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Low carb. In essence following the principles of Atkins and The Idiot Proof Diet.
Lean protein and 'good carbs' initially; eventually re-introducing pulses, wholegrains and fruit. Basically avoiding sugar, wheat, potatoes and other root veg, rice, milk and any processed foods.
I know from fartoomuch experience that I have problems with the 'bad' carbs (bloating, wind, weight gain and bingeing) so am having yetanother go <sigh> at this WOE.
I tried the Cambridge diet but couldn't stick with it. This is a tried and trusted way of losing weight for me.
Fri - Boiled egg, Tuna salad, Fillet steak stir fry with chillies, bok choi, broccoli, onion and lemon juice.
Sat - Boiled egg, sardines with chopped pickled onions and cheese, Pork stir fry with chillies, bok choi, red pepper, onions, broccoli and lemon juice. Snack of cheese and grapefruit.
Drinks have been water, coffee w/ cream and splenda and ginger and lime tea.
Weighed this morning and am already down 5lbs and noticeably less bloated.
hello oggy...we used be on the old low carb thread together, I changed my name though. I was the one always banging on about Gary Taubes and The Diet Delusion...and whingeing about India Knight. Remember me at all?
Well, slow that wagon down so I can hoist my blubbery ass on up there.
Eggs and coffee (full fat lactofree milk) Salami, cheese, avocado handful nuts steak in cream & black pepper sauce, buttered cabbage, romanesco cauli plain 10% fat greek yogurt 1 square dark choc 1 options hot choc (not strictly low carb but only 5g carb and stopped me falling off wagon)
Apple and handful of nuts, coffee with f/fat lactofree Cabbage fried with blackforest ham and caraway seeds, sugarfree jelly and cream Dinner will be lamb stew and curly kale, greek yogurt with scooped passion fruit seeds Babybel/celery & peanut butter for snacks if necessary. Caramel flavour rooibus tea and herb tea for drinks.
Fed up today. Angry too for no reason, so must be hormonal
2 boiled eggs. No lunch. Will have gammon and cauliflower cheese for tea. Lots of coffee with cream and splenda.
Feeling very fat today and annoyed at myself. Just the sort of mood when it would be easy to cave in to temptation. Have deliberately got no alcohol in house.
Oh hello. Wasn't looking when the wagon rolled by at the weekend.
I bought The Diet Delusion after you receommended it otter but I can't think who you were before. Anyway I got the basic gist of what he was saying but found it rather hard going. He's right that we need some proper research to be done on low fat diets though, as at the moment everyone thinks that's the only proper way.
Anyway I low carbed it all by myself for Sept and Oct and lost nearly a stone. Then I fell off the wagon for some reason.
OK - will get back on tomorrow. (Have just had two bits of flapjack...)
Hi Oggs! No its still pretty much stayed off! (I think) I want to lose another one now! But I need to stop eating randomly - have been at it for about a week, so I am glad to see you again! Why do you think the Cambridge thing didn't work?
I might have to think about getting a season ticket for this wagon.
i wana join but i can't cook. i've never bought groceries in my life and since i've been married (2 yrs) my husband and I have been eating take out everyday.
is there a site that will tell me what to buy? how to make it?
Blimey. What about the Jamie's Ministry of Food book? It's not a low carb one but maybe it'd be as well to start with some basic cooking skills? Stopping the takeaways and eating home cooked, non-processed food would probably get you losing weight without having to low carb?
We're not actually following a specific official diet as such, just winging it. We're basically doing individual versions of low carb in an attempt usuallyfutileinmycase to lose weight.
There are loads of books around on low carb eating and I'll link to some sites when I've got a bit more time.
eandz It's possible to do low carb without cooking...by eating salads and ready roast chicken and cooked meats and cheeses, deli stuff. But also easy to cook veg and plain meat/fish under the grill. You'd probably be better off getting a book such as Atkins or The Idiot Proof Diet. I would find it hard to stick to low carb without the guidance of a book or something. Good luck!
I had a strop this afternoon as the carb cravings kicked in...decided I couldn't bear it and ate carby stuff rest of day...maybe due to not enough protein at breakfast...
Did somebody say wagon? Oh right you meant wagon, as in, on the wagon...no sugar/carbs...silly me, I thought you meant wagon wheel, as in large mallow and chocolate lunch box treat
hi can I join in? need to get back on carb-controlled diet. I did Carbohydrate Addicts' Diet really successfully 1999-2005 - kept me slim, energetic and non-depressed - but have been off it since, pregnant or breastfeeding constantly since 2005 and couldn't stay on plan. Still bf but my dd 5 mo is about to start solids, my ds told me this morning that I have a baby in my tummy - nope, just fat!! - and I have been feeling really draggy and depressed recently, think getting back on controlled carb eating would really help. Need to check in with people who will understand my situation! Started this morning - breakfast of black coffee, cheese and cucumber. plan today is to eat loads and loads of protein and low-carb veg to keep cravings at bay ...
I fell spectacularly off the wagon but will be dragging myself back on again tomorrow.
I think I stand a better chance of staying on if I allow myself pulses and wholegrains, lean proteins and loads of fruit and veg (not potatoes though). I tend to overdo the double cream and cheese so will use soya milk and try not to use nutter.
Hello Can I join aswell? I did similar version of aitkens in 2004 and lost over 3 stones. Have since had two children and put it all back on started last week wed, so been on diet for 1 1/2 weeks and already lost 5kgs/11 lbs so feeling motivated to continue.
oggsfrog I am doing almost the opposite to you lots of 'comfort food' proteins and fats to keep me going through the first few days till I'm firmly back and cravings are gone, so I'm having lots of creme fraiche, cheese, butter and cream cheese ... Also I need to make sure I don't cut calories much because still exclusively bfeeding lo.
Today gone well so far - had cheese and creme fraiche snack, then bacon, lettuce and mayo salad for lunch; but struggling a bit now as have just put my son down for his nap and here is where I usually reward myself with hobnobs. Will try and calm it down with celery and cream cheese ...
I'm back on Day One today. It's otterchocdog having namechanged.
I'm gonna really really try this time. So fed up of being overweight.
Breakfast: coffee with lactofree, scrambled eggs in coconut oil, apple.
Lunch will be tuna salad.
Dinner will be coconut chicken curry and cabbage.
I've been looking through all my low carb books and have decided that I'm following the Insulin Balance section of Leslie Kenton's X Factor Diet - which emphasises nut/seed/veg oils and fats over dairy, allows some fruit and more veg, plus occasional steel cut oatmeal or rye bread. More manageable I think.
Evening all Hope everyone has had a good eating day. I went out for lunch to day but still managed to eat turkey (yes christmas dinners already)and veges so that was fine and then for dinner Roast Chicken pieces and roasted veges.
Sausage and coffee with cream for breakfast; bacon, eggs and sausage for lunch (would have been mushrooms too but they'd run out); some cheese for snacks; and the plan I follow has a 'reward meal' once a day, balancing carbs, protein and veg, so I had a roasted veg and pancetta pizza, lettuce, banana and a trifle, and a hobnob (am planned overcarbing this meal to ensure adequate daily carb and calorie intake to support bfeeding).
Low on veggies but the ASDA order was delivered this evening so more veggies tomorrow.
Feel so much much much better already being back eating this way rather than snacking on carbs all day - am still up and feeling human at 10.30 pm, miraculous for me! And no depression feelings today at all despite being first day back at work from maternity leave, felt busy but on top of things whereas had been feeling overwhelmed for weeks. Amazing how a change in eating can affect my mood.
<hauls lardy arse up on to wagon causing it to lean precipitously to one side>
I'm back.
Have spent the last few days starting off well but then falling head first into the biscuit barrel .
Had half a left-over Cambridge sachet this morning and will have another half for lunch. This evening I will have lamb chops and pak choi. Must buy some cream.
2 boiled eggs for breakfast. Snacked on cheese, tomatoes and a couple of radish. Will be having steak and pak choi soon, and am also cooking some chicken breast fillets to snack on while I'm in the bath later.
Banging headaches yesterday and today - have never had these before, so I'm upping my water.
Thanks so much whoever mentioned the Idiot-proof diet, what a fantastic book! I'm sticking to my Carb Addicts diet because I know it works for me but the book as a whole is just fabulous, and just what I need to read right now.
Dealing with 2 sick children (vomiting baby and toddler with ear infection, lovely!) so am in 'coping mode' with food - lots of cheese, basically. Have stuck to plan though - good job after 2 nights in an armchair, I'd be feeling dead otherwise.
just wanted tosay hi-have been doing the Idiot proof diet for 4 weeks...have lost a stone, my skin is glowing, i have loads of energy and haven't cheated once it really works. IMHO you cant cheat or fall off the wagon with low carbing as you just put it on again so quickly
Today I have had scrambled egg and cheesy frankfurter sausages. Lunch was salad with chicken and bacon(sandwich fillers). But I have such a craving for chocolate, I think its because I am bored stuck in the house.DD was being sick all night, there is 5 inches of snow outside, I am tired from getting up 3 times to change her and the bedlinen, 6 month old baby is still waking in the night and DH is away for another 2 weeks so I am on my own. Sorry for the moan, hoping putting it in writing will stop me eating chocolate as those are the reasons why I want to. I am going for a sleep now as all 3 DC are sleeping.
Scrambled eggs and cheese for breakfast (had to fight 2 yo ds off them, he is allergic to eggs and desperately wants to try them); bacon and red pepper for lunch; Chinese takeaway and fruit and biscuits for dinner, I was ravenous by this point. Coffee and cream and cheese for snacks. Could have done with more water but otherwise OK.
Difficult day with 2 small sick kids but know it would have been harder if I'd got through it on hobnobs alone, as have been doing recently.
Three sausages fried in butter for brunch. Couple of cups of coffee with cream. Lots of water. Then gammon, chips and peas and banana and chocolate button for the reward meal. Still feeling much better than before I got back on plan. Also weighed myself to give a starting point - 78.1 kilos (avoiding stones and pounds as I have an emotional response to these, while kilos is just a number). Still not enough veggies but am now stocked up and should be better on that front this week.
Well I decided sod that and ate the bar of chocolate and felt better that the temptation was now gone. It was dark chocolate so better than milk. I had a good day on sunday so my little wobble was forgotten. Have lost another kg this week so expect to have lost another one by wed. So seem to be sticking with 2kgs a week. I would then have lost a stone and another 2 stone to lose.
Still doing OK, but I admit to having about 25g of 85% choc each day. I can't seem to keep on track without it! I count in the carbs - about 7.5g and try to keep it within my limit of 30- 40g (often it is less than 30 though).
Breakfast - scrambled eggs in coconut oil, coffee with lactofree
Lunch - pepperoni and broccoli, rooibus tea
Dinner - pot roast beef, greens, celeriac mash
Snacks: nuts, 85% choc.
Enjoying the complete lack of stomach bloating, and really feeling positive that I could maintain this for a good while.
Going for my second run in a while tonight too.
Hope everyone is doing OK.
<notes silence from Oggsfroggs spot in the wagon, but can't see in the darkness if she is still there or not, hopes she is there and just dozing >
Earthworm: You are doing well, well done. I am off to the gym this morning, I have been managing to go twice a week so hoping that helps with the weightloss.
systemsaddict - please take this in the trying-to-be-helpful spirit it is intended - your diet doesn't sound very healthy. If you eat pizza, takeaways or chips at night after an atkins breakfast and lunch, won't you gain weight? The full fat thing only works if you are in ketosis which means low carb all day. I would gain a lot of weight quickly if I ate what you've been eating this week. I really wish you well with your efforts.
Don't you worry about me EFBE, I'm still here at the back of the wagon .
Still sticking to it, have been breakfasting on boiled egg, lunch has been lettuce leaves spread with mayo with ham and cheese inside, then evening meal has been meat with brocolli, cauli and maybe a chunk of leek.
Haven't been drinking as much water as I should, and have been drinking more double cream (in coffee) than I should so I'm working on that.
System, I have to agree with Jumpty in that ketosis relies on the ingestion of not many carbs. Too many and you will switch back to burning the glucose that is produced when you eat carbs. If this is combined with high fat/protein intake then it will result in gain not loss.
Roughly how many grams of carbs do you have over the day?
But isn't it the Carbohydrate Addicts Diet systemsaddict is following? IIRC it's low carb but with one meal a day balanced with fat, carbs, and protein. There is something about carb intake being limited to one hour a day only and in conjunction with the fat and protein, something to do with the way insulin works - plus she is BF, and I think although there is no research, most of these low carb plans advise against a total ketogenic diet when BF?
Ah. It must be a different Carb Addicts Diet than the one I followed about 20 years ago (by Tish Hayton).
Still don't understand how it works, but hey, if it does, then that's all that matters .
Sick of boiled eggs so had an avocado for breakfast and have just had 6 brazil nuts. Have got a cup of ginger and lime tea and a large glass of water now.
Hi guys, sorry have been offline for a couple of days with 2 sick small kids (hence pizzas etc).
Yes it is the Carbohydrate Addicts' Diet I follow here which allows one 'reward meal' a day - in which you balance carbs, protein and low-carb veg. The rest of the time you eat from like an Atkins Phase 1 list of foods but more restricted I think. It doesn't rely on ketosis for weight loss but aims to balance your insulin by only stimulating your pancreas once a day.
It works v. well for me - lost about 3 stone on it 1st time round and maintained on plan for 6 years till I fell pg in 2005 - and have already lost a kilo since going back on plan - though I am breastfeeding, which helps. Though actually I eat this way mainly to stave off depression and lethargy, the weight loss is a bonus.
I am deliberately eating too many carbs at reward meals because of breastfeeding so I am not a model CADDer at the mo. And admittedly I would normally aim to have slightly healthier reward meals, and slightly healthier low-carb ones too; this has not been the ideal week!
Have just thought after posting my explanation - is it OK for me to keep posting on this thread, or would people rather keep it purely to people doing exclusively low-carb eating? (rather than the CAD 'controlled carb' version) I won't take offence if you'd rather I went elsewhere, honest I know how important it is to get online support right.
Don't be daft systemsaddict! Why would you not be welcome to post? Eveyone is doing their own thing and some of us are following a specific low carb plan, others, like me, are just winging it. Incidentally, I've ordered a copy of TCAD and it should be arriving today from Amazon.
I'm not convinced that ketosis is necessary for weightloss and feel myself that the answer lies in the insulin balance/control issue. I try to read as much as possible about the subject and then just follow what feels instinctively right.
Hope your household recovers soon, it's a nightmare trying to stay on top of things when the kids are ill (esp if you are yourself). I know many a pizza has been devoured in this house in such circumstances!
I haven't got out my aitkens book, can someone tell me if I am not eating very much, but sticking to no carbs will I stop losing weight. The reason I ask is because as I have mentioned my weighloss has slowed down and I am actually eating less. But still being strict, I am just not hungry in the morning.
Well, I have heard many many people say that they have stalled when they started eating a lot less. Not to say if that is the official line, but I have heard of anecdotal evidence to that effect.
Can you give me a rough idea of what you're eating daily?
D'oh! The one I followed was called The Food Addict's Diet, not the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. I do know the one you are talking about as I got the book from the library once - I found it a bit too wordy so didn't read it all. I hope you didn't think I was criticising your WOE.
It's interesting to hear about how low carb can work in other ways.
I'll second that, Worm. Mitchell, if you don't eat regularyly then your body goes into starvation mode and holds onto everything as it's not sure when the next meal is coming.
It's best to have something , even if it's not much. I was in a rush this morning so just had coffee with cream and a handful of brazil nuts that I munched as I was driving.
Thank you guys! Glad I can stay as I've found it really helpful being here. Don't worry, I didn't think anyone was criticising, I read yr posts as being with helpful intention, just thought I should clarify what I was doing.
Thanks that is kind of what I was thinking about the body thinking it was in starvation mode for the morning. Will eat more.
Like for instance today I left the house without eating and then have had a full breakfast at 1pm (eggs, bacon, mushrooms, sausage). But usually I try to get eggs for breakfast but can't have them too often. Other days I will just eat cheese until lunch. I need to have more snacks to eat in the fridge like cooked chicken pieces, viennas etc. As I tend to snack for breakfast rather than have a meal.
systemsaddict - I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to sound critical. Well done on your kg, that's great, especially when you've got sick kids. I've never heard of CA before, sounds interesting.
systemsaddict my copy of The Carbohydrate Addicts Diet arrived today. I did the questionnaire and came up as a moderate, nearly severe addiction, whereas DH came up as less than 21 points therefore not a carb addict.
I'm a bit about the terminology "addict" but I am willing to put that down as a daft Americanism. I'm going to give it a go. The reality is I just don't have enough will power to stick to any diet for long so maybe one which combines a low carb approach most of the time with the chance to eat a normal dinner with a pudding if I want it will work.
After all, I've been trying to low carb it since May this year (this time around) and I am a pound heavier than when I started.
I'm thinking maybe I'll have trouble with not eating between meals though. Well we'll see. It can't be any worse than Slimming World !
oggsfrog was that the Food Addicts Diet (The Body Knows) where you are allowed strictly controlled portions of meat/fish, fruit & veg, low fat dairy and wholegrains only FOREVER AND EVER AMEN. With a kind of 12 steps for food? If so I had that one too. If not, jeez there sure are a hell of a lot of diet books for us to waste our money on, eh?
If I remember rightly you had to totally eliminate sugar, wheat, potatoes and cow dairy products from your diet (I'm sure there was one more in the list but I can never remember it).
I think it was intended as much to help with problems like IBS which I had really badly at the time, as much as to help with weight loss.
It did work for me though and I both lost weight and managed to 'cure' my IBS.
Earthworm, I scored right up well into the 'severe' category! I'm with you on the daftness of the 'addict' terminology, though hate to admit it does describe my behaviour ...
I went off plan yesterday, cravings stupidly triggered by combination of sleep deprivation, worry about kids (5 mo. old been ill for 2 weeks, obviously in pain, dr.s just say 'virus' ), nowhere near enough water, and (probably the most significant trigger) ate mango the night before outside my reward meal, not ripe enough for ds and I didn't want to waste it (and didn't think to save it for reward meal, duh). Yesterday went v. downhill with cake and hobnobs.
Probably a good warning though as I felt soawful within a couple of hours, couldn't move levels of lethargy and very tearful, v. scary as I'd been feeling physically and emotionally really good the past couple of weeks since going back on plan.
Enough of a scare to get back on today. Have had coffee with cream, bacon and cheese salad, and some cheese for snacks. Will do protein- and veg-heavy reward meal this evening and hopefully be rid of cravings by tomorrow.
Hi all, hope you don't mind me joining in your thread. I am hoping to follow India Knight's low carb plan for a couple of weeks to shift a few lbs and regain some energy. I eat far too many carby foods during the day (bread, biscuits, more bread etc) and tend to feel like a zombie come the afternoon...Zzzzzzz. A couple of weeks off the wine will be good too for the waistline.
Day one today - so far I have had two cups of coffee with cream and sweetener and some olives and cheese for breakfast. Lunch will be chicken salad or soup; gammon and vegetables for dinner.
welcome toadette I have had meatballs and cheese, chicken and bacon salad for lunch and will have home made quiche with no pastry for dinner. How is everyone else doing?
Lost another 1kg this week, was hoping to stick at 2kgs a week but unfortunetley not.
Just done a week of CAD and it is a total revelation. Well, perhaps I shouldn't speak too soon, but I feel much better, have had virtually no cravings and have enjoyed great LC food during the day at breakfast and lunch, then normal dinners with bread or potatoes and fruit, portions of chocolate or cake for dessert although I can easily see me not bothering with "sweets" after the initial thrill/testing stage.
Still need to drink more water though, but so far this beats the pants off any low carb plan I've been on. I feel so much better and in control for the first time in ages.
I really think that insulin control is key for me rather than ketosis.
I have just started the south beach diet which sounds similar but am craving fruit so much! only another ten days til i can reintroduce fruit and healthy carbs .... hope it works!
earthworm that's great!! I remember that 'revelation' feeling so clearly from first time I started it, it was the first time in years I'd felt like a normal person, I knew straightaway it was what my body needed.
Which means I'm very very reluctant to say ... I am going back off plan for a few more months, as my lovely 5 mo. old dd has been throwing up pretty much constantly since the day I went back on it. I don't know if it's because of lots more dairy, ketones in the milk (though I am not aiming for ketosis it's possible as I've been skipping meals and was losing weight quickly), or some other hormonal mechanism I don't understand. Or just a coincidence. But it's been 3 weeks now on and off, and I don't want to risk it being my diet that's doing it. If it can have this powerful an effect on my body it must be able to affect milk too.
I will do my best to eat low GI but I know myself well enough that without the craving control from CAD I have no willpower around food so am liable to be a chocolate-fuelled zombie for a while. But will def. be back once she's feeding a bit less. (Or if she continues to throw up after a week or so I will conclude it wasn't the diet and come back sooner!)
.
, family wedding and listening to Mr McKennas cd? Welcome on board!
> 
), nowhere near enough water, and (probably the most significant trigger) ate mango the night before outside my reward meal, not ripe enough for ds and I didn't want to waste it (and didn't think to save it for reward meal, duh). Yesterday went v. downhill with cake and hobnobs. 
