Massive weight loss

merengueca

Right folks, something tough to admit even in the anonymous world of the internet... I'm 31, 5'7'' and nearly 23 stone!

2 weeks ago I joined a local Curves gym and started a low carb diet (and I love my carbs!!!). Every four weeks I will be weighed and measured, hopefully recording a constant loss.

At the moment I'm concentrating on re educating myself with regards to food intake... I've drastically reduced my intake of carbs and trying to focus on making this a permanent change rather than a period of deprivation.
I've planned with my local gym owner that as of 1/9/10 I will start on the more regimented Curves diet plan in addition to the excercise.. it seems like a plan that can be maintained.

At this point though I'm looking for inspiration on meals, particularly lunch/dinner.

Pre action a typical day diet :

Breakfast ; McCoys Crisps, Large Latte
Lunch : Cheese sandwich x 2 (white bread roll), punnet blueberries, crisps
Snack : Muffin or chocolate bar
Dinner : Frozen pizza or ready meal etc..


Curent typical meal :

Breakfast : 2 x weetabix, skimmed milk, orange juice
Lunch : Mixed salad (lettuce, sweetcorn, cheese, cucumber, beans etc), punnet blueberries
Snack : Mueller Light
Dinner : Bolognase, no pasta



Any inspiration, or ideas for low carb replacements for bread or pizza(my favourites) much appreciated!!!!


Thanks! Merenguca

Khannie

First impressions are that you're going to be _starving_ on that diet and that makes you more likely to fall off the wagon IMO. Also you have no significant source of protein until dinner time.

Changes I would suggest:
Have a boiled egg and a cup of tea instead of the orange juice in the morning.
Add a snack in between breakfast and lunch. Even an apple and a piece of cheese or something small will help. It's nice to have to look forward to.
Add some meat, cheese or fish (e.g. tuna) to the salad. Protein is important. Beans are only a moderate source of protein.
Ditch the muller light (unless you really like them). Replace with some fruit and / or nuts.
When I'm having bolognaise without the pasta I'll have a shed load of brocolli on the side. It's good for dipping in the meat sauce, full of goodness and very low in calories. Also, I wont forgo a piece of garlic bread. One piece isn't going to kill you. Just make sure the rest of it isn't poking you in the eye.

Lastly, you're not really on a typical low carb diet if you're eating weetabix and muller light (a low carber would never go near weetabix for example). It's what I'd call a reduced carb diet. Overall it looks reasonably healthy though.

Hope that helps. Good luck! You're on the right road. Huge improvement over your previous diet. Well done.

EileenG

Khannie is right. You have a faction of the calories in your new diet as in your old one and will be starving.

I'd go with the eggs for breakfast. An omlette with piles of mushrooms or spinach and a couple of eggs will set you up for the day. Skip the orange juice and eat an orange. That way you get more food for the same calories.

Add protein to your lunch, even if it's opening a tin of salmon.

A nice regular fat plain yogurt is better than the Light yogurts.

Fill your plate with veg at dinner, along with your protein. Cauliflower makes a good substitute for pasta.

Recipe for low carb muffins
1 egg,
1 tbl cocoa powder or protein powder
2 tbs fine milled bran
1 tbl psyllium husk
1/2 tsp baking powder
sweetener to taste.
3 tbs water.
Mix everything to a wet texture, then divide into 4-6 muffin molds and bake at 200C for about 14-15 minutes.
Mix everyt

littlebitdull

I third the eat more advice! Add in extra protien it does keep you going longer. Have better snacks... fruit - veg sticks - crackers - etc etc.

You wont be able to stick to it otherwise. And best of luck. Take one day at a time and you will get there!

EileenG

The good news about having a lot of weight to lose is that you don't have to kill yourself to do it. Okay, the last stone is hell, but the first few stone will fly off if you just clean up your diet a bit. You do not have to go hungry.

In fact, I strongly believe that one of the best things you can do for yourself is to learn to listen to your body, and eat anytime you are hungry, but only if you are hungry. Far too often, we eat because it's meal time, or because food is there, or because the chips smell great, or because we're pissed at our sisters. If you can just learn to respond to hunger, you'll lose a lot of weight with no effort. And no suffering.

merengueca

Folks, thanks so much for the tips so far.. brocoli and cauliflour ready to be tried as carb replacements later this week.

Taken into account your advice about adding protein during the day, just made a blue cheese and apple salad for tomorrow. Also probably going to have an omlette for brekkie in the morning.

Spent the day being little miss prepared as well, I normally fail on a diet as I work really long hours so its easy for me to make excuses for reaching for junk out of the freezer... just made up some lamb and veg broth and bolgnaise ready for any evening I don't have time.

Would love to try just one slice of garlic bread.... I know I wouldn't stop at one though:rolleyes:

I did try a mini cheat today, I really wanted a roast dinner - with all the bad for you additions, so I bought a ready meal roast chicken dinner designed for kids.... 25g carbs and 230 cal and supplemented with a shed load of steamed veg (shed load is a technical term!)
Basically had the bad stuff but in a really small portion!

EileenG

Good luck. If you can, try to lose the taste for the bad stuff. Let's face it, pasta is nice because of the sauce, not the pasta, which is pretty much fancy wallpaper paste.

Dixie Chick

Hiya

Just wanted to post to say good luck to you, you seem to be very motivated and open to advice as well. Do you think you might open a food and exercise diary in the sub forum here?

merengueca

Thanks Dixie.. going to start it now..


And, yeah, very motivated, the Next Autumn/Winter range is out and I've promised myelf no clothes to be bought until whats in my wadrobe just doesn't fit!!

Dixie Chick

merengueca wrote: »

Thanks Dixie.. going to start it now..


And, yeah, very motivated, the Next Autumn/Winter range is out and I've promised myelf no clothes to be bought until whats in my wadrobe just doesn't fit!!

Thats great, I mean you will lose weight quickly if you stick to a sensible plan and you will be buying new clothes before you know it. Have you got a set of mini goals? I always find its easier to work towards little goals, more satisfying or something!

merengueca

Dixie Chick wrote: »

Thats great, I mean you will lose weight quickly if you stick to a sensible plan and you will be buying new clothes before you know it. Have you got a set of mini goals? I always find its easier to work towards little goals, more satisfying or something!

Yeah, even spaced at nice two month intervals... I'm home for a weekend in August so, as I haven't told anyone over there that I'm doing this, I'm hoping theres enough of a difference for them to comment (6 weeks from day I started).

Friends wedding and family party in October

And then Christmas!

Kimia

merengueca wrote: »

I did try a mini cheat today, I really wanted a roast dinner - with all the bad for you additions, so I bought a ready meal roast chicken dinner designed for kids.... 25g carbs and 230 cal and supplemented with a shed load of steamed veg (shed load is a technical term!)
Basically had the bad stuff but in a really small portion!

Hi OP, roast dinners aren't bad at all! One of the best side effects of a diet is that you learn all about food and recipes and fun stuff like cooking, and if you had actually roasted a chicken and done some veg on the side yourself, there would be (I'm guessing) about 1/4 of the carbs in the home prepared meal! And you would have eaten about twice as much glorious stuff!

Also one tip that really really helped me (think it was Temple or Eileen who pointed it out and it really stuck). Don't be afraid of fat. Fat is good! Chicken skin is gooooood. It was the one thing that was scaring me when I went on the low carb diet, but now I examine myself and say 'I need more fat!' which is hilarious because I'm thinner now than i have been for years. It's weird to get your head around it but fat = good.

EileenG

For what it's worth, the calories in what looks like a normal portion of low fat carbs (bread or pasta or potatoes) is scary. Back in my low fatting days, I used to be able to put away half a bagette at a time, but that was fine because it was multi-grain and low fat, right? And that's not even considering whatever I put on the bread.

Now I eat a juicy piece of rib steak and a pile of veggies, and it feels like a lot of food, but it's a faction of the calories.

neuro-praxis

Each to their own; OP very, very best of luck to you and I hope low-carb is the way forward for you.

However I have to disagree with EileenG: there is nothing in the slightest that is "scary" about the calories in a normal portion of bread, pasta or potatoes.

For most people it is not these things that are making us fat. It is junk food. Carbs are not bad.

EileenG

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Each to their own; OP very, very best of luck to you and I hope low-carb is the way forward for you.

However I have to disagree with EileenG: there is nothing in the slightest that is "scary" about the calories in a normal portion of bread, pasta or potatoes.

For most people it is not these things that are making us fat. It is junk food. Carbs are not bad.

Trouble is, most people have no idea of what a normal portion is. I know I was eating about three portions at a time. The first time I discovered that a bagel was three portions, I was convinced it was a mistake. Everyone eats a bagel at one go, right?

Carbs have their place, but far too many people think that you can eat any amount of carbs as long as you keep fat out.

--Kaiser--

neuro-praxis wrote: »

For most people it is not these things that are making us fat. It is junk food. Carbs are not bad.

I'm curious, what exactly is in typical junk food that makes you fat, if it's not carbs?

metamorphosis

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

I'm curious, what exactly is in typical junk food that makes you fat, if it's not carbs?

I assume that NP was referring to high sugar high refined carbs like frosties and those type of cereals, milk chocolate, stuff full of veg fat and sugar as opposed to things like oats, quinoa, berries, veggies. Trying to distinguish that there is indeed a difference between high sugar and complex carbohydrates.

Im all for what works for people - some people are in optimal health having more carbs than others wheras others have to really be meticulous about what foods they eat.

--Kaiser--

ULstudent wrote: »

I assume that NP was referring to high sugar high refined carbs like frosties and those type of cereals, milk chocolate, stuff full of veg fat and sugar as opposed to things like oats, quinoa, berries, veggies. Trying to distinguish that there is indeed a difference between high sugar and complex carbohydrates.

Im all for what works for people - some people are in optimal health having more carbs than others wheras others have to really be meticulous about what foods they eat.

100 g of carbs in the form of oats and 100 g of carbs in the form frosties (for example) are both going to break down into the same amount of glucose. Of course complex carbs take longer to digest so will make you feel fuller etc. but at the end of the day, if you are eating too much carbs you are eating too much carbs.

metamorphosis

True - but your not going to get the massive insulin spike that comes with eating 100gms of frosties. That's more damaging than the slow trickle release of oats.

and i agree if you overdo the carbs you will obviously get fat - that's because it's way to easy to overdo the carbs compared to protein and fats but i still don't think it's nessecary for everybody to go go cutting out the likes of a bowl of porridge out of their diet if there's no need.

El_Dangeroso

Just as an aside, wheat amongst all other grains causes a ridiculous raise in blood sugar, and there is actually very little difference between wholewheat bread and white bread (69 vs. 72 on the GI if you're into that sort of thing ).

I have personally seen blood glucose rises from 5.2 to 7.2 from one slice of mccambridges. There is a theory that the wheat we are eating today bears little resemblence to the wheat that was consumed in biblical times (einkorn wheat) due to constant selective breeding of wheat strains. I have no doubt that modern wheat is bad news for the majority of people, especially those trying to lose weight.

Transform

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

100 g of carbs in the form of oats and 100 g of carbs in the form frosties (for example) are both going to break down into the same amount of glucose. Of course complex carbs take longer to digest so will make you feel fuller etc. but at the end of the day, if you are eating too much carbs you are eating too much carbs.

total BS man - 100g of low GI veg is going to have way different effect on your body than 100g white bread.

Yes both are broken down into glucose but at completely different rates plus i have never seen anyone get fat or not drop fat on eating plenty of fruit and veg which are both primarily carbs.

I could get any client to eat 60 or even 70% of their food intake as carbs and still dtop weight as long as they were low GI carbs but even at that they would not be able to stomach all the fibre as 300cals of broccoli, peppers, onion etc is going to look like a mountain as compared to 300cals of pasta/bread etc.

Overall at the OP current condition i think small changes are key along with consistency rathen than getting too complicated

merengueca

Just a quick bump to update this...

First weigh and measure today.. I've lost 15lbs and 13 1/4 inches so far.

Happy days

niceoneted

Wow that is fantastic, well done and keep up the good work.

Sasquatch76

merengueca wrote: »

Just a quick bump to update this...

First weigh and measure today.. I've lost 15lbs and 13 1/4 inches so far.

Happy days

Very well done. To your continued success!

Bottle_of_Smoke

merengueca wrote: »

Just a quick bump to update this...

First weigh and measure today.. I've lost 15lbs and 13 1/4 inches so far.

Happy days

Well done.

One thing to remember for future weighs - you'll be losing less and less each time. This is normal and expected so don't be disappointed next time if you haven't lost as much.

I just read this thread now but I'm actually delighted for you. Really well done.

merengueca

Thanks folks, I have to admit I quite pleased with myself.

Going foward I fully expect that this won't be my normal rate of loss. My aim to maintain a loss of 2lb per week for as long as possible.

Dixie Chick

merengueca wrote: »

Thanks folks, I have to admit I quite pleased with myself.

Going foward I fully expect that this won't be my normal rate of loss. My aim to maintain a loss of 2lb per week for as long as possible.

You should be pleased its a great starting result to knock a clean stone off!! And if your attitude and motivation keeps up then 2lbs a week for however long will be easy for you!

merengueca

Dixie Chick wrote: »

You should be pleased its a great starting result to knock a clean stone off!! And if your attitude and motivation keeps up then 2lbs a week for however long will be easy for you!

Thanks so much for that:) really appreciate it