UK Low Carbers

It drives me nuts when people call it a fad diet.  It's not a fad diet.  The very first published diet was low carb (people can google "A letter on corpulence" if interested).  It was published in the 1800s.  It was devalued by the medical community at the time because Banting wasn't a doctor, but it was tremendously popular.  Until calories became public knowledge, dieting was known as "Banting".

Being old or popular isn't really the way I'd choose to measure how good a diet is, though. Sorry.

Being old or popular isn't really the way I'd choose to measure how good a diet is, though. Sorry.

Of course not and I don't think I said it was good or right based on those arguments.  I am pointing out when people use loaded language to turn people against something before they even know what it's about, they don't even always use anything remotely accurate.  It's also interesting how Banting's experience sort of mirrors Atkins a century later.   Low carb isn't a fad.  It's been around as a way to lose weight and maintain the loss for over a century.

As far as I am concerned, I am not going to try convince anyone to eat the way I do.  If anyone's interested or want to know why and how it works, I'd likely direct them to a book.

I'm down 14.5 pounds at the 2 week mark, and Mr. Moggs is down 14.  He's moved off Induction, but I am going to stick to it for a while longer.

WELL DONE to the both of you!!! I've been on the induction plan for three solid weeks and I'm still down 10lbs. I think I could lose a bit faster if I were more active. Tomorrow Im starting back on my 2 mile walk program. I realise 10lbs is good for three weeks but there are people who low carb who lose that much in the first week..mostly water weight probably. I'm very strict. I don't even drink diet pop or eat sugar free snacks. I stay away from dairy completely and get my carbs from leafy vegs.

You're doing really well though.  You're probably a lot closer to goal than I am, and men tend to lose weight faster than women. 

Yeah I think the weight loss the first week is a lot of water weight, but if I was carrying 5 or more pounds of water around with me, then good riddance.  I still lose faster on low carb than I do on low calories alone.  My calories were less than 1500 a day for the most part for 3 months and I was only down 10 pounds total during that period.  It was relatively low fat as well, although I put full fat milk in my coffee and treated myself about once a week with a dinner out.  I'd much rather stick with the added work of low carb and lose a steady few pounds a week like I did last spring and summer.

You're doing really well though.  You're probably a lot closer to goal than I am, and men tend to lose weight faster than women. 

Yeah I think the weight loss the first week is a lot of water weight, but if I was carrying 5 or more pounds of water around with me, then good riddance.  I still lose faster on low carb than I do on low calories alone.  My calories were less than 1500 a day for the most part for 3 months and I was only down 10 pounds total during that period.  It was relatively low fat as well, although I put full fat milk in my coffee and treated myself about once a week with a dinner out.  I'd much rather stick with the added work of low carb and lose a steady few pounds a week like I did last spring and summer.

Well I have to lose 3 stone! I'm still hoping to start Lighter Life but I figure thats £66 a week for a liquid diet which promises you to lose 3 stone in 100 days. Im starting to think if I can lose steadily with low-carbs for the next 6 months and still enjoy food I'll just stick with low carb but for me losing weight is very difficult. I did Weight Watchers for two months and lost less than half a pound a week!!    Low carbs is the only thing that really works for me. I've never tried calorie counting. I wouldn't have the patience for that!!

I made this really yummy pizza-like casserole the other night for dinner.  I found the lowest carb, no glucose/sugar or grain red sauce (I think it was around 3.8 carbs for a third of the bottle).  You can make your own, of course, which is the best option if you have access to a kitchen for long periods of time.  I then cleaned, sliced, and sautéed some portobello mushrooms.  I drained them and lined a microwave safe pie pan with them.  I then spooned some of the sauce over it and topped with cheese.  I sprinkled some garlic on top and nuked it.  Of course, if I had more time, I'd likely have put it in the oven and put fresh garlic in with the mushrooms.  In the past, I've baked caps in the oven before putting sauce, meat and cheese in them and baking again, but honestly, they didn't come out to the consistency I like.

I bought some pork mince and plan on making my own sausage patties tonight.  I also bought some unsalted, uncured, fresh rashers.  I am not really sure how to season those before cooking, but I am sure it will be healthier than the nitrates of regular bacon.  I will update on how it goes.

I am down 16 pounds.  I sort of got into a slump a bit for the past week really getting annoyed at figuring how to work this WOE to our current lifestyle.  However, after experimenting more (and using my mother in law's rarely used crockpot), I am getting back into it.

The sausage patties turned out ok.  The meat had a bit of gristle in it.  I also need to get some sage for next time.  I might even risk putting an egg into it as well.

I wish I could be creative with my meals. I live on vegetable stir frys 
I'm still hanging in there at just over 10lbs but I can tell I lost a lot of inches. I'm wearing some old jeans and my once tight bras Im now wearing on the first hook. My energy level has soared and I feel great. Im hoping to reach my goal by my birthday in mid May.

Good luck ladies!  I'm not a low-carber myself, though I was once upon a time, but I like following this thread to get interesting cooking & eating ideas.  I guess subscribe a bit more to South Beach Diet than Atkins, but I just generally try to watch the amount of bread/cereals/pasta that I eat to keep it within reason.  I could never go fully low-carb, mostly because it's the LUNCHES that get me down, but having done it for about a year, I can respect the trials & tribulations that you guys face .

I guess subscribe a bit more to South Beach Diet than Atkins...

South Beach is a healthier way to do low-carb (than Atkins), IMHO.  I have done a bit of both in the past - South Beach was the last I tried, but I don't do either any longer.  Good luck!

I tried South Beach last year and didn't lose and ounce. For me I have to go very low carb to lose.

I also tried Weight Watchers about two years ago and lost like 1/2 a month!!! Miserable.

So far my low carbing has me losing and I feel much better. I still want to lose about 2.5 stone but Im in no rush as long as I know Im losing. I'm just hoping to get down 2 stone before Aug.

I made a huge pork roast last yesterday.  I think I am going to shred ithe leftovers and make some sort of mexican dish minus the tortillas today.  The crockpot is definitely saving me a lot of hassles in the kitchen, but I think that is true of most people who use them.

Have to brag a minute here.  As of this morning, I am down about 18 pounds since restarting LC.  Mr. Moggs is just going to move to eating freely of fresh low carb veggies, has already introduced a bit more dairy, and is going to eat one or two servings of low carb fruits a day.  Basically, he's within 5 pounds of where he wants to be.  /brag

Starbucks (a place I avoided in the US) actually has full fat milk or cream for their drinks.  We will definitely be going there rather than some of the other chains that do not offer anything but skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.  Non-chain places sometimes offers cream and milk, but not always, and there's not always one around.

I made a huge pork roast last yesterday.  I think I am going to shred ithe leftovers and make some sort of mexican dish minus the tortillas today.  The crockpot is definitely saving me a lot of hassles in the kitchen, but I think that is true of most people who use them.

Have to brag a minute here.  As of this morning, I am down about 18 pounds since restarting LC.  Mr. Moggs is just going to move to eating freely of fresh low carb veggies, has already introduced a bit more dairy, and is going to eat one or two servings of low carb fruits a day.  Basically, he's within 5 pounds of where he wants to be.  /brag

Starbucks (a place I avoided in the US) actually has full fat milk or cream for their drinks.  We will definitely be going there rather than some of the other chains that do not offer anything but skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.  Non-chain places sometimes offers cream and milk, but not always, and there's not always one around.

18lbs is absolutely incredible! I wish I was losing as fast as you but If I can drop 2lbs a week I would be happy. As long as the scale keeps showing loss then I can't really complain.
Thanks for the news about Starbucks. I've often enjoyed a nice starbucks a few times a month but since doing LC I've been avoiding it. I'm going to go tomorrow!

I will probably be dropping back to 2 pounds a week before too long.

Starbuck's whipped cream is actually unsweetened whipping cream that has been whipped (at least according to the nutritional facts pamplet in the store we were in).  I don't know if they will give you unwhipped cream like in the States, but I know from experience, it breaks down pretty easily in a hot drink.  Plus, it's awesome to sneak a spoonful or two as a treat. Next time I go, I am going to ask for my black coffee topped with whipped cream.  But, yeah, we had full fat milk last night.

Well done on your progress Moggs and Lady Godiva!

Just a quick story from my days as a barrista as Starbucks--we used to have a woman on the Atkins Diet who came in and would always order a venti iced latte, but ask for it to be made with heavy whipping cream (which we had on hand to make whipped cream) instead of milk. I agree, it's a nice treat to put a couple of spoonfuls in your coffee--but really, I don't know how she was able to drink that. I would be ill. And something tells me that's not the best way to go about Atkins. Probably why so many people have negative connotations about it.