Slimming World to Harcombe?

[FourArms]

I've been doing SW since 29/8. Initially on EE and now mainly on red days.

However although I've lost 1lb short of 2
stone I haven't lost any weight this week and I've stuck to the plan with the exception of maybe not enough syns / HEB.

Have seen the Harcombe diet and this seems to be more like what I'm doing at the moment although I'll have to swap coffee and skimmed milk for herbal tea and stop my 10 a day satsuma habit ;)

Just wondered what people's losses had been in phase 1 switching from SW? My BMI is still in the low 30s so I've got plenty to lose!

Clean P1 today except for 3 or maybe 4 coffees with milk.

B - salad (lettuce, cabbage & carrot) with oil, NLY and a coffee with milk

L - veg from yesterday's dinner (cabbage & leek, sprouts & pancetta) warmed though with lots of oil and mixed with two eggs

D - Steak and prawns cooked in butter with salad (lettuce, cabbage & carrot) with an oil & lemon dressing

How's everyone else fared?

B - nly and rice cereal, decaf with skimmed milk (a cheat, but it seems to work for me)

L - home made coleslaw and home made mayo with green salad and salmon. Decaf capuccino

D - steak, grilled veg and more coleslaw and another decaf with skimmed milk which I'm drinking now

Sounds lovely. How did you make your coleslaw?

Not terribly strict P1 I am afraid. Ate cheese at lunchtime and an apple this evening.

In my defence I have had a horrendous Migraine today and have basically eaten what I could palate.

Coleslaw is shredded white cabbage, grated apple and shredded spring onions mixed with home made mayo.

It's quick and easy to do with a food processor.

I'm just contemplating what to have for breakfast - possibly scrambled eggs as it's Saturday and I have time.

Grated carrot I meant to say, not apple, which isn't allowed on phase 1.

NSHTH - hope you're feeling better today? That won't have done much harm I'm sure. Chocolate, coffee and lucozade are what I want when I've got a migraine so your choices look positively virtuous!!

Thanks for the recipe FOA :) I don't have a food processor but I've got a mandolin so will try that today along with the mayo. How long do you keep it for - can I make enough for two days? IIRC coleslaw goes a bit watery on day two?

Good loss on scales today (although I'll believe it if it's still the same tomorrow!!!) - down 2.4lbs so 3.6lbs in 2 days! I know it's mainly water but I feel slimmer :) That's my lowest so far and means I've lost over 17.5% of my starting weight :) When I've lost one more lb I'll be overweight rather than obese according to my BMI :) :) :)

B - same as yeaterday - salad (lettuce, cabbage & carrot) with lemon and oil dressing, NLY and a coffee with milk

Have a good day everyone!

Well done FA, you are really being good on this diet and I am delighted it is working so well for you.

I am afraid that yesterday I hit the chocolate late evening and have been punished with putting 1.2lb on. However, I am feeling so rough that I almost don't care. I am wondering if this is just a Migraine or some kind of virus.

All the leftover Christmas chocolate is now in the boot of my car and destined either for DD or the bin. Who was I kidding that I could keep it in the cupboard and not be tempted.

I feel almost migrainey with my sinuses NSHTH... Might be worth taking some decongestant tablets? Getting the chocolate out of the house will be a good move.

DH is back to work Sunday night so anything he doesn't take that the kids won't eat (xmas cake, mince pies etc) will go into the staff room on Monday morning.

Well done everyone and hope you are feeling better soon. I also feel quite sinusy today so have sent dh out to get me some hot lemon.

My menu for today is
B - bacon, scrambled eggs and tin tomatoes

L- chicken soup, made with chicken carcass, tomatoes, onion, carrots and butternut squash (wasn't sure about how low carb the squash was though?)

D- Spag bol, mince beef, onions,peppers, grated carrot with courgette pasta.

Am going to try my hardest not to snack today and have had a fruit tea instead of usual coffee,not the same though is it!!

Am on day 4 now so will weigh in tomorrow. I'm thinking of continuing with phase 1 for longer than the 5 days, what do you all do?

Thanks xx

Butternut squash is allowed but all of your veg in the soup are on the high carb side of the spectrum. This for me can stop a loss the following day, but it always catches up eventually. :)

I'd certainly carry on if you're happy to. I'm mainly P1 with my milk and coffee lapse and over Christmas I allowed myself some drinks with sweeteners, cheese and cream. I don't find P1 that restrictive. The book advises continuing with it anyway if you have any of the conditions the diet aims to help or have a significant amount of weight to lose. Have you weighed yet at all?

This link might be worth printing for those who don't have the book?

Hi there all,

I stumbled across this thread on my day one of doing the harcombe (today) haven't never tried it it before. I really identified with a lot if the rubbish feelings in the book & severe over indulgence in sugar particularly over Christmas has left me feeling really tired & sluggish- like having a lay in but wanting to go back to bed in the afternoon too! I thought this has to stop!

I suffer with sinusy migraines too so really hoping this plan helps, that said I've spent most of day one feeling awful. Started the day with eggs & asparagus in butter, ham salad with olives & avocado for lunch then as I was feeling so awful all I could managed was some oats with live yoghurt. However I opted for the full fat version is that correct? I thought Low fat versions might be topped up with carbs/ sugar but I'm not sure. Will take a while to not have sugar/ low fat food for me. Was craving a weetabix of all things earlier but remember Zoe in the book saying those things you are really craving you need to keep away from for longer.

Good luck everyone!

Hi lizardqueenie and welcome

If I remember correctly - and anyone, correct me if I'm wrong - oats are carbs, so should be eaten with low fat yog if at all. I think Zoe recommends making porridge with water, but I really struggle with that.

The way I remember it is don't eat carbs and fat together.

Ah ok thanks for that SG! That makes sense- is that the rule for both Ph1 & Ph2? I'm confusing myself now! Ok shall probably get both in then, is the yoghurt ok to have on ph1? Ha ha, and I was thinking it was fairly simple!

Oh shit, just seen I'm
Not meant to have avocado either!
Ah well! I stocked up on supplies after the headache lifted- I am possibly looking forward to bacon & some swede tomorrow!

Am also out for a pub style lunch- thinking what's best to have, they have a nice selection of steaks (but all come with chips & onion rings!) gammon with eggs & (pushing the pineapple & onion rings to the side) they also have a mixed grill which is quite tempting (pushing the black pudding to the side (yuck!) They do have a really nice looking starter- scallops on a chorizo frittata with rocket salad! Hmm!

Hi Lizard. Go for the steak or gammon, and tell them to bring a huge salad instead of chips and onion rings.

FA - the coleslaw keeps for at least 3-4 days.

Today: eggs poached on spinach and onion with homemade mayo on top

L: ham, carrot sticks and olives with another dollop of mayo
D: ready roasted chicken, skin and all, with coleslaw and green salad

Drinks: decaf coffee with milk and 1 green tea. Neither the milk nor the tea is supposed to be ok in p1, but I find I can get away with it and still lose.

I stepped on the scales and was pleasantly surprised that I'm only 2lb over my pre- Christmas weight...2 days of strict Harcombe has helped that.

Lizard, I don't think it's as important in phase 1???

You can have full fat yoghurt on its own though - quite nice with a little cinnamon stirred in.

Have a nice big steak and ask for a huge salad without dressing instead of chips.

Lol fibre, x-posted!

Lovely! Thanks guys! Well done with getting back on track following Xmas!

Welcome LQ - don't worry about the mix-ups. I had full fat high carb NLY for the first few days too. I'm sure I still lost (and I'd already been doing SW so I'd had my water loss already). I'd go for steak with salad for lunch :)

Well done FOA - the rest should be gone by the end of next week :)

Yesterday ended up fine I think:

B - salad (lettuce, cabbage & carrot) with lemon and oil dressing, NLY and a coffee with milk

L - prawns & mushrooms fried in garlic butter (I know mushrooms aren't allowed on P1, but it was the only veg left in the house except for peas & sweetcorn!) with 2 scrambled eggs

D - salad & homemade mayo starter followed by roast pork loin with cabbage & leek

I ate far too much for dinner & ended up stuffed for hours. Weird because on SW I'd have had plain salad and no fat on the meat, but lots more meat. Definitely the fat making me feel full.

Scales today are plus 0.2 - unsurprising after the quantity I ate at dinner! Happy with that as I felt yesterday's reading was too good to be true!

Morning all, have just weighed and am 4.75 lbs down so really pleased with that. 3lbs to go to get back to pre Christmas weight (I really did enjoy Christmas . Then I'm hoping for another stone after that, fingers crossed.

I'm out today so the weight loss will hopefully spur me on to make some good meal choices.

Well done LP!! :)

Morning all, and welcome LQ, FOA & LP1.

I lost a lb yesterday on a less than perfect day,but suspect that most of that was illusory (I had put on yesterday because I cheated the day before).

All chocolate and sweet food left over from Christmas was delivered safely to DD's last night. Her DH will eat it!!

I am really beginning to struggle with P1 now because of the absence of milk, cheese and fruit from the menu. Given that I want these dietry changes to be permanant in my life , I really need more choice if I am going to stay the course. I have therefore decided to create my own 5:2 with the Harcombe Diet and alternate between P1 and P2 days during each week. I did the 5:2 diet last Summer and it worked for me. However that was an eat anything version and I really want my low carbing to continue because of all the health benefits (fewer migraines, more stable blood sugar) it has already delivered.

Yesterday was definitely P2 (61carbs). I ate Blueberries with my Porridge, had milk in my Coffee and Cheese on my Spinach Lasagne (spinach, meat sauce and cheese). Today is planned as a P1.

I am hoping that if I can get my Harcombe 5:2 to work it will provide some of the speedier weight losses of P1 and provide enough variety that I can stay the course long term.