ATKINS support thread - who's with me?!

[ElectricElephant]

Following on from my other post asking advice on Atkins, I'm going to give it a preoper go now and aim to lose 10lb by the end of September.

Who's with me - Katisha, Eyeballs, anybody else?

I'll start. This time last week I was 14 stone. I'm now 13 stone, 11lb. WOOHOO!

Hello everybody. I know you have been together for a while on this, but would you mind a latecomer joining you, please?

I've done Ligher L a couple of months ago (but only for 3 weeks ) and think that low carb diets might just about be the thing for me. LL a little too expensive for me now, so was really glad when I saw this.

Thanks.

Welcome! The more the merrier, I think!

I'm currently running a Christmas Challenge, on another site that I use - if you want to join in, let me know your starting weight, how much you want to lose each week, and I will send you a chart each week showing your progress. It can help keep you on the straight and narrow. Allegedly - I am hopeless at the moment!

Send me your e-mail address via CAT if you want to join in.

Thank you very much, BecauseImWorthIt.

Unfortunately I don't have CAT anymore, but would love to join your Christmas Challenge. Well, love perhaps too strong a word... Would you mind e-mailing me to:

salfrommumsnet @ yahoo.co.uk

Thanks!

oooh biwi - i didn't know there were charts and everyfink!

i lost 1.4 this morning, well on track for target weight afore MN xmas dooo

after which i want to lose another 1/2 stone so i can enjoy xmas

i am really craving

ready salted pringles

peanut brittle

for those of you who want bread check out lowcarbmegastore.com

custy i have restarted and finding it a nightmare!Bacon this morning and no wine is a killer!Although I usually have wine once weeks is up.What do you eat for breakfast

Custy - I started it (following a similar one from last year) on the low carb site I use.

You're welcome to join as well if you want to!

should say 2 weeks!

BIWI, I've just registered (salcandothis) on the site, so once approved I'll feel too guilty to cheat show my self control.

Well, as a quick intro: I've got one ds (18 months), and since having him, I've slowly but (very) surely started growing. Sideways. Never a good thing if you're actually fatter after pregnancy than during, is it?!

I'm size 14, but huge bum and hips, so would love to be 12. I think if I could lose 10 kgs, I'd be so happy, but 5 would do. So I think my ideal is to lose 10 pounds over the next month. Hope it's doable, as I'm going to my old workplace's Christmas party and would love to look better than when I left.

Eggs are my mainstay, noddy. Today I had a couple of boiled eggs, yesterday I had scrambled eggs.

Occasionally I'll have bacon and eggs, but the novelty of being able to eat that wore off years ago! If I have bacon, I usually have it with some fried mushrooms, with a dash of worcestershire sauce.

My breakfast mainstay ia bowl of defrosted blueberries from Tesco and greek yoghurt. Not carb free but low enough for this.

Thankyou will get blueberries xx I know what you mean about bacon I had a pork chop last night YUCK! Back to the chicken for me Had 2 burgers the night before from butchers were nice actually.

BIWI, I've just submitted my details on the forum. I'm quite looking forward to this now.

Katisha, your breakfast sounds lovely - will go and do food shopping tonight.

Does anyone else have any non-obvious favourite foods? (except for meat, eggs etc)
I think I'll try to stick to eggs, mushrooms and fried tomatoes for the first couple of days until I can get myself sorted, but would be good to have something in the fridge / cupboard in case.

Smoked salmon wrapped round cream cheese (full fat of course!), with black pepper and a squeeze of lemon or lime is a nice change; ditto ham - but make sure it's decent ham.

Celeriac makes a fabulous dauphinois, instead of potatoes.

And a good tip to replace pasta, if you're having something like bolognese, is to substitute it with finely sliced, boiled white cabbage.

(Or were you meaning breakfast tips?!)

Oh no, this is perfect, thanks! Never thought about using cabbage instead of pasta - what a brilliant idea.

Have never used celeriac - off to search for how to cook. I'm a little excited now.

Having recently stopped working, I'm struggling not to nibble constantly throughout the day. I've relied on coffee for most of the day, but can see how that's not the world's best idea ever...

Peel the celeriac, then cut it into manageable chunks, and chuck these into some acidulated water to stop it browning.

Then slice each chunk finely - you're aiming for no thicker than a pound coin, ideally.

In a shallow ovenproof dish, layer up the celeriac with single cream, black pepper, a touch of salt and finely chopped garlic.

Cover with foil and roast in a medium to hot oven until the celeriac is cooked. (This could take quite some time - I sometimes 'cheat' by starting it off in the microwave - without the foil, obviously!) - for 10 minutes).

When the celeriac is cooked, take off the foil and turn up the heat and cook for another 10 minutes/until the top has browned.

If you like, you can sprinkle some grated cheese on the top.

Oh wow, that sounds lovely! Not like "diet" food at all, which means I don't have to make separate dinners for me and dh after all. Think this with perhaps a little scattered bacon peaces is going to be dinner tonight.

One of the great joys of this WOE is that it isn't like dieting at all!

Another favourite of mine is mashed swede:

Peel swede and cut into chunks, boil in salted water till tender (about 25 minutes), drain, return to the pan and add a very large knob of butter. Mash or blend using a hand blender, then season to taste. Lovely!

Added to shopping list. You're making me hungry now!

A typical day for me would be :

Blueberries and greek yoghurt for breakfast. (Or any berries actually.)

Egg salad at work for lunch.

Whatever DH is eating for dinner, but without the spuds/pasta/naan bread/whatever...

I also keep a low-carb bar of some sort about my person for emergencies but don't have more than one a day, if I have one at all.

i've never been a breakfast person, although i do recognise that i should kick start my metabolism, eating in the AM makes me gag.

so if i have anything at all it will be a stick of celery - just cos i think i have to.

Joint of lamb for tea tonight, t;was gorg! DH bought a bag of cheap salad from Spar - it was rank. meat was nice though.

i get sugar free ice pops to munch on in the evenings as i am an evening snacker.

my favourite recipes at the moment are

mince and onion in a saucepan slowly cooked with a big drizzle of olive oil. add a small amount of tinned tomatos or one tomato- so as to taste - not drench as per a bolognaise - and a mushroom ( a big fat one)

i love it - so tasty. and with 2 slices of low carb bread from lowcarbmegastore.com at 1.9 carbs per slice ( shit you not) it is still under 10 carbs.

other favourite - is diced chicken breast chucked into 1/2 can tomatos - add you own spices, i add all spice, lemon olive oil.
cook v. slowly until reduced - simply delish

that is 6 carbs for the 1/2 tin tomatos - if you add onion and mushrooms a couple more.

i was thinking about my nans sping cabbage and butter and decided i would give it a go - off to look at carbs for cabbage! i could eat that on it's own all day!

soups were sent today katisha

also should tell you that i have found that sainbos chippolata sausages are v. low in carbs - something like 1 carb for two! well worth getting.

This is great!

Great, this is so helpful!

I'm not really a morning person either, but might try and get into the habit. I've stopped working, so will try to have breakfast around 10am, which means I won't be so tempted to start snacking at 11. I'm going to start with greek yoghurt for breakfast - I really like it anyway.

Slipped up (well, rubbish start, I guess) tonight by having two slices of (thin, if it helps) bread. Made mince as per Custy's suggestion, but then made a toasted sandwich with it. Was lovely though. Wish I had some of that low-carb bread you mentioned - will order straight away!

Have done a Tesco shop tonight, and stocked up on no/low-carb foods. Will try the celeriac tomorrow night. Fingers crossed. Sainsburys this weekend and I'd probably eat nicer food than normally!

Ooh, just a warning: Don't walk through the chocolate isle in Tescos. They've got great specials on on really nice ones. I resisted (just about), but it was absolute hell!

Sal have you got the Atkins book? Or India and Nerys? Or something that explains the principles?
You have you be clear about how to go about low-carbing and it would be worth doing Atkins induction for a couple of weeks to get kick-started - it's quite a strict process and then after that you get to the yoghurt and so on. You do have to be pretty systematic in the beginning.
Apologies if you already know all this .