Low GI

[frillyflower]

Have just started Low GI diet today. Having 1200 cals per day.

Want to lose a stone.

Is Low GI good? Anyone had any success?

I am keen to avoid Atkins because the lack of fruit and veg does my head in.

[AuntieMaggie]

Low GI is good - there are some old threads where people did really well on it. I'll try to find them for you. I follow a GI-ish plan which has helped masses with my health issues and I've lost half a stone.

I don't like Atkins and other diets as they aren't sustainable.

[AuntieMaggie]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/big_slim_whatever_weight_loss_club/133889-gi-gl-diet-support-thread-it-s-2006

[Rooble]

I'm currently doing it, the Guardian Eat Right version. So far have lost 2lbs per week - slow and steady! Not sure if I'm doing it right. I always feel v full, but plenty of every food group(except sugar and alcohol) which seems sensible to me.

[frillyflower]

Thanks very much Aunt M and Roobie.

Day 1 started very well but ended v badly. I went out to a Greek restaurant to meet some friends. I chose wisely (grilled salmon) but had 2 glasses of wine and an ice cream (bad). Ended up eating most of a multi pack of Maltesers in bed while watching Newsnight on my laptop (v v bad indeed).

I am doing the Guardian thing too. Have you been doing it long Roobie?

[AuntieMaggie]

ooh can i look at the guardian thing online?

[frillyflower]

Yes it's here

[frillyflower]

Think it's good as I don't feel hungry.

Also gives you an idea of correct portion sizes (think I was eating too much carb as in big plates of rice or mash).

[frillyflower]

I have also chosen to have one alcoholic drink a day as part of my diet and they tailor it to fit that (I can't give up cake AND wine!)

[Rooble]

I've been doing it three weeks and have lost 6lbs so far (doesn't sound like all that much yet, but jeans and belt feel noticeably looser). (SO much more to go - but am feeling weirdly incentivised to "achieve" my half stone marker by next weigh in). I'm having three units of alcohol per week - half a bottle of wine each Saturday, which seems okay to me.
I'm not usually vg at sticking to diets - tend to go in all guns blazing, then give up at the first lapse - but am finding it helpful having the weekly weigh-ins, and messages from mentors. And this seems like quite a family-friendly diet - I hate having to say "mummy's avoiding pasta" etc, because I think it gives the wrong message about food to your DCs.
Hope today has gone better for you Frillyflower! I think evenings are most difficult (usually home alone) - have been ironing to keep my hands busy! Double benefit!

[frillyflower]

Thanks Roobie. You are doing very well.

I think GI seems good because as you say you can eat normally, but healthily. Like you, I don't like having to eat my own special food.

Agree about evenings. I am OK all day as busy doing stuff, but the evenings are difficult because we usually have wine. Actually we usually have puddings too, but I find it easier to refuse these!

Think I may have made a mistake to say one drink a day as it's really hard to stop at one. I may do what you do and have half bottle on Sat.

Keep up the good work. Frilly x

[Rooble]

Thanks! Actually my DH has been really helpful, because we quite often plan to have a glass of wine on a weekday, then accidentally polish off a bottle. So he was good enough to realise that this might help reduce the pot that he's acquired over the years, and just share one bottle with me per week. It's nice when those around you are on your side, isn't it? (hoping I don't sound too smug!) x

[frillyflower]

Yes my DH is far too browbeaten to sabotage a diet of mine very supportive too.

He also wants to cut down on the wine in the week because as you say it is so easy to drink a whole bottle between two people, and he also has a slight belly issue nowadays.

Are you doing the exercise recommended on Guardian eat Right? I have been trying to walk for at least 30 minutes per day but I can't bear to do the exercises with weights etc. because I am a lazy so and so.

[Rooble]

Same here! I looked at them and thought hmmmmm. We dont tend to close the living room curtains in the summer, and I'm too embarassed to do them in full view of the neighbourhood! I don't much like going to the gym (too easy to weasel out of doing the work, then end up feeling annoyed with myself after), So have been swimming 30 lengths 2-3 times a week which I really enjoy and leaves me feeling fantastic (I used to do 10, then go and sit in the sauna and pretend I'd exercised). Sort of luckily I can't drive, so have to walk several miles each day, have been trying to up the pace - again, sort of luckily, we live at the bottom of a hill and DS's pre-school is at the top of it, so I march up and down that hill at least 6 times a week. And I've been finding, the more you do the easier it gets and the better it feels.
Another thing to try (if you can make time) is couch 2 5k. There is an app (if you have the right kind of phone) called Get Running that talks you through it. I did it for a bit, but found I didn't have enough free time with childcare so plan to restart in September when DS starts school. It works out at 30 mins three times a week, and I found it really good.
I'm going to visit my mum in 2 weeks and really praying she will notice a difference... (she's lovely, but tends to be my harshest critic!)

[frillyflower]

Yeah! The thought of doing star jumps in my front room holding can of beans in each hand really puts me off. Especially if chanced upon by wandering family member.

That is so encouraging that you have done it by swimming and walking. I have to find a better pool. The nearest one to me is horrible.

Will explore Couch to 5K too.

I bet your mum will notice. My sister is the competitive bitch member in our family. The last time I saw her (she lives in France so don't see all the time) I had had a breast reduction (breasts now half the size) and all she said was "you are getting quite a belly aren't you?"

If I ever lose weight she never mentions it.

[fustyarse]

hi ladies

mind if i join you? I went to the dr a few weeks ago and asked about losing weight - I need to lose about 2 stone (and have done for about 2 years now)

I have tried so many diets; low carb, ww, sw, etc etc etc and tend to get fed up within the first week. So this low GI seems much more sustainable, really more about healthy choices and trying to cut the crap out. I have a terribly sweet tooth which I think this diet is addressing...since starting to eat this way I have lost about 4lbs, but haven't really been trying too hard. We're off on holiday next week so I won't be following it too closely but when we get back I really want to meal plan and go for it!

I do love wine though and have a glass (or 2) most nights...l know I need to reduce this. Boo.

What kind of things are you having each meal? I find I start to get bored having the same every day so some new ideas would be good....

[frillyflower]

Hello fusty! (Loving the name)

Please do join in.

Examples of meals I have had so far:

breakfast: All Bran + skimmed milk + an apple, or poached egg on wholemeal toast, or slice wholemeal toast + grilled bacon + tomato

lunch: homemade veg soup + slice w/meal bread + yoghurt and berries, or tuna fish, salad + bean salad, or ham salad sandwich

snacks: few nuts, or Ryvita and hummus and cucumber, or piece of fruit

dinner: chicken breast stuffed with spinach and rolled in Parma ham + roast tomatoes and mushrooms, or lamb casserole and broccoli, or any meat + salad + 2 or 3 tiny new potatoes.

I try to make the meals smaller but very nutritious and always eat some protein.

I do however have terrible lapses: I am finding it hard not to drink wine every day and I have just had a magnum (damn!)

[fustyarse]

Hi Frilly!

thanks for the welcome. your menu sounds fairly similar to the kind of things i eat. a typical day for me:

b/fast - low fat greek yoghurt with some all bran or muesli sprinkled over, maybe some berries on top too

lunch - soup, usually a can of bean soup, or something similar. has to be filling! might have with some oatcakes/rye bread

dinner - this is where i struggle. my dh works away so i can rarely be bothered to cook a proper meal, often end up having soup again, or salad with chicken breast or prawns, with things like olives, feta cheese, sundried tomatoes.

Tonight I've made a kind of soupy risotto with king prawns, thai red curry paste, peppers, celery and brown rice. Also added coconut milk. It's gorgeous and now my problem is trying not to eat 3 helpings! And I'm starving just now...

And I will be having red wine. It's the highlight of my day....as soon as the 3 dc are off to bed I love it!

I'm trying not to snack but if I do I need to avoid the chocolate/crisps/biscuits route...have heard that ginger oatcakes are nice though so will try to find them next time I go shopping

nice to find a GI support thread, I'll be happy to check in here regularly!

[frillyflower]

Mmm your dinner sounds lovely. I have had nothing since the Magnum Episode.

I think not snacking is key - or if you are hungry snack on something worthy. LIke one oatcake with cheese. Last year I saw a nutritionist and one of the things she said was to make a pate with beans (whizz tin of cannellini beans or similar with bit olive oil, garlic and parsley) and eat it with oatcake as a snack.

She also said that nobody needs puddings and wine was devil juice - but hey! I do make the bean thing and a bit of it keeps you going for ages.

I am thinking that Low GI probably only works if you have small portions, do exercise and don't cheat - so I have to get on with that.

Good luck. Let's reduce together.

[Rooble]

Agreed, Fusty's dinner sounds gorgeous! frilly, your sister is appalling! OMG! Can't believe someone would be such a cow.
My "task" this week is to play close attention to portion size, and I agree it's really easy for them to be bigger than you realise.
Fusty how young are your children? Do you eat with them? My DH is also away most weekday evenings, so I eat with DS and have to be bothered to make him something reasonable. It can make the evening feel a bit long though and that's when I find myself unconsciously eating crap.
Anyway. Off to have some breakfast!

[fustyarse]

Hi Rooble & Frilly!

they're 7, 4 and 2, and I usually feed them around 5.30 which I feel is too early for me. I like to eat when they've gone to bed, then I get a bit of peace. also, like you, if I eat that early then the evening seems loooooooong and I end up rooting about the cupboards looking for more food. Eating later, about 8pm usually means that I can generally avoid the snacking...what kind of things do you make for you and your DS to eat?

Dinner last night was yum! Probably ate too much though. Then I had 3 glasses of wine. Well it was Friday. Oh, and a Skinny Cow ice cream bar. not toooooo bad

Will be making a big pot of soup for lunch, probably lentil based...and again will have to watch I don't eat too much!

Frilly - could you post the bean pate recipe if you get a chance?

[frillyflower]

Hello ladies!

Yesterday I actually measured out 200 ml of soup and it was masses less than I would normally serve myself - think very small bowl. So, although v. healthy still fattening in quantity I was consuming.

I don't have littlies any more so don't have to eat at 5.30 but I do have a DH who works long hours and comes in any time between 5.00 and 10.00 pm.

I am making him same healthy stuff as me but with more starchy stuff in his (more spuds or rice for example). I try and eat my meal when I am hungry so I don't pick.

Hope I don't sound like subservient Stepford wife! I have just left my job and my new one doesn't start until September so I am at home at the moment.

I really want to be stone lighter to start new job.

Will post the bean pate recipe later.

Yes Roobie, my sister is a "piece of work". Last time we were at her house, I caught her telling my son's girlfriend that the reason I have a career and she doesn't is that mum and dad just ignored her and spent all their time nurturing me (ignoring fact that she ran away from home at 16 and got married to their complete horror). We have issues ...

[Rooble]

Fusty - if he had the choice he would have pasta with tomato and veg sauce and grated cheese for every meal (using one tin tomatoes, one carrot, one onion, one stick of celery - sauce makes about 4 portions). We often have pasta with a sauce of seasonal green veg mixed with smoked trout and low fat creme fraiche. Or risotto with whatever we have in the house in it. Or maybe casserole of chicken thighs w rice. Or fajitas with chicken or quorn. He's a bit conservative still and won't eat anything spicy. Why not try eating with the DCs then having allowable snack at 8 or 9 if you still want it? Or do you normally already have that during the day? The mentor at the Guardian suggested preparing carrot sticks and only allowing yourself those...
I used to scoff a load of high calorie stuff after he'd gone to bed, but this was less hunger than self-pity. Since my 1st week losing weight I've made myself a cup of tea then consciously thought to myself: do I choose a biscuit or do I choose to be 1lb lighter by next week? So far it seems to be working... (plus most importantly keeping hands and brain busy - ironing, knitting, writing, making curtains)
Don't know if that makes any sense (tonight is my alcohol night!).
Our normal breakfast is porridge with banana - it's what I've made him since he was weaned and I find it really filling myself.
Not sure if any of this helps? I'm starting to witter....