india knight - anyone got the allowed foods list?

[padboz]

just bought the book from ebay - want to get started now though - would like the phase one list if you have it please?

No, white bread looks very wrong - how strange - I used to eat it every single day!

Where are you to not be able to get smoked haddock?

to be honest it doesn't feel hard at all - I can honestly say I'm having more fun eating this food than the big bowls of pasta I was eating a week ago - not cheap admittedly but I've cut out wine and I'm bringing my own lunch rather than buying an M&S sarnie at lunch so its paying for itself.

I picked a crab the other night - I sat in the garden and winkled out every last bit of it. It was yummy - had garlic mayo with it too. Diet? What diet?

Oh Delicious!

I am in Western Australia, yes there is a lot of seafood but nothing as unctuous and fragrant as a nice piece of naturally coloured smoked haddock.

It does seem expensive at first glance but the money you save by buying small portions of good quality stuff and being able to walk past the bun shop and say "no" to sandwiches.

I did this last year and must get back to it as the weight has crept back up. Well done suzywong!

Can't veggies have cheese and eggs instead of meat, for the protein bit?

Anyone missing potatoes will find that the recommended mashed butternut squash or cauliflower (with cheese if required!) makes up for it. The only bit I found hard was breakfasts - got a bit sick of eggs but I think that later on you can have porridge.

The other good tip is to drink vodka, fresh lime and soda instead of wine - you can't have alcohol in the first phase but once you can, it's so much less sugary than wine.

hello onceinalifetime - did it work for you then?

I take it you're not originally Australian then suzy?

Hi padboz, yes it did - just over a stone lost and another to go but I fell off the wagon for various reasons - started working a lot, stopped exercising and hit the wine and carbs again out of laziness. My very predictable downfall is a stressful day at work leading to a bottle of wine which results in a major carb fix the next morning and the cycle begins.......

I am just starting to get some sort of routine back and reckon that if I combine this with some of the WW principles to form a long term eating regime, I'll be able to lose and (fingers crossed) keep it off this time.

No no no don't combine it. Fatal. It won't work in conjunction with anything you've been told at Fat Club. I mean Weight Watchers. The fat and protein combo is the key. Forget WW and its faux food. No.

Padboz, in answer to your question, Good Lord, No.

I wasn't told anything at 'Fat Club' - I don't go there - I just use the online site as a reference sometimes. I don't eat faux food either. What I mean is that once you've got past the initial phase you can eat things like porridge and certain fruits - I know fat and protein is the key but you can work out a routine that suits you by using some of the WW recipes too as there isn't enough variety just using the IPD recipes. Obv wouldn't advise doing that at the outset but once you've got into it, you need to adjust as you can't be in ketosis long term.

How are you all getting on? Heading off on hols tomorrow, will catch up with thread when I get back

hi toadette - I'm doing really well. I'm down a dress size! if I breathe in a bit! I think I can do this long term though, which is definately not the case for every other diet I've been on. I've been reading around a bit - I presume its as much to do wuth the low GI aspect as well as the low carb because I'm just not getting cravings the way I normally do on diets. I'm just not hungry between meals!!

DH is losing too - I'm making him the same meal assuming he'll fill up on something else, but he doesn't, so he's lost at least half a stone.

Hope you have a great holiday toadette!

onceinalifetime - have you given it a go?