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Low-carb diets

Share advice and experiences of following a low-carb diet.Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Week 8 - Summer Low Carb Bootcamp - Only 3 weeks left!

540 replies

BIWI · 17/06/2013 08:08

Morning campers.

Come and confess all on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

So only three weeks left. I know that things have been moving quite satisfactorily for some of you, so hopefully these last three weeks can see a few more of those pesky pounds disappear.

I had a bit of an altercation with some sticky toffee pudding this weekend (at the PILs) so I've got my work cut out over the next few days to undo the damage!

Off for a run shortly ...

OP posts:
ChippingInWiredOnCoffee · 19/06/2013 00:30

Rup can you PM me. I can't do them at the minute. MN is looking into why ... or they were, I think they might have forgotten about me

MrsHP - come on matey!!! Back up on this here wagon. You know it makes sense!

BIWI - I don't know that it would need to be that expensive - all we need is a house surely? (on a beach with spa treatments available of course!).

ChippingInWiredOnCoffee · 19/06/2013 00:41

Lou I'm really sorry to hear about your baby :( Hang in there past the 'stall' - it's a bastard while it's happening (I stalled for 21 days) but once you get past it, it feels worth it. I tend to change weight like this - 2 lbs every 3/7/10/21/4/10 days - it's like a 55 day cycle?! Very odd, but getting almost predictable. Insulin is, after all, a hormone.

Cider - that sound lovely awful. Stay on our wagon!!

Toomuch they sound lovely!!

PrettyBird - I think that sleep is crucial too - but like you, stay up too late and I'm a terrible sleeper. When I first started low carbing I started sleeping much better and assumed hoped that would be the case as long as I low carbed - sadly it's not. Sodding birds are waking me at between 4 & half past and I'm not sleeping after that.

Black - would you come and cook vegetarian meals for me - pleeeeeeeeeeease!

Crabby - I don't seem to be able to have Prosecco and lose weight - I did better having rum & diet coke. Weird as it shouldn't be the case (I have only had 2 rum & diet cokes since January (both last weekend!) and they were 'light' on the coke Grin).

BIWI · 19/06/2013 08:49

Chipping I did some experimenting last night and inadvertently created something that would be perfect for you!

I set out to make bacon, shallot and Gruyere tart - the filling (apart from those three ingredients) is egg and cream. But I forgot to include the eggs Blush

Obviously you can't eat the bacon, but I reckon that if you added a bit more shallot it would make a lovely cheese and onion tart:

Shallot and Gruyere Tart (A BIWI special!)

serves 6

225g ground almonds
55g butter, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt

for the filling:

25g butter and a splash of oil (this stops the butter burning)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (or use a garlic crusher)
150g shallots, thinly sliced (this will be 3-4 echalion shallots)
dried oregano
100g Gruyere cheese, grated
300ml double cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/GM4

To make the pastry, mix the almonds, butter and salt until it forms a dough. This is easiest done in a food processor. Keep processing it until it starts to come together into a ball.

Press the dough with your hand/fingers into a 20cm flan tin or dish. Push the pastry up the sides of the tin as well. There is quite a lot of filling, so it's important to get the pastry as far up the sides as you can.

Prick the base of the flan all over and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until set and golden brown. (It's better if it's cooked longer, as it hardens up a little more - just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't burn)

While the dough is cooking, saute the shallots and garlic in the butter and oil, till soft. Season with salt and pepper and about a teaspoon of dried oregano. Leave to cool.

Tip the shallots into the flan case and add the cheese, season with black pepper, then pour over the cream. (It's a good idea to put the flan tin onto a baking tray, as it is likely to be very full, and this makes it easier to get into the oven without spilling anything)

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and just set. Serve warm or cold.

27.35g carbs for the whole lot. If you serve 6 people, this will be 4.6g per person.

OP posts:
bulletwithbutterflywings · 19/06/2013 09:29

1.5lb on this week Angry I haven't done anything wrong
I think I must be due on though, because O am seriously sweaty and my belly feels like its full of rocks :(
Lots of water today...

BIWI · 19/06/2013 09:33

Drinking enough water? Eating enough fat?

OP posts:
NewStartNewStory · 19/06/2013 10:57

two weeks ago i ignored the weight the hospital gave me as it wasn't my scales and it would have meant i have gained Monday the doctor gave me the same weight. I still can't find my scales so am conceeding defeat and admitting that i at some point over the last 3 weeks i have gained 2kg. Guess i really really really need to regain my focus. Cos the doc also did Hmm face at the bmi number. Blush

New day, new start, lots of water to drink.

bulletwithbutterflywings · 19/06/2013 10:58

I'm drinking 3l of water a day, and a bulletproof coffee every morning - so that's 360 cals of fat before I even eat anything! I'll make an effort to eat more fatty stuff, but I am adding butter/ Mayo/ cream to everything. Might ditch the cream :(

Xenia · 19/06/2013 11:47

loutwenty, you will be much healthier and fitter for the operation and indeed to get pregnant again afterwards if you eat real food as on here, not junk chemical filled fake shakes and drinks which are full of a load of old rubbish and damage health.

If you want to lose weight low carbing/paleo all you have to do is eat more fat, loads of very low carb (not high carb) veg, perhaps cut the protein back a bit and if needs be (although it makes a lot of women feel bad) cut a few meals/IF. It might be worth your counting calories for one typical day of food too on a site like sparkpeople or one of the others which analyses the % of fat, carb as well as calories for you to see if you're not losing weight because you are eating too much of one or other food.

Good luck with the weight loss before the operation.

LilyAmaryllis · 19/06/2013 11:52

Welcome back on the wagon Cider

Sorry New and bullet about the disappointing news/mystery. I hope it turns around.

I've succumbed to a cheese-munching snack this morning which at least is low-carb, but it is the dreaded might-stall-you-cheese!

Otherwise I'm really pleased at the way my tum and back are so much slimmer, on the way. I wonder when the effects might reach my thighs. Bet I have to wait for the bitter end for that. or (tremble) exercise. I did go to Zumba last night!

ChippingInWiredOnCoffee · 19/06/2013 11:59

BIWI that sounds lovely :) Did it go firm like quiche? Without the eggs? If it did - I'm in Grin

Bullet I don't normally put on weight when I'm due on, but I do tend to STS for quite a few days, this time I also put on a few lbs. Really odd, but I'm sure it will bugger off again. I do tend to eat more the two days before as well (that's how I knew it would be early this month - damn thing!). But even though I craved carbs this month I didn't give in to any, so I figure eating more low carb food isn't the end of the world & the following two days I don't feel like that much so eat lighter anyway.

I still haven't bought any coconut oil - no one seemed to come up with a brand that didn't have the texture of vaseline - bleurgh... I'm not sold on the idea yet.

What Mayo are you using??

NewStart my BMI has dropped 8 whole numbers since I started in January. Sadly it's still nowhere near the healthy range - but it's going in the right direction! (Not that I care about BMI much anyway as I think it's a shite indicator, but it's yet another number to mess around with Grin)

I wish there were more vegetarian low carb options - especially those high in protein.

NewStartNewStory · 19/06/2013 12:15

Well done chipping

I have just eaten a salad of lettice, spring onion, celery, a radish and a huge splat of egg mayo cos it needed eaten up. I figured my lack of veg was probably a contributor to the failing to maintain on track. So whilst i was feeling a bit better today i'd make the effort Wink

weirdly i am not bored of eggs. Not entirely sure how this is possible though Grin

I am using helmans full fat but this is probably not the best one. It's just the one that happens to be in the cupboard.

Loutwenty · 19/06/2013 12:24

"you will be much healthier and fitter for the operation and indeed to get pregnant again afterwards if you eat real food as on here, not junk chemical filled fake shakes and drinks which are full of a load of old rubbish and damage health".

I know! Which is why I was struggling over the decision. But, this morning I have decided to go on the shakes. I have done 30 days low carb and I will go back to it, but I need this weight off fast. It might not happen, I might still lose slowly, but I need to feel like I am doing something.

I know it's not healthy and is full of crap, my god, after 30 days of nothing but real food and water passing my lips, I think I could taste every single chemical in it! It was vile, but I can and will stick to it for a month, short term loss for long term gain.

Dh is still doing low carb and probably always will, he's totally changed his lifestyle after doing atkins last year, so it will be very easy for me to go back to, we have had no bread, pasta, rice or anything but green veg and salad in our house for over a year now, so no temptations!

CiderwithBuda · 19/06/2013 12:45

BIWI - tart sounds lovely!

Right. Scales woe. Again.

Weighed last night on new scales and was pleased. Only because I forgot I was trying to get into 13s. It weighed me at 14 11!!! My old scales weighed me at 14 1 at the weekend. This morning I am 14 7 on new scales. Am gutted. It's so frustrating. Was I heavier than I thought at the beginning? Have I not lost as much as I thought? I suspect the the latter is the case. Is it the carbs I had on Monday? Probably also the case. So. No idea now how to calculate what I have actually lost. Aargh!

NewStartNewStory · 19/06/2013 12:48

Cider you clearly have no luck with scales Shock has no useful advice

BIWI · 19/06/2013 12:48

What about your shape, Buda, and the fit of your clothes? It's always a bugger when you have to change scales, or weigh on someone else's - but also a good reminder that actually those numbers aren't reality!

The reality is your changing shape and how your clothes are fitting you.

OP posts:
bulletwithbutterflywings · 19/06/2013 12:53

Chipping I use Hellmans Mayo. I bought some Delouis which I will use in a coleslaw, but I haven't tasted it yet

My food so far today:
B - greek yog, 3 strawberries, 2tbsp flax, bulletproof coffee
Protein hake after training
L - Butteriest 3 egg omelette ever, 2 rashers of streaky bacon, mushrooms fried in butter.
I drank 1.5l water at the gym and 500ml at lunch.

bulletwithbutterflywings · 19/06/2013 12:55

Protein shake obviously, I don't eat fish in the gym. Blush

BIWI · 19/06/2013 12:58

Chipping - it works fine without the egg. And actually, having eaten a piece for my lunch, it's even better the next day, when it's cold, as it is firmer. The base is firmer as well, and less crumbly - more like real pastry.

A definite winner.

Actually, I think I prefer it without the egg myself!

OP posts:
sammisatt · 19/06/2013 13:10

Hi everyone

I've just got back from Italy spending 5 days there for a wedding. I feel off the wagon big time but I was kind of expecting to. The wedding involved an eight course meal including risotto, pasta, cakes, pastries. Everything on the banned list. Then I continued in this vein until I got home yesterday. Pizza, pasta, icecream. I have put on 5 pounds. Probably a lot of it will be water weight but whatever it is, it doesn't feel good! I'm so relieved to be home and back in control of my food again. I have hit the boiled eggs big time. I think I'll have a few strict days. One silver lining is that I don't feel totally despondant about it. I know I'll lose the weight as I know going back to low carbing is so easy. I just feel so relieved to be back on it again, although I'm not looking forward to going back to the gym after a week off.

ChippingInWiredOnCoffee · 19/06/2013 13:12

Oh that sounds like a go-er then BIWI!! Thanks for thinking of me!

Lou why have they decided you need to be that specific weight? I know it's not 'ideal' but I'd do what you are doing too - or whatever I thought would work so I could have the op.

NewStart - I don't eat eggs. It really does limit the diet! I have a good couple of handfulls of Rocket leaves & other salad stuff pretty much every day. Current fav dressing is olive oil with a good squeeze of fresh lemon :) I have made egg-free mayo, the first time it was great, the second a disaster - I think it was different olive oils, but it's a bit of a faff. I do sometimes buy them off the shelf, they aren't toooo bad carb wise, but tbh it's a list of chemicals really and I don't really want to be eating that kind of stuff - it's just a shame as it's nicer & easier!

Cider hang in there - it will all be fine.

Bullet what are the carbs per serving and what's in it??

ChippingInWiredOnCoffee · 19/06/2013 13:13

Sammi but did you enjoy it?

It sounds lovely :)

BIWI · 19/06/2013 13:14

sammi - only 5lbs is pretty good going! You should soon be able to get rid of that

OP posts:
bulletwithbutterflywings · 19/06/2013 13:20

Hellman's
Deluois
Ingredients and nutrition info :)

Loutwenty · 19/06/2013 13:24

Chippingin - it takes my BMI to below 28, which is what the consultant will be happy with in order to carry out the op.

CiderwithBuda · 19/06/2013 13:26

BIWI - I know what you mean about the number on the scales. But although I feel a bit slimmer I haven't gone down in clothes sizes much. Still an 18-20. Def an 18 in some things but still a 20 in others. I wanted to get to under 14 stone (would accept 13 13.5!) and drop a dress size before our holiday. Haven't achieved either of those aims so feeling despondent. Have two weeks to go and will continue on boot camp for the moment but need to re-assess then I think.