Hello! Day One Done - anyone want to join me?

[SharkSkinThing]

Just wanted to say hello and see if any other new starters wanted to buddy up for support and advice?

I've got 3 - 4 stone to lose, all gained AFTER having my DS who is now - god help me - 5. All down to long-term sleep deprivation and sugar reliance, and forming terrible habits. And wine to help me cope with the sleep deprivation,

Anyway, hoping to finally turn things around now that he's finally sleeping (sometimes until 5.30am!). Would love to chat to others who are finding that this WOE works for them.

xx

The downside of making delicious homemade salsa is I cannot resist eating it with Nacho's. Oops.

A new day today, fit. You can do it!

Mmmmm....poached eggs.

Did someone mention Nachos, I love Nachos !!
I miss the crunchiness that you only get with carbs. What could we make that would give a delicious cheesy satisfying crunch without the carbs?

Sure I saw a recipe for parmesan crisps somewhere...oi! fav! Recipe emergency over here!

Well, scales on Friday hadn't budged since the week before, which is very demoralising. I'm trying to think if I've eaten more than I should have done, but I honestly don't think I have. I'm exercising loads as well. I really don't know what more I could do.

pax I think we're all experiencing a post Xmas plateau. I've really stalled too, but don't lose heart. I have a feeling that the next weigh in will be the one!

fav posted some helpful tips further up.

Hang on in there, we can do it.

I like your optimism, shark

We all benefit from Shark's enthusiasm and positivity

Another bout of the flu for me! (I do hate disease infested grubby children :p ) No appetite at all. :(

Group support all the way!!!!

And just reflecting back the amazing support and positivity the rest of you have kindly offered to me! I would have def given up by now without you guys.

This diet works, we just need to roll with the punches. I'm counting my carbs now, so that I don't go over 20g. A small thing and easy to monitor.

I will weigh in on a Friday at Boots on the way home from work each week, to stop me obsessing at home so much, too.

Ten pounds, that's all I am focusing on at the moment.

Sorry to hear you are under the weather fit. Rest and recover, and get back on when you are ready, and not before.

I expect you caught that flu from my own grubby child!

Have really brilliant weeks, everyone. xxxxxx

Glad to see you in good form, Shark. I'm still giggling at 'recipe emergency'.

Fit , I hope you and children get better soon.
(I'll reach for zinc tablets in case of grubby child contamination!).

Homemade salsa goes really well with these crackers. [yum]
I also make them substituting the rosemary with multiseeds (sesame, sunflower, poppy...); I have made them adding with 1tsp of sundried tomato paste; they're lovely made with thyme, a little grated lemon zest and chilli.

Durham, my favourite crunchie snack is pork cracklings, I even managed to sniff out some freshly made, still warm and gluten free on Saturday, when out and about.

How can I resist a double request?!
Parmesan/Cheese crisps,
Grate cheese,
Add herb and spice of choice (eg.plain, parsley and chilli; garlic and chives; a little finely chopped sundried tomato -patted dry- and basil,...), Make little mounds on a lined baking tray and
Into the oven @180C/grill until melted slightly golden.

They can even be shaped over a rolling pin when still warm.

Pax - a 'stall' is absolutely normal after 3-5 weeks of low carb'ing. Plus a stall is not a stall, you will soon start seeing (if you haven't already) a body shape difference. Also, as the fat cells begin to empty, they temporarily hold water, so do the muscles after excersing.

I had the loveliest long weekend in the company of my gorgeus nephew and his girlfriend.

My feet are slightly aching from all the sightseeing walking (6-8 hrs each day) but eating out was surprisingly easy. :)

I think the favourite meal was the medley of fish (sea bass, swordfish, squid and large prawns) with a hot salsa and an orange sauce, served with swede chips, crispy cavolo nero and roasted peppers. plus some roasted potato 'chips' for ds and guests

The orange sauce was just freshly squeezed orange juice with salt and pepper, a little spring onion, a little grated ginger and 1tps of white wine (optional), cooked until reduced to a runny jam consistency.

What a lovely sounding weekend, fav, and what lovely sounding food. Hope your feet have recovered!

Liking the sound of hose Parmesan crisps, I'm soup mad at the mo and need something to dunk - they should do the trick!

How are you both fit and pax?

I've been off today, Tuesday is by study day, but I did manage to nip out for a quick swim. Now home, with a lovely tofu curry simmering away in the slow cooker, which I will add some spinach and aubergine to a bit later. Ideally I;d love to bulk it up with lentils, but c'est la vie!

Horrendous weather here. Hope all are safely indoors if needs be. xxx

Doctor said its H1N1. Horrible, and gone through the family like a wildfire. Haven't been eating much but what I have has been carbs. With a deserving 39+ I suppose thats what my body needed. Hope everyone else is doing good

Oh poor fit, get well soon. Just what you need for the new year!

I am so full of cold it's ridiculous. Have come in to work for a meeting and will be leaving soon. I am just infecting everyone...

How horrible, Fit. How are the children doing?
I've only had the flu once and it knocked me out for a couple of months, I could barely keep awake, walk, or breathe. Horrible, horrible, horrible. I hope you all get well soon.

Colds are not nice either, Shark. Since going primal, I very rarily get anything but ds (who is not fully primal) swears by the hot water with lemon and xylitol for a cold.

DD is surprisingly ok. No worse then a normal cold for her. DS is horrid but that might not just be the flu. We tried him on ibuprofen for the first time yesterday and he had an allergic reaction, a really sore rash and swollen eyes, had to rush him to the hospital. So I think some of his issue today is recovering from that.

Poor little thing, as if the flu wasn't enough. It must have been a real shock for you too.

Having had a few allergic reaction to medications myself, you may find he might feel dizzy, sleepy and nauseous for a couple of days. I hope he bounces back quickly.

Sending...sniff...hugs 'n' (safe) drugs to all. Xx

I hope everyone is feeling a little better today.

I woke up on Monday with slightly painful joints, which have worsened the last 3 days and it even woke me up last night. I initially thought it was stifness from all the walking but today it feels like it used when I was still eating wheat and grains. I know I haven't eaten gluten but I have been a pig with the yummy grana my nephew brought me. I need some hand holding as I'm going to attempt to give up the dairy.
I've been reading some interesting biochemistry papers about casein be broken down into caseomorphins (opiods) and how they can lead to inflammation and oxydation; given I'm allergic to opiates, it makes sense to ditch the dairy.

I summarised the papers and a few articles from coeliac groups to my ds (GF) and he gave me the most evil look and said no way he would give up his milk and butter. That's me told!

Poor you, fav, I'm sorry to hear you are also suffering. This group is really in the wars this month!

Hand holding at the ready....xxx

We are, aren't we!
At the rate I'm going through them, I might need to invest on some deep heat and arnicare shares! At least my fingers have gone done quite a lot and the redness has disappeared from the the other joints too. :)

Well, I'm still stuck at 13.10.

I think I may need to cut out all dairy except butter.....and still no wine for a little longer (sob!). Not that I'm having a massive amount, but let's see if it works....

Can I still have eggs? As a veggie, I'd be lost without them!

How is everybody else doing? x

It looks you're stalling, so it's definetely worth removing dairy to see if you start moving again.

Eggs are superfood!
I love eggs, I could eat eggs all day, every day.

Moving much better today, so I was going to play a bit in the kitchen. I was going to attempt making pancakes with coconut cream instead of the cream cheese and serve them as wraps with some tuna mayonnaise and salad but I committed the cardinal sin of mayonnaise making: I used the eggs cold, straight from the hutch!
We had, instead, panfried salmon with a warm 'mock' hollandaise (liquid mayo) on a bed of salad.

Sorry you've stalled, Shark. Do you think theres any merit in the theory that you should eat carbs for a couple of days and then start low carbing again to reset your system?

Thanks for your encouragement, Favi. Having not lost any weight the previous week, when I weighed myself yesterday I'd lost 3lbs during this week! Goodness knows why, as Ive eaen pretty similarly both weeks, but it means an average weight loss of 1.5lbs per week in the last fornight, which is fine. The best bit is that it moved me from 12 stone 1lb to 11 stone 12lbs. Breaking into the 11 stone-something range was a real psychological boost. Only another 22 lbs to before I hit my target weight. It is starting to feel achievable, although I know the speed of weightloss will slow down.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

I hope everyone is feeling better.

Well done, Pax. :)
Did you see the episode of Trust me, I'm a doctor, where they trialed for olive oil reducing cardiovascular markers? It showed that 20 mls a day had a positive impact. It also stated that cholesterol was not a good marker.

Most of my joints have returned to normal and most of the water retention that came with it is gone. :)
No weight loss this week -hardly a surprise after the cheese binge!

Dairy Free Pancakes makes two

1egg
30g coconut cream
salt and pepper

Blitz the ingredients together and pour in an greased medium hot frying pan (I used little one)! It cooks just like a pancake.
It doesn't taste coconutty once the filling is in and it has the potential of lending itself as a sandwich wrap to take out.
We had it as a BLT wrap. Yum.