Low-carb support thread 2016 Part 2

Welcome NewGranGill. We have a big vegetable garden and have cut right down on growing potatoes. We do still have a few new potatoes in season but have replaced chips with celeriac chips. We were strict about below ground veg when losing weight, but now we are maintaining and eat beetroot and Anya's favourite Jerusalem artichokes. We also grow and eat squash. Cauliflower is a staple here and we grow a lot of chard, spinach and kale.

And we had our first ever crop of hazelnuts

The cauliflower got club root!

Welcome NewgranGill. Your post about the allotment made me smile ruefully as I'm still undecided whether to grow potatoes again this year. Most of them went to waste last season (or I gave them away) with the exception of a few lovely new ones (I couldn't resist but I smothered them in butter!!)

I confess to eating a few below ground veggies. Carrots, parsnips (poor crop this year so just the odd one) and my downfall....beetroot (with goats cheese )

But we've grown lots of leeks, lettuce (the pigeons feasted on those), asparagus, cabbage (the caterpillars got those) kale (ditto) green beans, courgettes, sweet corn and radish, and lots of berries -strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries....perhaps your DH could grow more of these.

Hello everyone, do you mind if I join your group. I have to lose weight and think that low carb may be the way for me to go. Although I like bread and potatoes it must make life a lot easier not to have to weigh and count everything (which is one of the main reasons my diets have failed over the past 30 years) it would also mean that DH and I could eat the same food but I just wouldn't be having anything grown below ground (although with an allotment he may take umbrage at this!)

So, I'm taking the plunge and any tips or advice would be very welcome.

Today we had full-fat yoghurt and berries, nuts and seeds for breakfast and egg salad for lunch. Tonight we are having turbot with hollondaise sauce, cauliflower gratin and spinach. We have been a bit down on our normal twice-weekly fish consumption recently because the queues for fish are so long here over Christmas and the New Year. Back to normal today so OH bought the turbot and some red mullet and squid for the freezer.

We had Hairy Dieters Tangle pie this evening, or at least my version. Chicken breast, Leeks and bacon. DD and I didn't eat the top but the Men did. All with lots of Savoy cabbage.

I love haddock. We had kedgeree on Christmas Eve (just 20g of brown rice each) and on Boxing Day had the leftovers warmed up for lunch with an egg baked in the middle, which was delicious.
I like going into the fishmongers here and asking for 'addock in a cod (sic) French accent.

You are a star!

Tried out new recipe today from the Hairies and it was so nice have to share.

Baked haddock, spinach and egg pots. It was to serve 4, but I used bigger pots and we ate the lot as almost no carbs.

I just added some grated Gouda (this wasn't in recipe) over the top of the eggs when I put the pots back into cook for the last 8 minutes. Very tasty, very easy. Will definitely do again. Great on a cold winter evening and served with home-made sweet potato wedges.

Enchantée
Actually when I watch OH working happily in the garden for hours on end I am just grateful that I found this way of eating which has given us both a new lease of life. And cross about all the crap information about low-fat and convinced that if I had started LCHF before I wouldn't have had the menopause from hell.
It hasn't struggled above zero today so we are having an oxtail casserole in red wine with squash and other veg.
Have a good weekend everyone.

I am eating slightly more fat that previously, but I'd not say it's particularly high. I use butter, but no bread or toast to put it on means a pack lasts a long time.

I do eat full fat yoghurts and cheeses, but that's essential as I was diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2008 and chose to come off medication in 2013 and build better bones through diet. My last scan in the summer indicates I'm now only in the osteopenia range, so the extra calcium is working. I have cream with my one coffee in the morning. And besides saturated fats from dairy have now been taken off the 'bad for you' list.

Fatty fish provides 'good' fats as do nuts.

So that leaves us with the odd bit of fat from meat. Not a huge amount I think or my cholesterol would be higher than it is. In fact my ratio between 'good' and 'bad' cholesterol is excellent and my triglyceride nice and low.

So I'm delighted to have found Mamie's régime and a big thank you to her .

There are a couple of studies also which seem to indicate that some people are at risk of developing gallstones due to dieting. That's interesting I think.

Lazigirl I found this a piece of research which shows a statistically significant correlation between high carb and gallstones

I have had a few extra carbs over the festive period but (surprise!) haven't put on weight. As I am a piscetarian, I eat plenty of fish. Diagnosed with gallstones about a year ago, I have been careful about fatty foods. Cream makes me sick so is best avoided. But I do love cheese and hope the gallstones article is right! Anyway, onward and downward. Happy and healthy New Year!

The gallstones article was interesting Anya and makes sense to me but pity not supported by controlled trials. Well done for losing weight Cunco but I couldn't do the calorie counting thing either and find LCHF easier in keeping me out of the Diabetes II zone (hopefully).

CBA'd to keep track of calories Cunco though well done on your weight loss.

I think different diets suit different people and everyone has to find what works for them..

I am not sure this is relevant since my diet is balanced, low calorie rather than low carb; but I have lost 12 lbs since the beginning of November despite the excesses of Christmas and New Year.

It is fiddly at the start to keep track of calories but if you eat just 3 times a day, it gets easier. I once used the same diet to lose almost 3 stone from bordering obese so I know it works for me.

The basic problem is that at my age and weight, I need just 1740 kcal a day if I have a sedentary life style. I boost that number by regular exercise so it is easier to diet. It is very unfair that women need even less calories which can obviously make dieting even more of a challenge.

Another low carb Hairies meal tonight Spanish Style Chicken Bake just substitute mushrooms for the potato. Other ingredients, red and white onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, chorizo, salt and pepper.

Just read this article gallstones and low carb

What a shame Pippa. Can you have things like olive oil and avocado?

If anyone us interested The Hairy Dieters tv series is being repeated in Food network 7pm

Had 5 days over new year in hospital not a good start to 2017. After 8 months on the LCHF diet and loosing nearly 3 stone I have been diagnosed with cholecystitis and need to have my gall bladder removed so and have been advised to be on a fat free diet. But will try to keep low carb where possible as I don't want to go backwards in the weight loss.

These meals sound really delicious, unlike the supper we had last night. Soup made with carcass of chicken (hardly any meat) left over chopped sprouts and white cabbage, stock cube and chilli. Was nasty, but DH had two helpings because he was hungry! He's very long suffering as this was after a cinema trip to see a French film - the sort with no storyline, and the only action being lingering "meaningful" miserable face shots. It's like Cold Comfort Farm here.

Yummy Mamie that's one of my favourite lunches using shrimp or prawns. Add a green salad to it sometimes.

That's good news BB - .you must have lost quite a bit for the regrowth to be so noticeable. No wonder you were worried.

i've dug out my Hairy Dieters book as they contain a great selection of low carb recipes (they're not designed as such but many are naturally) and thought that this might help those looking for accessible recipes (expect many have this book).

So last night Hairy Dieters Peppered Steal with salad.

I posted some time ago that I was losing a lot of hair. Apparently it is a less common side effect of LCH F diet. It is now growing back quite obviously. I have a sort of halo ?