Where are Mr and Mrs Joe Bloggs?

[moreless]

Hi all,

I'm new to the whole idea of LCHF and new to this community/forum. I'm also probably in grave danger of being kicked out on my ear!

I'm quite convinced that this is the way to go, but am put off with constantly being referred to the science of LCHF and being given yet another link to yet another discussion/argument/debate whatever.

Where are all the real people, with fat bums and bellies (like me), that just need to be given some real advice?

I can easily enter LCHF into google, the same as any other person, but what I can't do is get a sneaky peek into somebody's kitchen, or life and see what following a LCHF diet really means.

How do I actually bite the bullet and put years of brainwashing aside to bring myself to eat the cream, butter or streaky bacon?

How do I continue life without the bread, biscuits and pastries that have become the staples?

How do I stop feeling good and smug after I've eaten my 5th piece of fruit?

Tell me how? I need help, not more science.

Take pity on a living, breathing human being, who may not go on living and breathing for long, if my dietary dilemma isn't attended to

Please be assured that this is not intended to offend, nor is it a dig. I genuinely need guidance.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from all 190 odd of you in the very near future

[moreless]

Hi Anup,

Thanks so much for getting back to me. on first perusal, you don't seem to be eating an awful lot, but I'm assuming you feel totally satisfied.

As you are my first and only audience, please forgive me for bombarding you with questions

Why did you decide that LCHF was for you?

Was your diabetes uncontrolled before the change?

Did you have a problems making the switch?

Did you make any rookie mistakes?

Have you ever been, or are you still overweight?

I apologise if these seem too personal and of course, only answer those that you feel comfortable with.

Thanks again for your help.

[moreless]

Ha ha Anup, I have a mental picture of you roaming the countryside with your sandwiches and cake

My problem is, although I agree and understand the theory of LCHF, I'm still struggling mentally with the switch. It's a complete 360 deg turnaround to what I've been brought up on.

Your idea of overweight and mine are completely different, so unless you're only 2ft 6" tall, you sound fine to me

I started looking into LCHF, because recommended UK healthy eating was not working for me and without any real knowledge, I had a sneaky suspicion that carbs were the culprit.

I started to change my diet 3 weeks ago and cut out all "frontline" carbs, except for porridge for breakfast, and the majority of the fruit I was eating.

This is probably not the way to go, but I feel great and have lost weight too.

I stopped using margarine and vegetable oils and switched to butter and olive oil.

I am eating tons of veg and am probably overloading on carbs via them, but I'm struggling with carb counting and knowing how much of everything I should be eating.

I am so sorry to keep rabbiting on, but as I said before, you are my only captive audience

Thanks again

[moreless]

Hi again anup,

Does coconut oil taste like coconut? That probably sounds like a really silly question

You gave me 20:20:60. What does that equate to in terms of amounts, or is that purely appetite controlled?

I've bookmarked fatsecret.com

You've been amazing, thanks so much.

I don't suppose you're a personal trainer as well as a dietitian are you

[moreless]

Hi Bigleg,

Thanks so much for your response. This is so much more "real life" to everything I've come across. Left to my own devices I was getting bogged down and a bit panicky.

It looks like I'm going to have to further tweak my diet, but nothing too drastic.

I've been eating porridge with blueberries for breakfast, which doesn't seem to fit, but I'm not too concerned, because I could happily leave breakfast out all together.

I need to stop taking milk in my tea, stop some root veg and be more liberal with my use of fats. I've never tried coconut oil, is it nice? I have it in my head, stupidly I'm sure, that it'll make everything taste of coconut!

I know this is doable, I may just need a bit of time adjusting.

Thanks again for taking the time to come to my aid.

[moreless]

Hi Bigleg,

If I cast my mind back to my childhood, things were very different. I even remember eating dripping sandwiches! I too remember when the cream used to sit on the top of the bottles of milk (as close to fresh farm produce as I ever got). Conversely, I have no memory of obesity, nor of the stick thin. Nobody seemed obsessed with food or their weight as it seems everybody is these days.

Unfortunately, things changed when I was a young mum and thinking I was doing the best for my family, I followed the new guidelines for healthy eating. More fool me! It's now time to redress the balance and get back to the old ways.

Thanks so much for your continued interest.

[moreless]

Hi Anup,

I'm so sorry, I don't know how I missed your post before.

Thanks so much again, you're a veritable mine of information

I'm not very good with all the scientifc stuff, as soon as it's mentioned, I start to glaze over.

Bite size pieces of info are all I can cope with (s'cuse the pun! )

I'm sure you haven't heard the last from me, so be prepared for more badgering from the bonkers Brit

Enjoy what's left of your weekend

[moreless]

Thanks anup,

That's such a kind way to explain my lack of brain power

So glad to have finally seen the light and realised that carbs are the enemy! Long may the weight loss continue

[moreless]

I get what you're saying anup, but with or without a BMI, I know I'm obese!

At some time my weight will settle, but I'm a long way away from that yet

[Fran182716]

Hi Moreless, I saw your initial post but hesitated to reply to it at first because I'm not eating LCHF in its strictest sense and didn't want to give you any incorrect info, but now you've had some very informed replies I can. I gave up sugary junk food first which after the initial shock was easy and the cravings seem to be all gone now. Starchy carbs were my stress eating go- to food, and I realised this wasn't doing me any good. I haven't given them up altogether but have massively reduced the proportion of them in my diet. Like bigleg I never liked pasta, it was actually a relief as my son cooks a lot of it and it was a lot easier to say " I'm cutting down on carbs" than " I don't like your cooking" ! Rice bloats me up so that went too. I still have small portions of granary bread or rye bread, jacket potato, new potatoes, quinoa and bulgar wheat, but usually only one of them once a day now. I was also delighted to drop off anything labelled "low fat" full of sugar and chemicals and nasty synthetic taste. As I've got 2 stone to lose ive still got to keep an eye on portions of higher fat food, but I'd rather have a little of the real thing.

Breakfast on days off or 10am start days is mostly eggs and veg with herbs or spices in different combinations ( there's another thread on breakfast ), when I'm in work for 8 am I can't stomach breakfast before I leave, so it's usually a sachet of microwave porridge, the plain no sugar or flavour one, with whole milk and berries either fresh or frozen if I run out of fresh. I would love some new breakfast ideas!

Lunch over the summer has been lots of different salad variations with cheese, tinned salmon or tuna, various quorn options as I don't eat meat ( that's a personal choice nothing to do with diet) or nuts and eggs if I didn't have them at breakfast. A little mayonnaise or olive oil dressing or avacado. Now it's getting colder instead of going back to the sandwich and coffee routine that I used to do in the winter, yesterday I bought loads of veg and am planning to bulk cook some today then fridge or freeze so when I'm at work I can microwave them then add whatever I would have added to a salad, so warm lunch without a carb overdose.

If you totted up my carbs for the day it would probably over what's reccommended for strict LCHF, but I've benefitted hugely from the changes Ive made in terms of sustaining energy levels and avoiding sugar cravings.

As you might have seen me on the weight loss forum, I am calorie estimating to try to lose weight, and still looking at the Nhs plan, not following it for dietary guidelines but tweaking it to the way I choose to eat because I find the structure of setting regular goals useful. Over the summer while I haven't been actively trying to lose weight, without any measuring or calorie counting I didn't put any weight on but maintained the stone I lost in the spring. This makes me more confident that if I get down to my goal weight I have a way of eating that allows me to maintain it without a constant struggle.

I hope you might find some of my meal ideas useful, and I would love to see more posts like this on here, would love some more meal ideas especially non meat ones! ☀️

[moreless]

Fran! It's great to see you. Thanks so much for replying

Carbs have always been my binge foods too, so it's a relief to be able to cut them out, because I'm unable to do the cut down thing. I'm so pleased to have got rid of the cravings too. I had to laugh at your comment about your son's pasta

I'm amazed that, so far, I don't actually miss all the things I thought I couldn't live without.

I too suspect that I'm overdoing the carbs, because although I've stopped eating potatoes, I'm still eating other root veg. I'm also just getting to grips with actually counting carbs, protein and fat. Anup gave me a site and a ratio, but the site is American and my maths is hopeless! I suspect it's going to take me a while yet I'm also trying to match it to my calorie allowance too, which makes it even more difficult. I've been able to wing it for these past 3 weeks, because I'm so overweight, but now that the easy weight is gone, I'm going to have to knuckle down and get it right

I'm afraid I am a meat eater, so most of he things I cook have a meat element to them, although I do eat fish too. I'm going to knock breakfast on the head too, cos apparently it's not necessary to eat 3 meals a day and a starvation period of 16hrs/day is actually a good thing. There's a scientific reason I believe, but it's beyond my powers of comprehension yet

If you google diet doctor, there's lots of low carb recipes on there.

I love roasted veg and find it a good way to get olive oil into my diet and frittatas are a favourite, with as many veg as I've got handy chucked in and woopee, can eat cheese too Mega salads are a fave, with full fat mayo (I still don't know if that's good or bad) Love smoked mackerel, a great oily fish, kippers with butter and salmon. As I've given up bread and potatoes, I'm struggling with where to add any butter. I make a lot of soups and freeze portions and am thrilled that my cream of mushroom is now allowed I've got to rethink my broth though, as I'm pretty certain pearl barley isn't good

I'm sorry, I've rabbited on as usual Hopefully we can keep up the chatty threads and maybe encourage some of the other members out of the woodwork.

Thanks so much for your reply

[Fran182716]

Hi Moreless, wow it's a while since this post, crazy week work wise, wondered how you're getting on? Very glad I cooked that veg last week it kept me going through 3 lunches at work. Are you working your carbs out now or just following the general theme? Your frittatas sound good and love roast veg. Like you I'm still eating starchy veg like sweet corn peas and carrots but I'm having them instead of the potato etc at that meal so less carbs overall. I'm on a course at work Thursday and friday this week, food is provided and apparently there's no kitchen or fridge so I'm just hoping they have something suitable. If I end up with sandwiches I'll have a very low carb tea! About the full fat Mayo, I think this is probably fine for LCHF, I love it but I can only have a little as my digestive system doesn't love it as much! I like extra virgin olive oil with a squeeze of lemon and black pepper for a dressing too. Butter is great with veg, I mash it in cauliflower or melt a little on cabbage or broccoli with some herbs. Hope alls well with you ☀️

[moreless in reply to Fran182716]

Hi Fran,

Hope your work life has calmed down a bit, except for the course, of course Hmm.... ham sandwich please, hold the bread

Things are going ok, I got to grips with counting carbs etc., but came to the conclusion that carbs weren't my problem, protein was. My meals have a tendency to be very protein heavy, which I'm trying to address now. It also ended up being way too much food generally too. The whole diet is so satisfying, that you don't need to eat anything like the quantities you needed before. I've now reduced to one meal a day, with a snack of celery and cream cheese, or similar and it's more than enough. I suspect that my macronutrient percentages are way out, but I don't want to get too stressed out about the whole thing, so just stick to the basics

The weight is coming off slowly, but my biggest problem is bloating, which I'm unsure is caused by the diet, but wasn't something I suffered from before. Fingers crossed it goes soon.

Well unfortunately, we haven't managed to winkle anyone out of the woodwork yet, so I guess it's just me and thee

Have a good week.

[Fran182716 in reply to moreless]

Hi Moreless, yes it is great how well this way of eating keeps you going, it's the main reason I like it, energy levels being better sustained and more reliable ( I have a liver enzyme deficiency which seems to interfere with glucose metabolism and can't always get energy quick when I need it and have had some very unpleasant "hypos" one of which caused a minor car accident as my concentration was impaired). Don't think I could manage on one meal a day though! I wonder if your bloating might be because you're eating more veg than your systems used to? Some veg does that to me, broccoli and cabbage I can only eat in small amounts and not on consecutive days, but worst is leeks( they actually make me sick) and onions which blow me up like a balloon . I am fine with the more salady type veg, peppers, spinach, tomatoes and things like corgettes and aubergines so I eat a lot more of these and the broccoli etc only occasionally. peas/ sweet corn/ carrots/ sweet potatoes are all fine too so I carry on eating them even though they are higher starch as I don't want to restrict veg too far. Maybe it's early days for you and the bloating will decrease as your body gets used to it ☀️

[moreless in reply to Fran182716]

Hell's teeth Fran, your hypos sound a bit dire! Thank goodness you've found a diet that deals with your liver enzyme deficiency.

I'm sure you're right about the veg, because I'm eating so many different ones on a daily basis now and in much larger quantities than I used to. Maybe what I need to do is split my meals in half and spread them throughout the day. Maybe it's the onions, because I put them in virtually every meal! I can't imagine a life without onions!

I've just bought some leeks today, so I hope they don't affect me like they do you!

I'm not super strict either, maybe somewhere down the line, if the weight loss comes to a grinding halt, I'll have a rethink

[lizzy65]

Hi all, I have just read all your posts, they make very interesting reading. I have just started the route of LCHF, it will be my first weigh-in tomorrow.

I have stopped bead, rice, pasta, etc., have carbs in the form of veg and blueberries for pudd. sometimes with cream. I don't snack now, feel really satisfied, no cravings.

Once I get to grips with it I will allow some more fruit.

I have started to feel better in myself, it is a lot to get your head around it after years of

yo yo dieting and eating rubbish food.

I wish you the best of luck.

[moreless in reply to lizzy65]

Hi Lizzy and welcome,

It's always nice when another person "sees the light"

I found it very daunting when I first started, as you can see from my post. I'm far more relaxed about everything now and don't find it difficult to consume the fats like I did initially.

I still don't include fruit at all, but I have a lot of weight to lose and am happy to hold off until maintenance (if I ever reach that point )

The amount and quality of food allowed with LCHF, makes "dieting" easy, because you don't feel hungry and don't feel deprived.

Fingers crossed for both of us at our weigh ins tomorrow

[lizzy65]

Thanks, I totally agree with you, it is the easiest plan I have been on and I have tried everything. A lot more flavour, filling, no craving spikes.

I would like to lose two stone. Finger crossed for you as well, let me know how you get on.

How long have you been on this plan and how much have you lost?

[moreless in reply to lizzy65]

I've been on a weightloss journey for 7 weeks and on this plan properly for 5, although I did cut out all carbs except porridge, oatcakes and fruit from the start. To date, I've lost just about a stone. However, I have been experiencing wildly fluctuating changes in my weight and I'm not sure if that's just a me thing, or something to do with the diet

Tomorrow, I'll post a thread just for weightwatchers and we can follow each other's progress. If anyone else wants to join in, that'll be great

[moreless in reply to lizzy65]

Sorry for the delay posting a weight loss thread Lizzie, I suddenly woke up and remembered. I hope you'll feel free to post

[pauline55]

Hi I too have just been reading your posts. I am very new to LCHF and dont really know where to start. I used to follow liw fat too and find it hard to break free from this way of thinking. I coukd quite happily do without breakfast but i need to eat so i can take my Metformin and i dont always have time to cook eggs for breakfast and i get a bit fed up of them anyway. Also we have a restaurant at work which is very cheap but the food always has potatoes, rice or pasta with it. I am a bit clueless as to what to pack up and take for lunch so i usually buy it in restaurant. I would love some input as to what to eat for breakfast and lunch if thats ok?

😀😀

[moreless in reply to pauline55]

Hi Pauline,

It's terrifying when you first start this diet, because it goes against years of brainwashing I really struggled with the fat side of things, but I have to tell you, it becomes much easier, very quickly. I have to admit to using fats that I recognise eg extra virgin olive oil, butter, cream, dripping and lard and have yet to try coconut oil.

I ditched breakfast with no problem at all, but if you have to eat, you can make scrambled eggs in the microwave, in the time it takes to boil the kettle for a creamy coffee. If you get fed up with eggs, there's nothing to say you shouldn't eat soup, salad, or a roast dinner

I'm a big soup maker and this is ideal for lunches, also boxed salads, cold frittata and if you have a microwave at work, the list is endless. I freeze meals and these can be taken out and zapped in the microwave. Of course, you can always eat at the restaurant and forego the carbs, but there's no way of knowing how things have been made and what ingredients have been used.

I hope this has helped a bit and that we can keep in touch and monitor each other's progress

All the best.

[moreless]

Thank you Anup,

I consider myself suitably chastised and will definitely buy and use VCO

[Moti-vacation]

moreless have you bought VCO yet??!!?!! I love it! You know they sell it in aldi now!! And it barely tastes like coconut really.. if you're adding other flavours it kinda is really subtle.. you can whisk it into coffee along with cream!!

[moreless in reply to Moti-vacation]

Ha ha Mv, I have the coconut oil, Tesco stock it, although a bit pricey! I hate it! It taints everything with the taste of coconut! I only use it with spicy food now and prefer to stick with other fats for a more subtle flavour

Thanks so much for the tip though

[Moti-vacation in reply to moreless]

Ha!! Well, it least now you know!! I was very pleased to see it at aldi as their prices are a lot lower!! I may even stock buy some because it goes in everything!! Cauliflower rice, curries, smoothies lol

[moreless in reply to Moti-vacation]

Unfortunately, we don't have an Aldi

[NoMoreJunk]

Just stumbled across this....so helpful, shame some posts are missing!

[moreless in reply to NoMoreJunk]

Sadly, in years gone by, followers of LCHF weren't popular and ended up getting themselves dispatched! They were good people who helped me a lot!

[NoMoreJunk in reply to moreless]

That's a shame!

[moreless in reply to NoMoreJunk]

It certainly is, because they had a lot of long-standing experience and information to impart.

[FattySquirrel]

Wow Moreless, this is exactly how I am feeling!!! Too scared to eat the fat and I have a jar of extra virgin coconut oil but I can’t get used to the taste!!!! I really tried but now I have decided not to punish myself!!😂😂

I also feel like I need to speak to LCHF people all the time and other than bombarding you with questions sometimes I find there is always someone e about either on daily diary or what’s happening.

In the effort of starting LCHF I have definitely overdone it as I haven’t had a great loss so I think I hav way gone over my calorie limit!!

I feel a lot better today after advice from Praveen55 and I think it was Bridegirl (or BrightFeather) on the December strugglers club who suggested following dietdoctirs recipes to get an idea of how much fat to use. Today was my first day of this and I feel great.

I have been doing this for three weeks now and I was at surgery and got asked to get booked in for a routine health check, which meant another set of blood tests. So I had them done and results were in today.

Guess what? Diabetes marker (HBac1, I think) gone down from 49 to 48!!

Although bad cholesterol has increased slightly that may get better when I’m not going completely silly with the fat and also starting exercise as daily basis.

Thanks so much for being my first point of contact and thanks a million to all the support on all the threads. 💐💐💐💐💐I don’t know when I will start losing consistently but I feel good. I feel like there is no crazy urge to stuff my mouth.

Thanks zillions and zillions

[moreless in reply to FattySquirrel]

We all have to start somewhere and get the balance right. It goes against the grain of everything we've been told before, so it's a lot to take in. I still don't like coconut oil and only use it for curries and stir fries!

Great news about your HbA1c! That's what it's all about and please don't worry about your cholesterol levels, have a look at this healthunlocked.com/lchf-die...

Just forget about the number on the scales, for a while and revel in your new found freedom

[FattySquirrel in reply to moreless]

Thanks Moreless 💐💐I cant sleep due to the stormy weather!!!!

[Hidden in reply to moreless]

Against the grain lol

[moreless in reply to Hidden]

LOL!!

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to FattySquirrel]

This is a great post from moreless . We need to do a bit more gravedigging here. There are so many more people just dipping their toes in the water now and it would really help, I'm sure, to follow journeys like this to see how things panned out.

Just like any other diet plan, the same themes crop up over and over. The difference with LCHF is that people tend to post " I feel good. I feel like there is no crazy urge to stuff my mouth" instead of "I'm at the end of my tether".

[FattySquirrel in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Yes definitely. 😀

[Hidden]

O this could have been written by me moreless!

[moreless in reply to Hidden]

We've all been there