Louise Parker method anyone? I know it's a bit old fashioned now ..

[HardRockOwl]

But I've decided to give it a go

The food is the sort of stuff I like to eat although I'll have to make some substitutes as I'm a vegetarian. But I love Bircher, porridge, all her snacks and salads etc

I'm starting tomorrow and wondered if anyone had some advice regarding the method or stories

Thanks!

@hardrockowl what brand of plant based food would you recommend?

@bonfireheart I eat a lot of the Plant Kitchen BBQ and Piri pieces, plant kitchen bacon strips, extra firm toofoo tofu. The Jamie Oliver quinoa is best - in the green packet

I'm not a huge fan of beans so tend to avoid those although I know I should be eating them!

So a lot of my main meals consist of roasted veg, quinoa, feta, halloumi , tofu - I do need to expand my repertoire a bit!

@bonfireheart a shorter answer would be .. M & S!

Thank you :) I rarely eat meat and want to cut down even more, but can rarely find good substitutes, there's an M&S near DD school so will have a look, thank you.

Thank you HardRockOwl. Losing a stone would get my BMI to 25, but I would ideally like to lose 20lb. That would get me back to the weight I was about 5 years ago. I really think that I’ll get there with this woe, it just might take some time, but the main benefit will be to my overall health.

Hi there- please may I join in? I started a LP thread a few weeks ago but then got Covid and crashed and burned spectacularly! Back in the circle tomorrow and have lunches prepped for the week already

Looking forward to hearing how everyone gets on!

Which lunches and Dinners can you prepare in advance that keep well? Hoping to get into good habits when I have to start going back into office in a few weeks time.

@bonfireheart I’ve made a whole load of the puy lentil and halloumi salad. I stopped before the stage of stirring the cream through as I’ll do that each day, but have done all the faffing with chopping/ boiling etc for the week. I really like this one so it works well for me.

@Daffodillove welcome! Good luck to you with it - not surprised covid through you off kilter. Fingers crossed for a good restart

Re meals you can prep, consider roasted veg as it can be eaten cold next day, just add in cheese/ chicken/ salmon and a dressing.

@bonfireheart also packs of quinoa / grains are good - again, just add veg or salad and a protein.

Dinner was quinoa, feta + roasted veg.

Thanks for the warm welcome @HardRockOwl. I’ve read back through the thread and am so impressed with your results!

That dinner looks lovely. Roasted veg is a good idea: I do find some of the LP ones quite time consuming so will definitely be trying the quinoa and roasted veg.

Thank you @Daffodillove, I love lentils and halloumi so that sounds right up my street. Ironically WFH has got me into bad habits of eating junk so hoping going back to office will get me into routine of proper lunches if I make them the night before.

Well done on the loss @HardRockOwl, very motivational! @bonfireheart I've made the Smokey baked beans ahead for my lunches this week, will have them with a slice of whole meal bread or maybe a poached egg, they were a bit bland but I dolloped some chipotle paste in and they ended up very tasty.

B Vanilla Bircher and berries
S small amount of almonds
L Smokey baked beans w wholemeal bread
S oat cakes and almond butter
D prawn chowder (not LP recipe)

I'm not hungry but am so used to having my head on the fridge or cupboard snacking it's more of a habit breaking thing I think.

I've just ordered Lean for Life: The Cookbook. Is there any other that you would really recommend?

And how do people find eating out? That's one of my downfalls as everyone I know loves going out for meals!

I clicked "buy now" on the book, and have now just eaten a chocolate biscuit. There's no hope for me!

@bonfireheart it’s fine: you will have expended calories moving your finger to click and thus negated the biscuit That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!

I’ve prepped oat bran bircher for brekkie and frittata for lunch so feeling pleased with myself. I’m now setting out my workout clothes for the morning so that when I get up I will do my exercises immediately (well that’s the theory anyway).

Menu plan tomorrow:

B: Greek yoghurt + almonds + seeds + blueberries

S: babybel cheese plus 10 black grapes

L: frittata from the book

S: whole meal sandwich thin with hummus and pomegranate seeds

D: roasted aubergine with bolognese sauce

That all sounds delicious @NinetyNineRedBalloonsGoBy

@NinetyNineRedBalloonsGoBy sounds lovely!

Morning! Official day 1 for me today. Had my cherry Bircher. Plan is:

Snack: double deckers
Lunch: puy lentil and halloumi salad
Snack: choc cherry smoothie
Dinner: prawn stir fry (no noodles)

Just need to resist the leftover Easter chocolate!

Have a good day everyone

That all sounds very nice @Daffodillove

I'm starting the day with an orange and vanilla bircher with raspberries. And err a glass of Coke Zero . Look, no one is perfect and it's sugar free 😜

I wouldn't say I'm a huge Coke Zero addict but I do like a small (medium) glass most days along with my 1:5 litres of boring water so don't intend to give that up just yet

My challenge to myself today is to eat some different foods and meals. I'm getting into that little rut of eating the same stuff because A I'm fussy and B I'm lazy. If you have the 6 week plan book, the advice for embarking on week 4 is to try 7 new lunches / dinners so that's what I'll do.

Great- another shopping trip probably!

@Lifegetsintheway3 give it a go! You might find it suits you. With 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, you're never far away from eating and if you like fresh, simple but tasty food, you'll enjoy it.

Portions can be a little smaller and you need to keep them non huge to ensure you're in the calorie deficit but it does feel like you're always eating! And the only hunger I ever feel is normal hunger for an upcoming meal