This could change your life

[fraggletits]

Anyone doing Zoe Harcombe?

I would never have known about her had I not tried her diet that was serialised in the news of the world magazine 3 months ago.

It appealed to me because it was proper food, no calorie counting - but I was going away on hols so decided to do a kerry katona last blow out and then I'd start it when I got back.

I've bought the book and am so far 5lbs lighter and I am only on day 4 of the 5 day kickstart. Phase 2 looks really good and Phase 3 is a return to completely normal eating and drinking with just a couple of simple rules to follow.

It's brilliant. I can't recommend it highly enough. I thought I was a hopeless big dinner portion fan - a crisp and chocolate addict with alcoholic tendencies. But she has just blown all that apart for me. (It's more than just a diet - it's an explanation of why we crave things and why we feel helpless - phase 1 and 2 eliminate these cravings pretty painlessly so that by phase 3 you can eat all the things you used to but with a couple of simple rules and with a new found awareness and control over food, gained from phase 1 and 2)

She's got a couple of websites - one under zoe harcombe, one under thedietguru I think.

Hope this helps anyone struggling with calorie counting and exercise

Thanks Fraggle - I will be ordering my copy as soon as I get back although I would imagine I will be back to Phase 1 by then.. but I must think positive. I am signing off for a week now, and will catch up on my return to hear of all your wonderful losses. Keep at it everyone..Speak soon X

Thanks again - one more query (for today!) - I'd like my lunch tomorrow to be a carb one.

So, how many butter beans am I allowed? I've tipped the whole large tin on top of the salad (that would be a 400g tin), but is that too much for Phase 1 if carbs are limited?

I can sneak a look at MN at lunchtime in work and just not eat them all if someone can give me the answer before then.

tia again.

Have a great holiday fimbles!

TDMIC - as you know I've been tripped up a bit with the beans and pulses! From what I can gather they are NOT allowed on phase 1. I've just looked at the veggie chilli recipe in the book and all the ingredients except the beans are definitely phase 1, but the recipe is classed as phase 2 only, so I'm pretty sure they're out.

well I think I've done ok today and the headache's gone. Had sardines, anchovies and salad for tea, and a few more anchovies and carrots when we got in just now from a long evening at the theatre.

Will be out for lunch tomorrow - will probably have steak and salad or something - and have got a food order arriving in the evening so should be able to do something with that.

Hi everyone

TDMIC - Butter beans definitely allowed in Phase 2, as part of a carb meal and amounts are limitless as it's unlikely you would binge on them!

Franch - glad your headache's gone. Mine's alright except if I have to bend over to pick something up (which is how I spend half my life) then it throbs a bit - water seems to really help.

Yesterday I had kallo & yog for breakfast, courgette, bacon & onion omelette for lunch and roast chicken & veg for dinner.

Haven't weighed myself yet but definitely feeling slimmer

Have a great day everyone

Sorry TDMIC - re-read your post - butter beans or any other pulse not allowed at all in Phase 1. Too carby, like potatoes.

Hi all, sounds like you're doing well fraggle

Still weighing myself daily and lost 2lb yesterday so that's now 4lb down, 13lb to go. It'll be good if I can keep the weight to be lost under 1st.

Had a whole 500g pot of full-fat live yogurt for breakfast! Don't feel stuffed so hopefully that's ok. I intend to be very strict for the rest of the day ... It's not that hard! It's true that you just don't obsess about food the whole time on this diet - normally I can't think of anything else.

Thanks fraggle. I'm afraid I ignored your advice because I didn't have time to remove the butter beans before work and have eaten them all!

But at least I'm on day 5 so almost into phase 2 anyway. And I've lost two-and-three-quarter pounds since Monday, so I'm thrilled with that.

Think I'll stick with Phase 1 for a few more days until the book arrives.

I've been thinking about the exercise advice Harcombe gives, and while she's right about exercise not burning off as many calories as you might hope, I do think Phase 1 is slightly inadequate if you do (or want to do) a lot of exercise - it wouldn't be good to, say, play a couple of hours tennis, and then not eat anything some time before and afterwards... and I'm not sure the snacks she recommends (low fat yogurt and crudites) would be sufficient.

I don't quite know what the answer to that is, though.

The other thing is, exercise is essential for good cardiovascular health and to keep toned.

I once saw a champion slimmer in a changing room and, from a distance, thought she was wearing an unusual pink t-shirt designed like a ruched blind. Turns out that was her skin - not a good look!

Great news on the weight loss TDMIC.

ZH says you can have any phase 1 foods as snacks - so you can have a boiled egg, a tin of tuna, whatever. And the yogurt can be full fat.

And she definitely says exactly what you say about exercise for health and toning.

Thanks Franch - glad to hear that, I'm only going on what I've pieced together from here and the She article - so obviously haven't had the full picture.

The good news is the book has been shipped from Amazon, so should be here soon.

And then I can have some wine

That's great news about the losses Franch and TDMIC!

Think you'll really enjoy the book TDMIC - you're clearly doing really well from pieced together info! She totally advocates exercise for good health and toning, she just does away with the notion that you need to pound away for hours at the gym to lose weight.

Today I had bacon and eggs for bfast, rice salad for lunch and am having pork chops, fried courgette, spinach and grilled toms for dinner.

Had a sneaky look on the scales while the kids were in the bath and I'm down 3lbs since Weds so I'm really chuffed

That's great fraggle! What's your total now then?

I'm certainly feeling better. After my yogurt breakfast I had yummy jerk chicken and veggies for lunch (just asked for extra veg instead of the rice - at a restaurant that I have always totally pigged out at, with a whole load of sides and an enormous pud), then rice salad for dinner. Will have some more yogurt when the food order arrives.

Can't say the cravings have gone - I definitely wanted some of the kids' soda bread at teatime and have been thinking about chocolate a lot, but not as much as usual. If I hadn't polished off all the yogurt for breakfast that would've helped - I seem to lose the cravings if I have yogurt and then brush my teeth.

Thanks Franch - so that's 1st 7lbs to go.

Your lunch sounded really nice! Love jerk chicken. Indian's really good for this sort of diet as well, you can have loads.

I had a real chocolate craving earlier today. It's that time of month and usually I would have had a bar or 2 but managed to ignore it. Had really stressful afternoon in the park as well and before all this I would definitely have been reaching for the wine at 6pm but that craving seems to have gone.

Interesting the yoghurt and teeth brushing!! I wouldn't want to eat anything after I'd brushed my teeth either

That's great fraggle. And well done resisting the chocolate craving!

Had another 500g pot of yogurt yesterday evening - am sure I shouldn't be eating this much but I guess it's unlikely to carry on.

Phase 1 is officially over and I've lost 5lb in 5 days! Which is brilliant. Thanks so much fraggle for introducing me to this. My trousers already feel looser.

As I erred a bit this week and have some 'cheating' planned next weekend I thought I'd continue phase 1 a bit longer. Had about 250g live yogurt for breakfast this morning then realised it was the Greek variety, with cream in! Fine on phase 2 tho so I won't worry about it - and it's delicious (Onken) so that's something to look forward to with my berries etc.

PS 12lb to go

What's your total loss so far fraggle? I just had another look at what you did before and after your family visited, and note that you only put on 2lb while they were with you, which isn't bad - I think I'll do the same before and after my anniversary weekend. My birthday is 2 weeks after that so if necessary I'll do another phase 1 after that - hopefully not for long tho as that's just 1 meal.

Hurray! My book has arrived - excellent service from bookbox direct.

So I can start Phase 2.

I don't know if this is linked, but I had an eyesight test earlier and the optician advised me to have a cholesterol check because he could see something that indicated raised cholesterol - he said it might be temporary. I wondered if this is anything to do with all the bacon, eggs and meat I've had in the last 5 days?

I'm within a healthy bmi (and was before starting the diet), but at the upper end of it, and have never been told this by an optician before.

I think I'll aim to eat the lower-fat "fats" next week - fish, chicken and veggie alternatives like tofu (although will need to check if tofu etc is a carb).

Good luck Franch, we're at the same stage.

Hi everyone

It's 9lbs in total for me Franch - that's in 13 days of phase 1 stopped and started again with binging in between.

I wouldn't consider dieting at all with your 10th Wedding Anniversary!! (congratulations by the way!) nor with birthdays or other big social occasions. (even just friends round of an evening I ignore any diet rules and enjoy myself - life's too short!)

When the family were here it was 4 days of not necessarily binging, but I was drinking every night, snacking because they were, not watching what I ate - so a 2lbs gain I suppose isn't too bad.

TDMIC - that's unusual. I'm sure it isn't linked though. If just 5 days of bacon and eggs could raise your cholesterol like that surely the majority of us wouldn't be making it into our forties! I'm not an expert obviously, but it doesn't sound right.

I don't think Tofu is a carb - she's got it in the eat with fats or carbs section of Phase 2 which is good.

Hi all I have received my book today. Anyone else found it a wee bit confusing

Hi Mammy - yes, I had the book yesterday and found it hard going - tbh the summarised version in She magazine was easier for Phase 1.

But the She one isn't quite accurate - I've now realised not mixing fats and carbs is for Phase 2, not Phase 1. Still, I have lost over 4lb in less than a week which is amazing.

But, come on here and ask questions if you need help - I'm very impressed with the diet itself.

Hi Mammyto1

Yes know what you mean. You can tell she's new to publishing as the info can be a bit all over the place.

She went on and on about you're allowed all veg except potatoes and mushrooms in phase 1. So I had a bacon and sweetcorn omelette one day and then read somewhere else in her book that sweetcorn could be reintroduced in phase 2 only with a carb meal!

I was a little annoyed but still.....can't argue with the results of all this

Good luck anyway.

I agree - try using the News of the World or Mirror versions to start with maybe. There are a couple of oddities e.g. the rice breakfast + rice lunch I pointed out earlier, but nothing serious. And we're all pooling our knowledge here which should keep us on track

I am feeling fab today. Cravings seem to have pretty much gone altogether, my skin looks great and the dodgy feeling's disappeared.

Yesterday had yogurt breakfast, rice salad (and a bit of yogurt) for lunch and a whole trout with stirfried veg + roasted asparagus and some yogurt for dinner. Lost another pound, so have averaged at 1lb a day - at my best I've only ever lost a pound a week before.

So that's 6lb down, 11lb to go

Thanks all for your comments its very appreicated.

I had a little miss hap yesterday and had some cider BUT I have still lost 2 and a quarter pounds since yesterday. Woohoo

I have been dieting for 2yrs and has taken me that to lose 2st 10lb. I would like to lose a further 2st ish.

Oooooo BTW she is on facebook. I have requested her as a friend so if anything needs asking I can go right to the source

Great start mammy, well done!

That's great news everyone! Blimey this is almost too good to be true really?? I would also only average max 2lbs loss a week on any other diet.

I'll weigh myself in the morning but am feeling a little bloated as am about to start my period any day now (which combined with the detoxing has also made me break out a little!)

She also says at the back of her book you can have caffeine free diet coke (as a treat.....not because too much will make you gain weight, but she's all about natural good for you foods and obviously there's no health benefit to coke)

Has to be caffeine free to not make your insulin rise.

I've kept to no carbs today to help shift the bloat - bacon & eggs, salmon with fried cherry tomatoes and courgettes and will prob have lamb chops & veg for dinner.

Have a great day everyone