Support and ideas for those on low-carb diet

No, I am not losing any more! I have been at that weight for about 6 months and BMI of 21 feels right for me. I just meant keeping on with this way of eating.

Bon anniv Mamie- enjoy.

Now this is not sour grapes, promise, but under 9 stone is brilliant- why would you want to lose more. Honestly, over 60s (I assume you are about there) - benefit from a tiny bit of 'extra', can't find the right words. I have several friends who became just too thin and a tad obsessive about weight loss.

I will never get there- and aiming for a comfortable size 14-16.

Anya- you are so right. I know too many who give up if they have a set back- onwards and forwards.

Well that is just brilliant GJ, so pleased for you.
I have been keeping on keeping on and weight has been extraordinarily stable at just under 9 stone. I have made a Christmas cake with ground almonds and masses of dried fruit but no sugar - recipe here
www.thehealthychef.com/2014/11/a-healthy-christmas-cake/
Tonight we are having fresh lobster (went to the seaside to buy it), new potatoes roasted in olive oil, mayonnaise and salad with something exquisite in chocolate from the patisserie - because it is my birthday!

Well done jura 3kg is very good and I'm glad this suits your metabolism

Under very trying circumstances we're trying to stick to it. Had an avacado salad with prawn Mayo for lunch. It's DiL's 40th today so we are invited for a 'family meal' tonight (well more like tea time as there's all the children to consider) and her 'do' tomorrow night.

I'll not worry to much if I go off piste on this special occasion, because it can always be brought back on track the next day.

Getting used to it- and not feeling so hungry all the time. A couple of 'relapses' - at parties, where I did have a few savoury biscuits, and last night a piece of delicious cream tart (a local speciality) - but I have lost 3kg, so nearly half a stone since our return from UK.

Never ever been able to stick to fancy diets and recipes- and this low to no carb really suits me. Still having porridge with seeds for breakfast with a little cinnamon sugar- but it's working.

So thanks all for your ideas and support. And the fact this is working when nothing else ever did- seems to prove that 'a calorie is not just a calorie'. A huge thanks you to Mamie for persuading me that this might work even though other 'diets' didn't - as for diabetics with impaired thyroid function- starches have a different metabolic effect.

This weekend my 80yr old FIL was visiting and he's insulin dependent diabetic, so a low carb diet should have suited him. But no, he's likes plain food and loves all things high carb. He's not a big eater, so we serve what he likes because we want him to enjoy his food. To his credit, he manages his condition brilliantly and that includes satisfying his sweet tooth.

Unfortunately, the knock on effect is I have been off the rails all weekend - and I enjoyed every minute. Back to normal now and all the things bought for his visit have magically disappeared. Even the box of Milk Tray he gave us.

I have got to the point where I have enough ideas for main meals and am working on the Oopsie bread recipes. I bought two Yorkshire pudding trays this weekend to try out. If they work, then I will be happy with the bread situation.

Surprisingly I am enjoying preparing meals from scratch. I've never enjoyed cooking before and thought of it as a chore, but being at home instead of out at work makes such a difference.

I love sprouts!
Today was OH's birthday, so we had partridge stuffed with chorizo, breadcrumbs (few) lemon and garlic, with roasted squash and baby turnips and kale with pinenuts and sultanas, followed by cheese.
We were going to go out for the day, but everything round here is very subdued and quiet, so it seemed more appropriate to stay close to home.

I keep forgetting they exist - because the children hated them it was one thing I never grew.

We only used to have sprouts at Christmas but have started eating them more often as they are quite filling. I love them steamed then tossed in melted butter.

We only have sprouts once a year - maybe we will try it then!

I've just spotted the bit about a lump of butter with marmite. Add some thinly shredded Brussels Sprout.....Delicious!

Things like sunflower seeds are really good - they add texture without being too much work.

I made what DBH calls squash with squash, again. I made a large tray of mixed roasted veg, butternut squash, courgette, onion, peppers. aubergine, tomatoes, garlic and a little sweet potato, and used some of it to stuff halved courgettes that had been pre-cooked in the microwave. I added sunflower seeds, just a handful, plus a handful of cubed feta and a flat dsstsp of redcurrant jelly, grated some cheddar cheese on top and bunged it in the oven for half an hour - really good and a nice change from the usual mince mixture with cheese sauce.

I love a Greek salad too.

I will have to try different types of nuts. I am used to eating salted nuts and adore cashews even in cooking. Sadly salted nuts are not suitable, so I will try to find something I like. I know what I don't like!

Anno I love Greek salad!

That sounds absolutely delicious, Wilma.
We don't snack, but on the Mumsnet threads I think they tend to recommend nuts. I remember someone on there who ate a lump of butter with marmite!

Mamie DH is adamant he doesn't like butternut squash, so I disguised it in the tomato sauce for a new (to us) flavour. We had it tonight and it was delicious! It was just a tin of plum tomatoes, a packet of simple passata, onions, salt and pepper done in a large shallow pan and then blended. The butternut squash was added and it was all blended. It made two large batches, so one is in the freezer for next week.

We had it with onions, pak choi, (chopped and fried with minced garlic, minced ginger), broccoli couscous (florets pulsed in blender - gave a mince like texture to the dish) and crumbled feta cheese added near the end with salt and ground pepper. All cooked in a large shallow pan. Garnished with a little bit of grated Parmesan.

My best meal yet.

still I would have died if I was presented with a pig's trotter!

gj for the first time in years I am remembering what hunger feels like, so I know what you mean. I struggle with lunchtime because I can't be bothered to prepare something for myself. Before I would have had toast, a sandwich or soup before - but with bread. So that's something I'm working on. I struggle later in the evening too and have been eating an apple or a pear, but I'm going to work on that too.

I haven't given up on finding a bread recipe yet and had a go at oopsie bread rolls on Tuesday. The result was more eggy than bread, but I will persevere with the recipe with tweaks because it's easy and quick, plus the ingredients aren't too expensive unlike a lot of the lchf bread recipes. The basic recipe is on the diet doctor site here, but there's lots of tweaked recipes online, especially in the review sections.

What does everyone do for snacks or do you try not to eat between meals?

I need to find quick and easy small meals I can use for breakfast, lunch or a late supper. I'm losing weight, but I'm not eating enough.

Greek salad tonight plus a small helping of hot smoked salmon.

Would a lump of cheese help? That is what we have when we feel hungry. Also maybe drink more water?
Today we had egg, tuna and avocado for lunch and dinner was chicken cacciatore (an OH special). We had roast squash with it which was delicious.

Really struggling in the evenings- I have eaten plenty- but without carbs I am hungry all the time. Will persevere, but it makes me worry I'll just 'blow and give up' - feeling hungry all the time is not comfortable. Perhaps it will get easier over time?

No, Wilma I don't live there but I have French relatives and some good French friends, so we pop over and tour around quite often. For me the problem is new vocabulary and phrases, along with new foods, in the language. Also slang used by waiters. Asafoetida for example, I was informed by a friend's neighbour, has a common name of merde du diable. I watch French tv sometimes in an attempt to keep up, but I'm not a great tv watcher of british programmes, let alone French. I can often trip up over menus, especially when the dishes are so regional. We got a bit lost once and ended up in a small café that only had two dishes on. DBH chose andouillette because he likes it, I don't so chose the other option and it turned out to be pig's trotter cooked in lentils. I don't remember what they called it, but it certainly wasn't pied de cochon.

Wilma we had roasted chunks of squash tossed in oil with onion, garlic, and herbs as an accompaniment to roasted lamb shanks on Sunday. Last night I used the leftovers for a tagine with aubergine, tomato, peppers, raz-al-hanout, saffron and dates, served with a spoonful of greek yoghurt. I used the leftover lamb too, but it would be fine without.

stillhere are you in France too?

Good luck gj, it is hard losing weight (despite what some posters think on the other thread! But your health is good motivation. What are you having done to your knee?

I'm plodding on with my regenerated cooking skills and experimenting with new recipes. Yesterday I made a round loaf of bread, but it came out more like a scone texture and was undercooked. Tasted nice, but not what I was aiming for - my ancient mixer wasn't up to the job of mixing a dough, so that didn't help. I also made a tomato sauce with butternut squash and that looks hopeful. I cooked the butternut squash whole in the slow cooker and then just cut it open to scoop out the flesh and dropped it straight into the blender. Not tried it with anything yet, but I would like it to be a staple for us. Will post the details later. Onwards and upwards!

Aha! I must have had a garbled conversation with her - not for the first time! Yes, I make farinata. I suppose I thought she was saying I make it with socca, but she was saying it IS socca!

Tonight I made a vegetarian dhansak. It was very good, I added peppers and cut down the amount of sweet potato, but it's a good recipe, not too heavy on the lentils. It was on the lentil packet, and tasted exactly like the dhansak at the local Indian! I just had it with a splodge of yoghurt.

From Wiki:

La socca est le nom donné à une spécialité culinaire à base de farine de pois chiche originaire de Ligurie, consommée à Menton, à Monaco et à Nice. De Vintimille jusqu'aux environs de La Spezia, elle porte le nom de farinata, dans le sud du Piémont, elle porte le nom de belecàuda (belle et chaude).

Socca is the name given to flour based culinary speciality made with chickpea flour from Liguria, eaten in Menton, Monaco and Nice. From Vintimillia to La Spezia, it is called farinata, and in South Piemont, belecaùda (beautiful and hot).

Of course socca and Lesta in the UK are very different things ;)