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??!!!

Spamspamspam - I do have an iPhone and will go and look for that. Sounds perfect for me...!

And Kasbah - moral support is a fabulous thing. We are all going to go through the same things doing this - so let's stick together!

Kotinka. Thank you so much. That link is brilliant!

sleepevader you need to be eating slow relase carbs when you do eat any - ie Brown bread, brown pasta brown rice, oats. My brother is diabetic and this is what the dieticians have been telling him for years. But yes lots of protein and veg little carbohydrate would be good and healthy anyway.

Have a look over here for ideas

My lot have just had stir fry with noodles, I'm having it without.

I'm going to struggle giving up my cuppa tea with milk

piste I love coffee with double cream instead of tea with milk. very nice.

my lot had pizza, I had ratatoulle and egg fried in butter, all covered in grated cheese. that sounds disgusting but was actually rather nice.

I am going to miss the bucketloads handful of marshmallows I eat every day occasionally.

Friday weigh in better for me.

Slipped up with a plum and half a bag of veg crisps this afternoon. oops. Could have been worse, I suppose. I've just had 2 tablespoons of plain yoghurt to keep me going til after pilates rather than normal mountains of pitta bread and butter. Wish me luck, I am going in for the burn, the instructor is a machine and puts weights on your stomach while doing crunch-type things.

Morning everyone.

Breakfast today - smoked mackerel with some coleslaw
Lunch - Broccolli and Cauliflower Soup
Dinner - Fake Shepherds pie

Similar to yesterday but need to finish the soup and the shepherds pie so happy to have that two days in a row.

Already three glasses of water down and wait for it......I did a bit of running (well shuffling) this morning! Took my dog out for her walk which is a 5K circuit and whilst out looked around, no-one about so started running, managed 10 minutes of actual running in all but in different sections i.e. I did one minute running, one minute walking, then one minute running then 2 minutes walking, then 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking. Kept this up for about 15-20 mins of the walk and then the rest was walking. It was good.

Definately going to start walking the dog in the morning, much more motivating to start the day knowing your exercise is done - tomorrow going to come back in and do some stomach crunches I think!

First day back at school for the DC's today. Someone told me how slim I was looking ( from the first attempt at loosing the weight in June and July). made me feel great and doubly determined to keep it up BUT had breakfast cereal this morning as it was quick and easy - small portion though and I will be good for the rest of the day - I did cheat a little the last time I did this too as no carbs tends to erm.. bung me up a bit, so this seems to help things out a little.

alison222 - well done and what a boost that someone noticed!

If you are going to have carbs or need help with being regular try to have something that is not so full of sugar. Breakfast cereals are renowned for being hideously full of sugar. Foreveronadiet speaks a lot of sense in all her threads and has lost 4 stone so far from low carbing, however she suffered with constipation on pure ketosis diet so adds some carbs but I think she keeps it to a greek style yoghurt with a spoonful of oatbran for her breakfast. Also you could try some yoghurt and berries. One other thing is physullium (sp!!!) husks, they are recommended for a low carb diet.

I know that cereal is filled with sugar -BAD! The last couple of days I had had yoghurt and fruit for breakfast with a spoonful of linseeds in it to help bulk things up a bit. I am not good in the mornings and no way could I face anything cooked at that time of the morning. I can't take Phsyullium husks as they are not recommended if you are on thyroid meds as they interfere with the absorption I think.

Hello ladies - I have been pig2twigging for the last week, joined a gym (new job and there is one just around the corner..) did yoga yesterday and am going to see my 'personal trainer' for a free consult at 4PM. I have been around 10 1/2 stone before - that's my ideal weight - possibly a little thin for me. I have slid spectacularly recently - stopped all forms of exercise :( and need to get back in my zone. would like to try and loe around 20lbs in the first 8 weeks, then slow down and improve/maintain loss.

I have NO idea what I weigh now, i don't really want to know, but I will get weighed today and look at it in a weeks time to see how well/otherwise I am doing.

IvySedai - weight lost so far: 0lbs
RatherBeOnThePiste - weight lost so far: 0lbs
BIWI - weight lost so far: 0lbs
Pie - weight lost so far: 0lbs
Eggy - weight lost so far: 0lbs
Snapespeare - weight loss so far 0lbs

Kotinka - sorry to sound like I am nagging.....however you should not be deep purple on the ketostix at all. If you are deep purple you are not drinking enough water which will slow down weight loss. You need to be light pink on the ketostix which shows you are in ketosis but are drinking plenty of water to flush out the ketones - the ketones need flushing out! If I find I am dark pink - purple I up my water immediately.

Not doing amazingly today.

B: nothing (bad)
L: seaweed salmon rolls (good), bag of cola bottles (bad!) - does it help if they were organic?!
Snack: full fat plain yoghurt

D: roast chicken thighs with lemon and rosemary, plus salad, I think.

I have been trying this since during the summer (with a 2 week break for a holidays in France, when i indulged in yummy french bread and cheap wine).
I have lost a few Kg, but finding it really tough going. Also dappled with the Harcombe diet, but found it confusing and not sure i can follow it properly to get the benefits.

I go to a diet nurse at our Dr surgery - figured its cheaper than joining a slimming club - and see her every 2 or 3 weeks for a weigh in and a chat.

I would like some ideas for nice lunches to take to work - or do you all just eat salads. lunchtime is my downfall, and i am craving a tuna sandwich or beans on toast.

evenings, i am managing without the pasta and rice which i use to eat nearly every night.

Please can i join in for mutual support?

ps I have name changed recently if that is important

Still on track but want these ketotstick things. Where do you get them?!
Keep going everyone. I swear this must be the hardest part - the starting off.

lunch ideas:

salad wraps - use cos lettuce instead of tortillas to wrap food up in. nice with tuna; chicken and mayo; feta, tomato and olive; left over fajita filling.

salads are a good fall back I'm afraid.

what about soup? Cauliflower is supposed to be good ( I hate the stuff) or a good old veg soup.

You can eat chilli from a flask, just take a tub of grated cheese to put on top.

Same with other stews in the winter. Or beans on toast with lots of cheese on top. You very quickly forget about the toast bit.

Right. I'm back after my 'difficult' days away from home, and shall just draw a veil over what I've eaten today! Whenever it was time to eat, the only options were carb-laden.

We may be going out for dinner tomorrow night as it is our wedding anniversary (21 years!), so I'm sorting myself out ready for Monday. Who knows, I may even work out how to use the scales by then

Broccoli and stilton soup is a nice lunch option - less than 6g of carb in half a pot.

Ebay is cheaper than chemist direct, especially after postage..

BecauseImWorthIt - congratulations!!! I would suggest you enjoy your carbs until Monday!!

kotinka - thank you for the link - I have just ordered some, v handy as you can use paypal, and it will be interesting to see. Can you feel if you are in ketosis? Do you know? Before I was quite confident that I was, but actually that may have just been wishful thinking!

Spamspamspam - where do I download the book from? Is it an iPhone app? I'm not sure where to look!

FreeButtonBee - I love your ideas thank you, and PattySimcox - i'd love that soup except for the stilton bit!!

angelinterceptor lunchtimes are hard especially if you have you take stuff with you. It's forward planning wot is required and I am crap at that. And mutual support is what it's all about

I'm still finding it hard to know what to have - not really a big fan of meat and stuff, not a veggie though, and I will have to think and plan well. I do love salads and soups for lunch though.

I am looking forward to seeing what the scales say on Friday as I have certainly stuck to it!

just seen that StickThemWithThePointyEnd - I'll try them next time