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!

Quibbler - me too!

So far today, muesli and a banana for breakfast, butternut squash and sweet potato soup for lunch, with 4 ryvitas with extra light cream cheese and smoked salmon.

(and 2 pieces of Galaxy)

Oh yes please count me in. I did weigh myself this morning with the idea of starting my diet today so it fits perfectly thank you. Last year I changed my way of cooking and eating for the whole family and lost 2 stone. Sadly over christmas time i put on 5 pounds and feel inches have increased as well.

gr8kids 100

Fimbles5 - 100
BecauseImWorthIt - 100
Shortandsweet2 - 100
Scrappydappydoo - 100
SoleLundyFastnet - 100
ineedapoo - 100
YouLukaAmazing -100
Shopalot - 100
toolly - 96.5
TheQuibbler - 100
Blametheparents - 100
gr8kids - 100

Fimbles5 - 100
BecauseImWorthIt - 100
Shortandsweet2 - 100
Scrappydappydoo - 100
SoleLundyFastnet - 100
ineedapoo - 100
YouLukaAmazing -100
Shopalot - 100
toolly - 96.5
TheQuibbler - 100
Blametheparents - 100
gr8kids - 100
bubble2bubble - 100

went a bit mad on the cashew nuts at lunchtime - oh well, can't be too bad?

I seem to have fallen off the list, wish my bum would disappear so fast.

Fimbles5 - 100
BecauseImWorthIt - 100
Shortandsweet2 - 100
Scrappydappydoo - 100
SoleLundyFastnet - 100
ineedapoo - 100
YouLukaAmazing -100
Shopalot - 100
toolly - 96.5
TheQuibbler - 100
Blametheparents - 100
gr8kids - 100
bubble2bubble - 100
piximonkeyingaround - 100

Today I had weetabix with skim milk, tomato soup with a slice of granary bread (not the usual 3 slices), Quorn chilli and rice for dinner and two satsumas. Plus a gallon of tea. According to WW points I still have a few points spare, useful if I get peckish whilst staying up all night working on an essay.

I did no exercise too busy studying while dcs out of the house but did find out some exercise dvds for when I do get some time.

Ah, you're all here! Right, I'm in too:

Fimbles5 - 100
BecauseImWorthIt - 100
Shortandsweet2 - 100
Scrappydappydoo - 100
SoleLundyFastnet - 100
ineedapoo - 100
YouLukaAmazing -100
Shopalot - 100
toolly - 96.5
TheQuibbler - 100
Blametheparents - 100
gr8kids - 100
bubble2bubble - 100
piximonkeyingaround - 100
WilfSell - 100

I chickened out of a walk to the shops as it was so cold . I hate the cold, in my defence, and suffer from Raynauds. Even driving there, my fingers were completely white/numb by the time I got home.

That's my excuse anyway, and I'm sticking to it!

A question. Is anyone else a daily weigher, or are you all weekly/when you feel like it?

A tip I've had from another forum, if you are daily weigher, is to weigh every day and then take either the average as your weekly weight, or the lowest.

I'm a daily weigher, as this keeps me on track!

Day 1 IPD for me and DH.

We have had:

so far 7 large glasses of water
1 Earl grey with lemon
1 green tea

bacon and omelette for breakfast

salami, cheese and salad with lots of lemon dressing for lunch (chucked in about 6 olives also)
had 6 brazil nuts at 4ish

for dinner with the kids we had salmon (great Tesco offer on wild salmon steaks before Xmas!). I did these with rice and sweetcorn for the kids; DH and I had sprouts in garlic butter (yum!) and spinach with nutmeg and creme fraiche.

Lots of fat and calories today but I think it is better for us to not limit them in induction as otherwise we'd be craving our usual sugar/carb fest.

I am beginning to feel a little weird. I've taken 2 chromium tablets and haven't as yet had wild cravings but it's early days. I can feel a slight headache beginning to brew and feel a bit 'spacey'...

I've also hard boiled 4 eggs and they're in the fridge waiting for me for tomorrow. Ocado are coming with a VERY expensive shop (but again, I figured I won't be drinking my money in wine so I can stretch to a bit of steak etc).

We are going to have to plan meals a lot more I think - normally it is 'what can we chuck on this pasta...'

You shouldn't be limiting fat anyway, Wilf, if you're low carbing. Honestly. I know it runs counter to everything we've been told over the last 20 years!

And yes to meal planning - although it does get easier, once you get used to it.

Tonight we're having:

Roast pork, red cabbage stewed with onion and lots of butter and broccoli. The DC and DH are having potatoes roasted in goose fat (!); I'm having cauliflower mash with butter.

The headache will be withdrawal - and as you're withdrawing from caffeine, carbs and alcohol I'm not surprised! Take painkillers, drink more water - it only takes a couple of days and you'll feel much better.

Message withdrawn

And here's an interesting article about why we should eat more fat

And if anyone is doing India/Neris' "Idiot Proof Diet", they also have a website, www.pig2twig.co.uk. Here's an interesting thread about fat:

You may have to register on the forum to read this as it appears to be private now

Nerys and India's diet looks interesting too, I'll bear that in mind if this low carb effort goes awry. What's the difference, anybody know?
I've had an Atkins bar and decaff coffee with cream (bars much reduced in Tesco in case anybody's interested) some cold chicken, cubes of chees, some slices of ham and a sugar free jelly. Then bolognese sauce and finely sliced courgettes (supposed to be like pasta but badly overcooked!!)
I don't think that's too bad, considering I baked a loaf of bread for DH and kids ....

The IPD is, essentially, a low carb plan. It's in three phases, phase 1 being equivalent to Atkins induction but by phase 3 they incorporate much higher daily carb levels - I think that stage could be more like South Beach (but don't quote me on that as I don't know the South Beach diet).

It's a lot less 'technical' or 'scientific', but lots of interesting stuff on the psychology of eating/dieting, and very motivational.

The recipe book is good - lovely recipes and some very interesting ideas.

Morning ladies. Well i usually don't weigh in daily but i did today. i officially started my diet yesterday and determined to get back on track. well well.....i've lost 1.6 pounds. all i'm doing is drinking alot of juice, redbush tea, water. eating raw or cooked veg, fruit and soup. so i'm eating through the day on any one of these and for tea i have a cooked meal eg: last night i had cubed (bit fatty) lamb fried with onions and spices(chilli powder) then added loads of finely cut up cabbage. and a activir yoghurt after. i went thru yesterday without a problem and wasn't hungry once. with excercise i walked only half mile in snow and did few excercises on the wii fit and also a few dance workouts which my ds joined in. i'm not aiming to lose alot of weight as quickly as i can because we all know this isn't right way to diet but alot of it is water now i think. just want to share my joy with everyone

ps. i will only be eating this way for 4 days to give me a kick start then i'll be eating 3 meals a day.

Hi everyone. Well day one of the three week challenge complete Believe me, for me, getting through day one is an achievement in itself so feeling very good about myself today. Hope all is well with everyone else. For all the daily weighers out there put the scales somewhere where it is loads of hassle to go and find them (the garage etc) until next Monday. Despite my good efforts yesterday I weighed in this morning half a pound heavier, but I am adamant that is not going to dampen my spirits. Good Luck all with day two. X

Fantastic gr8kids - Well done you

thank you fimbles

Hello - as you say, day one completed. The longest journey starts with a single step and all that.

I found it harder than I thought I would. Wasn't actually hungry, but just wanted to pick at things in the evening as I usually do. That's clearly my danger time. It was quite interesting to realise how much food I must put in my mouth without thinking about it.

So, day two is me getting a bit more prepared. (I saw this thread and just thought "do it", but I need to go shopping tonight for more of the things that I will need).

Digging out some exercise vids tonight as well. Feeling quite excited!

Morning all

Well today is a boring day for me today
Breakfast is Porridge
Soup for Lunch and dinner
some crackerbreads with me soup
Satsumas and a ex small banana for snacks.

Hope you are all keeping well

Yes, Fimbles, if you're going to weigh daily you do have to be prepared for the scales to go up as well as down! And they usually do that, IME, just when you have been good and are expecting to have lost at least 3lbs.

You can, though, get false readings from your scales. But I was told on the low carb site by one poster who I muchly respect, that whilst you can have a false high reading, you can't have a false low reading. No idea if it's true, but I'm prepared to believe it!

And to further demonstrate the vagaries of daily weighing, I am - apparently - 4lbs down today. This can't be true, unless I have misplaced part of myself somewhere over night!

However, as I'm a daily weigher, I'm reporting it in, so

BecauseImWorthIt - 96

Breakfast today was a cheese omelette with mushrooms fried in butter and seasoned with Worcestershire sauce.

Well done on the loses ladies.

For exercise I will be cycling to and from work, going to the gym and then walk to my childminders and back in the evening which is about 2 miles in total - Thta should more some weight for me

This is really weird - I posted this recipe this morning and it's just not here! However, I'll c+p it again.

Lovely recipe for Chicken Korma, from a book called "Curry", published by Dorling Kindersley, written by various cookery writers. I made this for our New Year's Eve party and it was lovely. I haven't worked it out exactly, but I calculate that at most it will have 6g carbs per portion:

ginger and garlic paste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2.5 cm/1 inch cinnamon stick
3 cloves
2 bay leaves
3 cardamom pods, crushed
2 onions, chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
2 teaspoons tomato puree
500g/1lb 2oz boneless chicken breast, cubed
pinch black pepper
salt
40g cashew nuts (unsalted), ground with a little water to make a paste
coriander, to garnish

First make the ginger and garlic paste -

Put 2.5cm/1 inch fresh root chinger, chopped and 4 peeled garlic cloves into a small food processor or blender wiht a little water and grind to make a fine paste.

For the curry:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and crushed cardamom pods, and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the onions and stir well, then cook for 5 minutes/until the onions are soft

Add the ginger and garlic paste, ground coriander, turmerick, chilli powder and tomatoe puree. Mix well and then cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally

Stir in the chicken, black pepper, salt ao taswte and 150ml/5 fl oz water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is well cooked.

When the chicken is cooked, ad the cashew paste and blend well. Simmer for a further 3 minutes.

Serve hot, garnished with coriander leaves.

This quantity makes 4. I cooked it for 8 and just doubled all the quantities.

It's lovely, and not at all hot, so no worries on that front.

I did half an hour on Wiifit this morning, will probably be the most exercise I get all day as will be desperately trying to wrote my essay after lunch. My weight hadn't changed since last week, but thankfully it hadn't gone up after my mincepie scoffing session on Sunday . Am I the only one with tons of xmas foods still left. I've started giving it away, usually I'd just start tucking in. I'm being weighed on Fri at the gp's. I think I've lost about 4lbs in a whole month, I'm never going to get there. I'm trying to be positive and remind myself that I got through xmas without ballooning any further.

I had weetabix for breakfast. I can't decide between soup or a salmon bagel for lunch. Dinner will be a small portion of pasta bake (portion sizes are my real downfall, I started to weigh everything yesterday to get some real idea of how much a portion is compared to what I usually dish myself up and then feel compelled to eat) with a massive salad.

I've written myself out a meal plan till the end of the month (using WW points) so I have a guide of what to eat and how much I should have.

The tesco man's just been and I have cupboards and a fridge stuffed with healthy food (now just have to avoid eating it all in one go).