The 3 week challenge starts tomorrow!

[BecauseImWorthIt]

Right. It seems that most of us are going to be low carbing. However, please join us, even if you're following some other kind of plan!

From tomorrow, there are three clear weeks until the end of January, and the aim is to lose half a stone. Some of us may lose more, especially if we have a lot to lose, but half a stone is a good - and safe - amount of weight to lose in three weeks.

If you're low carbing, there are plenty of different plans around that you can follow. The three that I'm most familiar with are Atkins (of course), Charles Clark and India Knight/Neris Thomas. All of these books are definitely worth a read.

If you're thinking of starting off with two weeks of induction, Atkins-style, I thought the following might be useful, just in case you haven't got the book. This is a list of foods that are allowed during induction. (It's from the original Atkins, apparently, and I think things have changed somewhat, but this will give you a good guide for it; you might find it useful to print off and take with you when you're shopping:

"In addition to your proteins which are the focus of this diet you eat NO MORE THAN 20 GRAMS OF CARBOHYDRATE PER DAY. Your diet will consist of mainly pure proteins and pure fats and limited amounts of vegetables.

Eat liberally during Induction:

All fish
All fowl
All shellfish
All meat
All eggs

Mayo, vegetable and olive oils, butter, lard, dripping, poultry skin and meat fat

*Cheese (more recently limited to 100g per day)
Any full-fat, firm, cream, hard, soft or semisoft aged cheeses

*Fresh Double Cream (more recently limited to 3 tbsp a day)

*Nuts (more recently removed from allowable induction foods)
Almond, brazil, macademia, pistachio, pecan, walnuts.

*Count carbs from nuts, cream and cheese (if applicable) into your daily maximum of 20 carbs a day

Vegetables

You can have two/three cups(1.5lbs) per day of the following

sprouts
mushrooms
bok choy
peppers
celery
radishes
lettuce
romaine lettuce
cucumber
artichoke
celery
pumpkin
rhubarb (no more than 8ozs)
asparagus (no more than 8ozs)
chard
sauerkraut
bamboo shoots
collard greens
spring onions (no more than 8ozs)
snow peas (no more than 8ozs)
bean sprouts
spaghetti squash
eggplant
spinach
broccoli
hearts of palm
string or wax beans
broccoli rabe
kale
summer squash
brussels
kohlrabi
tomato (no more than 8ozs)
bean sprouts
leeks
turnips
cabbage
okra
water chestnuts
cauliflower
onion (no more than 8ozs)
zucchini

If a vegetable, such as spinach, tomato or onion cooks down significantly, it must be measured raw so as not to underestimate its carb count.

Salad Garnishes
crumbled crisp bacon
grated cheese
minced hard-boiled egg
sautéed mushrooms
sour cream
mayo
lemon/lime juice

Spices
All spices to taste, but make sure none contain added sugar.

Herbs
basil
garlic
rosemary
cayenne pepper
ginger
sage
cilantro
oregano
tarragon
dill
pepper
thyme

For salad dressings, use mayo or oil and vinegar (but not balsamic vinegar, which contains sugar) or lemon juice and herbs and spices. Prepared salad dressings without added sugar and no more than two carbs per tablespoon serving are also fine.

Artificial Sweeteners
sucralose (marketed as Splenda?)
saccharin
cyclamate and acesulfame-K
aspartame (in moderation)
certain sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, do not affect blood sugar and are acceptable.

Acceptable Beverages
Be sure to drink a minimum of 3 litres of water each day, including:

Filtered water
Mineral water
Spring water
Tap water

Additionally, you can have the following:

Clear broth/bouillon (not all brands; read the label)
Club soda
Coffee or tea
Diet soda
Essence-flavored seltzer (must say "no calories")
Herb tea (without barley or any fruit sugar added)
Lemon juice or lime juice (note that each contains 2.8 grams carb per ounce); limit to two to three tablespoons

Grain beverages (coffee substitutes) are not allowed.
Alcoholic beverages are also not permitted during Induction; those low in carbohydrates are an option, in later phases.

Special Category Foods
To add variety, each day you can also eat 10 to 20 olives, an avocado, sour cream or double cream, as well as two to three tablespoons of lemon juice or lime juice. But be aware that these foods occasionally slow down weight loss in some people, and may need to be avoided in the first two weeks. If you seem to be losing slowly, moderate your intake of these foods.

Convenience Foods
Although it is important that you eat primarily unprocessed foods, some controlled carb food products can come in handy when you are unable to find appropriate food, can?t take time for a meal or need a quick snack. More and more companies are creating healthy food products that can be eaten during the Induction phase of Atkins. Just remember two things:

Not all convenience food products are the same, so check labels and carbohydrate content.While any of these foods can make doing Atkins easier, don?t overdo it. Remember, you must always follow The Rules of Induction.

ENSURE YOU EAT LESS THAN 20 GRAMS OF CARBS A DAY ON FOODS LIKE NUTS, SEEDS, AVOCADOS, SOFT CHEESES, CREAM AND SOUR CREAM, LEMON AND LIME JUICES AND LOW CARB DIET FOODS. CAREFULLY MEASURE YOUR PORTIONS!"

Hope this helps, and good luck to us all!

Okkkkk...

I was having ...

First thing
Cup of decaff tea with splash of milk and teeny bit of splenda

Breakfast
Atkins breakfast bar with a decaff coffee, splenda and splash of milk

Lunch
Omellette with shallots in it / cheese and ham omellette / cooked sausages / cooked chicken / cooked ham rolled up with cheese inside it or flaked tuna or salmon mashed with a dash of mayo (left over from kids sandwiches) with lettuce, sliced spring onions and celery, oil and vinegar, pepper.

Tea
Spag Bol woth no pasta, just more salad. It has lots of veggies in it.
Gammon Steak with egg.

Have also had chicken fajitas but wthout the tortillas, wrapped everything up in lettuce leaf.

Hinnypet I don't know if this helps but all the info I have read on low carbing says not to go by the scales but to go by measurements as with this diet you lose fat but gain muscle due to the protein so any loss is likely to show up in inches even if it isn't showing on the scales.

I do know one thing though, you definitely won't lose weight by eating special K and sneaking in a flake!

Just a thought but I wonder if you are actually eating enough fat? When I first started I logged all my food on Fitday, this gave me an idea of how much fat, protein and carbs I was eating.

www.fitday.com/

That is one fascinating website TFM, I am just inputting Mondays intake..says fat 41%, protein 38%, carbs 14%, alcohol 7%.

What do you think? Is that good?

I'd say three things:

Not enough fluid - you must drink more water!

Not enough fat - as TimeForMe says

Too much reliance on artificial sweeteners - add up all the Splenda in your tea, along with the Atkins bar for breakfast.

If you find breakfast hard, why not just have leftovers from dinner the night before?

Oh, and a fourth (sorry!), if you're drinking a lot of tea, you will also be racking up a fair few carbs in the form of the milk - even if you think it's just a splash!

hee hee hee!

Well what do I put in coffee and tea? OOh it's not Splenda it's Candarel I'm susing, sorry.
I do have a very sweet tooth!!!!!! I know this eating plan will try and calm it down.

And how do I increase fat? I cook with butter, and have oil on salads..also I use lean minced beef as I can't bear the textute of greasy fullfat minced beef when I cook!! Also eat full fat cheese (cathedral city yum)

I totally agree with BIWI.

When I fancy a treat I have a few strawberries with cream, that puts my fat up a bit. You could have cream in your tea, more fat and less carbs than milk. I have taken to drinking lots of water, about 4 litres a day, and feel that is helping me, especially in the toilet department

Try logging your food for a few days and you will soon get the hang of what's what with the fat's and carbs.

But STEP AWAY FROM THE SPECIAL K!!!!!!

Here you go Hinnypet, a bit of useful information for you:

Those on a low-carb diet should get at least 60 to 70 percent of their daily calorie intake from fat. Carbohydrates should make up less than 10 percent, and in some cases, less than 5 percent of your daily calorie intake.

Your Special K has 23g of carbs in one serving!! OMG!!

I've been having Rooibos Chai with a splash of cream. If you close your eyes it almost tastes like actual tea

And cream is fine when you're low carbing.

I would ditch the Atkins bars for breakfast and do what I do: whey protein powder one scoop, big splash of double cream, sprinkle of vanilla extract, handful of linseeds. Whizz up in a blender or with one of those stick blenders, and glug. Deeeelicious.

Now I am no longer on induction I've chucked some strawberries or blueberries in too. REALLY filling, the linseeds mean I don't have to worry in the poo dept. and it tastes fantastic.

Stay with us Hinny! These are wise words from everyone. Also, have you tried psyllium husks to keep things moving? Available in pill form from any health food shop.

Thanks for explaining the weighing system. I was wondering whether we were all measuring in kilos. I'm happy to say I'm 92.5 after 2 weeks. I'm certainly in for February, and also March and April. I have a wedding on 1st weekend of May where I'd like to be 80 or below; by my birthday in July I'd like to be at or just below my goal of 63.5. The lowest I've been in recent years is 66.5, for about a nanosecond.

I'm going to look on fitday now.

Made a yummy dinner tonight, so thought I'd share:

Stuffed cabbage

1 or 2 savoy cabbages (will depend on the size - if they're big, you only need one)
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced
8 mushrooms, blitzed in a food processor, or finely chopped
tub of ricotta
tub of Philadelphia
two large handfuls grated cheddar
salt/pepper, dried oregano and chilli flakes

Remove any damaged leaves from the cabbage. Then you need to peel off enough leaves to go round 4 people. The cabbages I bought were all fairly small, so I bought two, to get bigger leaves from the outside, and I used 16 altogether.

Cut the base of the stem out of each leaf (this will mean an inverted v shape - take as little of the actual leaf as you can)

Drop the leaves into boiling water and cook for no more than 3 minutes; drain in a colander

Dice the carrots and boil for about 7 minutes until just tender, then drain

Fry the onion, garlic, celery and carrots in a generous glug of olive oil; season with salt, pepper, oregano and chilli

When softened, add the tomatoes and mushrooms. Stir, then cover the pan, lower the heat as much as you can and leave to simmer for about half an hour. There should be plenty of moisture from the mushrooms, but in case there isn't, you might want to add a little. Not too much, as you want this stuffing mixture to be relatively dry when you use it.

After half an hour, take the lid off and check that all the moisture has gone - if not, turn the heat up until it is.

Then stuff each leaf - take a spoonful of the stuffing and place in the middle of the leaf. Roll it around the stuffing. Don't worry if it's falling apart a bit!

Put the rolls seam side down in a shallow oven dish.

Mix the ricotta and the Philadelphia together (it's easier to do this if you heat it for about a minute in the microwave), and season with black pepper.

Dollop this mixture on top of the cabbage rolls, and spread it over as evenly as you can. Top with the grated cheese and bake in a hot oven for about 20 minutes, until it's golden brown on top.

Oooh BIWI that sounds lush.

Well, tonight I made the celeriac dauphinoise somebody on this thread was raving about (?) from the IPD cookbook. Oh. My. Fecking. God. It was unbelievably delicious. DH commented that he'd rather eat this than the potato version. We had it alongside steak and salad leaves. It was our Friday night meal but DH is out tomorrow so we're starting the weekend early.

I have found my low-carb comfort food. I'm gonna have to make up a batch and try freezing it. Sorry to go on, but I also reckon you could serve it to non-low carbing guests and they'd be happy.

Whey protein was from Ocado (who knew!?) but Holland and Barrett sell it. Trick is to check the carb levels on the label cos some are sweetened with sugar. Mine has sweeteners but that's the only bit I have each day...

Have we done a catch up list yet? I weighed in on monday AND wednesday but I'll kick off with the Weds weight...

WilfSell 90

Bloomin' heck, Wilf - that's fantastic!

So much for suggesting that we might lose half a stone!

I know - I am chuffed. But I'm only really counting the latest 3 because the first 7 were the pounds I put on over Christmas!

I'm up for a February challenge. It isn't bothering me to carry on like this on most days (except for the v expensive shopping bills)

Now. Who knows something delicious to cook with fennel?

Ooh I love fennel.

Cut into quarters, boil for around twenty minutes, then fry in a mixture of butter and olive oil, slowly, until nice and brown.

Season with salt/black pepper and squeeze some lemon juice over them.

Gorgeous

Or - par boil as above, then cover in creme fraiche/ricotta/Philadelphia (whatever you have to hand) and top with grated cheese then bake until cheese is golden brown.

Or - roast in olive oil with other veg (peppers, courgettes, leeks)

DS2 said tonight "That was nice. Something different" Given that he doesn't like mushrooms, I said to him "it had mushrooms in it", and he said "so?"

High praise indeed!

Wilf - 90 is brilliant, well done.

Fennel is also lovely raw. It makes a good coleslaw-type salad if it's shaved thin with celery and white cabbage. Delicious as a side dish to a ploughman's lunch without the bread (but with slabs of proper ham and cheddar, with mustard and a pickled onion).

Today hasn't been too bad: egg-fried tofu for breakfast with soy sauce and a smear of chilli sauce; smoked salmon and cream cheese rolls with avocado, cucmber, celery and rocket for lunch. But I'm going out tonight and think we are 'grabbing a bite to eat' - am nervous about finding something I can have. Also, there will certainly be booze. Will try to stick to vodka and soda or white wine.

Sorry - instructions for fennel were wrong! Boil for ten minutes, not twenty.

I was bad last night and drank too much wine , so I haven't weighed today.

Why do I sabotage my best efforts?

Ah well, today is another day. Have had so far:

B - 2 boiled eggs
L - left over stuffed cabbage with salad
D - takeaway curry; think I'll go for the safest option and have chicken tikka with a spinach bhaji.

Sabotage is my middle name.

I had a hot chocolate and two fun size cadburys thingys today, but have walked loads, drank 6 glasses of water and had nothing carby (except the hot choc and sweeties) and I have lost another 1 lb! What goes on in my body?
TMI alert No poo for 4 days now!

Because you are only human BIWI. Don't be too hard on yourself. As I see it, if you like a glass or two of wine it's best to incorporate it in your diet so that when you reach target weight you don't pile weight back on when you reintroduce it. You will still lose weight even with the odd slip up but it might just take a little longer

"TMI alert No poo for 4 days now!"

I don't like to think what's going on in your body right now Hinnypet!