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Diet Doctor Low Carb Challenge

I'm feeling a bit better today. After two long naps yesterday I thought I wouldn't sleep last night but I managed 10 hours and the pink eyes have gone. FBG at 5.6 and, sadly, my appetite has returned. :(
 
Gobsmacked! FBG was 5.6, ate egg and bacon breakfast and two hours after its at 5.3!!!!!

Okay, at an hour after breakfast it was 6.2, but I'm ignoring that. ;)
 
Chook said:
Gobsmacked! FBG was 5.6, ate egg and bacon breakfast and two hours after its at 5.3!!!!!

Okay, at an hour after breakfast it was 6.2, but I'm ignoring that. ;)
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Doing a happy dance!

Looks like you are getting over the virus. Now you will really see what is going on food and bg wise

Soooo pleased for you.

Now, DON'T RELAPSE!
 
Oh and I bought a jumper in Sainsburys and had to go down a size. Although I 've shed 5lbs since starting DD , I'd lost 18 lbs in the 2 months before but my mind didn't register that 23 lbs makes a big difference. I was aware my clothes were looser but this is the first time in a few months that I've bought something new and you still see yourself as the same size so it was kind of surprising in a nice way.
My BG has been hanging around 7.2 / 7.3 all day. I've reached the coughing and sneezing stage now and when I start to sneeze I can't stop. Hubby at the football again so having lugged the shopping in I 'm having a glass of iced water before I unpack everything. Need to start prepping tomorrow night's dinner for the family. Spotted a rather nice Madhur Jaffrey curry in this month's Good Food magazine which is low carb friendly. They are having assorted pakora etc to start ( I'll probably have 1 chicken one) with spicy onions , chutneys and the like. The curry I spotted is aubergine curry with yoghurt and turmeric infused lamb cutlets - they will have basmati rice and naan - I am having broccoli rice and DD naan. Finally low carb ricotta pancakes with mixed berries in chambord , extra thick double cream and a tiny drizzle of sweet freedom. Going to make the ricotta batter tonight and the aubergine curry. Get the lamb trimmed and marinating and the berries into chambord. I'm quite looking forward to tomorrow's food.
 
maglil55 said:
Oh and I bought a jumper in Sainsburys and had to go down a size. Although I 've shed 5lbs since starting DD , I'd lost 18 lbs in the 2 months before but my mind didn't register that 23 lbs makes a big difference. I was aware my clothes were looser but this is the first time in a few months that I've bought something new and you still see yourself as the same size so it was kind of surprising in a nice way.
My BG has been hanging around 7.2 / 7.3 all day. I've reached the coughing and sneezing stage now and when I start to sneeze I can't stop. Hubby at the football again so having lugged the shopping in I 'm having a glass of iced water before I unpack everything. Need to start prepping tomorrow night's dinner for the family. Spotted a rather nice Madhur Jaffrey curry in this month's Good Food magazine which is low carb friendly. They are having assorted pakora etc to start ( I'll probably have 1 chicken one) with spicy onions , chutneys and the like. The curry I spotted is aubergine curry with yoghurt and turmeric infused lamb cutlets - they will have basmati rice and naan - I am having broccoli rice and DD naan. Finally low carb ricotta pancakes with mixed berries in chambord , extra thick double cream and a tiny drizzle of sweet freedom. Going to make the ricotta batter tonight and the aubergine curry. Get the lamb trimmed and marinating and the berries into chambord. I'm quite looking forward to tomorrow's food.
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That sounds heavenly.

I am supposed to be cooking a DD dinner for myself tonight, and I haven't even checked to see what it is yet! lol.
I will be on my own tonight, and I'm very tempted to check the dates on the food items in the fridge, and if nothing is going out of date, I will just scramble some eggs. :D
 
And would you believe with all my effort prepping tomorrow's food I've dropped to 6.1 pre prawn salad. Like you @Brunneria I checked the fridge as Hubby will just have something like chicken drumsticks when he gets back. Prawns were about to go out of date so prawn salad it was.
 
maglil55 said:
Oh and I bought a jumper in Sainsburys and had to go down a size. Although I 've shed 5lbs since starting DD , I'd lost 18 lbs in the 2 months before but my mind didn't register that 23 lbs makes a big difference. I was aware my clothes were looser but this is the first time in a few months that I've bought something new and you still see yourself as the same size so it was kind of surprising in a nice way.
My BG has been hanging around 7.2 / 7.3 all day. I've reached the coughing and sneezing stage now and when I start to sneeze I can't stop. Hubby at the football again so having lugged the shopping in I 'm having a glass of iced water before I unpack everything. Need to start prepping tomorrow night's dinner for the family. Spotted a rather nice Madhur Jaffrey curry in this month's Good Food magazine which is low carb friendly. They are having assorted pakora etc to start ( I'll probably have 1 chicken one) with spicy onions , chutneys and the like. The curry I spotted is aubergine curry with yoghurt and turmeric infused lamb cutlets - they will have basmati rice and naan - I am having broccoli rice and DD naan. Finally low carb ricotta pancakes with mixed berries in chambord , extra thick double cream and a tiny drizzle of sweet freedom. Going to make the ricotta batter tonight and the aubergine curry. Get the lamb trimmed and marinating and the berries into chambord. I'm quite looking forward to tomorrow's food.
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Congratulations on being a size down :) :) Your dinner for tonight sounds gorgeous - but your food always does sound gorgeous. I don't think you've ever cooked anything that doesn't appeal to me.

@Brunneria - You can stop doing your happy dance now - my FBG was 6.3 this morning. I think yesterday's FBG was down to having fasted the day before. It was lovely - after the 1 hour post breakfast blip it bobbed along between 4.8 and 5.4 all day.

I really quite enjoy fasting and the temptation (to keep my BG down) is to do it every week day - but I don't know if it would be a good idea. What do you think?
 
Chook said:
Congratulations on being a size down :) :) Your dinner for tonight sounds gorgeous - but your food always does sound gorgeous. I don't think you've ever cooked anything that doesn't appeal to me.

@Brunneria - You can stop doing your happy dance now - my FBG was 6.3 this morning. I think yesterday's FBG was down to having fasted the day before. It was lovely - after the 1 hour post breakfast blip it bobbed along between 4.8 and 5.4 all day.

I really quite enjoy fasting and the temptation (to keep my BG down) is to do it every week day - but I don't know if it would be a good idea. What do you think?
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I went off to bed on 6.4 and arose to FBG 7.4. Pre breakfast I was still 7.4. I won't know for certain until fully recovered if it is the coffee but it is a bit suspicious that there is little or no rise without coffee/tea. Weekly weigh in - no loss and no gain either - I can live with that.
Tonight's chops are a lovely yellow shade. The aubergine curry is on the go too. We'll see if I can avoid crumbly edges on the DD naan bread too this time. I'm enjoying cooking again since I started with DD. I was getting a bit bored with it as I felt there were so many things I couldn't eat any more but this has revived my interest. I learnt to cook in a restaurant (my sister's) when I was young to earn money during school holidays so I've always been able to cook for numbers. DD has got me interested in varying classics again. Ah well back to the kitchen.
 
Chook said:
I really quite enjoy fasting and the temptation (to keep my BG down) is to do it every week day - but I don't know if it would be a good idea. What do you think?
Click to expand...

I feel exactly the same. I did quite a lot of fasting during the Summer and Autumn last year (and since then I rarely eat breakfast, which also counts as fasting on a daily basis 16:8)

The problem was (as far as I can see) that my super-efficient metabolism realised that I was only eating once a day, Mon-Fri, and proceeded to adjust with astonishing rapidity. In about 5 weeks of this fasting pattern I lost a total of 2 pounds. Yes. that is 2 pounds. Which I then regained within a week of reintroducing lunch. Total weight loss after skipping 25 breakfasts and 25 lunches was a big fat 0 pounds.

It was rather tiresome.

So, for me (and I am obviously not trying to speak for anyone else), I think fasting is a great thing. I feel great on it, and it helps to drop my insulin resistance a bit. It is also brilliant to not be tied to the tyranny of meal times. And a cheap way to cut food bills. lol.

But for me to lose weight on it, I would have to do longer fasts of 3-7 days, with tightly controlled re-feeding, and I simply don't want to do that. Mr B was worried enough when I started the 24 hr fasts. Trying to do longer ones would distress him more. He is far more fearful of my hypos than I am, but then he is on the receiving end of the hypo behaviour, so it is understandable. Poor man.

From my point of view I seem to have a fear of bedtime hunger and night hypos that stress me enough to prevent sleep. Attempts to overcome it have failed (so far).

So I will stick with DietDoctor for now, and make sure I eat twice a day.

In your place, if you want to fast, then go for it, but I strongly recommend you vary your routine, so you keep your metabolism guessing, and don't cut food on a regular schedule, because basically that is just like a low calorie diet, and those stall, don't they?
 
maglil55 said:
I went off to bed on 6.4 and arose to FBG 7.4. Pre breakfast I was still 7.4. I won't know for certain until fully recovered if it is the coffee but it is a bit suspicious that there is little or no rise without coffee/tea. Weekly weigh in - no loss and no gain either - I can live with that.
Tonight's chops are a lovely yellow shade. The aubergine curry is on the go too. We'll see if I can avoid crumbly edges on the DD naan bread too this time. I'm enjoying cooking again since I started with DD. I was getting a bit bored with it as I felt there were so many things I couldn't eat any more but this has revived my interest. I learnt to cook in a restaurant (my sister's) when I was young to earn money during school holidays so I've always been able to cook for numbers. DD has got me interested in varying classics again. Ah well back to the kitchen.
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I'm the same. Cooking these DD meals has enlivened my taste buds and my cooking enthusiasm. I am loving being in the kitchen for the first time in years.

The only thing I am NOT enjoying is the endless washing up. I've never produced such a profligate amount of crockery and utensils in 35 years of self catering!!!
 
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Brunneria said:
I'm the same. Cooking these DD meals has enlivened my taste buds and my cooking enthusiasm. I am loving being in the kitchen for the first time in years.

The only thing I am NOT enjoying is the endless washing up. I've never produced such a profligate amount of crockery and utensils in 35 years of self catering!!!
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Ha! My hubby is with you on that one - he does the washing up behind me and every day I hear ' do you have to use so many pots and bowls?'. He's always been my kitchen Porter and commie. Also makes excellent soup after years of careful training and he seems to like prepping veg by hand despite me having every gadget under the sun.
Brunneria said:
I feel exactly the same. I did quite a lot of fasting during the Summer and Autumn last year (and since then I rarely eat breakfast, which also counts as fasting on a daily basis 16:8)

The problem was (as far as I can see) that my super-efficient metabolism realised that I was only eating once a day, Mon-Fri, and proceeded to adjust with astonishing rapidity. In about 5 weeks of this fasting pattern I lost a total of 2 pounds. Yes. that is 2 pounds. Which I then regained within a week of reintroducing lunch. Total weight loss after skipping 25 breakfasts and 25 lunches was a big fat 0 pounds.

It was rather tiresome.

So, for me (and I am obviously not trying to speak for anyone else), I think fasting is a great thing. I feel great on it, and it helps to drop my insulin resistance a bit. It is also brilliant to not be tied to the tyranny of meal times. And a cheap way to cut food bills. lol.

But for me to lose weight on it, I would have to do longer fasts of 3-7 days, with tightly controlled re-feeding, and I simply don't want to do that. Mr B was worried enough when I started the 24 hr fasts. Trying to do longer ones would distress him more. He is far more fearful of my hypos than I am, but then he is on the receiving end of the hypo behaviour, so it is understandable. Poor man.

From my point of view I seem to have a fear of bedtime hunger and night hypos that stress me enough to prevent sleep. Attempts to overcome it have failed (so far).

So I will stick with DietDoctor for now, and make sure I eat twice a day.

In your place, if you want to fast, then go for it, but I strongly recommend you vary your routine, so you keep your metabolism guessing, and don't cut food on a regular schedule, because basically that is just like a low calorie diet, and those stall, don't they?
Click to expand...
 
I was hoping the curry recipe would be on line but it isn't so here it is
INGREDIENTS - 2 PEOPLE
1 Large aubergine
3 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds
2 tsps ground coriander
Large pinch tumeric
Large pinch chilli powder
2 cm ginger finely grated
4 crushed or grated garlic cloves
1 can peeled cherry tomatoes
FOR THE LAMB
8 small lamb cutlets French trimmed
2 tblsp plain yoghurt
1/4 tsp tumeric
Olive oil for frying
TO SERVE
Yoghurt, nigella seeds and coriander leaves

Method
LAMB is easy enough. Mix the yoghurt and tumeric together, brush it on the chops cover and leave until frying time. I left them in the fridge overnight. When it's time it is just a case of season both sides and fry in a little olive oil. I keep them pink in the middle.
CURRY
Cut the aubergine into chunky wedges. Fry until they are browned all over and very soft. They should be almost translucent and lightly charred. Lift them gently out of the pan and set aside but leave the oil behind. If there is more than a tablespoon of oil in the pan reduce it down before adding the fennel and nigella seeds to the pan. Heat them until they pop. Add the coriander, tumeric and chilli and let the oil foam a little with the spices but make sure they don't stick. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 min. Tip in the cherry tomatoes and simmer until it starts to thicken. Check and adjust seasoning if necessary. Put the aubergine back in and continue to simmer while you fry the cutlets.
To serve put the curry in a dish with a little yoghurt in the middle sprinkled with nigella seeds and coriander leaves. Serve with the lamb cutlets and whatever else you want to add.

Nutrition for the lamb and the curry per serving is
Calories 382
Fat 13.4g
Protein 40.9g
Carbs 15.7g
Fibre 5.4g
Sugars 9.8g
So you have 10.3 net carbs per portion but obviously a few more if you add in DD naan and cauliflower rice.
 
maglil55 said:
I went off to bed on 6.4 and arose to FBG 7.4. Pre breakfast I was still 7.4. I won't know for certain until fully recovered if it is the coffee but it is a bit suspicious that there is little or no rise without coffee/tea. Weekly weigh in - no loss and no gain either - I can live with that.
Tonight's chops are a lovely yellow shade. The aubergine curry is on the go too. We'll see if I can avoid crumbly edges on the DD naan bread too this time. I'm enjoying cooking again since I started with DD. I was getting a bit bored with it as I felt there were so many things I couldn't eat any more but this has revived my interest. I learnt to cook in a restaurant (my sister's) when I was young to earn money during school holidays so I've always been able to cook for numbers. DD has got me interested in varying classics again. Ah well back to the kitchen.
Click to expand...

So, at the moment you're not having coffee? And does your FBG seem a bit more stable? Will you have a test cup one morning to see if it still has the same effect? I've just moved on to double cream in coffee instead of whipping cream first thing in the morning, I don't know if it has made any difference. (I am still struggling to drink it with anything in it because I much prefer it black.)

I agree with both of you that the Diet Doctor recipes have made cooking far more interesting.

@Brunneria My cunning plan is to skip breakfast and lunch on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays having Diet Doctor recipe dinners and eat VLC on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays - so I don't fast for more than two days at a time and, hopefully, my body won't get used to it. I don't think I could do a longer than a 23 hour fast because, like you, I can't go to bed hungry.
 
maglil55 said:
I was hoping the curry recipe would be on line but it isn't so here it is
INGREDIENTS - 2 PEOPLE
1 Large aubergine
3 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds
2 tsps ground coriander
Large pinch tumeric
Large pinch chilli powder
2 cm ginger finely grated
4 crushed or grated garlic cloves
1 can peeled cherry tomatoes
FOR THE LAMB
8 small lamb cutlets French trimmed
2 tblsp plain yoghurt
1/4 tsp tumeric
Olive oil for frying
TO SERVE
Yoghurt, nigella seeds and coriander leaves

Method
LAMB is easy enough. Mix the yoghurt and tumeric together, brush it on the chops cover and leave until frying time. I left them in the fridge overnight. When it's time it is just a case of season both sides and fry in a little olive oil. I keep them pink in the middle.
CURRY
Cut the aubergine into chunky wedges. Fry until they are browned all over and very soft. They should be almost translucent and lightly charred. Lift them gently out of the pan and set aside but leave the oil behind. If there is more than a tablespoon of oil in the pan reduce it down before adding the fennel and nigella seeds to the pan. Heat them until they pop. Add the coriander, tumeric and chilli and let the oil foam a little with the spices but make sure they don't stick. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 min. Tip in the cherry tomatoes and simmer until it starts to thicken. Check and adjust seasoning if necessary. Put the aubergine back in and continue to simmer while you fry the cutlets.
To serve put the curry in a dish with a little yoghurt in the middle sprinkled with nigella seeds and coriander leaves. Serve with the lamb cutlets and whatever else you want to add.

Nutrition for the lamb and the curry per serving is
Calories 382
Fat 13.4g
Protein 40.9g
Carbs 15.7g
Fibre 5.4g
Sugars 9.8g
So you have 10.3 net carbs per portion but obviously a few more if you add in DD naan and cauliflower rice.
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Thank you for the recipe, I'll get Mr C to make it - he loves cooking curries. x
 
Chook said:
Thank you for the recipe, I'll get Mr C to make it - he loves cooking curries. x
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I noticed and it looked like one you would enjoy. I should add that I have added green beans to the curry and spinach is going in too. Much as I love aubergine there was a lack of greenery for me.
 
Chook said:
So, at the moment you're not having coffee? And does your FBG seem a bit more stable? Will you have a test cup one morning to see if it still has the same effect? I've just moved on to double cream in coffee instead of whipping cream first thing in the morning, I don't know if it has made any difference. (I am still struggling to drink it with anything in it because I much prefer it black.)

I agree with both of you that the Diet Doctor recipes have made cooking far more interesting.

@Brunneria My cunning plan is to skip breakfast and lunch on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays having Diet Doctor recipe dinners and eat VLC on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays - so I don't fast for more than two days at a time and, hopefully, my body won't get used to it. I don't think I could do a longer than a 23 hour fast because, like you, I can't go to bed hungry.
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I have only had water or the odd cup of boullion for a week now. Mornings are a bit more stable. Still high in the low 7's but as this bug wears off I'm not getting the 8's and 9's spike. I'm going to try a test cup during the day first once this bug has gone and stay off it in the morning for now. Jury is still out. I am really hoping it will be OK as I do miss my tea and coffee.
 
maglil55 said:
I have only had water or the odd cup of boullion for a week now. Mornings are a bit more stable. Still high in the low 7's but as this bug wears off I'm not getting the 8's and 9's spike. I'm going to try a test cup during the day first once this bug has gone and stay off it in the morning for now. Jury is still out. I am really hoping it will be OK as I do miss my tea and coffee.
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Does it cause much of a rise? Have you tried decaff? Yorkshire Tea does a really good decaff one - which I now can't have because I only like tea with skimmed milk. I think I'd put up with slightly higher BG rather than think about giving up coffee permanently - it would depend on the rise.
 
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