23 overweight and struggling a bit!

~Chameleon~

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Pinhead is the largest pieces? If so you'd ideally stick with just that. In general the smaller the piece the easier to cook, chew and digest so the higher the glycaemic index. The less protein and fat you add the higher the glycaemic index of the finished product. If you aren't having much milk, maybe have an egg or suchlike alongside.

I think pinhead oatmeal is the more solid, less flattened type of oatmeal so takes slightly longer to cook. You can actually add a beaten egg to porridge and is something I frequently do especially on training days. It simply enriches the flavour and makes it more custard like, as well as adding extra vital protein/fats

Swan_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Pinhead is the largest pieces? If so you'd ideally stick with just that. In general the smaller the piece the easier to cook, chew and digest so the higher the glycaemic index. The less protein and fat you add the higher the glycaemic index of the finished product. If you aren't having much milk, maybe have an egg or suchlike alongside.

I just did a quick Google and one site claims the GI of steel cut oats to be slightly lower than jumbo oats, another claims it is slightly higher! Neither are a particularly reputable source, but common sense dictates they will be in the same ball park, both having lengthy cooking times and being chewier. Definitely better than porridge oats which I don't much like either.

Oh good, my porridge is relatively ok then I like it a lot, I craved & ate it 3 times a day during my pregnancies & it's one of my standbys when I can't be bothered to cook.

I like a lot of milk with it once it's in the plate, so that's good. Also my understanding is milk + grain = better protein availability due to their amino acid compositions. The traditional way to eat it was with a large mug of milk on the side that you dipped each spoonful into before eating, I can remember my grandparents doing that.

Thing is I like half fat milk (a personal preference caused by bottles of school milk being left by the radiators until they were all coagulated & disgusting _pale_ ) but perhaps full-fat would be better?

There's an interesting book The Good Scots Diet about what Scots ate before mass industrialisation & migration to the cities, when the people on the land lived mainly on herring, potatoes, milk, oatmeal, a very little meat & whatever veg they could grow (mostly kale, currently a superfood ) & were very healthy on it. No deep fried Mars Bars in those days

Swan_2

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I think pinhead oatmeal is the more solid, less flattened type of oatmeal so takes slightly longer to cook. You can actually add a beaten egg to porridge and is something I frequently do especially on training days. It simply enriches the flavour and makes it more custard like, as well as adding extra vital protein/fats

Yes the pinhead is the grain just chopped into pieces, about 3 I think, with a wonderful texture & flavour, it's my favourite

I'm a bit of an old traditionalist, I think I'd have my egg on the side

euronorris

OK, I checked the muesli ingredients and they are:

31% fruits (21% raisins, 5% banana chips (banana, coconut oil, cane sugar, honey), 4.5% dried apricots), oats*, wheat flakes*, nuts* (1.5% hazelnuts, 1% almonds), sunflower seeds*

*Of organic origin

So there you go. Not perfect, but not awful either. The oats look like those in the picture you posted Fire Fox. That's NOT the big ones, right?

Shopping to do this weekend! OH is off work with stress at the moment, but has decided to go to the organic market shop near us today. Apparantly, we're having an entirely organic meal tonight! I think he fell in love with the big, juicy, organic apples I brought home the other day - full of flavour!

euronorris

Swan wrote: »

No deep fried Mars Bars in those days

I've gotta say I've never understood the attraction of the above. The idea makes me want to vomit! Suppose it's not surprising really, as I'm not keen on Mars Bars - it's just far, far, far too sweet and sickly. Never been able to finish a whole one.

Mars Bar ice creams on the other hand.......STOP IT! I must stop it! :rotfl:

katie1812

I wouldn't call it a diet. If that's the case, then I am on a permanent one! It's just about changing bits of your lifestyle. Like others have said, have breakfast, try and eat three good meals a day and snack on fruit, nuts etc. fill up a big bottle in the morning of water and make sure by the time you go to bed you've drunk it
Maybe up your exercise too? Even if it's going for a walk or bike ride. I've found YouTube is great. Type in cardio and you can do ten minute workouts in your lounge. Ten minutes is nothing and you could fit it into your day and I'm sure you'll be feeling better in no time

euronorris

Well, Friday is the day where they have 4 soup options available in the canteen (rather than the usual 2) and I saw one called 'Linzen Bacon' (Lentils & Bacon). I decided to take Fire Fox's advice (having more protein, and so choose this soup.

Gotta say, it was yummy! Tasted like tinned sausage and beans to be honest. There were carrots in there too, and a few small squares (about 1cm cubed in size) of potatoes in there too, and spices. And I threw in some chopped spring onions too.

I was so full, that I couldn't eat the banana that I usually do. Still stuffed now!

I also decided to try a kiwi! Kiwi is one of those things that I always insisted that I didn't like, even though I'd never tried it (didn't like the look of it). Man, that was yummy too! The seeds weren't how I expected. I thought they would either be unnoticeable, or really noticeable, and weird. But, they just crunched a little between my teeth and that was it. So yay! Another new fruit to eat

I also looked up the nutritional value after I got back from lunch and see that that one kiwi has provided more than my daily Vit C quota. Nice! (I understand the body deals quite well with excess Vit C through peeing - sorry for TMI anyone)

Fire_Fox

Swan wrote: »

Oh good, my porridge is relatively ok then I like it a lot, I craved & ate it 3 times a day during my pregnancies & it's one of my standbys when I can't be bothered to cook.

I like a lot of milk with it once it's in the plate, so that's good. Also my understanding is milk + grain = better protein availability due to their amino acid compositions. The traditional way to eat it was with a large mug of milk on the side that you dipped each spoonful into before eating, I can remember my grandparents doing that.

Thing is I like half fat milk (a personal preference caused by bottles of school milk being left by the radiators until they were all coagulated & disgusting _pale_ ) but perhaps full-fat would be better?

There's an interesting book The Good Scots Diet about what Scots ate before mass industrialisation & migration to the cities, when the people on the land lived mainly on herring, potatoes, milk, oatmeal, a very little meat & whatever veg they could grow (mostly kale, currently a superfood ) & were very healthy on it. No deep fried Mars Bars in those days

GI is only part of the health story, the rest is about getting a balance of nutrients: essential fatty acids, protein, carbs, fibre, minerals, vitamins and other antioxidant phytonutrient. Porridge generally ticks a lot of boxes. Don't worry about full fat milk if you prefer half fat, but do have a couple of portions of fruit (fresh or dried) at breakfast and consider sprinkling some chopped or sliced almonds on, for a little extra protein and healthy fats.

With traditional diets they were based on wholefoods, secondly it was the amount of physical activity they did and that they didn't have central heating. We should replicate the wholefoods because we evolved to eat those, but need to change the ratio of protein to carbs to fat somewhat. I strongly believe we evolved to eat plenty of fish and seafood, which is why we need the omega-3s. When humans first moved out of Africa they moved primarily via the coastlines. IMO as soon as we mastered cooking we would have eaten small amounts of grains, but whole not ground as today. Your steel cut oats are fairly close to that. :T

Fire_Fox

euronorris wrote: »

OK, I checked the muesli ingredients and they are:

31% fruits (21% raisins, 5% banana chips (banana, coconut oil, cane sugar, honey), 4.5% dried apricots), oats*, wheat flakes*, nuts* (1.5% hazelnuts, 1% almonds), sunflower seeds*

*Of organic origin

So there you go. Not perfect, but not awful either. The oats look like those in the picture you posted Fire Fox. That's NOT the big ones, right?

Shopping to do this weekend! OH is off work with stress at the moment, but has decided to go to the organic market shop near us today. Apparantly, we're having an entirely organic meal tonight! I think he fell in love with the big, juicy, organic apples I brought home the other day - full of flavour!

Those are jumbo oats in the picture. Add a load more nuts or seeds to that muesli, aim for around the same percentage by weight of nuts/ seeds as fruit - at the moment that is carb heavy and will be fairly high GI with the raisins and wheat flakes. Next time make your own mix, you could make it healthier and just as tasty. :T

For stress or anxiety be sure your OH is getting his 10,000 steps a day, briskly if he can, and looking up towards the sunlight. Nutrients that are particularly beneficial include long chain omega-3s from oily fish, magnesium from nuts/ seeds/ beans/ lentils/ wholegrains, B complex vitamins from all animal products, and certain amino acids (building blocks of protein). No caffeine, no sugar or white/ refined carbs, no skipping meals, eat little and often, keep blood sugar stable. If he is willing to take prescribed medication ask the doctor about a low dose beta blocker: these are used by students for exam stress, no sedation, can be used as and when, amazing for relieving physical symptoms.

HTH. :A

euronorris

Fire_Fox wrote: »

For stress or anxiety be sure your OH is getting his 10,000 steps a day, briskly if he can, and looking up towards the sunlight. Nutrients that are particularly beneficial include long chain omega-3s from oily fish, magnesium from nuts/ seeds/ beans/ lentils/ wholegrains, B complex vitamins from all animal products, and certain amino acids (building blocks of protein). No caffeine, no sugar or white/ refined carbs, no skipping meals, eat little and often, keep blood sugar stable. If he is willing to take prescribed medication ask the doctor about a low dose beta blocker: these are used by students for exam stress, no sedation, can be used as and when, amazing for relieving physical symptoms.

HTH. :A

Thanks FireFox - I will certainly be trying to put my own museli mix together

I have been trying to get OH out and about, but it's difficult. I did manage to get him to come to the coast with me on Saturday, and we had a 2 hour long walk along the promenade in the sunshine (we were really lucky, it was raining on and off with thunderstorms in our home town which is only 5 mins away by train). He told me after that he really enjoyed it, and was the first time in ages where he didn't think about work for the entire time.

Other than seeing the company doctor on Tuesday, today is the first time he has been out. So I'm glad he's doing it alone, off his own back. And he has his first appt with the therapist on Tuesday to talk through it all. Plus, as the weather will be good again this weekend, we are going to the coast again and taking the frisbee this time, to play with on the beach.

There's no way he will take meds. He's very against them and has told me that on more than one occasion.

As for meals - he's doing mostly OK. Though I know he doesn't always eat lunch if I'm not there, I keep telling him too and that he needs to. He's gradually getting better with it (it comes from laziness, and nothing more) - if he could just stick something in the microwave, he'd never miss a meal! lol

Thanks for the advice