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??!!!

I was massively disorganised last night so had to run to pret today. Have bircher muesli for breakfast, chicken and avocado salad and a nectarine for lunch plus a banana for this afternoon. It cost me a bleedin fortune and muesli not the best so off to tesco for a big low carb shop tonight!

Weigh in tomorrow morning as I was too rushed today.

I'm really excited about starting!

Did you start on Monday, gin? Is this day 3? If you are seriously 'addicted' to carbs, then you will be going through a massive withdrawal. (Not sure what plan you are following?)

What have your menus been each day? Post them so we can see if there's any other reason - and also, are you sure you haven't got some kind of bug? It's back to school time, which always seems to herald the outbreak of something or other!

If it's withdrawal, you should start feeling better by tomorrow/Friday, so hang in there.

But make sure you're not dehydrated, which can easily happen if you have diarrhoea.

BIWI, I'm doing the first phase of the Harcombe diet and I only started on Tuesday! I suspect it's mainly to do with how much fat I'm suddenly eating and how much carbs I'm not. And possibly because I had six eggs yesterday .

I was up at 5.30 absolutely devouring a chicken leg because I was so famished. Presumably this will pass? I can't be this hungry all the time!

Oh, and yes, seriously addicted to carbs! Wake up in the morning to a mouthful of chocolate, bagel with banana and peanut butter and a mug of sugary coffee type addicted. Also totally dependant on caffeine (coffee, choc, diet coke) as well.

Thanks for the hand holding. I had no idea I would feel this bad. Luckily I'm still (just) on maternity leave and have lots of family around to help.

Is barley allowed? Thinking of lamb and barley stew tonight

Sorry to hear your troubles Gin! Have you stopped veg completely? I'm anxious about that, I did that before for a few days and got terrible stomach pains and wind

Gin, you have just made me want one of those bagels, preferably the cinnamon and raisin ones :o

I'm not eating any bran or anything, but it appears that I don't need to. ahem. it's all loose. am I somehow still sneaking in carbs? or is this all the courgette I have been eating?

not sure about barley, big.

I am not following any plan at all at the moment and just winging it, but I was wondering if anyone knew a book that had a good plan with lots of recipes and maybe even a shopping list of some sort? preferably not something stupidly expensive on the shopping front..

Gincognito - read my post about ketosis...you are probably about to enter ketosis and are bound to feel like crap. By day 5 I can guarantee you will suddenly wake up feeling better.

Pointy, as said many times on this thread I cannot recommend the Idiot Proof Diet book and cookbook, both are about £10 on Amazon. The recipe book has kept me and my husband sane, if not for that we would have given up months ago.

Spam, I've just looked it up on amazon, they have it on offer at the moment :)
do I need the book, too, or just the cook book?
amazon seems to suggest getting it with the Low-Carb gourmet cookbook and the carb counter book rather than the idiot proof diet book..

Get both books, Sticky (may I call you Sticky? It's a lot easier than your whole name!) The IPD recipe book doesn't explain the diet much/at all.

Gin - I suspect you are in withdrawal. Glad you have people with you! You will definitely stop feeling hungry soon - once ketosis kicks in - but also, the great beauty of low carbing and THD is to follow their advice: if you're hungry, eat!

Bigkids: If you're eating "muesli for breakfast, chicken and avocado salad and a nectarine for lunch plus a banana" then you really aren't eating low carb. What plan are you aiming to follow? And barley is a definite no-no.

Carb counter here

Bananas are 23g carbs per 100g, and oats are 60g per 100g! (Which could make your muesli very high carb)

Gincognito - stick with it, it will be worth it!

For those of you who haven't yet got the IPD book I thought I would write up what you can eat on phase 1. Phase 1 you have to do until you are a within a stone of your target weight then you can move to phase 2.

Meat - any kind you like, make sure you pay the bit extra for decent sausages as cheaper ones have more fillers (carbs). Pate but decent stuff not the stuff out of tubes.

Eggs - they say they HAVE to be organic but an egg is an egg as far as carbs go

Fish - any kind you like

Olive Oil and Groundnut oil

Vinegar - any kind you like but not balsamic

Peanut butter

Double Cream

Butter

Herbs and spices

Salt and Pepper

Nuts - any kind provided they are natural with no added sugar - just don't have too many....very calorific

Any vegetables you like, EXCLUDING potatoes, carrots, corn and peas. Best vegetables are green leafy ones, any salad greens, spring greens, spinach, cabbage etc. Eat onions in moderation. No peppers in phase one.

Avocadoes

Lemons and Limes and tomatoes

Cheese - any kind you like

Mineral Water - 2ltrs at least on top of tea/coffee

Decaf tea and coffee

In addition to this my husband and I also have lactofree milk in our tea/coffee and we have some dressings but watch the carb content. IPD say make your own dressings out of the ingredients but we are too lazy so do have a splash of salad cream, shop bought coleslaw etc and it hasn't affected us too much.

Don't drink diet drinks under an circumstances, no alcohol but if you really must try and drink clean spirits i.e. vodka or gin and soda water or slimline tonic. (I do drink wine unfortunately and I know it slows my weight loss.....)

The IPD cook book generally tells you what recipes you can eat in phase one, two and three i.e. most of the puddings are all for phase 2 and 3.

They also say to take the following supplements

Psyllium husk in capsule form - to keep you regular
Chromium Polynicotinate
Fish Oil Supplement
1000 Vitamin C if you smoke
Vitamin B Complex
If you drink more than you should take Milk Thistle every day for thirty days
Coenzyme Q10

Bigkids, Kotinka, the first phase of the Harcombe diet is 5 days long. You are allowed unlimited quantities of meat, fish, natural live yoghurt, eggs and vegetables (excluding potatoes and mushrooms). You can use small amounts of olive oil and butter for cooking, and also 50 grams of brown rice a day. Drink wise, it's water and herbal tea all the way. I drink rooibos anyway. No milk of course.

Today I had/will have:

Breakfast - natural live yoghurt (I have the Total full fat Greek yoghurt) and an avocado
Snack - piece of poached salmon
Lunch - bacon and eggs
Another snack - probably yoghurt
Dinner - pork stew

Spam, I'm going to hold you to that :o

Thanks for the moral support BIWI and emmanana!

Thanks for that spam - I am considering moving onto that once I finish phase one of THD.

I had my weigh in at the nurse this morning - 2 Kg in 3 weeks. Its slow, but at least in the right direction.
I tried Harcombe - but it was too difficult for me to meal plan, and get something interesting - plus I am not disciplined enought to stick at it.

Now i guess i am trying low-carbs as far as possible, also trying to cut out junk, alcohol and nice stuff!
I want to lose at least another 30kg, so i better try something else as I was kind of hoping it wouldnt take another 45 weeks to reach goal.

Hello!

I am vaguely on track this week ignores yesterday's chocolate brownie. Weight stubbornly around the same/ever so slightly heavier than last week but I am thinking positive for Friday. I have been pretty good overall this week so I should see a bit of a movement. All I want is to see 10 6 point something and I will be happy. I don't really lose more than about a 1lb a week no matter what I do.

No brekker today as was in a rush going to council offices and then running into work.

Lunch was delicious indonesian chicken soup from soup place round the corner - it did have a few rogue peas and bits of spud in it but I think it was fairly low carb overall . It was lovely and filling and I CBA with another salad for lunch so am not going to fret over the small amount of carbs in it. Also small full fat natural yoghurt.

Dinner tonight will be 'fridge leavings' - basically salad, cheese, cold meat, posh Waitrose pate that I bought at the weekend and other bits and bobs.

I am tired though. Have also managed no booze since sunday. Will be good tonight and then I am at Pilates tomorrow night from 8-9 so that will restrict thursday night boozing (always a danger!).

I bought an acorn squash on a whim at the weekend? What to do with it?! I am thinking bacon and sage bake-type thing.

I think it may be time to fire up the spreadsheets again to keep me motivated. It really helped the last time and I am an uber geek (I have a spreadsheet costing out my holidays - in fairness, we are doing a road trip so staying lots of different places, some of which are paid and some not).

zero today

for lunch i had a cheese quesedilla with a low carb wrap (seeblog)

for tea, celeriac chips with a curry coating and quick chick curry again its all on the blog

I'm going to make those celeriac chip things - I am feeling the need for something SPICY!!! And I want curry. And a beer. Joking about the beer...

Done well today, but feeling knackered, but I've got a chicken soup thing later which will be really nice.

Stick - you must stick with it, weighing daily will show fluctuations like that. Don't let it get you down.

Everyone is doing so well!

And I really want to come to the Christmas do, I want to get plastered and dance the night away and be a dirty stop out, so I need to sort out my kids! I'm not on any list yet..

Could you imagine if you really had to go to an actual low carbing party??!!! No booze, no nosh to graze on. Sad times!

ooh my friend and low carb party i threw, would have voddie galoooooooore

we could have cheese on a stick

and sugar free jelly and cream

and lc merangue!

huzzah

that is true about the vodka! I would be on the gin and would be very happy. You could add vodka to your jelly things for added joy

Cheese on sticks - what a laugh, mini sausages -

Vodka jelly - would it work with sugar free - I don't see why not

I love this line

DO NOT boil the vodka....it is highly flammable and will burn your eyebrows and your house!!

I take it back about a low carb party being rubbish!