The FastDay Forum

Hmm, think I just heard hubs throwing the scales somewhere..

Never mind, I have the tools to do without them now x

To the people who have been doing this before a couple questions -

1. Is it better to low carb or low GI? Having read a bit about both they do conflict a bit - there are foods that have quite a lot of carb but low GI, ie. they don't cause the insulin levels to spike.

2. Lunchtime ideas please. I am a soupaholic. What can I have to replace the solid food (bread or crackers) I normally have with it?

Thanks

The "standard" response would be that low glycaemic load is most important because GL takes account of the total carb content. However, I think that if the total load is low, a small insulin spike won't do much harm as long as it doesn't trigger carb cravings.

This website by Patrick Holford who promotes a low GL diet, which has worked really well for my cousin who has type 2 diabetes, has done good ideas for low GL foods: https://www.patrickholford.com/topic/low-gl
He suggests oatcakes or rye bread instead of bread.

Oooh! WOOF! Am I allowed to promote my own low-carb oat-bran / linseed / soya bread recipe?

It's not Hovis or artisan-speciale but it sure deals with my bread cravings and a whole wee loaf (~150g) comes in at about 23g of carb - which *I think* is the equivalent to about a standard slice and a half of normal bread (I don't count Slimcea or Nimble as bread, they're air bubbles with wheat surrounds). I'd generally not want to eat more than a quarter, at most a third, mini-loaf in one sitting (okay, my appetite is reduced but even the old FatDog would have been grossly stuffed after a half).

Add to that, it doesn't have any rubbish in it (unless you put it in there!) and it takes just a few minutes to prep and then a few minutes in the microwave. I reckon it's a pretty darn good alternative to bought, or even oven-cooked, conventional bread (oh, and if you get gluten free guaranteed oats, it's gluten free). I haven't costed it yet, but don't *think* it's remotely OTT; the organic eggs bump costs up slightly - if I didn't mind chicken torture the cost would be dramatically reduced.

progress-f4/topic6427-465.html#p129271

Monday, low-carb day one-hundred and seventy-six, repair day

oat bran, linseed & soya loaf, no. 2, microwave version
soya flour, 424c/C16.0/F20.0/P39.0/Fi12.0/100g
......... 30g 127.20 4.80 6.00 11.70 3.60
linseed, brown, fresh ground, 534c/C1.5/F42.16/P18.29/Fi27.3/100g
......... 40g 213.60 0.60 16.86 7.32 10.92
oat bran, Holland & Barrett, 389.2c/C59.1/F6.5/P12.6/Fi9.3/100g
......... 30g 116.76 17.73 1.95 3.78 2.79
eggs, brown, organic, 151c/C0.0/F11.2/P12.5/Fi0.0/100g
......... 53g 80.03 0.00 5.94 6.63 0.00
baking powder
......... 8ml 0.00 (ed. was 5ml)
0.00
water
......... 40ml or enough to make a sloppy dough (ed. was 50ml) 0.00
olive oil, 824c/C0.0/F91.6/P0.0/Fi0.0/100ml
......... 5ml 41.20 0.00 4.58 0.00 0.00
salt
......... goodly pinch of 0.00
total for oat bran, linseed & soya loaf, no. 2, microwave version 578.79 23.13 35.33 29.42 17.31
FatDog's ½ portion of oat bran, linseed & soya loaf, no. 2, microwave version 289.40 11.57 17.67 14.71 8.66

Method: 1. thoroughly mix dry-stuff together in a microwaveable dish, of a suitable shape for your mini-loaf; 2. in another bowl, beat the egg, oil and water; 3. thoroughly mix the wet stuff into the dry stuff - you're after a "just wet enough to shake down into form" batter; 4. ping for two minutes, rest a bit in the open to let some of the damp off, then ping for another minute.

You should be able to slice it once it has cooled a little. It tastes wonderfully like a brown wholemeal bread - no egginess at all. Rather pleased with this.

Ping time may vary, according to your microwave - I'd maybe revise this time up a little and, if you've a microwaveable rack, bung the loaf on that for the second pinging.

And I keep forgetting the oil - which makes it slightly (but, sadly, not much) more repair day friendly) - and it's fine without - just a tad drier.

I'm going to have do this slowly like rawkaren suggested. I'm not even used to counting calories, let alone carbs and I think I will get confused if I try to do it all at the same time. I am so afraid of not eating enough of the right things and at the moment I am really unable to let go of the 'fat is bad thing' that I have 'known' is 'right' for years! It is so ingrained that I'm not sure I can get over it. So...... For now I am going to continue with what I had been doing which is not eating any bread, pasta, rice or potatoes during the week and little if any at weekends. I am sure that in time the low carb thing will come to me. Meanwhile, I will be in the tent/teepee/marquee watching and learning. Been a good day in here. Thanks all

I like this approach Wendy Darling. I feel the same way. I don't really want to count anything. Having done a low carb diet before, I know what to avoid, and can look up anything I'm unsure of.

I'd like to join please

I looked over MFP and my food is made up of upto 40% carbs, still even though I avoid eating breads, pasta, rice etc. It was quite a surprise to see my average carb intake is about 150 grams.

So I'm not quite sure how to do this a for example, on my fast days (I do a juice fast), I use apples, carrots, tomatoes , radish, kale, spinach, celery ... all of these have huge amounts of carbs; even half a cucumber is showing as 3g, a lemon 5g, a cup of kale 7g.

I know greens are good for you, I could cut down the amount of apple and carrot and increase the cucumber/kale etc but its still going to add up

I need to re-think this and keep a closer eye on it

Hi @jeninboston, I think you'll find that that is the problem with juicing - one is essentially squishing out the "sugar water" and leaving the fibre behind so one a) tends to juice *lots* of veggies / fruit and thus bump up the carb / calories and b) lose lots of the good stuff in the lumpy bits left behind.

Personally, whenever I see a juicer I'm tempted to vandalise it as I think they're eeeevil

Get a decent blender (as close to Vitamix as you can afford) and use the whole fruit / vegetable, that way your calories and carbs won't skyrocket, along with your food bill. I'm not a wholefood freak, but genuinely believe the more *whole* your fruits / veggies are when you consume them, the better: i.e. eat that bloomin' apple, don't juice it, likewise dunk that broccoli floret in some humous, for goodness sake. I do, however, understand that there are times when it's easier to take the short-cut, though I find myself doing it less and less now.

I've a £15 charity store effort (Cuisinart soup maker, retailed at about £160) and the "smoothies" aren't silken, but they more than do. I believe that Lakeland do reasonable beasties, and there's a thread somewhere on here about Vitamix-a-likes.

Hi @jeninboston
I'm with @fatdog on this one. Blend rather than juice and better still, eat your fruit instead and just blend your veggies.

There are some photos on the web somewhere that show a liver damaged by excess fructose. It's one of the reasons I stopped juicing. Fructose is fine digested with fibre, but I no longer go overboard. If you have time and like your research, watch Lustig's lecture on you tube about sugar. There is also a thread on the forum somewhere.

@wildmissus Lunch ideas : when I was Atkins a fee years ago I used to have last nights left overs within the frying pan with an egg cracked on top, and a bit of green salad. Made from some odd meals but I always really enjoyed them, specially in the winter. Today I've brought in a couple of hard boiled eggs, ripe tomato and desert spoon of mayo. I might have some soup from the canteen if its low-carb

Oo- er! Definite change in the 'transit' department - hopefully not for long! As if we need more wind up here in Northumberland

Ah. Best invest in some magnesium supplements.....

Good Morning to the 'Daily Carb Blab' mob,

We are off into town today so lunch will be a roast chicken breast, without the skin, and a light, undressed salad. This will be my 3rd day of mega low carb, for me, and so far, so good. Still got a belly to rival 'Octomom' just before she shed her load and a spare tyre that 'Goodyear' could use in its advertising but I am determined to give this my best shot, after which I will admit defeat and purchase something which resembles, what my mother used to call, her '18hour girder'!

Have a great day one and all,

Belly dancer x

Measured my waist just now - 36"!! It's growing. This is not good :0(

A low carb feast today to compensate for yesterday's half pizza
steamed chicken breast with steamed cauliflower and carrots. Only fresh herbs and a touch of lemon juice to add taste and it'll be the perfect low carb meal for me

I read that apples are not in the list, that's a shame, really, I would love to have a granny smith with peanut butter as a snack this afternoon

[Debs]

Advice please ladies!

I have done every other day fasting for the last week. I have been pretty good on all days and haven't stuffed myself silly or gone mad on carbs. I have been drinking shed loads of water as it is so hot here but I feel like a zeppelin, bloated and puffy. I am a tad 'bunged up' and am not sure what to do.
Any thoughts?

[carorees]

Magnesium tablets do it for me! Plus magnesium helps with sleep and various nerve health things so it's win, win!

Measured my waist just now - 36"!! It's growing. This is not good :0(

Oh heck AzB, that is truly NOT right! Hope things improve for you soon. I plan to do as many very low carb days as I can throughout January and then reassess the situation. So far, zilch off the old middle but it is early days for low-low carb.

Belly dancer x

The only issue I have with low carbs meal is that I have terrible hunger pangs less than 2 hours after a meal until the next meal. It's much worse than on fast days for example.

Advice please ladies!

I have done every other day fasting for the last week. I have been pretty good on all days and haven't stuffed myself silly or gone mad on carbs. I have been drinking shed loads of water as it is so hot here but I feel like a zeppelin, bloated and puffy. I am a tad 'bunged up' and am not sure what to do.
Any thoughts?

I'm with carorees on magnesium. Hope you de bloat soon @debs.