CAULIFLOWER CHEESE...

[Persephone33]

I just made keto cauliflower cheese for the first time. The sauce is made with double cream, cream cheese, butter and cheese. I can't understand how I can actually lose weight on this food! I worked out the calories I consumed at dinner to be about 1,150!! I also find it to be very moreish. I could definitely eat more of it although I'm not 100% sure I'm actually hungry. What are peoples experiences with this? I'm thinking maybe I should just avoid this food!!

[BridgeGirl]

It's brilliant, isn't it? I usually add in extra veg. I start the sauce off by softening a chopped stick of celery in the butter. I sometimes do a mix of cauli and broccoli. And I put a leafy veg in the bottom of the dish, usually spinach or white cabbage.

[Persephone33 in reply to BridgeGirl]

Is that to bulk it out a bit so there's not so much sauce? I think maybe my ratio of veg to sauce was a bit off (not taste wise but calorie wise!!)

[BridgeGirl in reply to Persephone33]

Not really, it's just to get more veg in and then I have it as a main. This is the recipe I use, I just add in the extra veg and there seems to be enough sauce dietdoctor.com/recipes/pork...

[Lytham]

Its lush isnt it ? We have it once a week now but in a bid to lose more weight ive started adding leeks, peppers, onions and cabbage to it, it all gets blitzed anyway! This week instead of eating a full plate as a main I portioned it and froze some , then had it as a side with bacon and spinach and avocado x

[Minniewinny]

So absolutely tasty and delicious and a bonus that it helps us reduce those unwanted pounds!!

Don't avoid it.. Enjoy it and give it at least 3 months then decide if you will stick with it going forwards.

Cheering you on 🎉🎉🎉

[Persephone33 in reply to Minniewinny]

Thank you! I'm a tad worried about putting on weight but when I think about the calories I consumed on a high carb/sugar diet I think at the moment I'm actually eating less. And anyway, it's not like I'm going to eat this every day is it. I will stick with it. I like eating low carb, it's simpler (that sauce was super easy ti make, none of thus fannying about with a roux and whisking so it doesn't go lumpy) and I don't get that bloated feeling, and I don't have all the digestive issues I had before. So I will stick with it for a good few months as you say. I guess maybe just not expecting immediate results might help. Anyway thanks for the input!

[Minniewinny in reply to Persephone33]

If you stick with LCHF the weight will go, just allow the time it takes.

Many of us don't know how long it took us to gain the extra weight.. It kinda crept up on most of us 🤣 so try to enjoy this better way of eating and relax to allow time to work at the rest!

[Persephone33 in reply to Minniewinny]

Did you have slip ups, ie a square of chocolate here, a total carb blow out day there? Did it hinder your progress?

[Minniewinny in reply to Persephone33]

I make a batch of chocolate & peanut treats and enjoy them 😋(dietdoctor recipes) I can't say I have carb blow outs as such..

But I've had time out at the end of March this year, I enjoyed 9 days in New York and enjoyed meals and desserts that are certainly not Keto! Although it's quite easy to eat Keto over there, many menus offer low carb options and they were delicious! Then on return home got back to Keto and allowed time for the weight to come back off without a time limit or expectation... and it does.. every time.

I certainly see this eating plan as a way of life and it's going to be for all of my life.. With maybe a little excursion along the way here and there! 😉

[PandQs in reply to Persephone33]

Although my cravings for sweet stuff (chocolate in particular) have disappeared, I do have a bar of Montezumas 100% cocoa, flavoured with orange oil, in the fridge for emergencies. The last one lasted me for weeks, just the occasional square in the evening. This replacement bar is unopened from being bought in April.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to Persephone33]

I can remember eating a slice of chocolate cake as a 'treat' a few months in and couldn't finish it. It was just too sickly sweet. After that I just never bothered with such things for a long time - I didn't feel any urge to do so. However I'm now in maintenance and have the occasional carb blowout - a burger or a pizza. It makes no difference at all to my weight, and you wouldn't really expect it to. The whole point about low-carb is that your body gets much better at burning through fat. A good fraction of a pizza feast will be stored as fat, but it gets burned right back off again as long as you don't keep blasting your body with carbs.

[Logfire in reply to Minniewinny]

You’re absolutely right Minniewinny, at the moment I am loosing about 1lb a week on the LCHF diet. Slow and steady that’s how it goes!!!

[Persephone33]

Oh and also. I'm attempting to do the induction but finding that very difficult. Do people have experiences of going straight into just straight forward low carb eating and not going through an induction phase first, and still seeing results?

[Minniewinny in reply to Persephone33]

When I started I did the dietdoctor.com 2 week challenge LCHF and did their recipes with no changes and lost both weeks with good food and tasty recipes.

I later decided that I prefer Keto with less than 20g's carbs a day, I also do IF so I eat between 11am - 7pm each day.

I'm sure you'll get many different experiences and we all have to choose what suits us as individuals and it has to be enjoyable for us to stick with it! 😉

[Persephone33 in reply to Minniewinny]

The thing that concerns me is that I did the induction for just under 2 weeks and I didn't lose anything. I'm worried it's just not going to work on me.

When I was younger I was slim but I never ate anything and was just hungry all the time. I felt guilty when I ate, and would try and starve myself all day then reward myself with dinner. I would be terrified to eat anything during the day. That's how I had to live to keep to a healthy weight.

I don't want to live like that but I don't want to be fat either.

It seems like everyone doing LCHF had the weight fall off them very quickly. I am wondering whether anyone else has had an experience where they didn't see much on an initial loss but the weight loss eventually came?

Yes Diet Doctor is good, I've had a look at the plans (got the one month free trial) but a lot of that food really doesn't appeal to me. It also seems a little expensive... In my diet free days I lived on potatoes, lentils, beans and vegetables, - peasant food! Obviously I can't have any of that now and not really being a huge meat eater, and also being on a tight budget, the only things I seem to be able to afford are eggs, cauliflower and cheese! The occasional meat dish is OK but I can't afford to have it every day, let alone twice a day!

Sorry if this comes across a bit negative, but I'm really struggling with it. I do feel the benefits though as outlined above, and I dont want to carry on living my life stuffing my face and bloating myself out on carbs and needing constant sugar hits. So I am genuinely trying to find a way this can work for me.

[Praveen55 in reply to Persephone33]

You do not have to eat too much meat and it is not going to be more expensive.

[JT489 in reply to Persephone33]

I’ve found I eat less on lchf, overall I have cut down on all sorts of other food. It’s swings and roundabouts. 🌈

[BridgeGirl in reply to Persephone33]

At first, I used the NHS 12 week plan and focused on calories. At the end of that, I started thinking more about what I eat, rather than how much. Having been very dependent on bread and potatoes, I would never have imagined doing without them but now I rarely give them a thought: occasionally eat them if I'm out but I don't have them in the house.

I didn't do an induction but I'm not recommending that as it clearly does move you to fat burning more efficiently. I cut out bread, potatoes, rice and pasta step by step (and sweet stuff, which was less of an issue), 'til I was eating low carb and increasing fats. I really enjoy it and have lost nearly three and a half stones (in 18 months: I'm sure with the recommended approach I would have got there quicker).

I've now reached a weight I'd like to maintain. I've found that I can have a quick boost to my loss by having a week without fruit, milk, alcohol and sweet stuff - I don't have much of any of these but going without entirely for a short while can make a surprising difference. I'm still finding the balance

[JT489]

It’s a favourite with me too. I season it differently each time/ add more/ different veg etc . It’s counter intuitive that you can lose weight by eating this way. I love it! It makes me 😊

[PandQs]

I’ve been eating a lot of cauliflower on LCHF, with cheese, but also mashed to replace potato, and chopped finely to replace rice, and it’s been lovely to eat. For the cheese if I’m in a hurry I’ve found a Lloyd Grossman ready made 4 cheese sauce sachet, microwave in less than a minute and it’s really tasty.

[Praveen55]

Persephone33

Reading through your post, I find there are two parts of your question -

1. Can one eat as much as one wants following LCHF/KETO diet and still lose weight?

Answer: NO, ONE CAN NOT. For example, like many other members on this forum I am currently in weight maintenance phase following LCHF/KETO. That is because dietary energy intake and energy requirement of my body are same. if I deliberately start eating consistently in excess, I will gain weight.

2. This is what I call Functional/Operational part of LCHF/KETO diet where satiety comes into picture limiting the amount that we eat. As many members have reported there is no need to count calories because one gets satiated before overeating. This is general experience, particularly when one becomes fat adapted.

However, many face difficulties in this part particularly when one is switching from high carb lifestyle to keto. One is used to eating high volume of food because gm for gm carb has less than half energy compared to fat. With that psychology in mind one may end up eating too much. Secondly, body also takes time adjusting to completely different diet which can vary from one person to another. As time passes and your body becomes fat adapted, you will experience satiety signal will become stronger.

What should one do then? Keep carb low and eat the normal way as per your hunger but DO NOT IGNORE THE NUMBER ONE ABOVE. I am more than sure you will navigate your weight loss journey smoothly and reach your weight goal.

[JiminyCricket in reply to Praveen55]

Thank you for this useful reply, this feels like where I am at. Learning to navigate new territory.

[Persephone33]

Thanks so much for that clear and informative post. Very helpful and I feel I have it clear in my head now. I also have some ideas about what I can do to make cooking meat 'easier' for me. For example, preparing the meat by cutting up and/or marinading so it is ready to stuck straight in the pan to fry/tray to roast. I have to tenderise chicken before I cook and this can be a pain - clearing space, cleaning everything after because it's had raw meat on it etc - but if I do it in advance it is easier to just throw in a pan... That's one idea I've had.

[CoffCoffWalkWalk]

Counting calories never worked for me as I was schooled back in the 70's when a calorie was a scientific term used for measuring energy, not losing weight.

calorie /ˈkaləri/ noun

noun: small calorie; plural noun: small calories; noun: large calorie; plural noun: large calories; noun: Cal

1. the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C (now usually defined as 4.1868 joules).

9,241,059 calories

There are 9,241,059 calories in a litre of diesel and 8,325,818 in a litre of petrol although neither would make you put on weight

[Dogpal]

Hi there, if you love that I think you will love cauliflower mash, recipe on diet doctor website. It really is very much like mashed potatoes which I was missing. Love this diet, like you I couldn't believe the stuff I could eat! Good luck to you with your diet and weight loss. 😊

[Persephone33 in reply to Dogpal]

Thanks, will defo try that! I've been roasting mine, it's incredible.

[Persephone33]

Praveen55 I have another related question regarding keto and calories. I get that you still can't eat more calories than you burn if you want to lose weight. However, do you still need to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight on keto? For example, if you eat the same calories as you burn, but you're eating low carb, are you able to lose weight because of how your body processed things? Or are you still aiming for a calorie deficit? If so, is it the same 3,500 calorie deficit to lose a pound of weight, or does it work differently?

Thank you!

[Praveen55 in reply to Persephone33]

Persephone33

I would very much like you not to get unnecessarily concerned about calories counting while following LCHF. A well chosen menu does not really require you to do this for successful weight loss. May be towards the end, when one has achieved a healthy BMI and one would like to lose few more pounds that time it may become an important factor to consider. My idea of giving these details was to avoid indulgence in too much food which some of us are likely to do for various reasons and particularly if we are thinking that we will still lose weight.

Now for the sake of your curiosity, I will answer your question.

1. In order to lose weight, energy deficit is must.

2. Energy (calories) deficit in traditional high carb diet and LCHF/KETO diet which is fat adapted works differently.

In the former one (glucose-fueled body) energy deficit is perceived as threat and therefore as a protection, body drops the BMR stalling the weight loss. In the fat adapted case (LCHF), we have already trained our body to access the huge amount of stored fat in absence of dietary fat (energy). Therefore, it switches from dietary source to body fat source seamlessly and no drop in BMR is observed. And there is no hunger pangs also because there is constant supply of energy in the body. That is how we lose weight. Dietary source has priority to be used. Body fat is used only when we do not supply energy through diets.

3. Regarding loss of One lbs of body Fat: First of all ,in the traditional diet, energy deficit principle does not work as explained above due to drop in BMR. Secondly, 3500 CALORIES IS NOT EQUAL TO ONE POUND OF FAT. We follow that blindly without checking.

1 gm of fat = 9 calories

1 lbs of fat = 453.6 gm of fat = 9 * 453.6 = 4082 calories.

4. Yes, in order to lose weight according to calculations we have to create energy deficit as above on LCHF diet.

5. Having said that, no amount of calculations can predict accurately the energy needs of our body. The only sensible way is to monitor our weight on weekly basis under similar conditions. If weight drops, we had been on deficit. There may be other factors also, e.g. increase in muscle mass which can hide weight loss. But one will lose inches around waist.

I hope the above satisfies your curiosity.

[Praveen55]

Persephone33

Further to our conversation yesterday, here is the list of food ingredients, some of which may be of your liking:

1. Almond flour

2. Chia seeds

3. Flax seeds

4. Tahini ( sesame seeds paste)

5. Dairy - sour cream, full fat Greek yoghurt, hard cheese, cream cheese all in moderation.

6. Eggs

7. Chicken Wings

8. Chicken thighs bone-in skin-on

9. Beef Burgers

9. Sardines in olive oil

plus low carb non-starchy vegetables shown pictorially on dietdoctor.com website with carb content between 1 and 5 gm per 100 gm.

[Hidden]

Some great advice delivered here!!!

In terms of budget mindfulness here are some good pescaterian options.. So no meat..

A absolute favourite in my house and cheap as chips.. I tend to increase the cheese and use cheddar but I've found this recipe extremely adaptable. You can halve the recipe and have it 2 days in a row with good leafy salad on side. Very filling and so tasty :

dietdoctor.com/recipes/keto...

These amazing things: but also adapting these to include tinned salmon and tarragon for eg has made so much variety out of cheap ingredients:

dietdoctor.com/recipes/low-...

Frozen quorn mince made into chilli with cauli rice or made into bolognese with courgetti noodles = quick simple cheap dinner

Cheap fish - frozen salmon and frozen white fish fillets and frozen fish-pie mix can be incredibly cheap and form the basis of some really decent keto dinners. I love them in creamy chowders, Thai soups, curries, cheesy bakes, fish pies.. Smoked salmon 'trimmings' are a great cheap addition to frittatas or crustless quiches too.

Thin egg omelette with cream cheese and tuna as a filling is also a favourite. So filling and rich!!! Eggs can be versatile if you experiment!

Here is an article with more cheap dinner ideas!

ieatketo.com/cheap-keto-din...

[BridgeGirl in reply to Hidden]

I love the look of those cauli hash browns

Some of my favourites are omelette with cream cheese and smoked salmon - a little goes a long way - and blue cheese and walnut omelette that I discovered on the Daily Diary. Some spinach or broccoli on the side finishes it off.

Also, broccoli and blue cheese soup, using whatever other veg you want: I use what I have in but there's a good recipe on BBC Good Food: just leave out the potato. It's good for using veg that's a bit past its best, and for using every bit of it - the stalks of broccoli and cauli add to the flavour.

I agree, this doesn't have to be an expensive way of eating.

[Persephone33 in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I think the problem is that I'm a pretty fussy eater. When it comes to meat/fish. Tinned salmon - ew. Sardines - ew. Blue cheese omelette - ew. Smoked salmon - ew. Tuna and cream cheese omelette - ew. Ground meat - ew. Burgers - ew. Lol. Sorry don't mean to be awkward but that was my immediate reaction on reading those suggestions, so, you can see my problem!

I like the fish pie mix, salmon, white fish, and quorn ideas. I like eggs. I like chicken and other fresh unprocessed meats. I'm trying to eat dairy in moderation because its my achilles heel so to speak and I think it's probably why I wasn't losing any weight in the first couple of weeks of keto where I used dairy as the fat/protein/bulk food. I can eat a lot of it so I'm looking for alternatives.

I think chicken thighs are good, not all that cheap these days but not too bad.

[BridgeGirl in reply to Persephone33]

I have to say that was my reaction to blue cheese and walnut omelette when I first saw it mentioned. At one point along the way, I decided I would try a new veg every week, or one I hadn't tried for ages or "didn't like" (celery, white cabbage, celeriac, fennel, courgettes - my latest newbie was pecans). There are now a lot more things on my shopping list than I would have eaten a couple of years ago.

You like eggs so that's a great starter. Make omelettes filled with things you do like and sneak in a little of something different. Are you OK with salad? You can make great, filling ones doing your own coleslaw with whatever veg you like and a homemade mayo

[Persephone33 in reply to BridgeGirl]

I don't have a problem with veg whatsoever. What I am very fussy about is meat-hemce my difficulty on a low carb diet if I'm trying to eat limited dairy! I do like blue cheese and love walnuts but I don't like the idea of them in an omelette. However, spose I shouldn't knock it til I've tried it!

[BridgeGirl in reply to Persephone33]

You'll do well being mainly veg based. You can have some great salad with egg and cheese, chicken, salmon. I think you'll work it in a way that suits you

[Persephone33 in reply to BridgeGirl]

I'm trying to avoid too much dairy though. It's my achillea heel. I ca. Eat ALOT of it, enough to take me over and stall weight loss. That's what I think has been happening over the last 3 weeks. I haven't lost any weight, but I have been mostly using dairy as the bulk food. Soeggs are OK but I don't want them all day every day! I don't think I can stomach meat every day. I've had chicken 2 days in a row and it's grossing me out.

[Persephone33 in reply to BridgeGirl]

I'm funny about eggs. I do like them but I'm not keen on the yolks and I definitely don't like the runny. So, eggs with a strong flavour like blue cheese seems yucky to me. Also mayo - hate it.

It's the creamy, fatty animal products I don't like. I love cheese though and cream. I never really liked it when I was younger though. But yeah anything creamy, gelatinous, animally tasting and animal derived generally I am not keen on and am fussy about. I also need to be able to see what I'm eating, hence not liking ground beef, sausages, pate, anything where the meat/fish is all ground up or mixed in. It has to be in chunks. I blame my dad. Lol. He is exactly the same but a lot worse than me. He wouldn't eat cream for example, or even coconut milk. He is a junk food junkie though, I don't have quite the same tastes as him.

Before I started this and ate whatever I wanted, I was eating things like eggs on toast, soup, lean chicken and fish very ocassionally, haloumi and salad and pitta bread. Toast with lots of butter, veggie sausages and mashed potatoes and vegetables, pasta and homemade tomato sauce, fried potatoes, fish and chips sometimes, brown rice and vegetable curry, vegetable chilli, spicy noodle soup, fruit, salad. Also chocolate maybe 3 or 4 times a week, at times it was more...i have to say that I didn't put on weight eating like this, but I had already put weight on a few years ago when I had a desk job and was simply eating too much (I think). But yeah, you can see the absence of fatty meats etc and the high carb content

[Hidden in reply to Persephone33]

Hehe I can totally see how having aversions to all these things will stifle your variety on keto! I often feel I have it harder as i am pescetarian.. But actually having a very eclectic palette and a general easygoingness to trying things helps more than anything! Even with preferences that restrict you keto can still work for you.. Its trial and error.. And trying a few things just outside the comfort zone might surprise you!!

[Persephone33 in reply to BridgeGirl]

Broccoli Stilton soup is one of my faves and you don't need a lot of cheese to give it the richness and flavour. Will have to make that.

[BridgeGirl in reply to Persephone33]

There's a dietdoctor one (I think) with cream cheese but I found that quite sickly. For today's, I had some cream cheese I wanted to use up so put that in and made up the extra with blue. I used celery and cauli as well as the broccoli.

Just realised, you're OK with blue cheese! It tastes the same in an omelette

[Persephone33 in reply to BridgeGirl]

Yeah the cauliflower hash browns look divine. I've been roasting cauliflower lately thats also delicious. What is it about cauliflower that gives that satisfaction.. Its so flavourful, but also creamy and rich. But not high in cals or carbs. Amazing.

[Persephone33 in reply to Hidden]

Some lush looking recipes on that I eat Keto website Hidden (the last link on your post) thank you!!

[Logfire]

No I will just carry on until

I teach my goal weight. I have a long way to go.

[Logfire]

Sorry for the miss spelling. Should be reach not teach.

[ChubbieChops]

I love cauli cheese- thanks for that suggestion. Will definitely give that a whirl. Why would you want to stop eating like this if you don't even think you're hungry. Eating the LCHF way means you shouldn't develop diabetes or become obese. Getting rid of all the blubber has got to be so good for your health. I think we have all been brainwashed into believing sat fats are the devil's food. Start background reading on the science behind LCHF - fascinating

[Betsboop]

I love cauliflower cheese and this recipe will definitely be on my menu this week . I am still in awe that I can eat these foodstuffs and lose weight . I do find eating fat fills me up and fills me up for longer .