Check this cunting thing out, innit! 
One thought I just had on the “keeping things enjoyable front”. If you need to cut out salt, take a look at other flavour enhancers. It looks like MSG has a similar effect to salt, but acidity is also a really good way to bring out flavours, and I don’t believe has anything like the health issues. Get yourself a nice varied stock of vinegars (white Balsamic is something I reach for a lot), as well as things like lemon and lime juices.
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This is our go-to:
I suspect for @horace the salt content in that stuff is going to be too high - it’s the reason I didn’t mention stuff like soy sauce.
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Last night’s supper was a success. Sea Bass, in the oven with lemon, garlic and coriander, served with a large salad of tomato, cucumber, red onion, herbs and little vinaigrette. I skipped the potatoes. It was lovely.
I’m looking at the Macrofactor app and checking out the DASH diet.
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Some disturbing trends emerging from my searches for healthier recipes. I mean, on what fucking planet does a 10 inch pizza provide ‘8 servings’.
8 servings = 8 pizzas.
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Learn to love green vegetables in all their varieties, and try to crowd out the other stuff on your plate with them. And buy smaller plates!
And aim to lose weight gradually, slowly and consistently - the amount of people I’ve coached who go crazy trying to shift the pounds, radically changing their diets and doing exercise they can’t keep up - they always fizzle out and put the weight back on. It always takes time to adapt and learn how to eat to your actual calorific needs and do it in a way that’s sustainable long term.
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Thanks, that sounds very sensible.
I will add learning to be sensible to my list…
Next question:
I have never cooked with much salt, nor do I tend to add it to my food at the table. Nevertheless, I will now try to be more aware of my salt intake. Processed foods are clearly a no go area (I haven’t tended to use them much anyway).
Standard advice seems to be to use things like onion powder, garlic, herbs and other spices as seasoning when cooking. Any other tips?
If you’re going to use salt, get it into the cooking process as early as possible, it means you need a lot less than if you were adding at the end. That extends to getting it on a piece of meat / fish at least 30 mins before you actually cook it. Rinse the excess salt off the outside (and generally pat dry with a paper towel) right before you then cook it.
Make sure if you’re buying garlic/onion/celery powder that it’s just the powder, not salted.
I use a lot of pots of spice mixes. I actually tend to buy them, I don’t even make up my own at this point. It gives me variety in what I’m cooking whilst also reducing friction / effort. It’s about making stuff sustainable. Similarly, I tend to buy garlic and ginger puree in tubes, or those frozen blocks. I also use a fair few frozen veg mixes, again it keeps the variety, and in turn my interest, whilst reducing the temptation to skip healthy meals when I’m feeling low energy.
If you like cheese, that can be a real challenge, because nutritionally, it a bit of a lead-weight. As a compromise, I’ll often use some of this: https://www.seriouslycheddar.co.uk/products/spreadable-lighter/ - it’s a lot lower in fat than most cheese, and you also don’t tend to need anything like as much by weight either.
I get a lot of mileage out of this stuff too - I tend to lean towards low salt for any kind of stock simply because you get more flavour before you overload the dish with salt:
Along that line, the Essential Cuisine Glaces are a great alternative to stock cubes (and way tastier). They’re not salt free, but you also don’t need to use a huge amount per person at all. They do look expensive at face value, but they’re large tubs that you get through pretty slowly, and they last pretty much indefinitely in the fridge:
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I didn’t think I was drinking that much but (largely) cutting out alcohol without really any other adjustments led to a steady weight loss over the previous 6 months or so - now back in the clothes I bought when I accepted I was no longer super fit and lean and clothes were uncomfortably tight. I was on average having a beer a night and maybe 3 or 4 Friday Saturday and Sunday).
My impression is that the consensus is that a decent amount of daily brisk walking gets you 80% of the health benefits of exercise. I do still cycle 20-30miles a few times a week but my daily consistent exercise is pretty poor.
When I was at my fattest in my early 30’s, my first step towards being fitter and leaner than I had ever been in my mid/late 30’s was walking loads and walking fast - did that for a few months with sensible eating before I changed anything else and I do think that was a good foundation.
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On the food / satiety thing I found miso soup really good for that - I think high umami helps you feel full. I think that’s the idea of having miso soup before a meal. When I was doing intermittent fasting (not sure I would recommend and I couldn’t do it again) I also found miso helpful.
Breakfast today: Small bowl of mini shredded wheat with milk and a sliced banana.
I’m sticking with one coffee a day, first thing in the morning. The herbal tea thing is promising.
After only a few days of better eating, I’ve already noticed a reduction in bloating. Perhaps I have an intolerance of some kind.
Starting to feel quite a bit better - less anxious are more optimistic.
This is good.
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I’m currently staring at a lovely ripe brie.
No.
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Staring is OK.
Perhaps I just need to stare harder. Is that same as walking faster?
If you follow the kids who did the marshmallow experiments, the more successful ones did anything but stare at it.
There are times when a slice of toast beckons. Maybe crackers or rice cakes instead?
Just proper wholemeal bread, don’t slather it in a fuckton of butter.
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