About 2 months ago I stopped having milk with my breakfast (only time I drink it) and cheese in my sandwiches (again, mostly only time I have it) in a bid to lessen some of the symptoms of what is now suspected to be Chron's disease.

I certainly now don't get the bloated feeling that I used to, but I do seem to be losing weight. Although I don't have any scales, I think I've lost a few kg in the past two months and I certainly look and feel slimmer. At about 70kg, I'm not exactly endowed with much to lose!

I suspect the weight loss is to do with cutting out the milk and cheese (although still occasionally eat some butter and ice cream). I also rarely eat meat. So I'm wondering what would be a good, fatty and/or high protein replacement? Not keen on soya/rice/nut milks at all, but fish and beans suit me – do I need to eat more of them?!

I guess the first question is why do you want to replace them?

Olive oil.

Oooooh, careful there….. You wouldn't want to p1ss these guys off…..

Eating less = weight loss shocker!

Beans and fish you say? Hope you've got good air conditioning where you work.

Eggs for brekky. Smoked salmon in sarnies for lunch.

Or even better, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on toast for brunch.

I guess the first question is why do you want to replace them?

Because I don't want to lose any more weight.

Eating less = weight loss shocker!

Its not as if I've completely cut out breakfast and lunch! I still eat the same volume of food, but instead of muesli and milk I have porridge, and instead of cheese sandwiches I have humous or tuna, or pasta/rice. So I'm eating less fat, yes, which is why I'm wondering if there's a non-dairy, non-meaty, fatty solution (other than Haribo, yum!).

Eat tuna in olive oil rather than brine (which is minging anyway) and add mayo or salad cream.

'suspected chron's disease' good for you they identified it when they did. I have a mate who went through hell before they diagnosed him with chron's

Hmm maybe I should leave out the dairy products (Im 100kg's)

Could you use goats milk/cheese instead? I have that now instead of cows milk, it's pretty good.

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with baked beans on toast, kippers with mushrooms on toast, porridge made with water, chuck in some frozen berries ( which are £1 in Sainsburys and are pretty good ) with seeds and nuts ( walnuts are good ), peanut butter on toast.

Just eat lots of fish if that's what floats your boat ( no pun intended ). Whole rainbow troat stuffed with parsley and garlic with a ratouillie goes nicely, could chuck in some kidney beans too. Tuna's good for protein, quite salty though.

I found the best way to gain weight was to eat lots of carbs, which are turned into fat anyway. Lots of potatoes and pasta! If you eat lots of good fats, I read somewhere that it actually helps you loose weight.

Well done, Kit! Keep up the good work.

I've been vegan for four years now and feel very good indeed. It's not completely comparable to your situation, I know, but it seems similar. I didn't lose any weight, but I was skinny to start with, and my cycling seems as 'powerful' as ever

Milk was a toughy, but you get used to 'soya juice' after a while: it's actually very nice. I think it's just that I (and most other people) expected it to taste of milk when first trying it. Get out of that mindset and you're there. There are a couple of brands of chocolate soya drink that are ACE on cereal.

Snack on nuts: brazils and hazels are very good for you with all the right things in. If you toast them slightly under the grill first they are divine.

My secret getting-enough-fat-and-protein weapon though has to be peanut butter: what a truly great food. Olive oil and sunflower oil can be used liberally on your food (bung a few plops in pasta, rice, etc.) and I've found hemp oil (sold as 'Good Oil' in Sainsbury's and others) to be tasty and to contain all the right fats.

That's one of the great things about not eating meat and dairy: you can basically drink all these tasty, tasty oils and it does you no harm! (Just, er, keep exercising, yeah?)

This book is great and very thorough if you need more detailed info.

And remember: you don't need to take any supplements!

All the best 🙂

Fish and eggs assuming you are not a fully fledged vegan
Advocado have a lot of fat in them – not a lot of fruit /veg does
Humous is fairly high in fat iirc – you can buy pretend cheeses whic is basically a tasteless lump of fat – Health food shop Cheesley or scheesse are brand names.
Chip Butties?
Do you think you are lacking fats? Dangerously underweigth, wasting away? Low BMI etc? Perhaps your better diet is just better for you?

And remember: you don't need to take any supplements!

because they add it to all the special foods we eat anyway 😉

Ah, nuts! I'd forgotten about them.

I already cook with olive oil, use pesto etc so no problems there. Can't stand goats' milk/cheese (and yes, I tried for 6 months to like it) and the soya milk and almond milk I've tried is too sweet for me. I make my porridge with water, and might try the frozen berry thing 🙂

Thanks for the replies – Chron's not confirmed, awaiting seeing a specialist at the moment, and yes it can get quite unpleasant…

you can but unsweetened soya milk – for some reason they add apple juice to most brands stuff. Alpro /Provamel [ same company] for example

http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/provamel/provamel-soya-milk-1l—unsweetened/ – cheaper in supermarkets about £1

I forgot about nuts as I dont really like them.

Cold pressed rape seed oil is better than sunflower oil and even olive oil as it has a better balance of Omega 3 and 6. I've barley touched any meat fish or dairy products in the last twenty five years and never worried about fat or protein to be honest. If your hungry eat if your not don't and eat as variedly as you can. You may lose a bit of weight initially but it will soon stabilise. And I'll let you into a little secret which is hidden it seems from a large proportion of the population and that is that it's the amount of calories you consume and expend that determines what happens to your weight.

rape seed oil is better than sunflower oil and even olive oil

Just in case you're wondering where to buy this amazing oil, it's sold generically as "vegetable oil" in supermarkets with a picture of some pretty yellow flowers on the front. 😉

As Dave says, it's quite good for you.

Chron's not confirmed

I hope it turns out to be nowt so serious.

awaiting seeing a specialist at the moment

Like this specialist…

http://www.singletrackworld.com/2009/02/the-picolax-thread-returns/

It must be cold pressed though bananaworld as the heating used in the processing of normal rapeseed oil changes it and you lose the benefits over other vegtable oils.

More serious is my inability to spell the disease I have…

"Crohn's"

I actually have a pretty decent BMI. I'm only 5'11", but most of the weight is in my legs and head (big bonce!). Up until 3 weeks ago I was cycling every day to work, but haven't been on a bike since and not been on a ride in 5 weeks or so.

Of course, I understand that weight loss is a manifestation of Crohn's in which case it probably wouldn't matter what I ate. Maybe I should start drinking more alcohol 😉

Yeah, I wasn't sure about that, Dave. Any ideas/websites about what difference the extraction methods make?

Mix a non-dairy spread in with the porridge, and top with plenty of honey or golden syrup.

Peanut butter has plenty of fat and protein in it so would be a good sandwich filling.

Failing the above just enjoy a Mars bar for desert after every meal. I expect the dairy content of those is processed so much it's of low risk?

Kit. I ride with 2 Crohns sufferers. 1 is a little guy and cycles to work as well as mtbing when work permits( consultant pediatrician). The other is about your height but defo on the porky side, likes his food & drink 😉