The Scientific Stuff.......by Heather

Katy and I have when faced with an obstacle will both look at said obstacle and see it in the same way, we will chat, muse and concur - but then she will meander to the left and I to the right. We can see each other, and we can compare our journeys, but they are different journeys. And that is the beauty and value of real friends.

Here on our blog we wanted to share our journey through the pitted pathway that is the menopause and our personal battle with the bulge; but as with all things we differ in approach. Katy, the 'yank' half of the partnership is concerned with making healthy choices, nutritionally and psychologically - she has a holistic approach to most issues.

I do too - but the 'lobster back' half here has a distinct inclination toward critical examination, and the scientific method! I like facts and figures - its the accountant in me! And there is a lot of science to be had on the subject of food and weight.

So whilst I leave Katy to peruse the farmers markets for fresh produce - I have been looking at some of the science behind what I am trying to achieve.

Ok, I've lost a bit of weight, not a vast amount -and not - after over a month of keeping tabs on my eating, enough to be exactly proud of.

I do, feel better, less tired, less bloated, less desperate for sugar - and slightly lighter around the middle. Which is all positive.

What bothers me is that in a)cutting out sugar (thereby cutting out the obvious culprits of sweets, cakes, biscuits) and reducing my simple carb consumption - I am not seeing the weight loss I would normally, and when I say normally, I'm talking from past experience , expect of making these changes.

As I have gone along these past weeks - I am seeing myself cut out almost all added sugar (to begin with I allowed myself some dark chocolate or a teaspoon of maple syrup with my natural yogurt) - that has steadily declined.

However, my simple reduction of carbs has been a bit more 'woolly'. I've given up bread. I have cut out carbs in my lunch, and  I have moved to wholegrain alternatives for all other complex carb options such as rice.

Evenso currently, despite all of this  I'm classified as overweight - and I do not seem to be losing weight  - a bit yes, but not enough I would venture.

I understand the science - carbs convert to sugar and sugar unless used as energy will be stored as fat.

Clearly, I don't move about a whole lot - not in a strenuous carb busting way - and so even small amounts of carbs are causing an excess. And if there isn't a natural deficit then i ain't going to burn the fat off.

Right now, I doubt my ability to reduce (happily and comfortably) my carbs down further - yesterday I reckoned that I had had somewhere in the region of 130g of carbs - none of them through excess sugar or simple carbs.

I also want to maintain my fibre intake to avoid problems with constipation.

I know from previous attempts at weight loss that I have to stick to no more than 1300 calories per day to lose weight and even then its hard going - certainly I find it easier to stick to the 1300 band when carbs are reduced - but it is a terribly boring existance.

My target is to live a healthier existence - but before I settle for that - I have to move some excess weight and reduce my hip/waist ratio - which presently is too high.

What I don't know right now is just how resistant my menopausal/thyrotoxic body is going to be to attempts to make it lose weight - and all I can do until I come across some article somewhere that deals with this issue - is stick to it.

Breakfast Alternatives.......by Heather

I really feel that I and the rest of my family have come an awful long way in a short time. Today, included in my online shopping order, was a box of Thornton's chocolates, because there had been a mistake with my last order  it was sent as a 'sorry' gesture. A nice one - but as I laid the lovely box on the dining table, we all looked at it warily, all except the 9 year old that is; who promptly ripped the box to get in. But the rest of us knew it was a box of trouble - because despite making all the right changes - here unplanned was something that embodied everything that is wrong with our old diet - and we all knew how much we liked it - chocolate, sugar, hydrogenated this and that, trans fats, E numbers and preservatives - a veritable smorgasbord of bad - gloriously yummy bad!

We have all had a couple of said choccies (actually the 9 year old has had more than a couple!) But in seeing it, and seeing our collective responses to it; I feel pleased with us. And I wanted to share how some reasonable and easy manipulations have made a huge difference to our diet overall.

Breakfast:  (Me)

I am a creature of terrible habit, and breakfast for me has always meant cereal. I'd actually happily eat cereal for dinner. Some time ago, when I was first diagnosed Coeliac, I had to undergo something of a mourning process for my best loved meal of the day. Most cereals are a Coeliac nightmare - but more recently, having checked out box label after box label I realised  it wasn't just the gluten that was cause for concern - but the sugar content of these things is mind blowing.

There is some options though, even for us silly-yaks!

I realise that this is carbohydrate, but it is natural, albeit glutenless, and is a good source of fibre and so isn't on my carb hit list - in winter I make hot porridge (I add a teaspoon of flax seeds post cooking); in summer I soak the oats in the milk overnight in the fridge and then zuzz it the following morning to make a cold oaty shake. I now nolonger add any sweetner - I used to add honey or maple syrup. But that has gone, and after some 5 weeks without, I can say I am happy with it now.

Breakfast: (rest of the family)

This was a biggy. My husband never used to eat breakfast, strong coffee and gone - but since his training for the marathon some 18months ago, and a massive overhaul of his diet generally, he continues to exercise well and breakfast is now muesli. I would like to introduce him to a homemade muesli - but at present, he eats  the recommended 40g of Alpen - and he likes it. Even the Alpen light has some added sugar - so to make our own muesli would be a better option, but for now I think that this is a reasonable mid way step.

The kids all like different things! The older two are somewhat easier - I buy them a box and tell them that's it. They both like Bran Flakes - again looking at the labels, its obviously not sugar free or as healthy as I'd like - but in fairness they now no longer add sugar/honey to it - so again that is a step forward.

The youngest was always going to be my biggest issue - and how!

Behold! His breakfast cereal of choice.

How do you move on from this?

Well first off, I wasn't alone in thinking that we had to tackle his diet, my husband agreed whole heartedly - and starting with this.

We decided that it would be a good idea to give him a choice, mix it up a bit - so he has a choice of 3 things for breakfast now - firstly, a slice of wholemeal toast with a little honey and a glass of milk. Secondly a bowl of low sugar cornflakes with no sugar/honey added, Thirdly, a bowl of greek natural yogurt with a little honey. (as a rule of thumb we used one teaspoon honey or maple syrup, he likes either, to one tablespoon yogurt).

This has worked. Surprisingly,the yogurt has been the preference, with the cornflakes being the least favourite. Having the choice helped make the transition.

For me, losing the sugar completely at breakfast and in seeing sugar consumption go down considerably with the rest of the family, has been a complete triumph. All teas and coffees are now sugar free for everyone and we have ditched all other drinks - that's fruit juices, isotonic sports drinks, squashes and cordials, malted and flavoured drinks etc. Acceptable drinks apart from tea and coffee include herbal and green teas, water or milk.

Sugar seemed for us to be an integral part of the breakfast experience; sugared breakfast cereal with sugar or honey added on top, sugar in drinks - or when time allowed, we would have toast (white of course), or muffins, or crumpets, or croissant ( christ almighty! all of em together) - all with jam, marmalade or wait for it....chocolate spread.

Last year I made 24 x 12oz jars of strawberry and raspberry jam - it was beautiful, and we loved every bit of it - but for every kilo of fruit was a kilo of sugar and it makes my eyes water to remember how quickly it was all demolished! I really enjoy jam making - but if I do it again this summer (and the jury is out on that) - this is going to have to be something that lasts us considerably longer - because it will be a rare treat indeed! Last year I don't think my produce lasted beyond 4 months!

Interestingly, I would consider myself a bad starter in the morning, dragging myself out of bed, to stand miserably in front of the kettle waiting for it to boil, I would often munch on curiously cinnamon squares, or biscuits, or chocolate if it was there - all before I had even taken my first swig of much needed caffeine - and all well before breakfast. However, of late, I have noticed I am not sluggish in the morning any more - I don't crave sugar as I wake up - I have a tea or herbal tea - and am much brigher and bushier tailed - I have it seems, escaped that cloying need for the morning sugar rush.

Result!

Heather's Plan. Part I......by Heather

So here is my plan, part 1.

Sugar obviously is my first point of call. But I am conscious that just like giving up the ciggies, I am going to have some serious issues just dropping all sugar - sugar consumption is also more complicated than just cutting out the white stuff in drinks.

Katy is particular irked with a whole list of 'no's'; but for me it  makes for an easy reference point - eat what I will except...... All products that contain added sugar - either home made or shop bought where sugars/any product ending in 'ose', corn syrup, syrup, treacle, mollasses, appear in the ingredients list - 3rd place and higher.

The kinds of products that are easy to spot are: sweets and chocolate, sweet pastries, cakes, puddings and biscuits - but other culprits would be ketchups, pickles and chutneys,  pasta sauces, yogurts, rice puddings and custards, curry sauces and pastes, tinned tomatoes, baked beans, tinned pasta types, ready meals, squirty cream, hot chocolates and malty drinks, almost all breakfast cereals, juices and other soft drinks and some breads

Not an exhaustive list but you can't fail to get the message - and this is why this is part 1 because this is a big ask. I am effectively boxed in with not much in the way of escape or diversionary tactics available to help me out when I get the call. At least smokers can call on nicorettes!

And I don't doubt that I am going to find this hard, I've tinkered around the edges of this before, and it doesn't take long before I am thinking of nothing else. Going in to a shop is like bringing a vampire into the blood bank - and it affects my mood. Without a sugar fix I get really ratty, depressed and lose concentration. Actually having Googled this phenomenon, I really don't know whether this is a real physiological response to sugar withdrawal or all in my mind. But the outcome is not - grouchville here we come.

What I can't quite believe, is that by encouraging my other half to watch the Lustig lecture the other day, he is pretty much with me on this and wants to start looking seriously at incorporating a sugar reduced menu family wide. (My daughter is gutted) but we are hoping that our youngest son will benefit from this approach because of the 3 kids, he is more prone to weight gain and has the crappiest diet. It's not just this though - we are on board with the health benefits and we as a family are pretty 'up' for cooking from scratch, my husband enjoys cooking - and despite what looks like a depressingly comprehensive list of goods on the NO listing - we are committed to filling our lives with quality, fresh food.

I'm not big on new year resolutions - but if I had one this year, it was to work hard at including more veg to our meals generally, having more than one serving per meal and if necessary turning sergeant major on our youngest and force him in to a more healthier approach.

Last nights meal had a bottle of tomato ketchup accompanying it, sat in the middle of the table - and both my youngest son and daughter looked at it forlornly, like an old friend was about to die; because I had said there wouldn't be anymore replacements once it had gone.

I haven't gone mad. The whole family will not be catapulted into sugar oblivion, as I. Not yet anyway.

Sugar, the Bitter Truth. Robert Lustig M.D. -by Heather

The YouTube clip above is a lecture, its a long one (hour and a half), so this isn't something you can dip in and out of - however, it is excellent, and if you need the science without the sugar coating, this is the guy to debunk the myth for you. I asked my husband if he would watch this - and he did, the fact is he stayed the course and listened to the whole lecture, which for me is testimony to the quality of the whole thing.

We actually had a long conversation afterward, about food; what we eat, but more worryingly for us, what we had allowed our kids to get away with eating. Of late I have found myself cooking two meals side by side - and for parents who love their kids to bits - we have been serving them up a pile of crap.

I am going to talk about menus - and the problems I face (which I don't believe is very different from other parents out there) getting my kids to eat well.

For now this is the homework - listen to Dr Lustig.

He has books you may be interested in here: Fat Chance - the bitter truth about sugar and here:Pure White and Deadly (which was written by John Yudkin, who is dead now sadly, but Robert Lustig mentions this book in the lecture above and has written the intro to the newly released original which was written a long while back)

Sugar......by Heather

Thought I should raise this subject sooner rather than later.

Because I'm giving it up.

Its important to say from the onset that I have been a devotee of the stuff, I have worshipped at the alter of all things sweet for as long as I can remember. So this certainly isn't something I am taking on lightly.

Only today I  nipped in to our local Co-op to pick up some basil; and as I walked around the shop I realised there were whole aisles put over to the sweet stuff. And its depressing, .because I like nearly all of it.

However,
I firmly believe its bad for me.
I believe it is the mainstay of the more obvious foodstuffs that a person wanting to lose weight should be avoiding as a matter of course.
Worse - it has become a secret ingredient in foodstuffs you wouldn't imagine should have sugar in it.

I  tried to ignore these points last year when I attempted to diet whilst still maintaining I could eat the stuff - in moderation of course!

That piece of stupidity left the door wide open to eventual failure -and even ran contrary to the known fact that it was a lot more serious than just because I like it.

Cigarettes. Lets just consider them for a moment.

I have never smoked, roundly put off of the habit from years of watching my parents chuff like a billy train, rattling and sputtering on them and the trail of ash trays, and brown ceilings that followed. I'm glad I never was tempted, having seen just how difficult it was for my Mother to actually give them up - an achievement never matched by my Father, it took a triple heart by-pass to get the message over to him. And you would have thought that I,  with my smoker aversion, would never have fallen for a 40 a day-er? Not me! And it was no easy thing to watch him struggle to give them up - but give them up he did.

The main reason for the smoking ban, wasn't just the ash trays, or the smell - in fact very little of my revulsion was to do with the cosmetics of the habit. Cigarettes are killers. We know this, we know, whether we want to acknowledge it, that with each smoke comes the ever increased risk to our health.

I have always been a bit sneery about smoking - why would anyone take to a habit that clearly is so dangerous?

Move forward and substitute nicotine for sugar.
There is a growing band of folk who would have me believe that sugar is every bit as dangerous to me as nicotine is. Neither of them are acute, I'm not going to drop down dead from one drag or a teaspoon of the white stuff - but just like with smoking, at some point I will have had one teaspoon too many.

I am 50 years of age.

Old enough to know when I should be grown up about dealing with this problem.
And just like my Mother and Husband - I need to go cold turkey. And unlike my Father, I don't intend to  have heart disease before I tackle it.

I am going to beat this particular drum a number of times. Because just like the committed smokers out there, some of you may need some evidence, rather than just my say so.