! :smiley:

And in fact when you do eat excess carbohydrates, a good portion is burned off as heat automatically. It’s just the simplest way to get rid of them. Unlike fat they can’t be stored directly in your body in large amounts and they “burn” without producing toxic “ashes”. The design of nature is elegant and beautiful… :slight_smile:

Hi User 3532. You are right I do use olive oil but not a lot. tiny bit in the pan for frying up vegs or over salad that is it. Cheese sometimes very sparingly as I am dairy intolerant and so don’t have dairy at all. If I sometimes cheat and have a slice of cake, I know I am going to feel sick the next hour or so, but sometimes you have to have something nice… although I feel more and more it is not worth it. Also love bread but do not eat it as it makes me feel bloated and stuck. So probably a gluten issue. Not to talk about the allergic side of things. Reasons for cutting out red meat are the same. Digestion of it not going well. I know when I have had some as I get cramps and rumbles and a terrible time before it all straightens out so not worth it. So for me no bread no dairy as little gluten as I can manage which leaves said fruit and veg and white meat and fish which I tolerate well. I try where I can to source organic and when using chicken definitely non-supermarket and certified. Fish is harder, even wild caught fish is nowadays contaminated but you have to eat something and I love fish, so, for now, fish is in. Eggs I also eat, free range at the very least of course. They are a handy go-to if there is nothing elese in the house. On beans. I do eat beans but have to be careful which. I can absolutely not have chickpeas or their relatives which sadly includes lentils. Chickpeas (and therefore houmous… sadly… love that but can’t have it…) cause an overflow of uric acid which goes to the joints and causes arthritis. But it is a good idea to use more of the other beans which are not in that family.

So my food choices stem more from listening to the reaction of my body than from listening to diet advisers. I totally agree with you that the most important thing is a healthy lifestyle. However. Before the injury I was very active exercising and was on a good weight (not very thin but not overweight either). Since the inactivity I have gained 12 kilos in 10 months and they will have to go again ! I felt much healthier, happier and more energetic on my previous weight. So everything is orientated on how I myself feel rather than a society ‘ideal’. As for not losing on fruit and veg; I have done the Jason Vale smoothie week (7lb in 7 days). All fruit and veg only for seven days in smoothies. Not an ounce weight loss. And that was no olive oil, cheese, meat, dairy, bread, potatoes or anything else !

The book is on the way and I will watch the movie tonight when home from work. In the meantime I have reduced Huel from 9 to 7 scoops and losing 0.1 kg a day so far (2 weekend days). Even thought it is little, it’s half a kg a week if this continues so at least something. Fingers crossed !

Thanks for your continued input. It is all very interesting and I am picking up points I had not considered. I appreciate it ! :slight_smile:

ps. my heating is more off than on. simply because I cannot afford it. However, I am someone who is always cold, so at the moment wearing 4 layers in the day in the office (with moderate heating) just to keep warm ! So in the weekends the heating has to be on in the day or I would have to just stay in bed under double duvet ! (27 tog together :slight_smile: )

People with real gluten intolerance are less than 1% of population. I’m not sure they’re even 0.1%. Almost nobody is gluten intolerant despite it’s now fashionable to claim to be gluten intolerant. Moreover, gluten intolerance is due to some genetic defect, it’s not due to gluten being an unnatural food to us.

About gluten intolerance, i would recommend you to ask to a trusted friend to do a blind experiment. He does feed you gluten or placebo and you have to tell if you’ve a problem or not. Same thing for chickpeas and lentils. The uric acid story, where you’ve read it? Is it a trusted source? Does this source deserves your trust? Probably not. We’re flooded with nutritional bullshit from the people that want to sell us crappy food. These people hate beans and grains precisely because beans and grains should provide the majority of our calories in our diets.

Anyway, maybe you feel strange when you eat high carb food like bread because you’re not used to it? Carbs have some effects on appetite and mood. Some people report that it’s like being on coffee without coffee. You should try to eat them consistently for a week or two to see if the problem goes away. The placebo (or more precisely, nocebo) effect can also be extremely strong. Be careful to not hurt yourself with nocebo! :smiley:

This is a mystery indeed. Have you tracked how much fruit and veggies did you eat? It’s nearly impossible to eat too many calories by eating these. In liquid form it’s easier to overeat, but i think it’s still unlikely.

You can probably up-regulate your “thermogenesis” if you do a determined effort in this direction. Although it’s not really necessary, i had proposed this more as a joke than as a serious proposal. :slight_smile:

I am generally not fastidious in what I can or cannot eat. I just go about life and then when I do not feel well repeatedly, I try and analize what it was. So rather than expecting to feel unwell, I get the unwell first and then realize that on all those occassions I ate… whatever it was. Then if I don’t eat it I don’t get the problems. That one solved ! The uric acid story I have read repeatedly from many sources. I had a big problem with the inflammation and also ate a lot of houmus. To put it to the test I eliminated the houmus and the problem went. Sometimes I think… oh well, a little can’t harm, and have a tiny bit and hope it will be ok. It never is. Also have had that there was houmus in a sauce and I did not know about it. Happily ate the lovely meal. Next day… big inflammation problem. Could then trace it back to the houmus. So whatever the source was, I know if I can trust it by the way my body reacts. This has proven itself. I don’t generally trust or take dietary advice lightly. There is so much about and half of it is rubbish. But it is always good to keep reading and see what does apply to yourself.

I’m not claiming to be gluten intolerant. I just realized that I feel better if I avoid things like bread and wheat etc. And when eating out taking the gluten free option often helps digestion more than the non gluten free one. Again trial and error.

On the Jason Vale 7 day diet there is a set amount of smoothies you have. I did not have more. Or anything else. However I did mix and match them and might have had more of one particular smoothie, simply because I liked it more than others. Containing pineapple and apples banana and avocado. So all high in natural sugars. It might have to do with that. I don’t know. Definitely had less than the recommended smoothies. I am not a big eater and generally any set diets make me eat far too much in a day and actually would cause me to gain weight. So I tend to pick out bits and bobs and eat less than recommended but still have the benefit of the right recipes.

On the temperature, I have been getting recommendations to “put some fat on” “that’ll keep you warm”. Obviously not in consideration !! :slight_smile:

Take a look at links here: https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/uric-acid/

If you’re really intolerant to grains and legumes, you can’t really have good health anyway. Or perhaps you can but you’ll have to work around this issue every day for the rest of your life. You really have to hope to be wrong, because if you’re right it’s a disaster! I hope you’re wrong and I’m also quite confident on it.

Uric acid you can measure it in the blood anyway: Uric Acid Test: Normal Range, High vs. Low Levels in Blood

Think like this. If you are intolerant to grans and legumes due to genetic factors, then why natural selection hasn’t eliminated your parents and grand parents and grand grand parents and so on?

What they were eating? Air? :slight_smile:

Without having read the entire thread I’ll post my initial reaction.

20 minutes walking a day is the minimum amount of walking anyone should at least do. This will not help you lose weight, it’ll just stop you seizing up or having a DVT.

In order to lose weight you’ll need to eat less or exercise. Walking is not excersie. Excersie is getting out of breath and having your heart rate go up.

I’m also new to huel and I’m 3 stone overweight (and the rest). I’m having one day Huel one day Soup, fish and vegetables.

I haven’t lost weight but that’s not my true goal. My goal is getting used to eating less, exersise more. I hoper that I’ll eventually lose weight but I’m not even weighing myself yet. I want to be healthy and lose weight as a result.

I’ll weigh myself in 3 months.

Someone told me "you won’t lose weight without feeling hungry’. I’m hoping water will take the edge off that feeling when it comes.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

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ha ha ha user 3532. they just suffered in silence I suppose !

Hi Georgia, I don’t think you should be hungry. It’s a question of choice of what you eat. I hope you do well on your weight loss journey as in the end being on an ideal weight you always feel better than when you are overweight. So it makes sense from a health point of view.

Oh and user 3532, still reading your uric acid link. Interesting. I will do the toiletbowl test !

Intolerances and allergies are not the same thing. Non-lethal reactions to food would not cause a significant selection pressure.

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Hi everyone.

You are absolutely right Klaire672. I think user 3532 was just joking…