Support and ideas for those on low-carb diet

I think it will also get me eating more veg because of there being less bulk?
I'm hoping that's the case!

No, but I think the point is that it makes the veg more bulky in volume- and it would make eating, say, a carrot- slower perhaps- hence perhaps self limiting the amount eaten? Perhaps?

Does it make the vegs taste different?

granjura I'm very big time, what an evocative description.
I've bought a spiraliser just need to flippin' use it!

Thanks!

Petallus it cuts certain vegetables into spirals, so you can use them instead of pasta or in other interesting ways.

Doesn't work on marmalade sandwiches.

Sounds too much like Spirella! Local well-endowed matron had a brass plaque fitted next to her front door announcing her services as an expert Spirella (corset) fitter! Imagining slender vegatables, Galen!

I've got one- bought years and years ago on a market in ... Tenerife- Must get it out ;)

Now, just to rub it in a bit more re Sicily- we visited all the Montalbano sites, Scicli, Ragusa, Modica, and when we went for lunch to Punta Secca, where 'his' house is- they were filming- and we even saw him on his balcony in his ... swimsuit- lol. Our villa was in the countraside just above th wonderful derelict brick factory by the water- and we visited the beach there. We first spent a few days in a great Hôtel in Ortigia (Siracuse) and then a few days near Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples. The wild flowers were absolutely stunning and the smell of huge swaves of wild sweet peas- in our heart forever. Wonderful.

Ooops- sorry about diversion. Back to low carb- off to our French supermarket for lots and lots of veg tomorrow. Wish me luck.

I've got to ask. What's a spiraliser?

That sounds delicious Galen, I'm drooling (again)!
I must try that too.

My spiraliser has arrived so tomorrow I'm going to spiralise a carrot, a courgette, finely slice a red onion then fry some garlic and anchovies in olive oil, add a tin of chopped toms, capers and olives, add the vegetti. Serve when ready
A sort of putanesca!

OH is making chicken soup with the carcass and all the itty-bitty vegetable bits you get left when you spiralize!
Waste not want not.

You're welcome! Very envious of Sicily and pasta completely understandable.
We are having cold chicken and aubergine parmigiana which seems to have become a Monday favourite. I have to go and leap about my keep fit class afterwards. I think every one of the thirty or so ladies there has cross-examined me about my diet.

Lovely to hear you had a great holiday granjura, welcome back!

I'm not doing very well at starting this new way of eating so have packed a box full of biscuits etc to take to the office tomorrow then all temptation will be gone

DH shouldn't be eating them anyway (type2 diabetes) and my willpower needs as little distraction as possible!

Vegetable garden stuffed full of growing veg so no excuses for not pulling my finger out and stop just talking about it knuckling down to it......

Oh dear, I am surprised that more than 2 weeks later- some people still feel the need to 'attack' the principles behind a low carb diet- especially for those with pre-diabetes and diabetics!!! All the evidence is there. And low carb does NOT mean protein only at all- but plenty of veg and some fruit- but very little carbohydrates in the form of cereals, rice, potatoes, etc.

Anyhow- 2 weeks in wonderful Sicily has not been particularly helpful- as the pasta was divine! But back with all the best intentions in the world to seriously cut carbs- and hope to lose some weight in the process too.

Thank you so much Mamie for this inspiring and useful thread. Merci.

A balanced diet shouldn't be based on strachy carbohydrates as the Eatwell Plate advises. For years people have been eating far too much bread/potatoes/pasta/rice and sugar laden breakfast cereals.

I don't want to get into a healthy eating debate as it will spoil this lovely thread but a low carb diet is balanced.

Also I'm having to take methotrexate and alendronic acid, neither of which are very friendly to the digestive system.

I don't need to lose weight though.

Ah that's interesting info. Thanks! I thought eating more healthily might help with the recently diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis. Plus I am always bloated with gut pains.

After a few days the gut feels so much better. No more pains during the night.

It's not so easy, though, when others in the house buy biscuits and cakes. I've just caved in and eaten a chocolate hobnob

You lose weight only by taking in less calories than your body burns. There is no other way

Oh, that old chestnut!!

Although we don't need to lose weight, we find, as we have aged, we naturally have a low carb diet, as we simply do not have room to eat potatoes, pasta, rice. For any recipes requiring pastry, such as flans and tarts, I simply cook up the other ingredients and bake in the oven, for the same amount of time, without including the pastry.

Having been a healthy eater since forever, we only have fresh fruit, (a carbohydrate, which provides energy) for dessert, unless we have company or go out to eat: not very often. If I'm cooking there's plenty of fruit, and sugar quantities are halved.

So what I find confusing is the latest enthusiasm for baking and all things sweet. It does none of us any good, so should only be a very occasional treat. Is it comfort eating during a recession, or sticking up two fingers to the government and NHS?

Heckter

I think I'll join Anya with a very large [groan] emoticon.

We didn't eat grains in such quantity, we were mainly nomadic and grabbed small grains with huge amounts of chaff to add to our diet, we didn't live on it in large refined quantities. The breads and flours we eat, even the ones we think are good, are not always as pure as we think, they have all sorts of additives. For those who are lucky enough to be able to eat large quantities of wheat - I am very happy for them, I can't deny it. Luckily I seem to be able to eat small amounts of spelt on occasion, so shall make the odd loaf and have the odd slice as a treat. It's a far older variety of wheat that has not been bred to be bigger/yield larger amounts/have shorter stalks/contain more gluten etc.

The number of people with IBS and gluten allergies has doubled over the past ten years. My own doctor wouldn't let me take omeprazole long-term, despite my problems with pain, because he strongly believes that it can contribute to osteoporosis in the long term.

www.everydayhealth.com/drugs/omeprazole

Petallus, for us it has been both weight loss and improvements in health.
I have lost all the weight that I put on with the menopause on this diet. After eighteen months on the diet I have been stable on 9 stone, BMI 21 for the last few months.
OH has now lost 27 kg. His glucose levels are right down, he is completely out of pre-diabetes, his cholesterol levels came down so much that the doctor took him off statins. His IBS is much better.
We both feel very well and enjoy what we eat.
We have never eaten much sugar, but we have cut that out completely along with white flour, floury potatoes and white rice. We eat small quantities of grains like spelt, bulghar and quinoa, pearl barley and legumes a couple of times a week. We eat all sorts of fruit and vegetables, and moderate amounts of butter, cheese and full-fat yoghurt. We cook mostly with olive oil. We still drink wine.
It has worked brilliantly for us.

Grains are natural. They grow in fields. We have been eating them for centuries.

The best food, imo is totaly natural food, the food we, as animals were meant to eat. Grain etc is something we have 'made' our bodies adapt to; we should really eat meat and raw vegetables, fruit, nuts and berries.