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

Amazing what we modern women all push ourselves to do isn't it. :P Luckily I've got a helpful DH and an amazing Nanny (perks of living in the UAE), or I'd never get anything done.

Not weighing today, but given how little I've been eating I'm pretty sure there will be a loss, just not a realistic one. Rather wait till I'm feeling 100%. This cough has to go!

Amazing what we modern women all push ourselves to do isn't it.
I hope you feel 100% soon, Fit. Happy weekend!

Shark -Tandoori is possibly one of the simplest Indian dishes. I fell in love with it almost 25 yrs ago, when visiting Leicester. I had the most amazing Tandoori trout in a restaurant on London rd, opposite the train station -a little further uphill.

Tandoori marinade for 1lb of fish (or meat, especially lamb)

2 garlic cloves, crushed (shoot removed)
1 tsp ginger, freshly grated
1 coriander, ground
1 tsp cumin, ground
2 tsps garam masala*
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
chilli
1 lemon, juiced
oil
yogurt* * (optional)

Mix the dry ingredients, ginger and garlic with enough oil to make a paste, add lemon juice, stir well then add yogurt.
Ideally the fish (patted dry) would sit in the marinade for a few hours before grilling or baking. Serve with yogurt mint sauce.

*Garam masala=grind
1 tbs coriander seeds
1 tbs cumin seeds
1 tsp green cardamoms, seeds only
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp peppercorns
2 small sticks of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1/2 nutmeg
4 black cardamoms

• *The coconut yogurt worked really well. The recipe on previous page works perfectly and it set like a french-set yogurt; the second batch, done with 2 capsules of bacteria per can, is thicker and tastes even more yogurty; I used this as yogurt starter culture (cheaper in my local health store); the airing cupboard is a perfect incubator. :)

Yogurt mint sauce Can be quite carby, my low carb version.
75 mls yogurt
1 tsps of tandoori marinade
15g fresh mint, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon/lime juice
oil

Make a mint paste, using a little oil and lemon/lime juice in a mortar and pestel or a blender; stir in the yogurt and tandoori mix.

• • Oops! Yogurt is essential in Tandoori marinade. I meant the yogurt mint sauce is optional! :)

I am actually drooling over this fish recipe right now- thank you! xx

It sounds like everyone has had a good week. I've not been on here as much as have been super busy at work, and have been to the gym every evening. It's weigh-in day for me tomorrow (I go by my Friday morning weight each week) so I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Love the Tandoori paste recipe Favi. Is there anything you can't produce a low carb version of?

The best thing about tomorow? If I've lost at least 1lb I will allow myself a glsss of Pinot with dinner.

How did ypu get on with your weigh-in Shark? I hope those scales moved for you this morning!

13.9!!!! Sorry for late posting, was out very early then at lectures...

So yes! I am through the 13.10 barred finally. Quite hungry though!

How about you pax?? Xxx

Barrier even!

Well done, Shark That's brilliant. Your hard work paid off!

I had a good week, I was very careful about what I ate and I went to the gym every evening. So I lost another 2lbs, and am now down to 11 10. Howver next week will be more challenging, as Ive got a couple of evenings out with friends for dinner, so I will have to have lots of willpower!

I hope everyone has a lovely weejend.

Big whoop for you too ,pax!!

May we continue on the downwards slope! Xxx

Tried the gym for the first time in 2 weeks last night and just ended up standing on the treadmill coughing (and trying not to pee myself, gotta love after-baby bladder control). Yeesh, I am done with sickness!

Yippee, Shark and Pax! Well done both of you.

Fit, I'm not surprised you're done with sickness but at least you made it to the gym. Doesn't coughing exercise abs?!

LOL. Maybe that's where my six pack is coming from Favadi!

Hi everyone, I can see that I posted on here back in October but didn't update much. I managed to lose about a stone with low carb then faffed about, ate a lot over Christmas, tried calorie counting, tried Slimming World and now I'm 14st 1lb again

My wedding is ten weeks away, my dress only zips if I don't breathe and I feel like a potato! Back to low carb it is. It's really the only thing that works for me as it kills my hunger and cravings.

Fit - Six Pack Cough Bug?! I reckon it'll sell fast: it's very catchy!

Welcome back Helena, congratulation on your imminent wedding. :)
You certainly don't need the extra stress of calorie or point counting this close to your big day.
Whilst low carb sorts your dress out, how about some pampering?

Hair nourishing mask enough for shoulder length hair (adjust accordingly)
2 whole eggs (yolks only for very dry hair; 1 whole+1yolk for medium dry)
1/2 tbs honey
1tsp lemon juice

Blitz,
Massage into the scalp for a few minutes, then
Apply from scalp to tip with a downward movement

Leave for 5-10 mins
Rinse with lukewarm water (hot=scrambled eggs ).
Once all the mask is washed out Rinse with Conditioning Hair Rinse

Notes:
Oily hair= best applied on dry hair
Dry hair= best applied on damp/wet hair

It's a lovely face mask too (careful around the eyes) :)

Shine and Conditioning Hair rinse
Can be as simple as
2 tbs of Cider vinegar in a 1L of water or
1.5 tbs white vinegar in 1L of water or
1 tbs lemon juice in 1L of water.

Both vinegar and lemon neutralise the egg smell and the vinegar smell evaporates within 1 hour.
Water can be substituted for tea infusions (camomile, fruit, peppermint...)
A few drops of essential oil can be added.

Hopefully encouraging (anecdotally, a n=1 experience) and a bit mind boggling!
I found body measurements dating back to Sept/Oct 2014, when I was following a low cal diet. Regained it all back and then some.
I measure the same today (except for the bust) as I did in Oct 2014, when I was 5kg lighter. I'm using the same scales and the same exercise regime, maybe the tape-measure stretched! :)

Well, totally despondent today. Despite being very good in the last week I have manged to put on 1 lb! Fed up to the back teeth.

We have friends coming to dinner tonight so I will need to exercise a lot of willpower. Have done a meal where I can just skip the carbs everyone else is having (apart from pudding, which I'll skip altogether). But I'm now asking myself if it's worth it....

How has everyone else got on this week? Hopefully better than.me.

Pax, Sorry to hear you're so frustrated.
You might well have lost fat just not weight. How are the clothes feeling?

If you were to post what you ate the last couple of days, I can check if there is something that could be tweaked. Culprits for lack of weight loss are generally hidden carbs, too much protein, not enough fat, not enough water.

Are you using MyFitnessPal to track your macro? When first going keto I found tracking very useful as I got used to the quantities required.

I've stayed the same this week but I never lose when AF is around, probably because I end up eating twice as much with silly amounts of meat.
As I'm back to normal eating, I'll post what I've eaten and what I will eat to give you an idea.

Today's menu:
Breakfast: Black coffee
Lunch:
100g tender leaf salad + 4 cherry tomatoes dressed with ~20g olive oil;
100g mushrooms cooked in ~5g lard;
150g Loch trout (with skin) cooked ~5g goose fat + a little lemon
Dinner:
200g brussel sprouts, pan finished in 5-10g lard
1/2 red pepper oven roasted, dressed with olive oil and lemon
80-100g Lamb chop cooked in its own fat but started with beef drippings.
Snack, if required: coconut yogurt, olives, hazelnuts.

Tonight I will be drinking as we are celebrating DH's big achievement at work.

I hope everyone is well.

I'm really chuffed today: a couple of cms off and 1lb down. That makes it just under a pound a week since the start -not bad considering Christmas indulgences.

What I'm really really really happy about is that I can fit back into my size10 Zara jeans! Ok, I have a classic muffin top in them but nothing a tent-top can't hide. The tape measure didn't stretch after all! Just to show that the scales don't always count and body composition might be more important.

Hello all! Sorry for silence this week. Lots going on and not all of it good!

I have totally lost the plot this week, had too much wine and eaten for England.

Sorry to hear pax that you've had a frustrating week. And poor fit, still poorly?!

Well done fav on keeping the faith and seeing great results.

I'm going to bite the bullet, weigh in the morning and get back on track.

We can do this! I still want to get to my goal!

This thread is so supportive, and I'd be lost without it. Xxx

Size 10 jeans, Favadi, that is wonderful. Congratulations. I am so far away from being a size 10 it's untrue.

I don't think I've eaten any differently this week to the week before, but maybe you're right about too much protein. Here's what I ate on Thursday (day before I weighed myself):

Breakfast - 1 hard boiled egg, coffee with cream
Lunch - 1/2 chicken breast (cold), shredded little gem lettuce, a few parmesan shavings (didn't weigh them but less than 20gms i would estimate)
Afternoon snack - 6 walnut halves
Dinner - chicken thigh roasted with 6 cherry tomatoes and 1/2 a courgette chopped up, spoonful of cooked Broccoli.

That's pretty typical of most of my days. I had almost the same thing the day before except i had poached salmon instead of chicken at lunch.

On the plus side, two people this week have commented on me looking much slimmer. And i can get into my size 14 jeans comfortably now.

I need to get back on track! Did a measurement of myself this weekend and my hips are 40 inches and my waist is 35 inches (to be fair 3 inches of that is the 3 inch gap in my abdominal muscles, but still :( ) and I'm stuck at 82.6 kgs.

Homemade museli with coconut flakes, blueberries, almond slices, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, coconut milk and regular full fat milk for breakfast.

Garlic butter shrimp and squid with cauliflower rice, spinach, tomatoes and onions (a small portion) for lunch.

Hitting the gym after work and will have pork mince burgers and sauteed garlic and asparagus for dinner.

pax that sounds fine and tiny portions! fav will advise. But a size 14 is brilliant.

Hi fit. Don't despair. I weighed this morning and I am 14 stone. That's four pounds on. But it's been a truly awful last few weeks.

I am 100% on track and will be in the 13's this week. 10 weeks til DP's big birthday party. I WILL be 13 stone for it!

Good luck everyone.

Shark Sorry to hear about your stressful week.
Good to see you're back on track and a lot can be achieve in 10 weeks (only 8 for me).
Keeping the faith. To be honest, I can keep at it because I've never felt better; I have boundless energy and feel so calm. Despite some serious events and very sad news in the last few months, I've been able to be the rock for those around me without breaking -in the past I would have probably attacked bread, crisps...

Fit your body is probably still recovering from the flu and it will need a little longer to readjust, especially if you were taking medications. Some kefir or yogurt would help to rebalance the good bacteria. The onions and garlic were a good choice as they are a good probiotic.
Good to hear you're back at the Gym. :)

Pax It's a lovely feeling when people notice. :)

Your protein content is okay, maybe a little high. The portion sizes are good but you're eating meat with high protein/low fat content, try swapping the chicken breast with lamb, beef, pork or eggs that are almost 1/2 fat, 1/2 protein. Instead of poached, you could have sauted salmon with skin (where most of the omega3 is)
Your carbs are okay but you can eat more if you'd like.
Your fat choices are good but you're not eating enough of it. By swapping meats you'll increase it but you can always add some butter to your broccoli or olive oil to the courgettes or salad, maybe an hollaindaise sauce or mayonnaise.

There aren't enough calories there for you to have put on weight, so I suspect it's water retention. As Shark said upthread, drinking more water helps with water retention.

Talking of water retention! I'm up 3lbs today and judging by the amount of lactic acid in my muscles I might stay up for a few days! I must start eating more gelatine to speed up muscle recovery after exercise.

I'm considering introducing 2 days of 'fasting 'til dinner' a week, to see if I can speed up weight loss for MIL's party. I might fit in size 10 jeans but I can barely squeeze into size 14 tops and my wobbly tummy is not a pretty sight and I haven't lost even 1cm of the bust yet (grr!). I think another 5-6 kg and I should be back into size 12 tops/dresses.

Yesterday I had:
B: a mountain of salad with some cherry tomatoes, olive oil and 2 scrambled eggs (no milk), followed by ~200g olives.
L: nothing
D: Sauted salmon with crispy skin and crispy cavolo nero strips roasted in goose fat.
Snacked on some little prawns as I craved the extra protein after the exercise.

Had a good day yesterday. Great work out! Finally feeling like myself again. ;)

Hope everyone else is doing well!