I like the 3 meals a day. I never used to eat breakfast. Normally felt hungry about 11.30 so had a huge brunch. Not a good way to start the day. We need a hearty breakfast to start the motor running and preparing us for the day ahead.
Remember your 'breaking fast' You don't eat all night, so you need that kick start. I have a high protein breakfast. Soup for lunch and a very light evening meal.
I suppose each therapist doe's it differently. I went with Carl due to his involvement with Sheila Granger. The only Organisation involved in clinical studies with the N.H.S.
Carl got me to watch a program on his computer, relating to the science of the brain and eating. That really opened my mind that diets are a load of rubbish.
Don't skip meals. A CT scan of the brain showed the brain lighting up when a volunteer who had skipped breakfast was shown pics of high calorie, high fat food and little reaction to low-cal food. The volunteer who had eaten breakfast scan showed no difference between pics of low cal food and High cal food. The area of the brain lighting up was one associated with appetite so the brain was guiding choice towards calorie laden food (think pastries at morning break)
Eating a protein rich breakfast (or any other meal) keeps you satisfied for longer because it triggers the release of more of the chemical that tells the brain you are full.
The key to this low-tech weapon against hunger is a hormone called ghrelin. It is one of the major players in the body's appetite system.
Discovered as recently as 1999, ghrelin is released by specialised cells in the stomach wall.
These cells produce a constant stream of ghrelin whenever the stomach is empty. The ghrelin travels via the blood stream to the brain's appetite centre, an organ called the hypothalamus. As a result, the hypothalamus screams "You are hungry - find food."
But whenever the stomach wall is stretched - when the stomach is full - the cells stop producing ghrelin, and the hypothalamus responds accordingly, turning off the appetite signal. The longer the stomach remains full, the longer you feel satisfied and the less you are likely to eat.
There are probably dozens of hormones that play a role in regulating appetite. Of those that have already been discovered, there is one that is released after eating protein-rich meals (called PYY), one that is released by fat cells (leptin) and several that respond to the presence of any kind of food.
But of all the hormones that make up the appetite system, it is ghrelin that has caused the most interest. In addition to its role in sending the "stomach empty" signal to the brain, ghrelin also promotes fat storage.
Even worse, it inhibits the breakdown of stored fat during times of weight loss. Inject ghrelin into the bloodstream of a rat and the animal eats insatiably - and quickly becomes obese.
I got all this info from Carl. I suppose for them to have their work clinically reviewed they will have to include the science of why our brains work this way.
So the gastric band, exercise and this kind of information as allowed me to lose over 2 stone in just under 2 months. I'm never going to eat when hungry. A good start to the day give my body all that it requires after fasting all night. Soup allows my stomach to remain full longer, stopping the hormones telling my brain to search out food. Especially the high calorie ones and the light dinner, so my body doesn't have to digest a heavy meal in the evening.
But are we still losing weight and feeling good....:clap:
Lucy..x
