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a lady cattle farmer Maggie (rancher maggie), who in her 80’s looks like a 40 year old and could beat any one of us in an arm wrestle. Dr Shaun Baker, who wrote the book ‘The Carnivore Diet’ is in his 60’s, looks like Jack Reacher and could probably invade a small country single handed. Dr Sean O’Mara, in his 60’s, nearly died at 47 from obesity related issues is now super fit and has minimal visceral fat around his vital organs. He should know as he is at the forefront of pioneering body scanning to show visceral fat deposits in the human body. I could go on.
Unfortunately, the stories of a few people - especially if they're trying to sell things - don't count as an evidence-base.
There are entire societies that eat different diets and have incredible health.
As I said I think diet requirements vary between individuals due to genetic makeup and gut bacteria. There is no one-size fits all formula.
i am glad i am not alone!
Eating meats and fats is a no bueno. I have been veggie for many moons, so thats not an option.
I did go through a period of not having lots of crisps and nuts in the house, which clearly helped. Sounds like i need to get back into that mindset.
Its a bit like beer, if its in the house, i will drink it, if it isnt, i am not fussed/dont go and buy some.
And more often than not, i am not eating as i am hungry, which makes it even more frustrating.
Need more will power!!!
so im in a similar position also veggie and not going to change, i do think that increasing the amount of fat and protein in meals can help doesn’t need to be meat though it is obviously easier if you eat dairy. Black beans are great for this and you can use them to make hummus.
recently we’ve been eating earlier this is related to having a baby not diet but it means im not snacking early evening then eating a full meal.
There is obviously some weird wiring in my head.
I can't say no to snacks but I stopped drinking pretty easily (given how much I liked a few beers) even with it in the house.
160cm and 70kg 30" waist but too much visceral fat.
I'm not going to defend the carnivore diet but it has one thing going for it that probably explains why it works for some people and in that it is clearly one of the least processed diets you can get.
Earlier in this thread folk were going on about willpower, willpower has nothing to do with weight loss or obesity. It's usually the naturally skinny ones that come out with that.
The obesity rate in the US in 40%, the obesity rate in France is 10%. In 1975 it was 10% in US. Are the willpower crowd saying French people have 400% more will power than Americans or that your Grandad had 400% more willpower than you? Obesity causes are multifactorial but clearly some countries are living in an environment that drives obesity, which must include more sedentary lifestyles, access to excess calories and the type of foods people eat. France is a rich country, people could afford to eat excess calories but they don't so why don't they. Well, you won't find many processed foods in a french supermarket. They eat lots of carbs, bread, and croissants are staples as is high fat cheese and fatty meat are common; their sausages ooze fat. I spend 6 weeks a year in France, and it's rare to see an obese person. I believe that obesity is driven by deregulation of the satiety signalling caused by a diet rich in highly processed foods. Have you ever tried to eat 2000Kcal of Salmon? It's almost impossible, try 2000kcsl of Ben and Jerry's, easy as folk have stated in this thread
I've been working on GPL-1 and dual more complex peptides well before they became the massive thing they are now. All the current GLP-1 medicines work on the satiety signal that tells you that you are full, they literally turn you French. Fun fact, I came up with the naming convention in the middle of the name of a GLP-1 peptide, which indicates how many receptors it hits.
We have a cheap smoothie maker. If I want a snack, I'll make a smoothie instead. It takes a while so by the time I've made it , drunk it, cleaned up, I'll probably have forgotten I'd come in for a biscuit. I'm not good at eating fruit in its original form but if I can blend it, I'll eat it!
Making a fruit smoothy works by making you think you have been healthy whilst you have actually taken on a massive hit of sugar.
Fair enough I suppose. But I'm going to try and eat that fruit anyway- even if I don't blend it in the smoothie maker. If the choice is between "natural" sugars in blueberries, bananas, strawberries, apples, etc or - say - a few hob nobs, I still think it's a better option.
Fair enough I suppose. But I'm going to try and eat that fruit anyway- even if I don't blend it in the smoothie maker. If the choice is between "natural" sugars in blueberries, bananas, strawberries, apples, etc or - say - a few hob nobs, I still think it's a better option.
Yeah, the advantage of fruit is that at least you take on a bunch of fibre at the same time, which slows down the absorption of the sugar - reduces insulin spikes - and is good for your microbiome/gut health.
Are the willpower crowd saying French people have 400% more will power than Americans or that your Grandad had 400% more willpower than you?
Without getting into an endless game of internet arguing, it's kind of two different things. One is the overall culture and environment you live in, but the other is the ability of the individual to determine their own behaviour. So you can still live in a culture where consuming UPF food is the norm, but choose not to do it because you're aware that it's massively unhealthy and you can opt to do otherwise.
If you don't think that's the case, then everyone in every society would fall back to a cultural norm, but in reality, you can choose to be an outlier for your own good. I am not saying that this means obese people lack will-power per se or that there are no societal and/or biological factors which makes eating unhealthily easier, but the alternative is simply to throw up your hands, say, oh, everyone else eats crap, so I have to as well, obviously in a really simplified way.
So clearly you're right in a macro sense, but this thread is really about individual choices. I'm not saying that the OP or anyone else 'lacks willpower', but equally we all have control over our own behaviour, unless you choose to believe that you have zero agency over your own diet. It's obviously a lot more nuanced than that, the abundant availability, promotion and normalisation of high calorie foods makes it much easier to consume them and, as I posted earlier, you can argue that our bodies are genetically hardwired to binge on sweet stuff when you do find it, but again, you have agency over that if you choose to.
TLDR: I'm not 'the willpower crowd', but I can see that there are two different situations here: one is how a food culture and infrastructure steer you towards certain choices, but the other is the level of choice you still have as an individual. I was at a work event where the 'lunch' was a mix of endless UPF, I chose not to eat it, just hammered the salad and some chicken breast. No-one is forcing you to eat this stuff. It's not 'willpower' per se, just a choice that's made more difficult if there's an abundance of available crap food.
The obesity rate in the US in 40%, the obesity rate in France is 10%.
50% of the French are overweight and the obesity rate is 17%. Compared to the same rates in the UK 64% and 26%, (which is probably more useful than comparisons with the US) France suffers from the same rates of heart diseases and diabetes that the UK has - about 8.6% in France and 8.8% in UK. They're catching up.
I believe that obesity is driven by deregulation of the satiety signalling caused by a diet rich in highly processed foods.
I agree with you that there's something about highly processed foods being 'not good' is probs correct, one commentator has said that is probably better to describe these as 'edible engineered product' rather than food, but the idea that European [French] supermarkets aren't filled with the same highly processed food that UK supermarkets are is wrong.
Without going back through the whole thread, has anyone suggested not buying it in the first place? If it's not immediately available on the house, would you be bothered to schelp out to a shop to buy it on a dark, rainy Thursday evening?
Downtime Podcast from last week is worth a listen for healthy eating.
OP, I'm similar to you. I'm notorious for hoovering snacks and cakes at work and sometimes eat about 800 calories before bed. My take on this is that the overwhelming majority (all?) nutrition advice is geared towards helping people lose weight. For people like me (and possibly you), that means that most meals just aren't big enough and we should probably be on 4 or 5 balanced meals per day. If I'm starving all day or before bed, it's usually my body telling me I need to eat more. A full breakfast with at least 2 eggs and 2 bacon also means I don't eat as many biscuits before lunch. I agree that biscuits and cakes aren't the best fuel, so bigger meals more often (ie proper breakfast, midafternoon sandwich) could be a better way to replace them.
If I'm trying to lose a kg, then when I get hungry after dinner I'll just do 10 mins of yoga instead then go to bed. I never skip or reduce meals though.
Without going back through the whole thread, has anyone suggested not buying it in the first place? If it's not immediately available on the house, would you be bothered to schelp out to a shop to buy it on a dark, rainy Thursday evening?
Many times. Its simple but good advice.
Doesnt help with the naughty treats at work tho! 😫
I used to be pretty bad at snacking on unhealthy food.
Now I'm bad at snacking on healthy food - plain yoghurt and peanut butter (the good stuff).
I don't really eat UPF.
I've never lost any weight.
I spend 6 weeks a year in France, and it's rare to see an obese person.
Is that in the South, because there's plenty in northern France unfortunately.
54 here and fit as a butchers dog. Carnivore for 20 months, no scurvy or teeth falling out yet.
57 here, fit as a butcher's dog as well, with a 'normal' diet. I wonder if it's because I just ate a Bounty? Maybe I should only eat Bounties?* I'm not sure what your point is - it's not like there's a lack of fit and healthy people who eat a normal diet.
* what's the plural of Bounty? Bountys or Bounties? Both look wrong.
If I open anything bad, bottle of wine, bar of chocolate, packet of biscuits or crisps I’ll finish the lot. The only way to stop myself is to not open them in the first place.
I’m not saying that I never open them, but if I do I have to be prepared with the consequences of finishing them.
The dopamine hit I get from it is great, but not as great as stumbling upon a previously unknown to me custom steel suspension bike on instagram.
2 guys in my street both do a lot of exercise and participate in sports. Over the summer they both lost weight. Talking to them about it, it turns out that they both loved to gorge in the evening and the decided that it needed to stop. They were never “fat” but now they are verging on athletic. I should take inspiration, but beer is just so delicious. And moreish.
The solution in my house is simply not to have snacks in the house. If they're there they get eaten, if they're not they can't be.
same here, there's bananas and apples to hand in the kitchen, so if I get the urge that's what I go for, especially this time of year with lots of good interesting English apple varieties available in the shops.
I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but if you're interested in Ultra Processed Foods and how they mess with your food regulating system then the Van Tulleken twins' podcasts on BBC Sounds is a really good listen. Series one is the UPF stuff. It's quite sobering stuff, and also reflects my personal experience that once you stop eating rubbish, your appetite for it more or less disappears:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017tcz/episodes/downloads
Late night binging is my healthy living nemesis!
Im doing pretty well with fitness at the moment as playing along with the 100 day before Xmas challenge.
My diet has been pretty good too, haven’t really cut down or lost weight but eating healthier and getting more protein.
BUT late at night (post 10pm) I just can’t resist snacking…. My go to is granola where I think I try and fool myself it’s not that unhealthy but in reality I know it’s processed and very sweet rubbish. Wouldn’t be too bad if I had just a small bowl but tend to have a huge one and then immediately fill it up again and have another! I know answer would be not to have it in the house but it’s my sons breakfast and he needs to have something before work (even if we changed the cereal I’d just eat that!).
if it’s not the granola it’s something like biscuits or toast and again then ends up being loads.
To be honest it’s really annoying knowing I’m just undoing all my hard work.
I should take inspiration, but beer is just so delicious. And moreish.
Alcohol free Guinness is only 17 calories per 100ml, and imo not very moreish. A pint of alcohol free Guinness can easily last me more than an hour.
I've made some serious lifestyle changes recently with regards to dieting. I discovered that Square Crisps, French Fries or Chipsticks are half the calories of a packet of Seabrook, so overnight I've halved my (very substantial) snacking calorie intake.
I think I might write a book or become an influencer...
1) If you don't buy it, you can't eat it.
You can if you're a shoplifter
Context really matters, incl. food environment and people. I’m in Asia (China) at the moment and you can’t help but stay trim, even staying in hotels. I come a couple of times a year and, with zero exercise, although a lot of walking, I go from very passable shape to thin. Notable differences are big breakfasts with diverse tastes, fresh stuff, spicy bits, eggs, meat (but not lots) and no fear of fat (eg pork lard). Very easy to get to 2 or 3pm and think “oh I guess I should eat something”. Plates and bowls are smaller though and chopsticks make you more mindful of food. Puddings and sweets way less of a thing and virtually no UPFs in sight.
I don’t drink nowadays, but beer (and soda) less of a thing in China.
Obvs not all easy to implement in the UK but there’s something to be said for going for a big breakfast of healthy and flavoursome things.
Other thing that work for me when back in the UK is doing less exercise, but more of it. Rather than only going out if i’m going to ride or run X distance in Y time, during the week I’ll aim to be out for less time but more or less daily (I generally end up beasting hills as I know I don’t need to conserve for rest of ride/run). I try to get out middle of the day, which has effect of biting into potential snack times too. Appreciate not everyone can organise one’s day that easily, but I organise my calls I can get out midmorning (instead starting very early).
Just wondering if anyone has ever seen Lambchop and RFK Jnr in the same room together?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/25/rfk-jr-saturated-fats
I haven't got time to watch more than a couple of minutes of that video, does he mention why humans don't have teeth associated with a carnivore diet?
Teeth provide excellent evidence of the likely diet of an animal, it is very obvious that humans do not have teeth similar to carnivores such as cats, or even omnivores such as foxes.
Very easy to get to 2 or 3pm and think “oh I guess I should eat something”.
If I ever got to 2 or 3 o clock without eating, my body would assume I’d been kidnapped
I haven't got time to watch more than a couple of minutes of that video, does he mention why humans don't have teeth associated with a carnivore diet?
Teeth provide excellent evidence of the likely diet of an animal, it is very obvious that humans do not have teeth similar to carnivores such as cats, or even omnivores such as foxes.
weak argument
Flawed understanding of the science used to make a flawed argument. Radioisotope analysis used to analyse protein sources. Finds protein in diets. It shows a development in source of the protein.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2752538/
^Hell hath no fury like a recent convert .
I'm another one who doesn't have biscuits, crisps etc in the house. I do buy them from time to time.
What do you have for breakfast? If I have porridge or oats (most days) then I'm good with 3 meals and no snacks. If I have cereal or a just a pastry etc then I'm hungry all day!
Have a proper breakfast. Decaf coffee in the evening if I want something....
This thread is definitely proving the words of Stephen Fry correct and that’s second only to the word of god…
weak argument
And presumably posting a youtube video by Mickey the Meateater counts as a strong argument?
Eating meat makes you more attractive? Well that's me convinced then!
Its the phermones of meat sweats, nobody can resist Ernesto
Its the pheromones of meat sweats, nobody can resist Ernesto
This is Ernesto, by Calvin Kline, right? This year's must-have scent for men? I'm in! Where can I buy it???
I think it is the faintly urine-like smell of frying kidneys in the eau de toilette which conjures up the image of a masterful alpha male that so many find irresistible, including among the gay community I believe.
Vegetarianism raises some interesting questions for me. I just read this article and immediately I had so many questions. Mainly, if a vegan went for a kebab in a provincial town centre at 3am, would they still end up getting into a fight?
Mainly, if a vegan went for a kebab in a provincial town centre at 3am, would they still end up getting into a fight?
Well there is no reason why they wouldn't have a post-drinking late night "hold my kebab" moment.
Unless they had been drinking alcohol-free Guinness until 3 am ?
Mainly, if a vegan went for a kebab in a provincial town centre at 3am, would they still end up getting into a fight?
"Leave him Tarquin, he's not worth it!"
Here's a non-paywalled link to that article.