I'm starting LC tomorrow - any takers?

[RealRamona]

Probably asking for trouble by starting on a Thursday, during the Easter hols, but after dithering back and forth with l'carbing, I need to make a proper start (as in, the chocolate is all finally eaten).

I'll be weighing in tomorrow, and following all the rules of bootcamp, as per the instructions.

My goal is to shift weight before the end of the school term in July. No figure in mind, just shedding weight. I am also joining a beginners running group on 17.04.18.

Anyway - if you want to join me, please do! You are free, if course, to weigh any day you wish!

Hi Summa!

My GOAL is 10.7 but i'm quite broad so any less looks a bit skinny on me :)

This is only only thing that has worked for me also mainly because of the effect on hunger and because it has a reallt dramatic weight loss at the start which i find motivating.

i have combined with fasting/5:2 before which is effective (i get is a bit extreme, i was getting married!!) anyone doing low carb or any diet i would recommend doing a full day water fast just once just to understand what hunger really feels like and that hunger isn't terrible or scary or bad or needs to be cured.

i was brought up with the hunger=bad slows your metabolism, little and often etc etc and while it may work for some people it made me FAT!

Low carbing is great because you get all the benefits of fasting without actually fasting.

Studies show that generally it actually take 3-4 days of no food at all to make your metabolism drop and it actually increases at first! that all being said if hunger might make you fall off the wagon then best to avoid it!!

I am strongly of the belief that everyone is different and needs to find what works for them.

Im changing my username back to my low carbing one ( iamnotacerialkiller) i haven't disappeared but my name doesn't really apply anymore.

Annnnnd im back!!!

74.9 this morning (down 1.1 kg?). No appetite but that's a good thing right?

Welcome to all newcomers. The more the low-carbier!

2LB down today on yesterday!! thats why we low carb!!

so im now 13st 8.5lb 3.5lb down in two days!!

anyone else weighing daily? works to keep me on track.

Well done, Cereal!

In the interests of accountability, I've the weekend I had some carbs. But no binges!

Pancake (whole grain) with jam for bfast. (DP was here and I always make him pancakes. )

lunch: a bit of tomato soup, lots of cucumber with hummus.

Dinner: chicken and broccoli, spuds for DP . But I couldn't eat any of the chicken!
Few cashews.

Sunday bfast: eggs, bacon, several slices (thin, thin slices!)of toast.

Out for a walk, one scoop of ice cream which i enjoyed immensely.

Dinner was more of the damn chicken and lots of salad. DP had potatoes and a huge bowl of ice cream.
Think I overdosed on chicken! Really not much appetite.
Not ideal but a normal weekend would involve large amounts of cake and pasta or potatoes.

Today porridge with berries and almonds. Two biscuits that were lying around at work.

And now for lunch of 2 hardboiled eggs and cherry tomatoes.

Thanks Pecan.

Its great being back on a forum with this. i lost over 30lb a few years ago on low carb and that was in conjunction with using a forum so i do think that it could be a key to success being on here.

Well done for not going overboard over the weekend! i have found that when doing this kind of thing that you do massively enjoy good food more and savour it more.

Because we are (hopefully) in ketosis you also have to consider food that is worth the carbs and potentially kicking yourself out of fat burning. i find this reduces the amount of crap i will eat as it isn't tasty enough. There is a gelatary in town here that serves a small single scoop of the most amazing chocolate hazelnut gelato, not thats worth it. it taste just like nutella!!

Perhaps we should ban talk of off-plan food...im now craving gelato sigh..just as well its a good distance away so not so convenient.

I have had some left over chillie beef from last night. basically taco filling but without the taco. Spicy beef, tomato salsa, sour cream and chedder cheese. mmmm. DH can just chuck a wrap in the microwave and he had a regular meal.

So far today:

Breakfast: Mug of hot water in the morning

Cycle into town (5.5 miles)

Lunch: zucchini and basil soup with black tea - does anyone know if soup from cafe/lunch places are healthy? Do most places add a lot of extra bad stuff in?

After lunch I plan to cycle home (5.5 miles), maybe do gym and sauna in the evening, and cook a spicy vegetable stir fry for dinner with guacamole..

Are black beans still ok to eat??

Thank you for the support with this...does anyone else feel like when they control their eating etc, your head feels clearer? Like more in control of my life?

Your lunch sounds lovely Cereal. I was really craving a meat feast pizza so I drizzled a bit of passata on a tray, then grated cheese and put toppings on there. I got my melty, pizzary yumminess without caving.

Well done on everyone's weight loss. I weigh daily and have an app to track it on. Definitely helps motivation.

Hi Summa,

Yes to feeling clearer headed, i had the same effect with fasting so i think its something to to with not running of glucose (carbs anymore) as both are a ketosis diet. I think the theory is that the body is really designed to run off fat primarily and so the carbs effect us hormonally more especially insulin which is why we get cravings and spikes and crashes. without all that its easy to feel more stable. i find low carbing is really good for my skin so it help those hormones too.

I think black beans are still quite carby. just google 'black beans carbs' ....yes 63g of carbs in 100g. that's as much as pasta! best to avoid.

i have been told to aim for foods that are around 5g per 100g carbs or less. this is all meat, most hard cheese, full fat dairy etc etc lots of veggies are over this but i tend to think in terms of the whole meal being 5% carbs so if im having meat for example then i spend some more carbs on the veggies as it will still even out at about 5%.

TBH i have been doing this so much that i dont count my carbs anymore. i cook alot from scratch so i just get used to cooking certain things and buying certain ingredients. If i was doing this and struggling to lose weight i may take a closer look but i have yet to have an issue (generally my problem is eatying things i KNOW i shouldn't, no hidden carbs for me, i want the OBVIOUS carbs nom)

Pink that sounds great.

I make what i call 'lazyunya' lesagne. basically you make the componant parts, the cheese sauce and the beef Bolognais and combine the two in a bowl without any pasta. no baking or anything. my other half gets his with some pasta twirls or something. Lesagne is probably my favorite food so this can really fill that void.

Coompletely agree with weighing daily. i have had some people hhm and harr over doing that because of fluctuation but i generally find as long as i do it at the same time every day (naked before breakfast after wee.) it is fairly consistent. also good motivation to get out of bed after knackering night with the baby.

I also have a complex graphing system on excel that i use to track my weight so even if there are some fluctuations i can still see that the trend is (hopefully) down and can see how far i have already come, also plan to hit certain targets that feel a long way off.

you don't realise how few weeks there are in a year until you plan to be a certain weight in the summer and you have to lose 2lb a week starting NOW to get there!!

Spicy beef taco filling recipe

500g beef (12% or 5% fat your preference)
1 onion
1 beef stock cube or 2 cups of stock
Paprika half tsp
chilie powder, heaped tsp of both hot and mild or to taste
cumin half tsp
tumeric half tsp

Saute the onion in a generous slug of oil when starting to soften , add the spices and gently cook for a minute (make sure there is enough oil so you make a paste of the spices in the pan.

Throw in your stock/stock cube with appropriate water. chuck a lid on a simmer.

What you want is to reduce the liquid to almost nothing so you get meat with lots of flavour but no sauce. i serve with chopped tomato and coriander salsa, sour cream and grated cheese but is great with salad, with roast veg etc etc non LC can have with a wrap/taco shells.

Oh forgot to mention a clove or two of garlic to be chopped and cooked with the onions!!!

The whole batch or beef is about 12g of carbs and will make 5/6 or more decent portions before you add anything else.

with the sour cream, cheese and salsa probably add 2 or 3g per portion but depend how much you have.

dinner today

Prawn stirfry with protein noodles stewed berries with double cream

Sounds lovey Cereal. I had a steak with mushrooms cooked in garlic butter. I've been looking at cracker recipes tonight. Have you tried any of them? Thinking I might have a bash at the fathead Ines tomorrow.

Thank you so much for you advice cereal!! I need to start looking more closely at the g/100g...

I think this thread is really going to help keeping me right and on track!! Thank you!!

mmm garlic mushrooms

i did try a phyllum husk one once that was decent. it was just seeds baked in phylum husk and water. came out quite well but i could do with experimenting.

if you find a good one let us know!

best thing i have found is phyllum almond flour bread. could probably convert that into a cracker or scone type thing. might have a go myself!

How's everyone's days going? I've just had another omelette, feel like I'm living off them but it's because I'm too lazy to cook

Haven't attempted crackers just yet. I did get some ground almonds earlier so will try at some point. My three DC and OH's little one off school here at the moment so it's chaos. I'm resisting locking myself in the bathroom with a bottle of vodka

fromthepinkglitteryside - well done! that is excellent!

I literally couldn't find the scales until this evening but have completed day 2 LC.... yay! Measured my waist instead - down by 0.5cm from monday

Am needing to be careful about not replacing all the crap i eat with cheese. Have discovered lactose free cheese only has 0.1 carb per 100g..... but i'm sure i'm not supposed to be eating a packet a day

I invented a pancake last night that I might experiment more with.

I was making aubergine parmigiana, so I had a beaten egg and a mix of Parmesan and coconut flour for the coating. After I'd coated all my aubergine I didn't want to waste the good egg and cheese leftover , so i mixed them all together to firm a thick batter, and then fried in butter.

So I was being so good yesterday:

Breakfast - Egg white scramble with spinach and goat cheese (v small portion)

Lunch - goat's cheese salad

But then I went out for dinner and had:

Dinner - vegetarian burger (I had half of the bread) and roasted baby potatoes, followed by an espresso sized chilli dark hot chocolate 😳

Then when I got home I had a 0% greek yogurt with honey because I still had the munchies 😠😠😠

I'm def an all or nothing girl, once I break my low/no carb rule I break completely!!

So today I have started my day with a couch2 5k run, will make myself another egg white omelette and then cycle into my local town and back (11mile cycle)

I might avoid lunch or have something v light, and then tonight I am out for dinner again!! I am driving so I avoid any alcohol (empty carbs and Cals)...I hope hope that when I look at the menu tonight I stay resolved and make good choices 💪🏻

Good luck today everyone!!! 😁😁😁

B: egg/ paremesan/ coconut flour crepe with guacamole and peanut butter
L:egg cheese frittata muffin ( I make a batch of these at the weekend ready to grab and go), cheese stick, small handful of nuts
D: was going to be a cauli rice paella with chicken and chorizo, but I need to use up a bag of boodles, so it'll be something on those.

Thanks Fluffy

I may have been a little naughty and had a few ciders last night but didn't eat anything bad so hopefully if I stay strict with myself today it won't be too bad.

Summa obviously the night to be badly behaved! We can both stick to it today. We can do this!

How's your morning been Cereal?

Really good day yesterday until evening when I found myself baking brownies. I’ll spare you the gory details.

This is usually the point where I give up and go back to my old ways.

After all that sugar I didn’t sleep well and woke up ravenous,and when I’m tired and feeling a bit crap it’s easier to justify lunch in the canteen with chips . Could I have learned something?