Starting a low carb diet - anyone interested in going for it with me?!

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

I did this very successfully indeed for about 6 weeks in the run up to the summer break. I have been trying to lose weight for a while and was doing OK but then reached a plateau which was when I decided to try something new. And I easily lost a stone doing this.

It was hard in the beginning, for about the first week, then I sort of settled in to it and it just became how it was. And I like the rules of it, because you just can't cheat on it. But it was sometimes hard juggling what the family were going to eat.

I have been cutting down since Tuesday, but will be going for it completely on Monday 5th. I want to lose a stone. Is anyone interested??!!!

Wow, kotinka, a stone in 3 weeks, that's brilliant.

I was an idiot today. went to work, and at lunchtime walked to the deli cart that delivers to us, ordered and paid for a chinese chicken baguette, ate it and then remembered the diet.
Pass the dunce hat.

At least it was healthy and very nice

I swear that this diet will take some getting used to! I am trying to get my head round it, and first day back today and I have been starving!

I've joined and then sloped off so many MN diet threads but this time I will do it.

I lost nearly 4 stone a couple of years ago with low carbing and after a very enjoyable summer find myself half way back up to my heavy weight so have restarted today.

I always do a pure protein day on day 1 to get me into ketosis quickly so have had ham and scrambled eggs for breakfast and leftover roast pork from yesterday for lunch.

You will find that very soon you are not hungry. It is one of the great joys of low carb eating, that you do not crave food any more. It's not unusual for me to get to 2 or 3 in the afternoon and realise I've forgotten to eat lunch. Try doing that if you're calorie counting!

Is sweetcorn allowed?

Baby sweetcorn is allowed, but sweetcorn itself (on the cob or kernels) is too high in carbs - although it does entirely depend on what plan you're doing!

Here are some carb counts per 100g:

Sweetcorn baby, canned 2

Sweetcorn Kernels, canned 26.6

Sweetcorn on Cob, whole 11.6

I don't have a count for fresh baby sweetcorn, but it won't be a million miles away.

Wow on the corn front - what an astonishing difference!
I have been v good today. Omelette at lunch and now they are having spaghetti bolognese and I'm having it minus the pasta. We've got broccoli and squeaky beans (long green ones)

I know milk is mostly off limits. That I will find hard.

Oh go on then, i am back in. Hi to all the oldies. I have put on 1/2 st since taking my eye off the ball. Not quite as fat as i was but need to reverse the damage. My parents have also embraced the low carb way and have lost nearly 2st since easter between them, so pressure us on to be the skinniest! (luckily i am joking about tha - we're not competitive about weight)

Right, dinner tonight is aubergine parmigiana with a big old salad. This is one of my standbys and it tastes almost like a pasta dish so good for when you feel like stodge.

I'm having a bit of an odd week, and will be travelling/on-the-go and also have a client dinner this week, so I've postponed starting THD, but have reverted to my 'ordinary' low carbing. Sort of a half-way house to a proper start!

And I can't work out how to use my new-fangled scales . I will have to RTFM. Why you can't just stand on them for them to tell you 'heifer' I don't know.

kotina

This is the basic recipe but I have a few tweaks.

I slice the aubergine fairly thinly (about 1/2cm thick) but don't bother to peel, lay it on a pizza tray and put in a low-ish oven for 5 mins each side, then brush with olive oil and give them another 2 mins each side. You need the aubergine to be softened up nicely before putting in the dish. Can't be arsed with the salt, dredge and fry approach - way too time consuming.

I make a really thick tomato sauce from passata, garlic, oregano and S&P, really reducing it down so it's thick and gloopy. You could use a jarred sauce but I often have some of this sauce in the fridge for pizza topping. You want a fairly dry sauce as the aubergine and mozz does give out a fair bit of moisture. I also pat dry the mozz as well, if it's particularly soft. Otherwise it's all a bit wet.

Then I put a small bit of tom sauce on the bottom, and layer aubergine, mozzerella, basil (or a dab of pesto if you don't have any), tom sauce and repeat, finishing with a layer of sauce. I top with cheddar cheese and a good grinding of pepper for a non-authentic but yummy toasted cheese top. Best in a large shallow dish with two layers rather than any taller.

Put in oven for about 20-30 mins at about 160 (you need to give the aubergine time to cook); you can turn it up at the end if you need the cheese to brown. Nice with salad - particualarly crunchy cos-type stuff, as you can scoop up the cheese and sauce with the lettuce and get a bit of crunch and ooze at the same time!

Good morning all.
Freebuttonbee your dish sounds lovely BUT on the 17 day diet I have decided to follow the first 17 days are very extreme in that its no carbs except 2 portions of fruit a day and virtually no fat either so the mozzerella is out. the book is American and goes on and on about zero fat cheese - which as far as I know does not exist in the UK - and anyway it doesn't sound very appetising.
Lunch yesterday was an onion omelette and salad followed by a nectarine and dinner was turkey burgers, mushrooms and veg.
Tonight I will be having Moules (figure the alcohol will have boiled off by the time I'm eating them) and salad to accompany them.

Free I'm drooling at your description.

Ratherbeonthepiste - if you can stomach it then unsweetened soya milk is low in carbs. A soya latte is my treat of choice in Starbucks - about 6g of carb iirc

I am starving.

I think I shall go and raid the fridge for some omelette ingredients.

sausages for dinner? mmmm :)

I weighed myself this morning (naughty, I know), and I was 3lbs down since the bootcamp weigh in. there is hope.

I should say that I am a low carber not a no carber so can't vouch for the exact carb value of this. It will depend on your ingredients. It's also obviously not low fat! But very tasty, filling without being massively heavy and I didn't feel like I needed any snacks after eating it last night.

So far today,
B: none!
L: chicken, bacon and avocado salad (22 carbs), small choc mousse (13 carbs) - not great but was ravenous and they are the low GI/GL options at Leon so not terrible
D: Left over shoulder of lamb from Sunday with brocolli and cabbage

Also going to Pilates tonight for the first time in weeks! I forsee much pain tomorrow - Ouch!

Hi all can I join in too? I lost 21 pounds between Jan and April and have stayed the same since. Am giving it one last push to lose another stone or so for my sisters wedding in November. Today I was 11.10lbs or 74.5 Kilos.

Breakfast - 2 rashers of bacon and 1 egg fried in butter

Snacks - some cheese a slice of corned beef and a spoonful of peanut butter

Lunch - curried cauliflower and broccoli soup

Dinner - Fake Shepherds pie from the Pig to Twig cookbook

Copious glasses of water and 3 cups of tea so far using lacto free milk (less carbs).

What day is weigh in day?

Can I lurk for ideas? Pregnancy related diabetes so need low gi diet which I think us the same as low carb

Spamspamspam - have you made the soup? I like the sound of it!! I like doing soups at lunchtimes esp when it gets colder.

Starving here too, but am going to find lunch now, it's a bit late...

Shall we do Friday for weigh day?

Please can I jump (stagger) in? I have a special occasion and corresponding posh dress in 6 weeks and I NEED to lose weight.

I thought I would be 20lb lighter by now and be coasting towards the last 7-10lb. HA. Oh well.

I am definitely low carbing. It has worked before but I am really struggling this time.

I weighed myself last week and was 13s10.5lb, down from 14st6. The lowest I got to dieting previously was 11st8lb about 2 years ago.

So I am braving my first diet thread in the hope that it will help be melt off some of those revoltingly wobbly pounds.

At this point, if I could lose 11lb in 6 weeks I would be relieved to be below 13st . If I could get more off I would be ecstatic.

Working away from home tomorrow and leaving at 5am, returning very late so i think that is going to be a bit of a disaster.

K

Rather - yes made the soup it is actually the curried cauliflower soup from the Idiot Proof Diet Cook Book but hubby bought cauliflower and broccoli instead of just cauli so we made it and it was gorgeous, he also put a chilli in it.

Yesterday's was roasted butternut squash which is also delicious with a smidgeon of curry powder as takes out the sweetness. I have this on it's own or with crispy bacon bits and cheese - yuummm

You should buy the Idiot Proof Diet Cook Book for ideas, it's brilliant is is only £4 - £5 on Amazon or you can download it to your iphone if you have one.