to wonder how the hell she stays so slim??

[SequinsAndSparkles]

My BIL is engaged to a spanish woman, and we spent the weekend at MIL's, all of us together.

She is very slim, I'd guess a size 6/8. Her skin is glowing and she is stunning, yet her diet perplexes me?

On the first morning, we were all having breakfast, MIL made a fry up for everyone, but I am on a diet so I had special K and some toast. SIL prepared her own breakfast (they are currently staying at MILs while they have some work done on their house), and she had some kind of cheese, can't remember what she said it was, about 10 olives and a slice of ham! Yet she said that my breakfast of Special K and toast was stodgy and apparently English women have 'very strange ideas about nutrition'.

For lunch, she had a chicken salad, but it involved lots of extra virgin olive oil, all over the peppers and a big dollop of salsa. And then for dinner she had chicken smeared in pesto, with green beans in salt, more salsa and a slice of cheese.

How is she so slim??

I didn't have a particuarly healthy weekend in the end, we ended up having a takeaway on the Saturday evening, and SIL wouldn't eat any of it, she wasn't rude, she politely declined but I just find it hypocrytical that she eats all this fatty stuff and made the comment about England having strange ideas about nutrition when I was eating Special K and toast!!

I' m also eating the total greek yoghurt...full fat! So thats breakfast sorted. No bananas then? What about bread, is the odd bit of rye bread or low gi bread ok, once or twice a week, or is bread a no no full stop? Looking to lose about 2 stone for june, think it's doable?

Yes it's doable. I lost 13lbs in 4 weeks. Others have seen more dramatic weightloss. But it does tend to slow down after that so you will have to be strict. Bread of any kind is a no. Use salad to replace a sandwich type meal.

Keep the middle of the week alcohol-free.

That's Wednesday sorted then. :o

Shit - so I can't eat beetroot? I love beetroot.

And bananas. Nooooooo

Generally anything that tastes sweet or has a starchy texture is out.

I'm not really aiming to low-carb, just to low-beige. I figured if I could get rid of bread, pastry, biscuits, crisps, white rice etc that must be a good thing.

I'm not going to get into bed about eating beetroot and bananas. They're good for you.

If I don't lose weight after a couple of weeks on the low-beige, I'll reconsider the no bananas thing.

Totally joyless is the way forward then, Orm.

Can't see me sticking to that long-term.

Oh I hate joyless dieting! What is the point in being thin and miserable?!

I think the SIL has a fun attitude to her eating, and probably has no hang ups with food. That diet does sound good but if I (or many other UK women I would suggest) ate that we'd feel guilty and 'bad' for eating all that fat, forgetting that olive oil is actually good for you.

FGS people sorry to be contraversial here but weight loss is all about energy in v energy out- so eating less is what it is all about. Old fashioned I know but its scientifically proven and makes more sense then only eating orange foods when the sun is going around the moon backwards or only eating bananas standing up and other nonsense.

Wow Ormirian well done that is amazing. I am inspired. Right off to read do a bit more research on this low carb milarky. Brilliant thread!

esciencenews.com/articles/2010/11/24/danish.researchers.finally.solve.obesity.riddle?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eScienceNews%2Fpopular+%28e%21+Science+News+-+Popular%29&utm_content=FaceBook

sorry should have given it the title...the most effective diet for weight loss

Celestial, in terms of the sorts of foods I eat and like regularly - things like chicken with my usual brown basmati rice and veg of some kind. I am helped because I never liked spicy or complicated foods so for me it's dead easy and what I prefer to eat a bit of meat, a smallish bit of "brown carb" and veg.

I also don't like drink and if you've sugar problems you do need to realise that alcohol also can mess around with you. I acecpt most people can hardly go a day without alcohol however. It's part of many people's lifestyles. I never really liked the taste of it.

Other stuff I like - I think basically just eat more protein and I love shell fish too, but always some carb and have proper meals every day at the same time so your body knows what to expect. But I'm not trying to lose weight. I'm eating in a way which suits me for life. Not everyone posting on the thread is the same.

What you're trying to do is stablise your eating first, ditching all diets, all thought of losing weight, all fuss over it, getting rid of the "diet head" mentality well described in a book by a journalist the name I cannot now remember. So concentrate eating to three regular meals a day and make them nice big ones with lots of meat and protein and veg and some carbs and then only when all that is working really well every day perhaps start to cut back what you eat that those meals. You want to get rid of the cycle of gorge or starve.

This has gone from sensible advice to people cutting out entire food groups, which in my opinion is not fun, not sustainable and not really that good for you.

Obviously both bananas and beetroot are healthy and nutritious. But neither, especially banana is great for weight loss. Our ancestors went months without eating any fruit (do you think they had florida oranges or bananas in the winter in Europe) yet we are all still here. Cutting out fruit would be entirely sustainable, more so than cutting out meat.

I will eat fruit and starchy carbs again, just not a good during weight loss phase.

Some on this thread are dieters and others want to eat a good diet. I think the dieters want to at soem point to change into the good diet people - so will reintroduce certain foods - like the beetroot, beans and bananas into their diets as they are good food.

have I got this right?

But in my opinion if people just ate a good diet and did exercise then they would lose weight, sensibly and wouldn't need a 'weight loss phase'. I can almost understand cutting out the likes of processed white bread as it contains very little goodness, but cutting such nutritious foods as beetroot, beans and bananas is just madness.

I lost over 2 stone when I stopped dieting and changed my way of eating-for life. It isn't a hardship, I have a balanced diet,I eat out, if I go to friends I eat whatever is served.I cut out most processed food and I don't eat snacks.I watch the fat content and eat smaller portions.

I also do much more exercise and try and go running at least 3 times a week.

But hmmSleep - there are lots other other good veg/salad and even fruit that you can eat if you're low carbing!

And define 'good diet' because the so-called experts can't agree on this either.

Out of curiosity, OP, does she do much exercise?

I know a couple of ladies who have successfully lost weight by cutting/severely reducing carbs and they look and feel better but they are also self-confessed exercise-phobes.

So if you're planning on gymming it a few times a week, bananas, wholemeal bread, bit of pasta would not be as critical if you eat it would it? I just can't imagine going to the gym and not having had some kind of carb ie. a banana beforehand .

Ivy - yes that is my plan at least. I managed it before but kept to the smaller portions and very little processed food. Oh yes, and ran 20 miles a week

xenia Thank you. That sounds like very sensible advice. I do try to stick to 3 meals per day at regular times when I can and try to cook healthy meals. My downfall is snacking in between so I really need to get on top of this. I have completely removed alcohol from my diet now and can't say that I miss it, so i'm pleased I've taken those empty calories out of the equation. I just need to get a grip on the crisps and chocolate which I tend to reach for in a weak moment.

Due to illness I'm unable to exercise at the moment but hopefully I'll be able to build on this as I become stronger . Before I became ill I did body pump and body attack 3 to 4 times a week. I didn't lose any weight probably because of my wine and snacking intake. Then when I became ill in October last year I had to stop all physical activity which has resulted in me gaining a stone in weight because I'm now unable to burn off the excess calories. So the wine has now gone and I just need to focus very hard on dropping the junk food. Thanks to this thread I've realised that my carb intake was way too high. This has been a real eye opener for me and I think that I'm now more aware of the balance of food groups in my meals and i'm now more positive about my approach to losing this excess weight. Life changing stuff! Thank you

garageflower - have your banana damn it . I think a diet which embargos bananas on the basis of carbs is taking a good thing too far. I watch my carb intake very carefully but some people seem to take it the level of unnecessary extremis! I've lost 38lbs since November and have eaten a banana pretty much every day, plus usually a small amount of bread and sometimes potatoes and rice and cous cous (all tightly portion controlled however)

There's a million and one ways you can do this. Some people, if they are trying to actually LOSE weight, will need to be strict and control their banana and beet habits and really stick to low carb, but if you just want to eat a bit more healthily, you can do the "beige" thing, and give up the obvious baddies, like white bread, sugar, pasta etc. You will probably find the weight (or at least the bloat) coming off anyway, just not as quickly.

FWIW, I started gradually on the low-carb thing, initially just stopped with the vast platefuls of pasta/rice/spud-centred meals I seemed to be eating, but still ate a bowl of muesli every morning. However, I was amazed at the immediate flattening of my tummy and the absence of that "stuffed" feeling after a meal.

I then looked into it in more depth, and started to find creative ways to reduce carbs further - but I have never felt like I'm depriving myself, or eating an inadequate diet. I cook for the family, but tailor my plateful to avoid the carbs - i.e. I'll do pasta, but eat my pasta sauce with courgettes instead of pasta, or I'll do an omelette and toast for the DCs and omelette and salad for me. If I feel that cake-craving coming on, I have a chunk of cheese instead - it's so easy, and has now become a way of life. I'm a major food-lover, and a diet where I felt I was depriving myself simply wouldn't work.

I'm not as strict as some, so the weight-loss for me was more gradual, and now I've reached a point where I don't want to lose any more (I'm 44, 5'7" and a size 10, so starting to get into "gaunt" territory if I'm not careful), so I DO have a bit of beetroot on my salad, or the occasional banana. But changing the bulk of my diet has really made a difference. I feel much more alert; I'm never hungry.

Someone asked about recipes - I don't really have special recipes, it's more to do with adapting what I already cook, or spotting a recipe which coincidentally is low-carb (for example, Heston Blumenthal's Waitrose recipe this month is basically steak and rocket - perfect!). There are a few creative ideas I've taken from the Low-carb threads on MN, such as cauliflower rice, or linseed pancakes, but that's it.

I did start running last year too, which definitely firmed things up and helped with the weight loss.