Anyone starting the Harcombe diet?

[Zazu44]

Hi am starting the Harcombe diet tomorrow, anyone else had success with it or fancies joining me? 6 and a bit weeks to holidays!!

I'm about to start this too ... I followed it a few years ago and lost about 10 lbs but stopped when on holiday and never started again.

I have the book somewhere .. I'm going to dig it out and read up again.

How are you getting on?

I'm surprised how quiet the low carb diet forum is ...Anyway, I dug out my harcombe book and have followed it since yesterday. Determined to get back on track with this WOE.

I need to get past the sugar cravings and stop the emotional eating too.

I took dd out for coffee this morning after collecting GCSE results and struggled with my black coffee whilst surrounded by lattes and cake and sandwiches ... but stuck to it. It's such a pity that coffee shops don't cater to low carb diets at all .. with the exception of the salads at pret.

Today has been difficult .. I seem to have been hungry all day. I've stuck to the right food I think:

B: bacon and egg
L: poached salmon and coleslaw
D: chicken roasted with vegetables (included parsnips which may be too sweet but I hadn't got many suitable ones)
S: bag of pork scratchings, 3 spoons Greek yogurt

I'm starting Harcombe Phase 1 on Tuesday. Giving myself the Bank Holiday before I start! I followed it a couple of years ago and lost almost a stone - felt much better not eating sugar too. I found the caffeine withdrawal was the worst part.....

That's good I never went back to caffeine after eating the Harcombe WOE last time - at least four years ago.

I'm doing ok, today I wasn't as hungry. I had a late breakfast of bacon and eggs but more than yesterday to fill me up - 4 rashers and 2 fried eggs. For dinner I had chilli without kidney beans and a few hours later some full fat Greek yoghurt with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Today I had:

B: bacon and fried egg
D: pork shoulder steak fried with coleslaw and cauliflower with melted cheese
S: Greek yoghurt with cinnamon, pork scratchings

How are the sugar cravings? Your menu looks amazing!

I've done my food order for next week in preparation for starting on Tuesday. Making the most of my last two days of wine.....

I'm doing ok at the moment. My problem is boredom eating in the evening .. I'm having yoghurt and pork scratchings at the moment to fulfil the need for something but hope the cravings will go soon.

Make sure you check labels for added sugar. Buy only full fat yoghurt - it's lovely! Greek yoghurt is best ... M&S or tesco are great. I add butter to all my veg

I messed up today though .. cheese isn't allowed on phase one, I forgot! I also had bought coleslaw. Tomorrow I'll have to be more careful ...

When do you finish Phase One? I love starting phase 2 and having cheese again!

I'm also thinking of combining Harcombe with eating 8 hours/fasting 16 hours. I'm not a big breakfast eater anyway...

Phase one lasts five days. I'm on day 4 today but will probably continue with phase one with the addition of cheese.

B: bacon and eggs
L: tuna mayo with cucumber
D: hm chilli con carne without beans
S: Greek yoghurt, pork scratchings

Today I had

B: bacon and eggs
L: tuna mayo
D: (bloody awful) pork shoulder steak, cauliflower and broccoli with butter, cucumber
S: pork scratchings, Greek yoghurt

I'll weigh myself in the morning.

Honey good luck for your start tomorrow. I've never tried fasting, I think it would make me unhappy and therefore I'd be likely to give up. Most important to me at the moment is keeping on with this WOE. But if it works for you and you stick to the Harcombe rules I don't see why not.

Day one of phase one

Thank you! I'm all ready..... menu prepared, food bought, family told not to bring 'rubbish' into the house......

Starting the day with herbal tea and a 30 min plod run. Will post my meals later...

Sounds good

I forgot to weigh myself before breakfast so will wait til tomorrow.

So on Day One/Phase One I had:

L: Herb omelette and ratatouille
NLY

D: Vege paella
NLY

Herb tea, water, decaff tea, decaff coffee with soy milk.

I'm now going to watch GBBO and get my cake fix vicariously!

Sounds great!

B: bacon and mushrooms fried
L: NLY
D: low carb sausages and fried cabbage with a little mayonnaise
S: pork scratchings

I weighed myself this morning - I've lost 3.4 lbs in 6 days which I'm very happy with

I feel better and my clothes feel a bit looser. I'm going to carry on with phase one but sometimes add in a little cheese.

Well done! That's a really good amount to have lost. I'd be delighted to lose that in 6 days.

Day two/phase one

L: Tofu and veg stirfry with brown rice (so, so boring... )
NLY
D: Herb omelette and leftover ratatouille (again!)
NLY

Decaff tea, coffee, herbal tea and water.

I'm meeting up with an old friend tomorrow afternoon. We usually have a couple of glasses of wine when we get together but I've suggested a coffee house instead..... My first real test of resolve!

Well done, sounds good Do you make the ratatouille yourself? I've got a can of the stuff in the cupboard I might try, I used to make my own but don't know if I can be bothered

B: bacon and eggs fried
L: tuna mayo with salad
D: hm burgers with possibly ratatouille and fried cabbage
S: pork scratchings, NLY

Yes I make a huge pan of ratatouille and then live off it for days! Or freeze some for later. My daughter is a vegan so I try and make as much stuff that she can eat as possible and then adapt it for my son who loves meat... I'm not at work this week so have more time to cook - but also more time to think about 🍰!!

Ooh can I have your ratatouille recipe then?

My dd is veggie but I'm ashamed to say eats a lot of quorn stuff with salad. What other stuff do you make for your dd?

It gets a bit repetitive but some of the meals I make that are vegan and both kids will eat are:

Vege chilli with lentils rather than mince
Vege fajitas and wrap (cougette, baby sweetcorn, peppers, onion)
Pasta or gnocchi with tomato sauce and olives
Vege paella (courgette, green beans, peppers, fennel, olives etc)
Spinach and pea risotto
Vege burger stew (vegan burgers, potatoes, carrots, onions)
Lentil shepherds pie
Puff pastry tart (jusroll puff is vegan) topped with olives, tomatoes, vegan pesto
Couscous salad
Thai curry with tofu
Stir fry veg and rice with tofu
Ginger Beer battered tofu is a favourite
Veg curry
Veg samosa
Falafel
Chestnut sausage rolls - another favourite

I don't always cook though - my daughter is nearly 17 and my son 19 so I'm trying to encourage them to cook for themselves (and others!). They seem to live on packet or freezer stuff when they need to feed themselves.....

Ratatouille recipe

Soften onion, courgette, aubergine, red pepper and garlic in olive oil for about 20 mins. Add tinned tomatoes or passata, sundried tomato paste, herbs, olives, salt and pepper (I use a pinch of fennel seeds too) and simmer til ready. If it's not for phase one, I might add mushrooms or even butterbeans.

Enjoy cheese today. I'm very envious!

Thanks, great ideas.

I had a babybel snack last night as well.

I'm going to try not to go overboard on the cheese because it halts my weight loss but it makes veg less boring.