Zoe 2024 - a clean slate

[thinkofablinkingnamewoman]

Hi all - new year, new thread 😁 Will try to link to this from the previous one but not sure if I can do it from the app.

In keeping with good beginnings I am off to have berries, nuts and yoghurt. Could murder a load of toast though!

I've lost a bit since DH started, with a blip over Xmas. Very gradual, I think I'm maintaining a small calorie deficit each day without feeling hungry.

I'm waiting for my results but have been losing since November and no intention to stop using Nutracheck when results are in, I'll be running it alongside .

I may want to carry on food logging after my Zoë subscription finishes, is nutracheck the best app?

I find Nutracheck very user friendly and so does DH. Well worth £30 a year in my opinion . I have used My Fitness Pal in the past (free version) but get on better with Nutracheck.

I'm not weighing just yet.

I'm really starting to enjoy the food. Consistently eating to plan, and starting to feel a change. The food is delicious but not really new to me. It's more fresh food and the absence of anything processed for a consistent period of time.

I make a pudding with tinned mango puréed, coconut milk & chia seeds. Incredibly delicious. Scores 93 which is 🔥🔥🔥

Cronometer is another good app for logging foods and gives nutrient info as well as calories which I find handy. It’s free also. I have osteoporosis so need to track calcium each day.

Would anyone be able to screenshot the 50 good and bad bacteria from the app?

I did another gut test with another company and want to see if there’s any of them on there. I’m waiting to retest with Zoe but need to get my scores a bit higher, I fell off the wagon over Xmas!

The way the lists are presented now isn't amenable to screenshotting (unless I'm missing something), I have to scroll down with only a couple showing per screenful.

Ok thank you. I’ll have to get on and do the retest then but I have succumbed to pannetonne tonight left over from Christmas. Sunk to 68 for today.

I was doing so well but I’ve found it so hard to say no to sugar since I started it up again 😥

Im feeling like I want to keep eating even though I’m really full. Zoe definitely makes me feel full but I so badly want something sweet. I can’t eat dark chocolate and can’t think of anything else.

Hm, not sure, I seem to have got out of fancying anything really sweet.

I wonder if something like an after dinner mint would allow you to finish off a meal on a sweet note? Or a really nice chocolate? (I think if you're going to have a bit of sugar then at the end of the meal is least spiky). The trick would be to not have more than one or two!

I quite often have a few pecans and a satsuma after dinner rather than chocolate or similar as I used to.

I'm usually having some fruit with a bit of Greek yogurt and kefir, sometimes with a few nuts.

I am still struggling with sugar. I eat chocolate when I am stressed, which is virtually all the time now. My calories have gone down a lot this week, mainly because I’ve not had time to eat at work and I have no energy to cook myself something Zoe-friendly for dinner. Tonight the kids had chicken nuggets, chips and beans. I had just the beans. The beans scored 76 which I was happy with.

I have dark chocolate and nuts sometimes but it doesn’t satisfy the craving quite the same way as a dairy milk does. 😆

I have been trying to think of ‘my why’ whenever I have anything to eat. Sometimes that helps me make a better choice but more often than not, I end up thinking ‘fuck it, I don’t care.’

I know the fuck it feeling. I’ve been on the Zoe wagon for some time and thought I was cured but boxes of chocolates and all sorts of Christmas treats have been so hard to resist. Now it’s like the floodgates have opened.

i can relate very much to not wanting to cook out of tiredness. I feel like that many nights. Going to share some things I’ve found in case it helps. the packets of lentils from Merchant Gourmet are pretty good.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/merchant-gourmet-puy-lentils--sun-dried-tomatoes---basil-250g?utm_medium=cpc&catalogId=10241&utm_content=shopping&productId=31532&utm_campaign=20333793068&utm_custom2=759-449-0952&storeId=10151&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9tLN-d_5gwMV45tQBh1RNAvtEAQYAiABEgK7Z_D_BwE&utm_custom1=&langId=44&utm_source=Google&krypto=al4x%2FU2fSM3qH2eSmG5xmUYbyPWFVx9hPJI4exZM5HGb2%2BFYn05KKgi2AEDycc%2BLxjSIFQPcnj2ablC%2B9ajJdzVC%2B%2BurM0ExheSoa8i3WvP8BvA2sFHMzEFKlcBrvPoyhTsgRHnYh7jPQE8EgarmIm%2FH48y4iF9JK%2BCatwQWqMl1aLZ3uCYIiu4X13t6jRHvHwfgL98aCb5GY5SSeMom86tun2B03buXQPA0zDi8lRBtqmqgKdBbGRw2XtTTO%2FU6S1MxDrsLbLpyYkkdHtAlb6fo8iDy1Pfxw%2FJzpVB6Qt0OZXCMQp2BspgsLidiB%2BMsR5yf1w2JvRX52oC6%2B2mWJpWffcda%2FZL5z0Crv0PcEXMCkrXiGYe6hPQcN4AE8sdcfmfrMKIDzmJGPXslfMu%2BrjglL29u1mXFyZFmEBbd%2FCAPodO6F2WLoYRq3EndVhS0&ddkey=https%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fmerchant-gourmet-puy-lentils--sun-dried-tomatoes---basil-250g

Can be heated in the microwave. Not cheap but very convenient. I’ve been having this with veggies and some protein.

Like a tin of tuna or salmon.

Or something I don’t mind cooking is chicken breasts in the oven.

this Barts chicken seasoning changed my life. https://bart.co.uk/products/chicken-seasoning

All you do is shake it all of a chicken breast skinless or pull back the skin a bit on a thigh or drumstick. Then a bit of olive oil and put in oven. So tasty. We eat it once a week with veg and the lentils. Veg goes in microwave. Kids like it.

Merchant Gourmet do packets of interesting rice and grains and lentils mixed as well. M&S has a packet of Moroccan lentils which is lovely.

Not sure if it will help but I find these dinners that don’t require too many steps are my favourites.

Eating well requires time and effort. It’s so hard if you’re very busy. I hope it gets easier for you. (And me!) and less fuck it moments.

Sugar, chocolate in particular just makes me happy. It’s like a little high when you eat a nice chocolate. I miss it!

Sweet treat
Large tin of mango purée (or Large tin of fruit of choice blended)
Tin of coconut milk
Chia seeds

Mix and wait a few hours.

Amazing & scores 87 for me.

I'm experimenting with a kefir version but the sweetness of the mango coconut one is really fantastic

I had friends over last night & had a few Tunnocks tea cakes. I skipped dinner which is always silly. Score dropped to 50 but my weekly average is still 61 so not too bad.

I'm back on it today.

I am struggling to get my protein up. Zoe says I need to double my protein intake. I'm mostly eating veggie, as per guidelines. Having seeds, nuts, lentils or beans with every meal. I'm going to try eating more tofu and eggs over the weekend. I feel like I'm otherwise doing well but doubling protein seems impossible.

Thanks @RobinEllacotStrike
ill give that a try.

for tofu have you tried this?

https://www.ocado.com/products/taifun-organic-firm-tofu-with-basil-53537011?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADi6iHmjX4ReL_LGgB8aFR5Ix2iXX&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_5qj2db6gwMVxpdQBh1-QQ4qEAQYASABEgJmJvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

i bought it once but I didn’t know what to have with it and didn’t know how to cook it so threw it away after it went out of date. Such an expensive mistake 🙈 I wanted to cry! I don’t really know what to do with tofu.

I love Tunnocks tea cakes!! And their caramel wafers - they’re the best. So chewy and yummy. I could eat one right now!

I suppose I’m doomed with a username like mine. I could change it to Lentil24… but that makes me feel a bit 😥

I'm curious how the mango and coconut thing would score for me - how much chia for that quantity? (DH sometimes does a simple chia pudding but I've not used it so don't have a feel for the right proportion)

Re tofu, we've not bought any fresh for a while - be used to use the cauldron foods marinated one in a stir fry but DH went off those. He occasionally buys a bix to just eat on a salad or as a snack. I've got some tins of marinaded tofu which I sometimes have on a salad.

I put my glucose monitor on today in advance of my test day tomorrow. It's interesting how quickly your glucose goes up after eating.

I think I put about 100 grams of chia seeds in - that is with a big tin of mango pulp from the asian foods store. I ahve also made it with a giant tin of peaches in joice that I have blended up - but that was pre zoe.

Tofu - cubed, rolled in spices and cooked in the airfryer is good. You can also freeze it and then when it thaws if goes more spongy -which soaks up marinate well.

I also like the pre fried cubes of tofu from our local asian food store. Great in Laska and much more spongy/absorbant.

Tofu is pretty much a blank slate.

I'm going to experiment with silken toue for sauces/dips etc. Might be a way for me to get more protein

@TheClitterati do you have a good recipe for Laksa?

Hm, I tried putting an approximation of the mango thing into Zoë, if I assumed 10 portions (~200 cals each) it would score 71. It'd almost certainly be lower for DH so I think we'll have to pass on that!

But a fruit/kefir and chia mix would probably be ok for me and more amenable to making in a smaller quantity.

this one is top notch but takes a while to make - I first made it for DD's birthday in lockdown:
https://www.marionskitchen.com/laksa-lemak/

She does a quick version using red curry paste which is also lovely:
https://www.marionskitchen.com/easy-curry-laksa/

Laksa is a great dish as once you've nailed the sauce you can amend the veggies/noodles/protein etc to taste.

I've not run either of the above through Zoe