The Pretty Extraordinary Low Carb Diet Thread

[QueenStromba]

A continuation of The Rather Amazing Low Carb Diet Thread.

ARRRGGGH!

'off'

I agree that just what might seem a mild slippage has ill effects.

I thought I was OK with eating a couple of sugar free jellies and some options hot chocolates a day. I also nicked some of DP's toffees now come to think of it. I thought that as because these are low carb (well, apart from the toffees) and that I was being generally low cal I would be OK.

Turns out not really, and agree that after a few weeks on this diet and the weight coming off steadily, you can be a bit sanguine about everything and start introducing things you shouldn't strictly be eating.

Also I have discovered that my berocca (of which I have been drinking at least 2 a day) are full of citric acid.

I have been in the zone since Monday, and although my weight is still fluctuating a bit I feel a lot trimmer.

I have also put on my Kookai diet inspiration dress and it fits a lot better than it did 2 weeks ago.

I think my Jillian Michaels every day DVD thing really is helping as well.

This woe is evidently a lot less forgiving than a cal controlled diet - with those you could have a macdonalds and not eat again for the rest of the day. At least with this it is healthier. I am still 100% behind it as a woe but know that I can't be so laissez faire with the sneaky treats again if I want the weight loss to continue.

I have not weighed myself today - for me daily weighing is proving to be a demotivator so I am going to restrict myself to once a week.

In saying that, I was speaking to a friend who asked me why my target is 9.12. I must admit that I just picked that number out of the air. My absolute slimmest weight is between 10 and 10.7 - around the 10.4 mark. She said that maybe with all teh exercising I am doing 9.12 is unrealistic. Hmm. I will see. I will keep up the strictness until July (when I want to achieve my goal weight) and see what happens, and if I need to reassess.

God epic rambling post - sorry

And congratulations on everyone for their weight loss.

I do love this thread - plus also those who have got the shred - I cannot urge you enough to give it a go. I started it in January and it exhausted me at first, but you won't believe how wuickly you get used to it. Plus the results are great. I think the workout DVDs have really made a huge change to how my body looks - far more than 6 mile runs ever did.

I will shut up now.

I am a big fan of exercise too, just to echo GOML. I lost no weight between Sept and now - complete stall hence shifting to low carb. But in that time friends kept asking me if I'd lost weight. I do kettlebells 2-3 times a week and a run or two. Even though my weight stayed the same, the exercise has had a huge effect on my figure and I went from an always size 16 to a frequently size 14 without losing a pound! Definitely worth trying to find exercise you enjoy.

Exercise DVDs are a lot more enjoyable than something like a treadmill or elliptical trainer (which I haven't been on for a while because it is so boring).

It is well worth trying to find out a form of exercise you like, even if you only do it a c uple of times a week.

For those who are interested in the shred there is a really supportive Jillian Michsaels thread which is usually in active convos.

Another vote for exercise. I'm not convinced it helps me lose weight, but I am completely convinced it tones me up and just generally makes me feel better about my 42 year old body!

I've just worked out that if I manage to sustain 1lb a week weight loss over the next 11 weeks, I will hit my target by the end of May. Doesn't seem that far away. Hopefully, I may lose a bit quicker than that - but I know that the more I lose the slower it gets.

Well I managed a trip to Nando's without overdoing it on carbs. I had a plain veg burger and ate it with the salad and a teeny bit of coleslaw. It really filled me up too so I didn't feel like I missed out at all. However, TOTM is here and I feel mega bloated, I'm wondering if it kicked me out of ketosis as I felt really hungry last night, not too bad today though. I'll find out on Monday I guess.

Also thanks to whoever mentioned crispy Kale, it's fab. Tastes like the seaweed stuff you get in the chinese!

That 4 pounds is just carb bloat - it'll be gone by the weekend. I just thought it was interesting that 3 nigiri and 4 maki did that to me, I didn't exactly eat a family sized pizza.

Another vote for resistance exercise. It is the resistance exercise that is better than cardio because it builds muscle which in return increases your resting metabolic rate. My gym tell us not to do too much cardio as it burns muscle. I'm not convinced but have done some research on fitness sites etc and it seems that alot of body transformations are done using weights rather than loads of cardio. I still think a few cardio sessions a week are good though for heart health etc.

Lemniscate Do you do kettlebells at home or the gym? I love kettlebells but only have the 10 minute solution dvd and am looking for others. Jillian Michaels does a shred it with weights that uses kettlebells but it is only available in region 1

Well I resisted the homemade bread (DH didn't) but I am still not back in ketosis yet and it is 4 days since my period started so still finding that very strange

I have just come back from a trip to the gym - on my own, not with the trainer, and only 40 minutes rather than the full hour and a lot less intense than when I'm with the trainer, and I really agree about the benefits of exercise.

But actually, as it's a bit too soon for me to really be seeing the effects yet, the main benefit I'm feeling is the psychological one. It keeps me focused and energised, and makes me feel very positive and upbeat, which is fab. It's definitely helping to keep me 'in the zone'.

Vnmum - we're very lucky as our village actually has kettlebell classes in the guide hut! So I do that once a week as does DH and then we do one or two sessions at home. It's brilliant having an exercise we can do together as he is way fitter and stronger than me but for this we do the same but just different weights. He motivates me to do it when I'm not in the mood and vice versa.

My teacher gets lots of her ideas for new routines off YouTube so you could look there!

It is brilliant for fat burning and toning
Partic thighs/bum which is my problem area. I would recommend classes when starting out as it's important to get the technique right (otherwise you'll hurt yourself and it won't work!) but if anyone gets the chance, do try it. I love it and I've been an exercise refusenik for years!

Hi, yes realise the porridge is carbs, but I am Zoe Harcombe-ing - sort of. I eat porridge for brekkie as she advocates but have adapted the rest of her theory to just lo carb for rest of the time, rather than her plan of not mixing fats and carbs. Works for me.

Weighed myself this morning even though I shouldn't weigh until Sunday, but I am 6lbs down so feeling very inspired! Tried cauliflower mash yesterday, much less grim than I was imagining! Anyone got any tips for making it less watery, did use frozen cauli so that could be the prob. Also am avoiding sweeteners at the mo but think that once I start gradually allowing myself a few treats I might experiment with making a vanilla and almond semifreddo. If it works out well I will post the recipe.

ooh london I would love the recipe for the semi freddo.

Just made chicken breasts with a leek, bacon & cream sauce and lots and lots of brocolli. It was delicious.

But I need inspiration, I am fed up trying to think of things to make now.

London one I use fresh cauli and steam it so it is not watery at all. I also add a bit of cream and some parmesan or strong cheddar which makes it taste very nice :)

Right well I have decided it must be the booze and coke zero that is holding me back from losing at a good rate. I am having a drink tonight as I am celebrating getting the all clear at the breast clinic today - woohoo! I will also be drinking at a friends birthday on Sat but then I have no social occasions until I go away in 3 and a half weeks so I will stop and see how much difference it makes.

I think i will feel better when someone notices the weight loss. Noone has yet and it is very annoying!

angryfeet well done at the all clear today.

I drink coke zero too and it does satisfy any sweet craving, I will keep an eye on my consumption too, just incase it stalls me.

The coke zero isn't stalling me as such but the weight loss for weeks 2 and 3 has only been 1 and then 1.5lbs which considering I have another 55 to go is fairly slow. Still, at least it is going down and my vodka and cokes have been a salvation in a very stressful month!

AF - I think an all-clear deserves a drink. Bloody great news.

Can I ask a quick bit of advice? I've been lurking on this thread for a while and now I'm on day 4 of phase one of the IPD! It's going ok but I'm worried I'm eating too much cheese! I've had a good handful in my salads at lunch and then I'm snacking on it during the day too with cold meats and some celery. Do you think this is ok, and are there any easy snacks to take to work or have quickly at home?

angry really pleased for you about the all clear - bloody have a drink tonight to celebrate that.

fork I think that some people can have trouble with cheese but I eat quite a lot of it - it's the artifical sweeteners I think which are hidden in things which cause me trouble.

For easy snacks, I always roast a couple of chickens on a sunday and pick at them all week, and I make little snack plates with a bit of smoked salmon, cream cheese, horseradish and olives.

That is very interesting re cardio - that's great for me as I hate cardio anyway. The JM workouts are good because they are mostly strength training with 2min cardio intervals.

Thanks getorf, I think I could do with being a bit more prepared so there are some NEC leftovers to pick at.

Over on the Jillian Michaels thread we are talking about body fat caluculations - someone linked to this body fat page which is what the US Navy use - it's at the bottom of the page and you put your height, weight, neck and waist and hip measurments in. www.linear-software.com/online.html

And this BMI calculator makes me laugh - it has a woman's figure which gets bigger and smaller depending on what numbers you put in! www.bmicalculator.co.uk/

I am lucky that I have an on-site deli where I work - so every day I have salad with red onion, tuna and cheese, and also buy a slice of quiche and just eat the middles.

forkhandles - yes, cheese could be an issue. I'd try and avoid having so much of it on a daily basis if I were you.

If you're low carbing 'properly' you should find that you're not hungry and therefore there is no need to snack. However, if you want a snack, how about celery on its own? It's always worth having some hard boiled eggs in the fridge. Tins of tuna are also good to have to hand.