Lets loose some weight together

[MrsAverage]

I mostly manage without bread, just once or twice a week.
Breakfast toast is replaced with protein ( eggs, fish, lean meat, beans) or wholgrain cereal or porridge
Lunch sandwich gets turned into a salad by massively increasing the lettuce, cucumber and tomato
Occasionally I will have a plain crusty roll with soup and a toast craving is satisfied by spreading it thinly with hummus or marmite
A lot of the spreads are heavily processed and contain lots of additives. Check the labels. I prefer butter because it is natural

I'm no saint tho, Chocaholic to the core

[susieq]

. I tried that Bergen bread recomended for meno symptoms-never again- it was vile

was that the soya and linseed one ? I found it was much better toasted !

[Henrietta]

Yes that's the one, had one or two slices and then the birds had the rest. I never tried it toasted.

[Maz1963]

Well, at one week 'weigh in' I was three pounds lighter this morning. The funny thing is that this has to be the very first time that I've done a healthy eating stint and not fallen off the wagon, or craved biscuits or crisps! Seems like this business of doing away with sugar, but not depriving yourself of some decent food containing a bit of fat, does seem to work. For me, anyway. So far! I'd also been having headaches over Christmas, which I'm sure were down to overdosing on biscuits and chocolate. No headaches for a week. I've marked up some lovely recipes in the 8 week diet recipe book and will try a few of those soon. I love the fact that eggs are encouraged - I love eggs! I'm also enjoying avocados and look forward to using mushrooms with various things. I have had a bit of bread here and there, but not much. I'm not planning on giving that up completely, and probably don't need to, just need to home in on a good, healthier version (have found an on line supplier now for the very dark, but soft, Scandinavian rye bread!).

I can't believe that there are biscuits and chocolates in the cupboard (mum likes a biscuit or two with her tea) and I haven't wanted them this week. I did give in to a few Rich Tea biccies and had half of a chocolate Christmas tree decoration which was lurking at the back of the tree when I finally finished packing it away at the weekend, but otherwise have avoided the 'bad stuff'.

Let's see what happens in week two ... !

[MrsAverage]

Well done Maz!

[susieq]

Well, at one week 'weigh in' I was three pounds lighter this morning.

!

Well done Maz You can have one too

[susieq]

Seems like this business of doing away with sugar, but not depriving yourself of some decent food containing a bit of fat, does seem to work

I seem to remember reading that fat (in moderation) isn't the cause of weight gain - it is the sugar that is the culprit. I heard on the radio today that if you have just one can of a sweet sugary drink per day you can expect to gain a 1lb in a week

Like you Maz, once my body got used to no sugar the craving for sugary foods just disappeared. The only foodstuff that I really miss is fruit ! It's full of natural sugar (fructose) which, as a diabetic, is also not good for me. I'm OK with just a handful or so of berries (strawberries, raspberries, blue berries etc) but bananas and pears (which were my favourites) are right out

If you want to cut back on natural sugars check out anything ending in ....ose (most commonly lactose in milk & dairy products like yoghurt and fructose in fruit; ).

I'll be interested to know what you think of the recipes in MM's book when you get round to trying them

[Maz1963]

Thanks Susie!

Yes, the whole basis of MM's book is that for years we've been told to eat low fat stuff. But scientific tests/trials have proved that keeping some level of fat in the diet helps satiate you and therefore helps to keep you off the bad stuff, whereas sugar overload makes you want to keep eating more. It makes so much sense. It's working for me anyway.

Stocked up on a few things yesterday and am going to try the 'Luxury Fish Pie' for dinner tonight. I bought celeriac yesterday for the first time in my life! Quite a dull and ugly looking thing, but hope it tastes better than it looks.

I never want to look 10 stone in the face again.

By the way, Waitrose had some new 'thins' - with rye - that have an even lower sugar content than the wholemeal ones.

[Maz1963]

Well done Maz!

Thank you to you too!

[susieq]

I bought celeriac yesterday for the first time in my life! Quite a dull and ugly looking thing, but hope it tastes better than it looks.

I never want to look 10 stone in the face again.

By the way, Waitrose had some new 'thins' - with rye - that have an even lower sugar content than the wholemeal ones.

Celeriac has quite a mild flavour, slightly sweet. There are a number of ways to cook it.
1) MASH - peel it, cut into small chunks and boil - then mash it with a little salt/pepper and perhaps a small knob of butter. It is, however, quite 'wet' so doesn't need a lot of butter ! (I sometimes put it in a small dish after mashing and put in the oven for 10 minutes or so to 'dry' it out). I've also used it this way as a topping for cottage or fish pie instead of potatoes.

2) ROAST - peel it and cut into larger chunks, then boil it for a couple of minutes and roast it - but doesn't go 'crispy' like roast potatoes.

3) CRISPS - after peeling cut into very thin slices (or use a vegetable peeler), toss in a small amount of olive oil; lay out on a baking tray sprinkled with a little salt and cook in the oven (heated to 170c) until they turn brown.

Yes, I found the rye thins in my Sainsburys some weeks ago