h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Did anyone else watch Jamie Oliver's programme late last night "Eat to Save your Life" on the 4th channel 'on the other side'?

It was a lesson and a half for anyone even slightly overweight, with a larger than normal appetite, or a lover of fast food and junk food.

It was the best coverage of the subject I have ever seen. No-one was made to feel guilty - 'we are all in the same boat' was the approach.

The last part of the programme, for those who stopped up to watch it, would have had the most impact. If it is ever shown again I would urge you to watch it. it was a real eye opener. Gruesome definitely but the truth of the piece could not be denied.

i know now what I have to do, it is just a matter of doing it. I lost two and a half stone the last time I persevered and it has stayed off. Here goes for another two stone but without dieting. Wish me

Websailor

I didn't see it - but am interested to know how you can lose all that weight without dieting!! Do let us in on your secret! I would like to lose half a stone

I can't watch BBC tv, but I am curious noww: what is the gruesome truth?

You can't leave us in suspenders like this Webbie - I'd like to lose a couple of stone without dieting, too, so c'mon - share the info!

I did indeed watch it, and it was quite good. The 'shock' elements were particularly well done, though I frequently wanted to mash his face when he started talking about the influence of the evil supermarkets he is happy to endorse. I thought the best bit was unintentionally hilarious, when he showed people how to make a 'fresh' sauce - by opening a few tins of tomatoes...

Far better was 'Fast Food Junkies Go Native', where they sent some rather obese people to live in the mountains of Pakistan for a month. This was exceptionally good TV, and quite an education. The tribe the participants lived with didn't waste any part of the animals they ate, so they tucked into lunches of entrail soup and that sort of thing, though the diet was mainly vegetarian. They also cooked the locals their favourite meals; tinned ravioli, full breakfasts and so on. The best part was right at the end, where they watched 'their' yak being slaughtered; a great lesson on where food actually comes from. Needless to say, they all lost considerable amounts of weight, and it was a perfect demonstration that you can lose weight just by eating healthier food and getting more exercise.

I've never been 13 stone before, and I am now, so I'll be going along that route in the coming weeks as well

Oh... I *know where meat comes from -when I lived in Eire we often went out and shot rabbits for the larder - but I could never bring myself to eat the poor little things after I'd taken their jackets off

And I could *never bring myself to gut fish, either. I don't care if they were still fresh from the sea. The bloody things seemed to be watching me and I didn't like that one bit

When one of our goats died, we did a post mortem on it to see *why it had died, and also to use its skin to tan into a rug. It's odd really; you certainly can feel death's "presence" for a few minutes whilst the animal dies, but within...oh.... 5 minutes into theskinning it became a job rather than a desecration.

And besides, we had no intention of eating Garrett the goat anyway, so it was a fascinating lesson in basic anatomy once I'd thrown up.

I couldn't use the knife we used afterwards for weeks afterwards though. That felt really wrong for some strange reasen.

Webbie, I'll join you, my New Year resolution was to lose weight but I've not started a "diet" as such, just not had any or puddings, biscuits, etc. I'm doing well, I've had two sweets since new year, both forced on me by my mother the apple pie that I ate at her house yesterday made me feel really guilty, I want to be slimmer and weight less. I worked really hard today in my kitchen (cleaning) and washed all my outside windows and kitchen windows inside to try & burn off some calories.

*also wants to hear secret*

dear?

It's non-sugar, with semi-skim milk

I've just had a like that. I normally have two sugars. It tastes fine, so I'm going to try sugar-free later on as well.

Incidentally, is there any particular reason why I've ended up on a thread talking about diets? That's not like me at all

I've stopped taking sugar in tea or coffee decades ago - because of my poor teeth, not for dietary reasons.
I recently had a swig of my colleague's mug (I confused them because they all look alike), and it was so sweet, my reflex was to spit it out.

Now if you really are squeamish, peek through your fingers at this:

The gruesome truth came when an autopsy was performed on a (dead obviously!) 25 stone man by Dr. Gunther von Hagens famous for his dissections of human bodies. I have not been a fan of his past efforts but there time there was a very valuable purpose to it.

The man died of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart failure. His heart was found to be over twice the normal size from working so hard. The build up of fat round his abdomen pushed the heart out of position, and squashed the lungs to half their size, so he would have been barely able to breathe. His liver was enlarged and hardened because it couldn't cope with the amount of fat, and his whole body was festooned with fat causing all sort of other problems.

The programme showed in graphic detail the quantities of fat, sugar and salt in convenience foods that we don't know is there and showed better alternatives for preparing food easily and quickly hence the use of tinned tomatoes instead of fresh, Rich. The idea was to show you could still eat healthily without spending hours in the kitchen. Tinned food is fine so long as you check for added sugar, salt and fat.

now, you asked how I lost two and a half stone. The frightened me by putting me on beta blockers for high blood pressure and said my cholesterol was high. now as my other half is already in far from the best of health, I couldn't afford to have any additional problems. I had always been careful of sugar, nd don't really have a sweet tooth but I do like salty things. So at every opportunity I cut out the salt.

Then I started looking at the food I served up, especially when I was busy, and realised just how much hidden fat we were consuming. So I went back to plain food, fresh or frozen,making my own sauces etc. for flavour and seasoning with other than salt.

It was hard, but I still ate everything I liked but in tiny quantities - no diet as such. Oh,and I drank loads of water and cut out the fizzy stuff.

Lastly I forced myself to walk every day, not use the unless I was loaded with shopping and that's about it. By the way, shopping with fresh fruit, veg. and salad is much heavier than packet stuff but builds muscle!

Anyway, it worked, and I have stuck at my current weight for a couple of years, but I know I should lose a lot more. Jamie's programme just might force me to try again.

I saw the latter half of the programme Rich mentioned, and it was very good. I hope they go back and look at the participants after they have been back home for a year or so, and see whether it had any lasting effect.

I am not making any Resolutions as I know I will break them and beat myself up for letting myself down. I shall just try a bit at a time to live a better lifestyle.

I wonder if any of those programmes will find their way on to youTube?

Websailor

Rich I have no idea, but welcome aboard!!! And you know, with all of us it is just habit. I haven't had sugar in tea or coffee for over thirty years, and even a few grains in a coffee tastes sickly sweet.

Oh, and one other thing, don't fall for the sugar-free alternatives, they are worse than the natural product. If you can't give up sugar completely just cut down.

Gb, don't feel guilty - enjoy, and cut something else out to compensate. Guilt kills resolution stone dead for me, so I make no promises. Just one tiny step at a time.

everyone Whoops, I mean

Bum

No "secrets" as such that I don't do already

- I don't do sugar, I don't do salt, I seldom do puddings and I always eat fresh stuff - or "sensible" supermarket stuff, I wouldn't know what proper milk tastes like any more... yada yada yada.

And up until last year, despite getting awarded a stick to help me get around, I managed to keep my weight even - for over 4 years! Now, because of "technical probs" I can't go swimming two or three times a week, I've put on a stone in the last year. I've tried cutting portions down even more, but I'm on a constant 1500 calorie a day intake as it is. There *are limits!

As the dietician said, it's only a just over a pound a month's gain

Yes - and it's all around my belly and hips thank you sooo much And swimming, alas is about the only exercise I can do without wanting to scream in pain afterwards.

Liposuction, anyone?

Nooo, have you ever seen how it is done on the telly? better live with some more weight than liposuction.

No thanks Ev, and I think we better change your name too

Oh, and from what I have been reading supermarket 'sensible' stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be.

And Rich, I rather admire JO for lambasting supermarkets and possibly risking his very lucrative contract . If he does keep it, maybe he can change a few minds.

Plain basic food (exotic if you like) but dress it up yourself, then you know what's in it.

Scorp, you like exotic foods, any suggestions? I want to try ostrich, or buffalo meat, but I draw the line at kangaroo meat, as you might remember. You can tell I am not a vegetarian, though I eat a great deal less meant than I did twenty years ago.

Websailor

Yes... but that yukky stuff's inside of me

Once I've had the op done, and convalessed I can get back to the pool though, so it's not all doom. It just means trying to get the energy up to go every day for 6 months to lose what I've put on and then keep on with the regular 3 times a week schedule.



Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?


Rich - you're here because you've never been 13 stone before.

I have

Consider it optimum cuddling weight and its not so bad. Anything over and you need a bigger partner!

Yes, I saw why he used tins. But it takes about a minute to chop half a dozen fresh tomatoes and add them, so there's hardly a time difference. If you're going to chop fresh herbs instead of using dried herbs, why not use fresh tomatoes instead of tinned?

I won't be using any sugar-free alternatives, because I dislike the flavour. Some people have tried to tell me that there isn't a difference, but there is. It's a bit odd that I do have so much sugar in my tea and coffee, because I don't have a sweet tooth at all, and actually prefer bitter flavours. So I might cope, as you say, it's all habit

You can watch any of the programmes again by going to http://www.channel4.com/4od/index.html and downloading a small program that gives you access to their archives. Most programmes are available there for seven days after transmission.

I can't change my name Webbie - I was given it by a mate who honestly thought I had the gift of precognition, and, like the weight on my hips, it's sort of stuck!

And besides, she's every bit as stroppy as I can be; I rather like her.

Call me Ev and we'll be good little dieters and forget the Cake bit, eh?

I'll try that, but usually, it's for UK residents only, so I can't watch anything but BBC world on my TV.