Food and Drink #17

[Dustye]

Spoiler: IF

There's some research that longer fasts speed up weight loss, but TBH if they make you irritable so you don't stick to them then it defeats the purpose! A friend of mine does a 36-hr fast once a week. I tried it once and finished it, but I didn't enjoy it, and found it was a lot more distracting than my normal fasts. For me, one thing I like about IF is that I don't think about it much during the day, so I won't be repeating such a long fast again.

Ultimately, weight loss still depends on calories. A lot of people eat food that's healthy (ie nutritionally balanced), but the portions are ultimately a bit too big. Could this be your case? It's often especially true in winter, when we go for more comfort food!

If you find that you get hungry easily (& I mean hungry to the point of irritation, not just peckish) then you might want to rebalance your meals so you have more protein/fat and fewer carbs. I'm not a fan of keto-style carb restriction at all, but it is true that protein & fat will help you feel satiated for longer.

I switch up my fasting window quite often, depending on what I'm doing on any given day/week. I put on a bit of weight when I was working full-time out of the house for a couple of months, and that stuck during the winter. I think I tend to gravitate toward more calorific food when it's cold, and I'm not as active. Now the weight is dropping off again - quite slowly, but that's fine, especially as I don't have a huge amount to lose.

Thanks @colouredlines and @Nottonightbabe I think you're right, portion size might be the issue - I eat very little processed food, mostly veg, pulses and a small amount of rice/pasta etc, but I've got in the habit of having big bowls of everything so that could be the solution! Thanks

 

[Jay-cloth Cow]

Spoiler: IF

I do 16:8. I'm trying to lose weight at the moment and find it really helps, as I am also calorie counting based on TDEE. I eat 2 meals a day, lunch and dinner - I've never been one to eat first thing anyway and by having 2 substantial meals at 12 and 7, I don't get the hunger pangs I did when I ate the same amount of calories across 3 meals. I'm down almost 1.5 stone since starting in Jan (though I think giving up booze has also helped) and find I have much more energy eating like this than I did eating the same amount over a longer period of time.

 

[girolle]

@girolle and @colouredlines I have some IF questions if that's okay!

Spoiler: IF

I've been practising IF off and on for the past six months now (mostly on in some variation since Christmas). Like many people I've put on weight over lockdown - not huge amounts and I'm still in the healthy BMI range but I was proud of myself for losing weight after having a baby and going vegan, that I felt I'd underdone a lot of that hard work.

I've tried long fasts (18 - 20 hours) but don't seem to get on with them - I get hangry and miserable! At the moment I'm doing 16:8 on weekdays but am sticking to closer to 12-14 hours at weekends. I don't feel I'm losing much weight, even though I'm eating healthily (though maybe too much dark chocolate) and am v active. In your experience do you feel that longer fasts are needed for the weight loss effect, or does it need to be a 24/7 thing rather than reducing fasting windows at weekends?

Spoiler: More IF chit chat

I tend to use IF as a means to make me feel less peckish between meals and focus on maintaining a calorie deficit when I want to shed the lbs. I know that if I eat breakfast as soon as I wake up, I would be ravenous in the middle of the day! So I forego eating very early in the morning when I don't really feel hungry at all and use IF as a means to 'compress' the period when I eat (i.e. there's never a gap of more than 3-4 hours between meals but if I ate at 7 am and then at 1 pm I would be very hungry and more likely to exceed my target intake for the day). I would definitely recommend My Fitness Pal to keep track of what you usually eat as it's easier to see what might be preventing you from losing weight. I would say definitely don't push the fasts too far if you find it's making you too hungry, as when I've done this I've found it difficult to stick to my plan.

 

[Dustye]

Spoiler: More IF chit chat

I tend to use IF as a means to make me feel less peckish between meals and focus on maintaining a calorie deficit when I want to shed the lbs. I know that if I eat breakfast as soon as I wake up, I would be ravenous in the middle of the day! So I forego eating very early in the morning when I don't really feel hungry at all and use IF as a means to 'compress' the period when I eat (i.e. there's never a gap of more than 3-4 hours between meals but if I ate at 7 am and then at 1 pm I would be very hungry and more likely to exceed my target intake for the day). I would definitely recommend My Fitness Pal to keep track of what you usually eat as it's easier to see what might be preventing you from losing weight. I would say definitely don't push the fasts too far if you find it's making you too hungry, as when I've done this I've found it difficult to stick to my plan.

Spoiler: IF natter

Thanks, I'm going to try My Fitness Pal - used it for a while years ago but I think it would help me keep portion sizes etc to a sensible level. It's the peanut butter man, I can't resist it. I keep telling myself it's a good protein source as a vegan but honestly I can't get enough of the stuff and find myself adding spoonfuls of it to everything!

Has anyone read any interesting books on food culture and eating habits? I recently read Bee Wilson's one and Spoon Fed, found the comparison of different ways of eating around the world fascinating and the stuff in Spoon Fed about gut microbiomes was interesting and has encouraged me to add more fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut to my diet.

 

[girolle]

Spoiler: IF natter

Thanks, I'm going to try My Fitness Pal - used it for a while years ago but I think it would help me keep portion sizes etc to a sensible level. It's the peanut butter man, I can't resist it. I keep telling myself it's a good protein source as a vegan but honestly I can't get enough of the stuff and find myself adding spoonfuls of it to everything!

Has anyone read any interesting books on food culture and eating habits? I recently read Bee Wilson's one and Spoon Fed, found the comparison of different ways of eating around the world fascinating and the stuff in Spoon Fed about gut microbiomes was interesting and has encouraged me to add more fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut to my diet.

Spoiler: IF stuff

MFP really helped me to understand how to balance my plate/nutrients, which has been especially useful as a veggie! OMG I'm completely the same with you regarding peanut butter and other nut butters. I always have a few in the house and they're just SO good aren't they. My favourite thing to eat is a crisp apple, dressed in a bit of lemon juice, with some peanut butter (has to be crunchy!)

 

[Cgenda]

In your [Shipping Settings|https://sellercentral.amazon.com/sbr#shipping_templates] you can see what options you have with disabling certain International regions. You will find China under 'East Asia'. You will have to disable the entire country of China

Is anybody an Amazon guru? Is there anyway of searching which excludes goods from China? I am fed up of waiting 6,8,10 weeks for stuff not to arrive

 

[colouredlines]

Spoiler: IF natter

Thanks, I'm going to try My Fitness Pal - used it for a while years ago but I think it would help me keep portion sizes etc to a sensible level. It's the peanut butter man, I can't resist it. I keep telling myself it's a good protein source as a vegan but honestly I can't get enough of the stuff and find myself adding spoonfuls of it to everything!

Has anyone read any interesting books on food culture and eating habits? I recently read Bee Wilson's one and Spoon Fed, found the comparison of different ways of eating around the world fascinating and the stuff in Spoon Fed about gut microbiomes was interesting and has encouraged me to add more fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut to my diet.

Not quite the same thing, but there is a fabulous book by Jeffrey Steingarten called The Man Who Ate Everything. It's a collection of his best essays as a food critic, and in each essay he explores a different culture/cuisine/food myth etc. He covers myths about MSG, looks at that famous study about the French paradox, and a lot more. I read it maaaany years ago but I still remember it well! It was written in the 90s so it may be dated in some regards, but I am quite tempted to download it and have a reread.

With regards to fermented foods, I think the problem is that you have to get hold of good quality stuff to get the benefits. Like people were saying on the Jack thread the other day, a jar of kimchi is useless, you need the chiller cabinet stuff.

I read about the benefits of fermented food a couple of years ago and I started having kefir in the mornings. Then I discovered that the supermarket kefir I was valiantly chugging wasn't actually doing anything worthwhile, so I gave it up...a bit of a relief TBH as kefir is an acquired taste, and I for one did not manage to acquire it!

 

[Captainmouse]

In your [Shipping Settings|https://sellercentral.amazon.com/sbr#shipping_templates] you can see what options you have with disabling certain International regions. You will find China under 'East Asia'. You will have to disable the entire country of China

Thank(space)you

 

[traumatised sideboard]

I've always got multiple nut butters on the go, I treated myself to a fancy date and walnut butter recently that was very nice. When I make protein shakes I mix them up really thick so they're more like a custard that I can eat with a spoon (yes, I know, it sounds disgusting but I find it more satisfying) and I like to put a spoonful of nut butter in there. You can get peanut butter powder as well which is more macro-friendly. It has a similar amount of protein and 90% less fat so it obviously doesn't taste anywhere near as nice. Not to demonise fat at all, there's nothing wrong with consuming fats. If you use My Fitness Pal you'll be able to see a breakdown of your macros which is helpful to balance your meals properly.

 

[Misbehaving]

@Universal I'm sorry to hear you're having a tough time. I've mainly been lurking on this thread this last few months but have loved your bloke updates. I hope you're okay. Re. podcasts - I like The History of England, it's v low-fi (literally a bloke in his shed, going chronologically through English history). He's up to Elizabeth I at the moment, but he has such a lovely, jolly voice that I find every episode so calming.

I also like Lore, which as the name suggests is about folklore and quirky/unexplained moments in history. Unexplained is similar, although recently the presenter seems to have strayed into mystery murders territory which is less my style.

@Flumps have also been thinking of you and your family recently. Sending all my thoughts and hope you're getting through each day as well as you can.

Spoiler: Weird sexual health stuff

I hope this is okay to put here (and mods please tell me to delete if not). My husband has been going through a tough time and I've got no-one I can speak to about it, so I hope you cabal of faceless ninnies don't mind me putting this here. Not really relevant but I mentioned before that they identify as gender fluid but he predominantly uses male pronouns and is biologically male (just to avoid any confusion around what I'm about to explain).

Like a lot of couples, since lockdown libido has been non-existent. I had an episiotomy that had only just healed about a year ago, then bam - suddenly cooped up together 24/7, pandemic stress, both juggling busy and high-pressure jobs while looking after our little one, and it's no surprise any sexual frisson has gone. A couple of months ago, we decided to give things a go again, and there was blood in his semen. Obviously he was really upset and concerned, eventually I persuaded him to call the GP (he has a terrible phobia of anything medical) who was useless and told him 'its just one of those things' (???). I've encouraged him to, ahem, see to his needs alone, and he says it's happened at least 5/6 times since. As you can imagine, it's totally killed any rekindling of the romance, and there doesn't seem to be anything we can do. I'm trying to get him to be firmer with the GP and demand investigations but he's so depressed and anxious about the whole thing. Has anyone come across anything like this before with the fellas in their lives? Urgh I'm so sorry for the essay, this lockdown has been so much harder than the previous ones and I'm just feeling a bit crap about everything, even with things starting to relax.

Sorry if other people have responded to this already but I just want to say please make sure this is followed up by the gp it's important.
It could be nothing but you just never know I understand men are embarrassed about having any kind of problem associated with their private parts but it does warrant a further investigation.
If it helps tell him that other men have had similar problems and that doctor's have seen it all and that a man's health is important.
Years ago for example my husband a self confessed macho Albanian man found a lump near his genitals being of the school of thought that if it does not hurt forget about it he was determined to leave it (to chance?).
It worried me thought and I gave up a doctor's appointment (booked for myself) and basically forced him to go to a gp.
He then underwent a biopsy which revealed that he had cancer (non Hodgkin's lymphoma) and he had to have the lump removed and undergo chemo.
Thankfully he made a full recovery and is (touch wood) now fighting fit but my point is embarrassment is a small price to pay when it comes to health matters.
He had to have a few doctor's examine his privates and yes he felt awkward and it's not nice but if he had not gone through that discomfort they might never have caught his cancer in time.
Health is so precious (when it's threatened you understand that) and maybe your poor husband is depressed (me too also non existent libido!) but don't be fobbed off if it worried you it should be looked into?
The doctor you spoke to does not sound very sympathetic so please get it checked out by someone else.
Health is important and his concerns are not trivial it could turn out to be a minor problem (or not?) but you will never know unless you get it checked out.
Sorry to hear about everything you are going through lockdown has put a strain on nearly everyone I know (I know a few near divorces myself included) and I have also felt the strain of cabin fever (and getting tired looking after kids house work etc etc)
I also used to have a pretty fiery libido which since stress and anxiety have eaten away at it (plus weight gain yay!) and I feel really like a shadow of my former self (even though I'm bigger ha!)
Ditto my husband who was always pretty passionate so I send you my sympathy you are not alone neither is your husband.
It's ok its normal (but living under lookdown isn't it's a huge shock for the system and its a strain (,to say the least) so sorry for oversharing but please make him see a gp again.
At least for the reassurance (hopefully it's nothing serious) and I send you my best wishes and hopes for the best.
Sorry guys I tried to put this under a spoiler but it does not seem to have worked?
So sorry if it's too much information?

On a lighter note I hope everyone is doing ok (I'm just basically lurking now (I have so much stuff that I need to deal with (god I just love filling out forms etc etc pip and all the rest (,it's all come at once great)!.
Love to you all I miss this forum but will pop in again in the future (I hope feeling prawny is ok has anyone heard anything?)
Love and all the best take care.

Sorry if other people have responded to this already but I just want to say please make sure this is followed up by the gp it's important.
It could be nothing but you just never know I understand men are embarrassed about having any kind of problem associated with their private parts but it does warrant a further investigation.
If it helps tell him that other men have had similar problems and that doctor's have seen it all and that a man's health is important.
Years ago for example my husband a self confessed macho Albanian man found a lump near his genitals being of the school of thought that if it does not hurt forget about it he was determined to leave it (to chance?).
It worried me thought and I gave up a doctor's appointment (booked for myself) and basically forced him to go to a gp.
He then underwent a biopsy which revealed that he had cancer (non Hodgkin's lymphoma) and he had to have the lump removed and undergo chemo.
Thankfully he made a full recovery and is (touch wood) now fighting fit but my point is embarrassment is a small price to pay when it comes to health matters.
He had to have a few doctor's examine his privates and yes he felt awkward and it's not nice but if he had not gone through that discomfort they might never have caught his cancer in time.
Health is so precious (when it's threatened you understand that) and maybe your poor husband is depressed (me too also non existent libido!) but don't be fobbed off if it worried you it should be looked into?
The doctor you spoke to does not sound very sympathetic so please get it checked out by someone else.
Health is important and his concerns are not trivial it could turn out to be a minor problem (or not?) but you will never know unless you get it checked out.
Sorry to hear about everything you are going through lockdown has put a strain on nearly everyone I know (I know a few near divorces myself included) and I have also felt the strain of cabin fever (and getting tired looking after kids house work etc etc)
I also used to have a pretty fiery libido which since stress and anxiety have eaten away at it (plus weight gain yay!) and I feel really like a shadow of my former self (even though I'm bigger ha!)
Ditto my husband who was always pretty passionate so I send you my sympathy you are not alone neither is your husband.
It's ok its normal (but living under lookdown isn't it's a huge shock for the system and its a strain (,to say the least) so sorry for oversharing but please make him see a gp again.
At least for the reassurance (hopefully it's nothing serious) and I send you my best wishes and hopes for the best.
Sorry guys I tried to put this under a spoiler but it does not seem to have worked?
So sorry if it's too much information?

On a lighter note I hope everyone is doing ok (I'm just basically lurking now (I have so much stuff that I need to deal with (god I just love filling out forms etc etc pip and all the rest (,it's all come at once great)!.
Love to you all I miss this forum but will pop in again in the future (I hope feeling prawny is ok has anyone heard anything?)
Love and all the best take care.

Sorry quick edit (but my time has expired eek!
Thats Lockdown (not lookdown!).
So now I feel like a right idiot.... (spelling is not my forte) neither is punctuation....anyhow...

 

[Sideboard Bob]

On a lighter note I hope everyone is doing ok (I'm just basically lurking now (I have so much stuff that I need to deal with (god I just love filling out forms etc etc pip and all the rest (,it's all come at once great)!.
Love to you all I miss this forum but will pop in again in the future (I hope feeling prawny is ok has anyone heard anything?)
Love and all the best take care

I was wondering how you’re doing @Misbehaving , it’s lovely to hear from you. Good luck with all the forms, and the pip, I feel for you, it’s a lot, but it will be worth it x

 

[Mustard]

@Universal I'm sorry to hear you're having a tough time. I've mainly been lurking on this thread this last few months but have loved your bloke updates. I hope you're okay. Re. podcasts - I like The History of England, it's v low-fi (literally a bloke in his shed, going chronologically through English history). He's up to Elizabeth I at the moment, but he has such a lovely, jolly voice that I find every episode so calming.

I also like Lore, which as the name suggests is about folklore and quirky/unexplained moments in history. Unexplained is similar, although recently the presenter seems to have strayed into mystery murders territory which is less my style.

@Flumps have also been thinking of you and your family recently. Sending all my thoughts and hope you're getting through each day as well as you can.

Spoiler: Weird sexual health stuff

I hope this is okay to put here (and mods please tell me to delete if not). My husband has been going through a tough time and I've got no-one I can speak to about it, so I hope you cabal of faceless ninnies don't mind me putting this here. Not really relevant but I mentioned before that they identify as gender fluid but he predominantly uses male pronouns and is biologically male (just to avoid any confusion around what I'm about to explain).

Like a lot of couples, since lockdown libido has been non-existent. I had an episiotomy that had only just healed about a year ago, then bam - suddenly cooped up together 24/7, pandemic stress, both juggling busy and high-pressure jobs while looking after our little one, and it's no surprise any sexual frisson has gone. A couple of months ago, we decided to give things a go again, and there was blood in his semen. Obviously he was really upset and concerned, eventually I persuaded him to call the GP (he has a terrible phobia of anything medical) who was useless and told him 'its just one of those things' (???). I've encouraged him to, ahem, see to his needs alone, and he says it's happened at least 5/6 times since. As you can imagine, it's totally killed any rekindling of the romance, and there doesn't seem to be anything we can do. I'm trying to get him to be firmer with the GP and demand investigations but he's so depressed and anxious about the whole thing. Has anyone come across anything like this before with the fellas in their lives? Urgh I'm so sorry for the essay, this lockdown has been so much harder than the previous ones and I'm just feeling a bit crap about everything, even with things starting to relax.

Could you get him to go the local genitourinary medicine clinic? There are quite a few in London but I don’t know what the provision is like outside. You can self refer. Good luck.

 

[Dustye]

I've always got multiple nut butters on the go, I treated myself to a fancy date and walnut butter recently that was very nice. When I make protein shakes I mix them up really thick so they're more like a custard that I can eat with a spoon (yes, I know, it sounds disgusting but I find it more satisfying) and I like to put a spoonful of nut butter in there. You can get peanut butter powder as well which is more macro-friendly. It has a similar amount of protein and 90% less fat so it obviously doesn't taste anywhere near as nice. Not to demonise fat at all, there's nothing wrong with consuming fats. If you use My Fitness Pal you'll be able to see a breakdown of your macros which is helpful to balance your meals properly.

Oooh this sounds delicious. I'm a big fan of Form protein powder, it's the only one I've really liked. Been doing fasted cardio in the morning and then breaking my fast with a shake mixed with oats, berries and frozen spinach - so nice!

Spoiler: IF

My routine at the moment is fasting 5.30pm - 9.30am. I'm much more of a morning person and if I could you have my eating window much earlier in the day, but I like having dinner as a family so an early tea seems to work for us. I find the IF Facebook groups so intimidating though, I'm in a vegan one and it's very hardcore, they seem to see anything less than a 20 hour fast as useless! The members are mostly in the US and it seems a much bigger thing over there.

Could you get him to go the local genitourinary medicine clinic? There are quite a few in London but I don’t know what the provision is like outside. You can self refer. Good luck.

Thanks @Misbehaving and @Mustard he called the GP again and has a referral to a urologist, though it could take months to be seen. His dad is unwell at the moment so unsurprisingly sex is the last thing on our minds right now and the whole thing seems to be bottom of the list for him, poor thing. I'm terrible with this sort of thing because my response is always to fix things, keep pestering the people in charge etc, whereas I need to give him the space to sort it in his own way.

 

[Mustard]

Oooh this sounds delicious. I'm a big fan of Form protein powder, it's the only one I've really liked. Been doing fasted cardio in the morning and then breaking my fast with a shake mixed with oats, berries and frozen spinach - so nice!

Spoiler: IF

My routine at the moment is fasting 5.30pm - 9.30am. I'm much more of a morning person and if I could you have my eating window much earlier in the day, but I like having dinner as a family so an early tea seems to work for us. I find the IF Facebook groups so intimidating though, I'm in a vegan one and it's very hardcore, they seem to see anything less than a 20 hour fast as useless! The members are mostly in the US and it seems a much bigger thing over there.

Thanks @Misbehaving and @Mustard he called the GP again and has a referral to a urologist, though it could take months to be seen. His dad is unwell at the moment so unsurprisingly sex is the last thing on our minds right now and the whole thing seems to be bottom of the list for him, poor thing. I'm terrible with this sort of thing because my response is always to fix things, keep pestering the people in charge etc, whereas I need to give him the space to sort it in his own way.

Maybe you could offer to accompany him to an appointment?

 

[Dustye]

Maybe you could offer to accompany him to an appointment?

When we get the urologist appointment through I will definitely offer, although he's v v anxious about anything medical so might not want the fuss!

 

[traumatised sideboard]

Does anyone else get their pets birthday presents? It's my cat's sixth birthday today (they grow up so fast ) so I got her some sushi toys from Etsy and she flippin loves them, especially the shrimp. Here she is in the middle of her massive bender, the face of a cat who's had too much catnip.

 

[emm]

Does anyone else get their pets birthday presents? It's my cat's sixth birthday today (they grow up so fast ) so I got her some sushi toys from Etsy and she flippin loves them, especially the shrimp. Here she is in the middle of her massive bender, the face of a cat who's had too much catnip.

View attachment 533831 View attachment 533844

happy birthday! I usually just get mine a nice meal like tinned tuna or something, anything I buy for her otherwise just ends up wasted and unused

 

[veryfondoftea]

Does anyone else get their pets birthday presents? It's my cat's sixth birthday today (they grow up so fast ) so I got her some sushi toys from Etsy and she flippin loves them, especially the shrimp. Here she is in the middle of her massive bender, the face of a cat who's had too much catnip.

View attachment 533831 View attachment 533844

Happy birthday TS cat! Yes our cats get presents and a birthday cake made from layers of tuna and cat biscuits that they eat at the table with us lol

 

[MaineCoonMama]

I have three and they usually all get a special dinner on the day. Their favourite things to play with are straws and hair ties

I used to have a grumpy old man-cat years ago, one Christmas he got more cards and presents than I did.

PS your cat is absolutely stunning x

 

[NP]

Happy birthday to your kitty @traumatised sideboard. My cat has no interest in cat toys. Give her a scrunched up bit of paper or foil though and she goes nuts.