Let's lose a bit of weight.....

[Jax]

I am a comfort eater! so its not neccasarily that I HAVE to eat them but when I am down I eat alot more and phsyco-symatically (sp?) feel hungrier. I then end up picking at stuff. I dont particularly want to do a specific diet but I learnt alot from my previous diet. Bread, sugar and diary were the main problems for me. I am going to start by cutting any junk out of my diet and try and eat healthier. I dont particularly have a time frame for it but I want to be between9-9 and a half stone. Supposedly I am supposed to weigh less than that but thats my aim. I want to be healthy not a twig!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Week 1, Day 2

Breakfast: special k
Lunch: can minestrone soup
Dinner: skinny lamb goulash, carrots & brussels sprouts

Extras: cups of tea throughout the day, 1 biscuit, 2 pt bitter

Exercise: run 3.5km, Rosemary Conley toning exercises

[Madasafish]

Wake up: Tea plus half biscuit
Breakfast: Start Right, 1 slice brown bread and marmalade,Tea (no sugar)
Mid morning:Coffee no sugar
Lunch: soup plus two Tiger Rolls with corned beef, 1 scone and jam. tea.
Mid PM: Tea
Evening: Stir fry with fish, 1/4 slice cheescake, Tea and Genoa cake
Late: Tea plus 1 chocolate biscuit.

No butter, just low fat spread.

[Mikey]

I can see a common theme here Hazel, and a major cause for concern. You won't get a lot of protein in your diet if you only eat skinny things.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I can see a common theme here Hazel, and a major cause for concern. You won't get a lot of protein in your diet if you only eat skinny things.

I'm using the term 'skinny' to denote low fat or Rosemary Conley recipes, Mickey. . Both the lamb goulash and the bolognase have 4oz of meat in them.

They are both utterly yummy - and surprisingly large portion sizes - so if anyone wants me to post them up, I will do.

(Common theme so far includes special k which I will get bored of and change to Bran flakes in due course, and beer, which I will not get bored of and I know contains lots of empty calories - boo!)

[Madasafish]

The key to losing weight is intake of large quantities of fluid... that's my excuse.

Dehydration is bad for you..

[Hazel at the Hill]

Week 1, Day 3

Breakfast: special k
Lunch: homemade squash & carrot soup
Dinner: Jamaican salt fish & ackee with Johnny cakes

Extras: cups of tea throughout the day, 1 biscuit, 2 pt bitter

Exercise: none

[Jardiniere]

Dont dont dont eat low fat stuff or cut out fat...its fat that stops you from feeling hungry and its not just fat that makes you fat .... obviously you shouldnt eat too much but its not a good idea to try to cut it out ...instead you should cut right back on carbohydrates especially bread, pasta, potatoes....and you should cut back on sugar. Dont eat cake, biscuits, sweets. Limit yourself to 80% plus cocoa solid chocolate.
Cut back on alcohol...
If you are eating less bread you will eat less butter, so you can 'afford' to eat butter rather than stuff made from leftover petrol and air (or however low fat spreads are made)
I am not a good role model but I have been losing weight even tho i've not been able to exercise because i have not been eating between meals except...beetroot and clementines.
I have cut back to only one glass of wine with my weekend meals.
Fromage frais and dried fruit for breakfast
Soup or omelette for lunch
Fish, chicken, rabbit or duck with vegetables for dinner.
No puddings except fruit, cheese at the weekends only.

[Mikey]

Dont dont dont eat low fat stuff or cut out fat...its fat that stops you from feeling hungry and its not just fat that makes you fat .... obviously you shouldnt eat too much but its not a good idea to try to cut it out ...instead you should cut right back on carbohydrates especially bread, pasta, potatoes....and you should cut back on sugar. Dont eat cake, biscuits, sweets. Limit yourself to 80% plus cocoa solid chocolate.
Cut back on alcohol...
If you are eating less bread you will eat less butter, so you can 'afford' to eat butter rather than stuff made from leftover petrol and air (or however low fat spreads are made)
I am not a good role model but I have been losing weight even tho i've not been able to exercise because i have not been eating between meals except...beetroot and clementines.
I have cut back to only one glass of wine with my weekend meals.
Fromage frais and dried fruit for breakfast
Soup or omelette for lunch
Fish, chicken, rabbit or duck with vegetables for dinner.
No puddings except fruit, cheese at the weekends only.

Sorry jardiniere, I'd have to disagree with some points here. Pasta, and potatoes are not bad for you, quite the contrary actually. Bread contains a lot of butter already before you spread butter on it again, so I would agree with minimising that. I have plenty of desserts that have no sugar in them at all, but don't taste like it, and I actually prefer the flavour of low fat fruit yoghurts. Artificial sweeteners has been shown in some studies, to increase appetite, so you could argue that sugar cane is far better for you.

The main thing about dieting is to change your bad habits, (for me not eating during the day, and picking in the evening) and creating some new good ones, (snacking on fruit and drinking when I feel hungry, as most of my hunger is actually thirst). Its not about stopping yourself having anything that you fancy, as then you only crave it more, just do it in moderation, and don't beat yourself up over it.

It took me 7 years to gain weight, trying to lose it in 3-4 months is never sustainable. We always want quick fixes, but it takes a lot longer than that to break a habit.

[Madasafish]

I really eat what I like. Drink very little - mainly a 25cl bottle of Aldi beer (£3.04 for 10 Brasseries) or vodka and tonic.

The secret is portion control... never eat a lot and never snack...

4 oz of meat/fish is more than enough..

We never cook with fat: use olive oil. Roast potatoes use vegetable oil. Decant fat from cooked meaty products.. Grill or roast beefburgers and pour off fat..

[Mikey]

We never cook with fat: use olive oil. Roast potatoes use vegetable oil. Decant fat from cooked meaty products.. Grill or roast beefburgers and pour off fat..

Olive Oil is a fat, its composition differs from that of butter, but still contains 14% saturated fat. I have started using the spray oils as by volume I use far less, than I would do if I was to have a bottle in my hand.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Week 1, Day 4

Breakfast: special k
Lunch: pret a manger crayfish & avocado salad, orange juice
Dinner: beans on toast

Extras: cups of coffee throughout the day, 1 1/2 pt lager

Exercise: does batting round London all day to and from meetings count?

[Hilary B]

Quote Originally Posted by Hilary B View Post
I usually add Bulgar wheat to mince recipes. It makes the mince go further, has virtually no fat, and you never notice the difference, because once it has absorbed the liquid from cooking the mince and onions, it has the same texture as mince, and some of the taste.

That's a good idea! I've never used bulgar wheat before - do you get it in the 'pulses' section in the supermarket, and do you have to soak overnight or anything like that?

Bulgar is usually found with any other 'health foods', or next to the pulses, depending on the supermarket in question.
It doesn't want soaking, takes 15 mins from adding (dry) to done (if the liquid is hot), and if you add it to a wet mixture, it takes up the liquid including any flavour in that liquid. That is what I do it for, and when the dish is 'mince in its cooking liquid' the cooked-up granules are VERY much like the 'bits' of mince.
In the slow cooker it might take about twice as long.
Bulgar is one of my 'must haves' in the store cupboard!

[Mikey]

Week 1, Day 4
Exercise: does batting round London all day to and from meetings count?

I would say anything which is out of the ordinary counts. A most unusual way to play cricket if you ask me.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Bulgar is usually found with any other 'health foods', or next to the pulses, depending on the supermarket in question.

Thanks, Hilary - I've bought bulgar wheat tonight at the supermarket - 89p for a pack (500g, I think).

Next time I knock up a batch of bolognase, I'm going to put some in. As a start, I'm thinking of 1/4 bulgar wheat, 3/4 mince by weight, if that sound about right?