Re: that “bliss point”: True dat!!!

A former Surgeon General of the US wrote a book about it. He went dumpster diving and used some of the very sophisticated equipment at his disposal to analyze what was going into processed foods. He discovered that chain restaurants and food manufacturers — and they ARE “manufacturers” rather than chefs or cooks preparing real food in real ways to meet people’s real needs! — add far more sugar, fat and salt than is needed to achieve that “bliss point”. They VERY deliberately exploit the addictive nature of those 3 ingredients to keep people overeating and coming back to buy and consume more.

David Kessler, “The End of Overeating” if anyone’s interested. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/end-of-overeating-david-a-kessler/1102240107/2673952272627?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Marketplace+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP2246&k_clickid=3×2246

And while I’m at it, I’m not giving this this Christmas but once I discovered this recipe I never bought mustard again. It’s as easy as it could possibly be and soooo much more interesting than anything you’ll find in the market at 4 or 5 times the price.

Homemade Mustard
Yield: 1 1/2 cups

• 1/2 cup yellow mustard seeds, black mustard seeds or some combination (half each works for me)
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar or other varietal vinegar, I use a fruity pommegranate vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 1/4 teaspoons sugar or honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• optional: preserves to sweeten and add complexity, I use fig preserves

1. Soak mustard seeds in vinegar and water at room temperature for 2 days. (I use a 16-oz, wide-mouth, commercial salsa jar so I can purée and store right in the same jar.) If seeds are not fully submerged, add just enough additional water to cover.

2. Add sugar or honey and salt. Purée mixture in the jar with a stick blender to your preferred coarseness, about 2 minutes or so. If you can’t get it as fine as you like, give it a few days and blend it up again but we like it grainy.

3. Let rest and mellow for 2 weeks in the fridge. Then open the jar and adjust flavor and consistency with salt, jam or other sweetener and/or water to your personal preference. It’s now ready for use.

Notes:

  • The dark mustard seeds can be very strong and 100% dark seeds is not for weenies. Find the right proportion for you by experimenting.
• Feel free to include any flavor you like like puréed roasted garlic, smoked salt, horseradish, wasabi, herbs or whatever floats your particular boat.
• If you get addicted to this stuff like my family is and you start going through mustard seeds fast, Penzeys is a good source (in the US) for bulk orders of both color seeds.

Hi, LAchubster. Wow, a cold night in LA! Very unusual!

We’re ticking over well. OH lost 2lbs this week, as did I, but I don’t want to! He’s off one medication, too. Christmas nibbles have not been too much if a problem. We’ve got some wiggle room for Christmas and will have some roast potatoes- just not the pile of previous years.

I used to stock up on jeans when in the USA – no more! The exchange rate is dire, now. At home I’m tending to wear my old jeans, tightly belted. I keep the lovely tight ones for going out.

Have a lovely Christmas, folks.

Hello, Curiouser

I am 64 years old. I have to loose 10 kg. And I will use this method 5:2, but I will first start januar the first.
I am not able to exercise, so unfortunately, it will go slowly.

OH and I have found that our appetites have changed so much that we simply want neither the quantity or the type of food we tucked into before.

The Christmas dinner roast potato count was well down on previous years. All the lovely cheeses are still unwrapped and in the fridge. No need for a second meal after our late lunch.

Oh, LA, You’re honest with yourself, anyway. I just can’t do it now. I so fancied seconds of my brother-in-law’s lovely trifle. I knew I wouldn’t manage it, though.

The wine is the most difficult for me to give up. 🍷
Pol 🎄

I think it was naive of me to start the 5/2 just before the holidays, thinking I had enough resolve. No way! Maybe if I’d been at this longer with good habits in place, I could’ve sailed through. I haven’t weighed myself and I won’t until I have a couple fasts under my belt, but I’m really enjoying the holidays!! Ha! Today, I’m fasting and actually looking forward to it, so that’s a good sign. But, we are out for dinner both Friday and Saturday nights and, of course, I have champagne chilling for the New Year. But, at least I am thinking and planning for my FD’s this week and next. I’m happy about that…small steps 🙂

Pollypenny, I don’t think it’s just a matter of determination, but choosing the right timing that ensures success. I think it was Curiouser who said she was delaying starting the program until after the holidays, which is a smart & realistic move IMO. Why set ourselves up for a feeling of failure, or worse, abandon the program entirely? I think honoring each woman’s decision is the way to go. I’m rooting for Curioser and others who delayed their “go time” to get past the holidays when temptation can sabotage even the most determined among us. I’m happy that I’ve been able to resist what I can, while still enjoying all the holiday food, and am looking forward to my FDs. To me, that’s real progress in a season where I thought I would relapse totally Wishing us all a happy, healthy 2017!!

From experience, I have to partially disagree with you, north rancher. My OH had spent years ‘swearing’ to start ‘after Christmas/ the holidays/his birthday/ the Six Nations’.

I made similar resolutions to cut down on wine and portion sizes. And failed to do so! 😩 However, we had a four day holiday in Ireland where we were almost force fed: I put on four pounds. He gained, too.

I read Michael Mosley’s book cover to cover and we just went for it. That was 25th April! By June we were used it, so continued on our trip.

I do agree that it would be very hard to start a 5:2 regime immediately before a big event, though.

Pol 💁🏼

Reminds me of that saying, whens the best time to plant a tree? 30 years ago. Whens the best time to start 5:2? Yesterday. Just do it.

I thought I’d do a bit of a look back and a look forward as the year is changing. Just for the sake of perspective.

I started my journey to losing weight and improving my health on about 3/31/11. At the time I hadn’t heard about intermittent fasting and I was just beginning to drop things like soda and fast food because I couldn’t walk a block and I was so uncomfortable in my body that even sitting was an issue of compressing the mass of fat into my lap. I didn’t — and don’t — weigh myself but I must have been around 200 pounds.

Here is the only record I have of where I was:

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After giving up the obvious stuff I started eliminating trigger foods. Things like grains, nuts, cheese and sugar in all it’s forms. I began to feel better, particularly with respect to not having food run my life.

So, it should have been simple, right? I should have just continued along that route improving on a continuing basis. That would have been nice. But, NO. At various points and for various reasons I went back to my trigger foods and regained weight. At one point I was right back up around 200 pounds again.

Just before Christmas last year I discovered intermittent fasting. Combined with the things I’d learned about my own body and its relationship to food I started *really* improving. I felt great. I was optimistic. I started moving by setting a timer every hour and walking around inside my house for 5 minutes at a time. That just improved my sense of well-being and I increased my activity and made it a regular part of my life. But I was struggling with a kneecap which had been broken and which had no cartilage to speak of. Because we were living in Canada away from our American health care (read insurance availability) system, I wasn’t able to get the lubricating shots my knee needed and struggles with some severe pain.

Nevertheless, I carried on as I could and started using the tracker to record my results. Here they are as of the end of January 2016 after about a month of 5:2:

weight: 181
bust: 47 1/2″
waist: 45″
hips: 51:
waist to height ratio: .74

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I was already in better shape than at the start of my journey and I carried on pretty smoothly until a traumatic event in about April. I started nervous eating going right for the trigger foods and ballooned up again. Worse, I kept trying and trying to get back on the 5:2 regimen which had worked so reliably for me and freed me of food compulsions. I’d string together a few days, a week. Even 2 weeks at a time but I always went back to trigger foods and compulsive eating. It took until early October to finally get that struggle behind me. But it’s been good since then with the exception of 2 days of total indulgence at Christmas this year.

I even did a 7-day fast before Christmas and I’m in a 4-day fast right now. Feels fine and I resumed my hour of cardio after a 3-week hiatus during the ramp up to Christmas.

And here’s where I stand now:

I don’t know my weight
bust: 42″
waist: 39.5″
hips: 45 1/2″
waist to height ratio: .65

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It’s been a long, slow, rocky road but it’s clear from the physical evidence as well as the way I feel in my body and my mind that it’s the right path for me. I’d hope to say that I’ll stick with it religiously from now on. I’m not sure that’s how it will be. But I KNOW that I always have to return to what gives me peace of mind, comfort in my body and my ability to move and much improved confidence.

Wishing everyone the success I’ve had and a better year to come!

Hi annette! On your recommendation I got “The Obesity Code” and I’ve been working my way through it.

I know everyone speaks very highly of him but I find Fung kind of discouraging. He keeps saying that no matter how you reduce your calorie intake your metabolism will slow down to maintain stasis and that exercise has little effect on weight loss. I don’t like reading it very much but those photos above will show just how hard the body works to hold onto the belly fat.

I know I said I had periods of serious backsliding but that’s 5 bloody years of trying to work the stuff off! And, much as a good portion of it is gone, a very stubborn part of it remains just as Fung predicts and it’s painfully easy to put it back on (tho I, mercifully, did not show those pix).

I’ll keep reading to see what he may eventually recommend to optimize the fat burning. And I’ll keep on intermittent fasting. The improvements in my life from it are incontrovertible.

I even noticed while walking through the grocery store yesterday that all the specially indulgent Christmas treats that were left over were on sale and the idea that they wouldn’t be available for another year didn’t even tempt me to buy them for the family. My compulsions simply aren’t what they were!

Anyway, GREAT to see you and I’m glad for the recommendation even if it’s not as encouraging — YET — as I’d hoped.

Jason Fung from The Obesity Code the 5 steps to weight loss are to reduce added sugar consumption, reduce refined carbs, moderate protein, increase natural fat consumption and increase the consumption of fibre and vinegar. By eating real foods there wont be such high levels of insulin but it wont lower them and if all foods cause an increase in insulin then the only way to reduce it is to fast.

I have been stuck for so very long now despite all of the positive changes to my diet but Fung has inspired me to fast for longer and regularly so that I hope to reduce the insulin levels and improve the sensitivity, so that I can reduce my body set weight and lose some more weight.

The suggestion that obesity should combine a number of measures seems very sensible to me to counteract the hormonal imbalance of increased insulin, that reducing refined carbs and sugar, reducing stress and ensuring plenty of sleep, changing meal timing and increasing fibre may all be more important. But that each one of these elements may be more important to each person than another. I now understand how important it is not to eat between meals, that I shouldn’t have breakfast if I am not hungry or eat if I am not hungry…and how important intermittent fasting is if I want to reduce my body set point.

I have been noting down what I have eaten each day and whether I have fasted and for how long and weighed, simply to see if I can see any difference. At the back of my mind is 1 friend who has lost over 4.5 stone in a year simply by avoiding rice/pasta/potatoes and bread..and my other friend who is diabetic and has lost somewhere around 3 stone with slimming world and who seems ‘stuck’ loses a bit and then gains. I want to help her and have suggested that she reduces the refined carbs but she is reluctant as i gather ‘carbs are free’.

My plans for January are to keep going with the 5 recommendations of Fung and make sure that I so regular fasting each week. I am curious to see if I can reduce my weight further.

Look out for the hidden sugar, if it comes in a box then it probably has some-Fung.

Eat whole foods, avoid processed anything or diet/low fat anything as it is usually stuffed full of sugar. Regular fasts sounds good and do not eat between the meals that you choose to have. Look forward to hearing how it goes for you.

LAchubster, you’re going to need to change your name! Well done!

Curiouser, The recipes in the books,,Michael Mosley’s and Mimi’s, are the basis of our meals now. And weighing ingredients is paramount.,

We’ve been away for two days. It was so cold yesterday that I had a pudding for warmth – then indigestion! No longer used to it. I’m 5lbs under target, so would be OK with a little gain. OH looked very good in a suit yesterday. He’s gained so much confidence from the weight loss. We just wish we hadn’t simply accepted ‘middle aged spread”.

Happy New Year, Penblwydd Newydd Dda,

Pol 💁🏼

Curiouser, you are well ahead of the game if you are preparing your own food from fresh ingredients! I credit any success I’ve had to that and avoiding commercially prepared foods as often as possible. I have always cooked 80% of my food but giving up the part that was fast food and sodas — including the artificially sweetened ones — had me well on my way before I even discovered intermittent fasting.

As for the brown rice, it may be that you eventually decide to cut it out but that doesn’t mean you can’t experiment with how it works for you before you decide. Rice is a grass rather than a grain so you may find that your body can tolerate it.

In any case, you will probably be making adjustments and refining your program as you live it.

Rice is processed whether it is brown or white. I always remember Robert Lustig suggesting that the packaging contains more nutrients than the ‘food’ within.

Fung isn’t anti cake etc at celebrations but says that if we feast then we should fast.

The really exciting news is that I haven’t put on any weight at all over the festive season despite the cake, pudding, ice cream, mince pies, wine etc. The secret has been 2 24 hour fasts in the week before and the week after.

My goal for 2017 is to reduce my body weight set point. So less refined carbs less often, more and longer fasts, avoid hidden and visible sugar, eat more fibre. I think that I get enough sleep and don’t feel stressed.

Thank You! I never expected to be able to stay the same, I really thought that it was going to be impossible. I am in the UK too.

Have a look at Robert Lustig-Fat chance the hidden truth about sugar, obesity and disease. As a result I switched to wholemeal everything, reduced hidden sugar and gave up sugar in my tea.

I have made loads of positive improvements in my diet since starting the 5:2 almost 4 years ago but have struggled with 8 lb that has gone back on and refuses to budge. So, if Lustig has 10 lb that he can’t shift with all that he knows and I am struggling too, then is there another reason?

Fung believes that obesity is the hormonal imbalance caused by an increase of Insulin. Homeostatic mechanisms are in place to protect our body from losing weight and gaining it. The body set weight(what you weigh) in obese people is set too high. He suggests that when we consume less calories the body reacts by reducing energy expenditure to conserve energy and at the same time increase hunger to maintain the status quo.He argues that we overeat not because we choose to but because we are compelled to by the brain and hormones.Hunger is a normal response to weight loss.

It isn’t about nutrition, it is about Insulin. If all food causes an increase in Insulin but processed foods and refined carbs(rice/pasta/bread/potatoes) cause those levels to soar…and then we eat between meals as well, often sugary snacks or drinks, then the levels of Insulin are unable to fall throughout the day as well as the night assuming we are not eating then too.So, Insulin resistance may occur as a result of how long we have been overweight and independent of what we eat and drink.The longer that we have been overweight, the harder it is to lose weight. Insulin resistance needs high hormonal levels and constant stimulus.

Fung argues that IF reduces both the Insulin levels and isulin resistance, as well as suggesting that 24-36 hour fasts are completely safe(providing that you are not diabetic) as well as shorter fasts more frequently.

So buy eating real food and reducing refined carbs/sugar in theory the insulin levels and sensitivity should also reduce allowing the body a lower set weight point. My goal is not a number on the scales but a waist measurement(usually around the belly button). A healthy waist measurement is 34″ for a women and 37″ for a man, simply as this indicates the amount of visceral fat. Mine is 36″.

Did you know that dietary fat was blamed for heart disease not as a result of research but by a politician in the US on the basis that fat is calorie dense? Prior to this it had been widely regarded that carbs will make you fat, but now the blame was put on the calorie,because carbs couldn’t be both good-low fat and bad-fattening?
There is no evidence that dietary fat makes us fat or causes heart disease, but in the last 30 years since the low fat/high carb diet that we have been encouraged to eat, rates of obesity have soared.

The food industry are not going to be happy if we stop snacking, consuming sugary cereals, reduce refined carbs and cook from scratch. I don’t suppose the pharmaceutical industry will be thrilled either.

I just want to be healthy, nourish my body and lose a couple of inches around my tummy. Not much to ask is it?

@curiouser. I used to do 60 hour fasts (2 consecutive days) and now do 36 hour fasts once per week since reaching maintenance. It took me 6 months before the fasts became noticeably easy. I put this down to the fact that it took my liver this long before it became “fit” enough to access stored fats at a fast enough rate. I measure my ketone levels with a meter. It takes 24 hours for me to enter ketosis ( >0.5 mmol/L ketones = fat burning mode).

There is no long term detrimental effects that I have noticed. I get my bloods taken every six months. All markers have gone in the right direction and continue to stay healthy. If water only fasting make sure to drink lots. Take a good vitamin B as it will help liver function.

@annette52. Glad to know you don’t think Im mad 🙂

Curiouser, it’s simply called ‘the Fast Diet recipe book’. Mimi Spencer was Michael Mosley’s partner in the original research and programme. Do you have the original book? Good recipes in that, too.

There are other 5:2 recipe books. We have one by kate someone. She tends to give plans for three meals a day, but we find that,two a day works for us. I’m maintaining easily now. Reached target in September, but lost 5lbs more. I’m aiming to stay around 9st 5lb., with my target of 9.7 as upper limit.

Very very rarely have refined carbs, now. And don’t miss them.

Pol.