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??!!!

Please can I join? I've been doing Atkins since mid-August and lost 21lb up to Friday, but I'll start at 0 from last Friday to start the same as you guys.

Couple or recipe suggestions - for those who miss pasta, slice courgettes into really thin strips with a veg/potato peeler and fry in butter for look-alike tagliatelle.

I have been making muffins and bread using these recipes [[http://www.minimins.com/atkins-diet/139295-mims-flaxseed-recipes.html Microwave muffins)
I use ground flax from Holland and Barret, and use 2 dspn per muffin. They come out the same size as a mug, so can be torn in half, or sliced once cooled. They even sell flax with cocoa so you can have chocolate muffin....

Microwave muffins

A new week. Focus Pistey, focus.

Morning all!

I'm finally back on the wagon after various celebratory thingies have been done with.

And I even ventured on to the scales this morning. Blimey. That's all I can say.

Morning. Not too bad a weekend. However having woken up to a flooded kitchen from the toilet infill leaking I have not yet had breakfast. I have been diverted by the recipie for muffins and am considering trying them - However I would have to go and get splendida first. I have resisted that sort of thing until now as I would prefer not to use artificial sweeteners - usuallly I avoid them like the plague but I have had cravings for sweet stuff. Perhaps I Should ignore the cravings and try and kill my sweet tooth. - do you think it will work?

Morning!
You don't have to use sweetner in the muffins, but it might take the edge off your sweet craving. The muffins help me get over a 'carb' craving (although they're not), I just need that 'different' texture to chew, once in a while. I also microwaved the recipe in a square tupperware container and then sliced it lengthways and made a cheese sandwich of sorts (left out the splenda and cinnamon from the recipe, just used a tspn of mixed herbs.
Holland and barret sell the flaxmeal/ground linseed, it's on the shelf near the flours.
Have a good day everybody!

would like to follow this thread - am on day 1 of 5 of Phase 1 on the Zoe Harcombe plan. Have not eaten carbs since Friday and am already 2 pounds lighter.

Phase 1 - meat/fish, vegetables, salad, Natural live yog. Caffeine free tea/coffee and water. No alcohol, fruit, dairy, bread, pasta, potatoes or anything processed. Idea is to avoid sugar.

Phase 2 - can now also eat fruit and 100% wholemeal pasta and bread and potatoes. But have to avoid mixing carbs and fats so can have carb meals or fat meals just not the two together.

I am keen to see if the plan reduces the symptoms of candida that I have - cravings for sugar and carbs, unable to fill lungs unless take huge breaths sometimes, faint and shaky if I don't eat....

im going to report in with my daily weightloss before the big Bath meet on saturday. help me keep on thestraight and narrow as i feel v. ill with flu and i am generally run down. had two lots of steroids and just want to eat chocolate

will report in tomorrow

dont forget www.carbfree.wordpress.com my blog - if its any use

i saw delia smith - advert for supermarket or something -waitrose i think - make something with basil and cheese and i thought ooh that looks nice - maybe theres a spinach version

any good spinach recipes? i am thinking about spinache a lot, so guess my body needs the iron? my body is quite good like that - it does tell me what it needs

Thanks for that BIWI, I've downloaded the book. I've also ordered the first step York Test and am considering doing the full assessment (£250!) to get a better handle on whether I have any intolerances that may be exacerbating things.

For those who are desperate for more veg, Rose Elliot's Low-carb Vegetarian is good. Lots of soup recipes and a really yummy granola.

What sweetener do people use? I'm using agave at the moment because it's straight from the plant but RE talks a lot about stevia and how it's actually used around the world by diabetics to regulate blood sugar. Apparently it's illegal to sell in the uk?!

I was reassured though when she said that around 40% of sweets in Japan are made with stevia. As I have single-handedly eaten about 40% of the sweets in Japan myself :o I think I'd be comfortable eating it.

Bloss, I have EXACTLY those symptoms!

Do you? I have to say I read about the breath thing and thought, OMG, I didn't realise it was due to anything, so very interested in that.

If I don't eat for 4 hours I pull a complete whity, legs go from under me, bite anyone's head off if they get in the way of me and a snack.

other symptoms are:

constipation
RBS
diarrhoea
bloating - me
indigestion
headaches - me
dizziness
flushed cheeks - me
feeling of sleepwalking
water retention
irregular periods
vaginal itchiness discharge - me
thrush - me
cystitis
hungry between meals - me
irritable or moody before meals - me
feeling shaky/faint when food is not eaen - me
waking in the early hours and not getting back to sleep - me
abnormal cravings for seet foods, bread, alcholol or caffience - me
eating sweets make your more hungry - me
anxiety
depression
irritability - me
lethargy
memory problems
moodiness
nightmares
easy weight gain
poor circulation
hands and feet senstive to cold - me
constant fatigue - me
sighing often - hunger for air - me
yawnin easily - me
difficulty sleeping
excessive thirst - me
dry skin
hair loss
atheletes foot, dandruff, other fungal infection - me

Sound like a right charmer don't I? but if this plan lessens these symptoms then fantastic.

Another recipe tip. I like something to 'dip' food in (i.e hard boiled eggs, grilled meats) and miss mustards, ketchup, salad cream, chutney etc.

Find the lowest carb mayonnaise you can . Helmans standard is low carb. (be careful of low fat, as they contain a lot of carbs)
Mix with a teaspoon of tomato puree (not ketchup), and you have a low carb cocktail sauce. Its also lovely with prawns.

Emmanana Oh I might try the savoury muffins ones then. - I have really been missing bread and am thoroughly fed up of salad and eggs. Lunches are proving the most difficult for me.

Gincognito I was put off Agave when I googled it and found out how much the juice they take from the plant is processed to make it sweet. then if you google any artificial sweetener you find horror stories about how bad they all are for you. I guess like everything you have to use it in moderation

Yes, there are loads of horror stories about sweeteners, but since starting atkins, I think my diet is a lot healthier. For the first couple of weeks I was a tad label obsessed, and when I see how many chemicals and weird ingredients were in 'normal' foods such as ready meals, fromage frais, snacks etc....Many of them contain sweeteners, so I was probably ingesting more sweeteners than I am now

I'm still on the straight and narrow! That's seven hours then
I just want a cuppa tea!

Rather - why don't you have tea? Since I followed this plan I have continued to drink tea and coffeee with lactofree milk and as long as I stay within daily carbs it's fine.

I felt fantastic on Saturday, for some reason I lost another 3lbs between Friday and Saturday!!!! it has gone up by 1lb between Saturday and today but still I am so chuffed - in total since last Monday to today I have lost 3.5lbs. Considering the amount of wine I drank on Saturday/Sunday this is quite unbeleivable

I am walking 3-4 miles a day and I think that is really helping - the difference in my new jeans since I was on holiday the last week of August is amazing - definately losing inches or toning up.

Food today

breakfast - smoked mackerel
Lunch - scotch egg (not great), coleslaw and some wensleydale and cranberry
Dinner - Tuna salad

Snacks - none so far today, water not great will drink more this afternoon, copious cups of tea.

For those of you who have a sweet tooth I find lindt dark chocolate enough of a fix one or two squares is 50 or 100 calories and it really does the trick. We have the straight 70% dark as well as the mint intense, caramel, chilli and we sometimes have the orange intense - they are all lovely and not really allowed in phase one of Pig to Twig but if I really need something sweet this is what I have.

Nice one Ratherbe!
I've lost another 1lb since Saturday. Kept on the straight road today

food today...

Breakfast - 2 microwave muffins with cream cheese

Lunch - Gammon steak with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and spinach

dinner- grilled chicken breast with creamy mushroom sauce (chop and fry mushrooms and onions, when browned, adda cup of water, fry for further 5 mins till liquid reduced by half, then add 2 tbspns double cream, heat till bubbling then pour over chicken) with courgettes and cauliflower rice (grate cauliflower, microwave for 5 mins)

packet of sugarfree gum

I'll be doing the Dukan which is no-carb!!

Don't know much about the dukan. Is it absolutely no carbs?

spam - what is your daily carb allowance? Funnily enough it's the tea I'm missing! I would have thought it would have been the beer / gin/ wine

Hello! Right, another monday, another attempt at sticking to the low carb thing. Haven't weighed in since Friday so will see what tomorrow brings as an interim weight. My head is not completely there at the moment, I must admit...

Not eaten much today, just a mexican salad thing for lunch and litres of water as I am hungover on a MONDAY!

Dinner tonight is chicken korma and homemade chana masala ( I made a massive pot the other week and have frozen it in portions as a side dish - it's lush). No rice will be permitted but might have half a naan bread depending on how strict I am being.

Rather, I don't really count anymore but when I first started off I stuck to 20-30 grams of carbs per day. Lactofree milk has 5.6g carbs for 200ml which is quite a lot of milk. I literally use a splash in my tea but have copious amounts of it during the day - also have caffeine free the best one I have found is Yorkshire Tea.