The Off Topic Thread...

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

bought coconut oil and deodarant

now I just have to try not to eat the deodarant

FunkZ

How much did your coconut oil cost Digby? I just bought 400g for 12 euro. I was glad to find it, I doubt I would have found Dunnes without my car!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

5.99 for 500ml, the cocowel stuff. same they have in superquinn same price too

FunkZ

Dayum. I never would have found Dunnes anyways

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

http://goo.gl/maps/l37Uz

for next time

also hopefully superquinn will have it soon enough, they usually have it whenever i'm in.. just none since saturday

rubadub

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

They add more protein to fat free versions to bulk it out, it's called 'milk solids', it's to make a thicker yoghurt to replicate the mouthfeel of fat.

Yeah, I remember skimmed milk in the 80s was extremely watery. I know some think its watery now but its got proteins added to thicken it, back then it was rarer to see it and I don't think they bothered thickening it.

Mellor wrote: »

It's also partially because removing the fat reduces the total volume, so existing protein volume is a higher precent of the total

+1, when the fat is removed, the natural increase/concentration in sugars in skimmed milk mean it has a higher sugar % than full sugar lilt. I like this fact when people go on about coke having 93 tablespoons of sugar per can, while really it has the same sugar as apple or orange juice. Of course I leave out the fact that lilt surprisingly has only half the sugar of most soft drinks. -it is weird it is not marketed as such, since so many are opposed to diet drinks be it sweeteners, or the macho image.

banquet

Does anyone know the formula weight watchers use to calculate how many points something is. I know the old system used to be based on saturated fats and calories. The more recent system includes carbs and protein in some fashion afaik. Is it a case of protein and carbs getting weights of 4 and fat getting 9 reflecting their calories or do they penalise one nutrient in some way?

danlen

banquet wrote: »

Does anyone know the formula weight watchers use to calculate how many points something is. I know the old system used to be based on saturated fats and calories. The more recent system includes carbs and protein in some fashion afaik. Is it a case of protein and carbs getting weights of 4 and fat getting 9 reflecting their calories or do they penalise one nutrient in some way?

Whatever they're doing, I'd stake my life on it being monumentally flawed.

rubadub

Their new bizarre formula can be seen on wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_Watchers#Food_Values_2

I expect they reckon the more complicated it looks the better value people think they are getting. Somebody tested a few items and found it was now pretty much proportional with calorie counting -while in the old system you would see crazy stuff like 500kcal of coconut having 2.5-3times the points of 500kcal of sugar.

Stench Blossoms

There's something wrong with me.

I seem to have got addicted to chewing gum. I go through about 10 a day.

Is this incredibly bad for me?

rocky

rubadub wrote: »

Their new bizarre formula can be seen on wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_Watchers#Food_Values_2

I expect they reckon the more complicated it looks the better value people think they are getting. Somebody tested a few items and found it was now pretty much proportional with calorie counting -while in the old system you would see crazy stuff like 500kcal of coconut having 2.5-3times the points of 500kcal of sugar.

Ha! Starting with carbohydrates at 4Kcal/gram, the protein they say is 3.37kcals, fat 9.47 kcals/gram, fibre 1kcal/g. Not too far off the accepted values.

Plus, what the f... hell is with the max{positive_value, 0}? that's always going to be the positive_value, did they think the formula is not complicated enough??

hollypink

I was thinking earlier today about the news anchor in Wisconsin who got a letter from a viewer saying "Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make"

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/video-of-american-tv-news-anchor-responding-to-viewer-letter-over-her-weight-goes-viral-3248825.html.

Then when I got home, there was a flyer from Centra in my mailbox advertising the weekly specials. Out of the 33 food items listed, only 2 are whole unprocessed foods - kiwis and rice. The rest are things like pizza, wedges, confectionery etc. I struggle (like a lot of people I'm sure!) with the temptation of processed foods and had to work hard with my diet to lost 2.5 stone this year to get down to a healthy weight. God knows what I'd be like if I lived in the States, where there is even more processed food and huge portion sizes

El_Dangeroso

Nail on head hollypink. Human beings are quite predictable on a population level. Environment matters. If you give a population cheap processed tasty food they WILL overeat and they WILL get fat.

danlen

All the more reason why you gotta hand it to Bloomberg, he tries to get things moving in the right direction...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK9QR0fq6mg&feature=g-user-u

El_Dangeroso

Back from Paris, found I cannot eat bread any more at all. I though fresh bread would make a difference but no, instant bloating, feeling crappy and having stomach trouble were my only reward.

boomtown84

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Back from Paris, found I cannot eat bread any more at all. I though fresh bread would make a difference but no, instant bloating, feeling crappy and having stomach trouble were my only reward.

Nightmare!:p

Orla K

Someone on facebook posted this
A vaccine for coeliacs.

rocky

^^ score!

El_Dangeroso

That's fantastic news, not so people can stuff their face with biscuits, but so they won't endure the savaging of their gut and resultant massive reduction in life-expectancy before they are diagnosed.

Orla K

I finally made some almond butter, it took ages in my tiny kenwood wizzard and I've got a headache now from it but I made it, next step is coconut butter and chocolate hazelnut butter.

danlen

You just blend up the almonds or did you add oil/water to it?

Orla K

danlen wrote: »

You just blend up the almonds or did you add oil/water to it?

Only almonds nothing else added.

metamorphosis

Orla K wrote: »

Only almonds nothing else added.

Fair dues ... i nearly cry or throw a tantrum every time I do it. I always promise to upgrade my food processor before I do it again but haven't yet! Mine is ancient!

dr.bollocko

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/12edbj/im_gary_taubes_science_writer_and_author_of_sweet/

Gary Taubes is doing a Q&A on reddit right now.

I don't know if you are familiar with reddit but to my surprise it's currently on the front page.

El_Dangeroso

He's holding his own it seems..

doctorwhogirl

Is it awful to admit...

when I'm shopping, and being particularly healthy, I do feel an inner sense of smugness as my lovely, fresh items slowly move their way along the conveyor belt. Maybe it's because I was so long nearly hiding the crap and sugary junk I was buying, almost pretending to myself I was buying it for someone else or a party....

There's something nice about looking at the veg and nuts and fish etc... and knowing I've come a long way!

Next time I'm in and I'm buying sweets I'm going to hide them under the spinach...

Orla K

I feel like such a hypocrite being in this forum when the only thing I can eat to stop feeling like I'm going to puke is sugar:(

El_Dangeroso

Orla K wrote: »

I feel like such a hypocrite being in this forum when the only thing I can eat to stop feeling like I'm going to puke is sugar:(

Hey, don't beat yourself up! Sugar can be healthy in an otherwise nutritious diet. Especially if it's just a temporary thing.

Why the nausea?

Other really gentle things to eat when nauseous are:

white rice
bananas
grapes
Clear soup

also smelling fresh cut ginger really helps!

Orla K

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Hey, don't beat yourself up! Sugar can be healthy in an otherwise nutritious diet. Especially if it's just a temporary thing.

Why the nausea?

Other really gentle things to eat when nauseous are:

white rice
bananas
grapes
Clear soup

also smelling fresh cut ginger really helps!

Every now and again I get a bad period and I feel lightheaded, sick and can't stomach healthy food. That coupled with upping I've started glandular thyroid which doesn't seem to be working for me which probably means estrogen dominance or adrenal issues.

I also pretty much fainted in the post office today. I was at the counter (in front of the guy everyone thinks is hot) and everything started fading so I decided to sit down the only place available was the floor. And everyone in the queue being me just stood there and stared. They did bring me in the back and give me a cup of sweet tea and a mini roll.

I've got chocolate and dried figs to eat and I'm going to go for some chicken pieces when I finish this.

As long as I don't move much and have a steady supply of sugar I feel fine as soon as I get up and move about I start to feel light headed and weak, I was planning on going to the gym and all today, it's bed, a crap film and some knitting for me tonight!

El_Dangeroso

Ah jaysus, you poor thing!

Broccolli and cabbage contain a chemical called DIM that converts 'bad' estrogen. to 'good estrogen' so maybe upping that would help after a month or two? There's also supplements of it if you need something stronger, they sell them on iherb.

In terms of the blood sugar issues, a good hack to stop the sugar hypo rollercoaster is to take glycerin diluted in water with a little lemon juice. One tablespoon in a big glass of water. You get glycerin in the baking section of the supermarket, it is a special type of sugar that doesn't need any pancreatic intervention to be absorbed.

It also helps with panic/anxiety that can sometimes come with low blood sugar.

Edited to say: Forgot with the hypothyroid that broccoli may be out, in which case you can try a raw carrot every day, it sort of does the same thing.