Support and ideas for those on low-carb diet

What a load of tosh

What helped me when I was trying to weigh less was NOT to say no to myself but to say I can have that if I want it but I wont have it right now I might have it later--saying No to myself was the end for me

You gain strength by being patient with yourself

PS its not a good idea to cut out all carbs from your diet it makes you feel ill and does damage to your body, there have been studies to prove this.

Good luck to everyone trying to become less!!

Caesar

If any Low Carbers are visiting Keswick I can recommend an excellent cafe with lots of LC options.

Don't intend to be ground down jingl I'm a Happy Bunny most of the time and tend to avoid the grinders in real life - sad, miserable little people usually! Not talking about anyone on this thread, as they all know

Still losing about 1lb a week. Rarely hungry.

Recipe tip for Ceasar Salad; ditch the croutons for crispy bacon instead!

Best nibble; M&S Seed & Nut Mix. Comes in handy little 70g pots. Roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, almonds and cashews. I defy anyone to eat more than half a pot (213 kcals, but who's counting - not me)! Full of zinc too.

I'm not going to bother trying to justify anything. I also don't need a lecture on cruciferous vegetables.

We grow and eat loads of veg and we also have access to good quality protein including our own free range eggs.

A low carb diet works for us and that's all there is to it.

There are sites like this one

nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2648/2

that Anya posted for me, it tells you which are the worst, carb-wise. As a family we eat loads of veg and fruit anyway, as I have always grown such a lot, so it's not hard to make the adjustment. I've found all the other diets I've tried to be far harder for me personally. This doesn't mean they are harder, it's just that they don't appeal to me in a way that I can envisage making it a more or less permanent feature of my life, and stick to it. I know I've got to change (or explode) and it has to be done in a way that works for me. Essentially, I've cut the carbs and doubled the protein, adding more leafy stuff.

Merlot surely most vegeatables have some degree of starches and sugars?

healthyeating.sfgate.com/fruits-vegtables-good-low-sugar-intake-2148.html

"Cruciferous Vegetables"
Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, bok choy, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. All of these vegetables are very nutritious, while having a very low sugar content. For example, 1 cup of cooked cauliflower florets contains only 2.6 grams of natural sugar, and the same amount of broccoli contains 2.2 grams of sugar. You can include generous servings of these vegetables in your stir-fries, soups and salads without having to worry about your sugar intake. The high fiber content of cruciferous vegetables can help you feel full on fewer calories to help you lose weight on your low-sugar diet."

Is there a given amount of starch & sugars carbs you are supposed to eat any day?
Looking at that link you would have to eat a heck of a lot of leafy greens to get your five a day.
Good luck to you, you might all become Jet propelled.

I don't mean processed sauces, Nelliemoser but tinned tomatoes which contain about 2.4g of sugar.

I don't find this diet hard at all and as DH and I are doing it together we can't fast because he's on warfarin.

Not that I'd want to fast. I enjoy food too much.

Interested to know what you mean by easy NM? I don't find low-carb difficult, but we do both love cooking and spend a lot of time on it.
DD did 5:2 but swapped to low-carb because she found the fast day menus boring after a while.
I really think you just have to find the way of eating that suits your lifestyle.

Merlot Tinned tomatoes themselves don't contain any added sugar or do you mean processed sauces.

These "low carb diet" seems to make the 5:2 diet look very easy.

Choir tonight and only just got in and have to go straight back out again - so a piece of shredded chicken on a small handful of salad will have to do for now, then when I return I shall have prawns and garlic mayonnaise with more salad. Can't have garlic before choir! We went to a lovely Bill's Restaurant for lunch, in Cambridge, which did amazing salads and mine was smoked salmon. So not doing too badly at all really. I have to say I do feel healthier.

We did get some fresh asparagus today, but I always bring the tins back from Spain, ditto the roasted red pepper.
We are having gurnard and bouillabaisse sauce tonight. We make double quantities of the sauce and freeze half and also freeze gurnard, which is very cheap on the market fish stalls here. As we have been slaving in 25 degrees in the garden this morning I shall do nothing more energetic than mix a salad and pour the rosé!

I have chorizo and Manchego in the fridge so that's tomorrow sorted. No asparagus so I'll steam some green beans.

DH is out today so I will have the last of the veg soup. Meatballs and cauli-mash tonight.

Inspired by Lidl's Iberian week, today's salad was roasted red pepper, salad leaves, tomatoes, asparagus, almonds, chorizo and Manchego cheese.

I make tons of ratatouille! I love it. The chilli at Hyde Hall was actually like a thick spicy ratatouille. It was nice, but not filling. DBH had the sausage casserole with mash, his looked more filling but of course was no help to me at all, as I think the main other ingredient was French beans.

Both Wisley and Hyde Hall are starting up big new veg areas, but they are very slow about it, unlike the National Trust which has many acres given over to supplying their restaurants, Sissinghurst in particular. They had some amazing things on their menu last summer. I think the RHS need to employ Mark Diacomo or someone like him.

I love cauliflower mash. I love the way you can eat plenty and get up not feeling full at all. I keep meaning to try cauli saff mash!
OH makes and freezes lots of ratatouille in the summer though we rarely seem to get all the ingredients ripening at the same time. I got really into the aubergine stew, caponata, last summer as well.
Our spinach is still good in the garden, but the last cabbages have gone over.

That just about matches the contents of my fridge, Mamie plus lots of leafy veg and cauliflower which we use instead of potatoes and rice. I also have nuts, anchovies etc.

I have an aubergine to use up and I hadn't thought of parmagiano so that will go nicely with some baked fish tonight.

OH's shorts fell off when he was up a ladder cutting the hedge. I don't think the cows were upset.

Useful site Anya. Thanks. Like others, I have found this a good way of life, rather than a diet. I do still have porridge for breakfast, wine sometimes and bread very occasionally. But I don't miss daily rice and potatoes etc which are more than made up for by having olive oil and full fat mayo and even cream when required. Started the week before Christmas and have slowly lost 16 lbs which has been encouraging. Cauliflower mash and courgette noodles dry fried with garlic are very good accompaniments if your plate looks empty!
Agree about RHS food Janerowena. Surely imaginative use of vegetables ought to be in their interest?

In the fridge I keep baby toms, cucumber, avocados, salad leaves, packs cooked beetroot (not very low carb).
In the larder we have dried dates, prunes, apricots, goji, figs, cherries. (Not vlc but very small quantities).
Also walnuts, pecans, almonds, pine nuts, anchovies, olives.
Protein sources are eggs, smoked salmon, ham, garlic sausage, goat's cheese, tinned tuna.
I mix and match from the above to make the salads.
Our local Lidl is getting very good at organic fruit and veg. The nearest proper shops are a 30km round trip so we keep masses of stuff in stock and always shop with a list!
We limit the smoked meat to once a week. At the moment our not salad days (!) are devoted to eating up last year's minestrone made from our own vegetables.

Thanks for the warning about Hyde Hall, janer. We're going there on 21st May to meet up with DB and DSIL for her birthday. I'll probably go for the chilli as well. SisIL is as thin as a rake and very fit even though she's only six years younger than me and can eat like a horse so I'd better try hard to lose a bit more because I'd like them to notice!!

DH is moaning that his belt is on the last hole and his trousers are falling down.....RESULT

I'm steadily losing weight too, it certainly works for me. I did find it hard at RHS Hyde Hall for lunch, though. All of the five main meal choices had a large dose of carb as an integral part of the meal. As in, I couldn't leave off potatoes, they were cooked into the stew. The beef was in a pie. The fish was battered. The other was sausage casserole, not my thing. I ended up with veg chilli and a little timbale of rice, so ate it anyway. As there were only about 5 beans in my chilli, I doubt they made much difference. I tried a few tops on this morning that were a little 'snug' shall we say, a few weeks ago. They look much better now.

I agree with how easy it is to eat away from home and stick to the low carb rule. I have also noticed our food bill has come down and there is a lot more space in my store cupboards. I would think that's because I've stopped buying tinned food like tomatoes that contain sugar. The fridge, however, is full to bursting after a supermarket shop and is completely empty by the time I need to go again.

As we are now outside all day (weather permitting) I am also experimenting with salad ingredients so any recipes will be much appreciated.

Last summer's clothes are looking good and they're going to be my yardstick.

No, I didn't think you were talking about me.

You know how it goes - "don't let the buggers......."