New low-carb thread for post lockdown.

Well, I don’t want to brag but I have lost 12 lbs since the beginning of March. I went along to see the nurse for a check up and my weight was heading towards obese. That word really freaked me out so I knew I had to do something. I walk at least 2 miles per day, do 100 situps per day and try and run up and down the stairs. Today I will have 3 Marmite rices cakes, some Philly light cheese spread and 3 pieces of fruit for lunch, nothing else. Tonight for tea will be a pasta dish with a yogurt after. I have porridge or two shredded wheat for breakfast and that is all I have NOW to eat all day. It is working and my clothes feel a better fit. So come on - If I can do it - you can.

Well done Purplepixie. ? People on here are on a low-carb diet so a bit different. No sugar, rice, potatoes, bread or pasta, limited fruit and alcohol, but full-fat everything, above ground vegetables (plus celeriac ?), meat and fish. The first thread started about five years ago, so most of us lost weight then and now are maintaining or losing a bit of excess.
Today we had a waldorf salad for lunch and tonight Ottolenghi's aubergine cheesecake.

PurplePixie, Congratulations on your weight loss but seems quite high in Carbs to me.
I've recently been diagnosed as Pre Diabetic and just educating myself re Carbohydrates to decrease blood sugar levels.So hoping this thread will help me.

Well done on the weight loss purplepixie.

I love Ottolenghi's aubergine cheesecake - haven't made it for ages.

For lunch I had the sumac chicken with coleslaw and put two portions in the freezer, plus made four portions of chickpea & aubergine curry for the freezer.

Tonight I'm having gammon & feta salad.

The low carb diet mentioned above seems a bit draconian to me. Husband who was pre-diabetic was on 100g of carbs a day. He lost weight and so did I and he got his blood sugar back to normal. Each to his own I guess but our diet was much more interesting and varied including certain fruits and casseroles and chilli and a skinny beer pre-dinner.

Not plain meat or fish Rosalyn69!
Casseroles, sauces, some fruit. In our case lots of Italian dishes (with courgetti), Indian, Middle Eastern, Spanish etc. Oddly not much French cuisine even though we live here. ?

Morning all. Busy garden day today so quick Shakshuka with last year's ratatouille and eggs for lunch. Dinner will be barbecued pork loin (marinade of coconut milk, saffron, tamarind, ginger) and courgette and pepper kebabs.
How is the weight loss everyone? I have lost a kilo, down to 60kg. I have kind of settled for fitting easily into size 12 as I find fluid retention does go up and down in the heat.

Eggs & avocado for breakfast then I met a friend at Westfield shopping centre where the restaurants/cafes don't open until tomorrow so we settled for an M&S chicken and bacon salad and a coffee.

Tonight I'll have salmon fillet, courgetti and roasted peppers, onions, etc., and white wine.

I too have lost a kilo over the past 12 days taking me to 58kg (only 5'2") so two more kilos and I'll be happy to maintain.

Just steak tonight with broccoli. DH will have a few roast potatoes. Pudding is mango and hazelnuts blitzed to a purée, with Greek yogurt and blueberries for me, DH a creme caramel. My willpower is being severely tested. However I am used to it after several years and I have maintained a size 14 after being an 18

We have beef casserole in the slow oven. Low carb.

How lovely to see your thread again Mamie and to get ideas from your delicious sounding meals.

I was on the original thread (under different name) and it was a great encouragement to me after I had been told I was pre diabetic about 3 years ago.

I was probably on the top end of normal BMI at that time. I lost a stone without counting calories but on a low carb diet, which I have continued ever since, and my blood sugar has been consistently normal.

A potato is a very rare treat indeed, but I now probably enjoy a greater and more varied range of food without feeling deprived at all.

Thank you Greeneyedgirl. That is brilliant news about the weight loss and blood sugar levels. It does seem to me that it is a way of eating that can be maintained long-term, unlike some diets. We had a ridiculously busy day including our second visit to the hairdresser since lockdown ended, so we had pan-fried whiting fillets with tartare, salad and 6 chips each (don't tell anyone) ?

Mamie You posed an interesting question up thread about once being diagnosed as diabetic or pre diabetic are you always in that category, and which Riverwalk answered.
I hadn’t thought about it before, but a friend who was diagnosed and lost weight and now has normal blood sugar readings, still attends diabetic clinic, but I don’t.

I suppose that if for some reason the pancreas doesn’t produce adequate insulin then basically, you give it less work to do by eating fewer carb and sugary foods, but the condition hasn’t gone away. Is just in remission, and could return ?

I think that must be it. Every time he has a referral for something his medical history is included and says "type 2 entirely controlled by diet". He has had a lot of tests with different "ologues" but all good. She insisted on an eye test locally at the hospital as she didn't think an English optician was good enough; DH said the tests were just the same, but the glasses would be twice as expensive (will still go to Specsavers when we can get to England ?).

After two weeks of no snacking and low carbing I've lost 3 of the 5 pounds lockdown gain - amazing what a bit of discipline can do!

Lunch will be salad nicoise, using tinned tuna and dinner the last of the lamb & aubergine from the freezer.

Last night we had salmon with stir fried mangetout, courgette and hazel nuts. Tonight it is roast pork with cabbage and apple. DH may have a roast potato with that., as he has no blood sugar problems.

Last night we had roast chicken with cream and tarragon and spinach. Tonight I am just doing a simple chicken salad.

Yum yum.
We should have a GN low carb, tried and tested menu ideas book. ??????

So tonight is what passes for convenience food in rural France. I always bring back a selection of the wonderful Spice Tailor curry sauces from the UK. I kept them carefully in reserve through lockdown, but tonight we are splashing out and having butter chicken curry. The side dish is chopped aubergine and courgette in turmeric, cayenne and cumin, cooked with a splash of oil in the oven. Brinjal pickle with it; Supplies are getting a bit low, a reason to visit to the UK (along with seeing the family ?).

Hope you enjoyed your 'takeaway' curry Mamie. I use Patak's curry paste for mine - they're so useful and seemingly authentic. I make curry quite thick so it's not begging for naan or rice! Usually served with yoghurt & mint.

Today breakfast was smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, lunch will be odds & ends from the fridge and after the Ocado delivery will be making beef bourguignon - fitting for a gloomy grey day.

Thank you Riverwalk the curry was delicious. Today we had a quick cheese and tomato lunch and as it is barbecue weather we had sausages and salads for dinner. Weather is getting hotter, 28° tomorrow they say. The nights are still cool though.

Last night we had chicken with an aubergine, feta and mint gratin, and green beans. Tonight it was supposed to be cod with lettuce and peas, but I found a curry in the freezer so we had that. I had porridge with blueberries for lunch. Just fancied it, and it is low GI ?

We had salad niçoise for lunch and dinner is the Zaitoun stuffed courgette recipe again. It is 30° out there so too hot to barbecue. ?

Well it's not 30C here Mamie! The weekend and coming weeks are forecast to be sunny though

I've been eating autumnal food e.g. beef bourguignon and today will have a curry from the freezer.

Breakfast was a large mushroom & cheddar frittata with a sprinkling of zaatar.

It is slightly cooler today so we are having skewers of duck magret (is that breast or fillet in English?) cut into cubes with dried figs soaked in brandy which is my favourite barbecue. I have just made a huge courgette agrodolce with shallot, garlic, sultanas, pine nuts and balsamic vinegar to go with it and last a couple of days.