Mild Sickness & New Discoveries
Weigh Day #36
Sunday 14 July 2024
Current Weight (13 July 2024): 116.5 Kg, 18.34 Stone, 256.83 Pounds
Weekly Weight Loss: 1 Kg, 2.2 Pounds
Total Weight Loss: 21.1 Kg, 3.32 Stone, 46.51 Pounds
Weekly Summary
Heading In The Right Direction
Mild sickness and new discoveries have been dominating proceedings this week. Firstly, I’m delighted with the weight loss; who wouldn’t be? Two weeks on the spin, a kilo and a half are lost. Secondly, there are downsides. Isn’t there always????
I’ll call this a 5:2 week (I’m nicking that from Nutriseed, admittedly), whereas five days were as good as I’ve experienced in a long time and two (predictably, the weekend) were complete carnage.
As the week progressed, I began to feel the best in months despite developing a rather strange sickness.
Mild Sickness
An Old Chum Returning?
In Hot Chocolate’s case, “It Started With A Kiss”, but for me, it started with some sniffles, a blocked nose and occasional bouts of sneezing. “Bloody hell, I’m getting a cold”, I mumbled to myself. Only, it never developed into a cold. As the week progressed, I suffered in small bouts from the following ailments….
- Nausea
- Coughing
- Aching Body
- Breathlessness
- Funny Taste In Mouth
- Dehydration
- Fatigue
- Diarrhoea
- Loss Of Appetite
The Dieters Dream!
The last one is the dieter’s dream! And a big reason why despite the weekend food orgy, a kilo was shed. I wasn’t undereating, but my calorie intake was around 1700, a little less than my usual consumption. Something was stirring inside, and I didn’t want to eat after I got home from work. Admittedly, I started the week with the thought of attempting intermittent fasting again, and because of these circumstances, I pretty much achieved it.
Yet, despite all these ailments (not all at the same time, thankfully), I carried on with the week as normal, not contemplating taking time off work or going to the doctor. Furthermore, with me, it’s all or nothing.
So, I was reading that COVID-19 (I still question where the heck are the other 18???) is making a comeback as mild as my symptoms. Most people you speak to brush it off as another disease we have to live with, such as colds, flu, and the seemingly endless stream of “24-hour bugs” that do the rounds these days.
I’m convinced I’ve probably got a very mild COVID strain, and thank fuck we don’t like the paranoid times of 2020 when you’d have to batten down the hatches and stay locked in a darkened room until you were cured! Thank God things have moved on from those awful times. Mild sickness and new discoveries indeed! Speaking of the latter….
New Discovery #1
Is Our Food Literally Poisoned???
I purchased a book about ultra-processed foods, and by Jove, I’m changing my attitude. I’ve been meaning to study ultra-processed food for some time specifically, and I’m glad I did. When I finish the book, you’ll hear much more about Chris Van Tulleken.
Not only am I opening up a whole new can of worms regarding blog content, but I’m also really beginning to believe that nutritionists and ‘diet gurus’ have got it all wrong.
Year after year, surprisingly conclusive evidence comes to light to back this up.
What if we could lose weight by eating cleaner, less processed foods? I remain convinced you have to portion to some extent, and it’s impossible to avoid processed and ultra-processed foods completely, but you can make a massive difference. I’ve started eating cleaner, and it’s something I plan to develop.
The food and diet industry has been conning us for too long regarding what we eat and how we should lose weight. Subsequently, now is the time for change in attitudes and learning.
Example – New You
I’ve been seeing my Facebook thread bombarded with adverts by a company called New You. There is nothing new about what they do. It is an easy-to-follow diet plan consisting of shakes and pre-made meals.
After reading the comments, I noticed the plan evidently works. And no problem if that’s how people want to spend their money. Furthermore, there’s a debate about whether this plan can keep weight off for good.
Any plan that involves eating fewer calories is almost foolproof. Implementing is somewhat trickier!
Like many of their peers, New You claims its products are nutritious, delicious, and stave off hunger. There are no problems there either, as they probably are and probably do.
So what is your beef then, Franklin?
Ingredients.
Never have I seen products so laced with long-named things I’ve never heard of. Understandably, with meal replacement shakes, but I kid you not—this is the list of ingredients in their ‘nutritious’ egg omelette. Hold your breath!
Roll The Ingredients #1
Protein blend (soy protein, white egg powder); skim milk powder; maltodextrin; whole egg powder; vegetable oil preparation (refined soybean oil, maltodextrin, milk protein, emulsifier: soy lecithin E322, antioxidants: ascorbyle palmitate E304, tocopherol E307); oligofructose (chicory root extract); acidity regulators: potassium chloride E508, potassium citrate E332, magnesium oxide E530; vitamin and mineral mix (magnesium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, potassium citrate.
Wrapping my head around that lot is hurting!
And you get charged £2 for the privilege! The photo recommends eating this plastic omelette with one of their burger meal. Oh, I had to take a peek at that!
I hardly think a single burger constitutes a meal, but people believe this nonsense! Charging another £2 for the privilege! The ingredients are just as mind-blowing.
Roll The Ingredients #2!
Protein blend (soy protein, egg white and whole egg powder); wheat flour (gluten); vegetable fat preparation (soybean oil and sunflower oil; maltodextrin; milk protein; emulsifier: soy lecithin; antioxidants: ascorbyl palmitate, alpha tocopherols); inulin; acidity regulators: potassium chloride, magnesium oxide; stabilisers: magnesium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate; flavour; dehydrated onion; vitamin and mineral mix (potassium citrate, ascorbic acid, ferric pyrophosphate,
DL-alpha tocopheryl acetate, nicotinamide, zinc oxide, retinyl acetate, cupric gluconate, D-pantothenate calcium, manganese sulphate, D-biotin, sodium selenite, cholecalciferol, potassium iodide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, cyanocobalamin, thiamine hydrochloride, riboflavin, pteroylmonoglutamic acid, retinyl palmitate, thiamin mononitrate, phytomenadione, chromium chloride, sodium fluoride, ferrous fumarate, sodium molybdate); red bell pepper; colour: caramel; thickener: xanthan gum; spices; aromatics herbs; yeast extract; salt; baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate monohydrate, calcium sulphate); sweetener: sucralose.
So many ingredients they needed to be listed into two parts!
I’m now emphatically keeping awake at night wondering what on earth a dehydrated onion is!!!! Maybe it’s me, but neither that nor the omelette looks particularly appetizing.
This prays on people’s desperation to lose weight. I’m not sure such foodstuffs should be even be legal! This is the society we exist in now.
People accordingly need help and guidance regarding weight loss, and such plans are the easy option. Besides, they work if you stick with them (and you’ll find most plans do since losing weight isn’t rocket science, but trying to lose weight can certainly be rocket science!) but almost certainly fail when you return to eating normal food. Stuff like this is making my blood boil!
In comparison, making burgers and omelettes from scratch takes very little extra effort, is clean and, ironically, cheaper! And you never have to look far to find great recipes, thanks to The Good Food website.
Audiobooks
Emphatically, I’m hearing echoes of laughter! I know, I know, I know! They’ve been around forever. Basically and unashamedly, I’d never even noticed the Spotify tab before, but I’m noticeably blind regarding such matters. I struggle to read books old school these days (although ironically, the ultra-processed book I’m ploughing through I’m managing to read, then annoyingly noticed it’s available on Spotify!).
My first audiobook is by Adrian Chiles, The Good Drinker. Having battled with alcohol on and off for several years, this is a very refreshing insight into drinking and habits and the stigma around drinking. Additionally, Chiles ideas are fundamentally excellent, and there is a path to follow.
Having spent plenty of time resting this week, I believe audiobooks are an excellent way to relax. Close your eyes, listen and put yourself in a different world.
The Week Ahead
More Mild Sickness & New Discoveries?
Conversely, less of the former, please! I’m feeling okay today, and I’ve been eating a bit more. All that fatness and frumpiness has gone, which is fantastic.
We need to implement more of the same. Keep working on cleaning my food and looking for questions. Then, see where I’m at.
Is it really as simple as eating cleaner? Undoubtedly, I’m beginning to think it is.
Studying ingredients in food begins to baffle and become terrifying! Unquestionably, I’m going to explore this a lot more this week and try to finish the book!
See You Weigh Day#36! For less mild sickness and new discoveries! What’s more, here’s hoping for more weight loss!
