I love to cook, advice on recipes please

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posted by Sonz
on 8 Jul 2020 at 14:02

Hello,
I have just started this way of eating, however have been “on a diet” for ever!!
I hope to follow the 800k for 8 weeks, however maybe with a little leniency at times.
What I do not want to do is mess up the whole idea of a BSD by not fully understanding how to modify my own recipes. I love to cook, and am told I’m good at it. I’d say my diet has been megga healthy 80% of the time for most of my life. However, unlike my sisters who never dieted I am the only one that has consistently gained weight, and always tummy weight. A friend became Diabetic, and we joked that it was the best thing that had ever happened to her as her weight just fell off once she watched her sugar/carbs. It was like a light bulb moment for me, years of low fat hadn’t worked, maybe I should try giving up carbs BEFORE I became Diabetic ( no flies on me huh? LOL).

2 days in and I feel fab, and the weight is shifting (I know it’s mostly water, but I’ll take that).

But, I bought the recipe book that goes with the 8 week/800k plan, and I’ve cooked a few already, but know I will need more. Can you advise me what cookery books I need to look at buying i.e Diabetic, Low Carb, Keto, any advice gratefully received, as Diabetic cookbooks tend to say low fat which I know is not what we are doing here.

Thank you
posted by caronl
on 8 Jul 2020 at 15:07

Hi Sonz,
Welcome to the website and this way of eating. Many of us have landed here after serial and unsuccessful dieting. You are in the right place!

There are some good ideas for recipes on this website. Luvtocook was a great contributor. As well as the recipes section, you will find specific threads on soups, salads and much more: just use the search function for key words. I also like the http://www.dietdoctor.com website, which has lots of good ideas. And there are quite a few others out there if you google low-carb recipes. A lot of them can be accessed without buying a subscription. If you want to buy some cookbooks, then the FAST 800 recipe books are good (though check the calorie and carb counts, which are apparently off in some cases.) Otherwise low-carb or keto should keep you on track.

Very best wishes. And do join in on the weekly thread (One week at a time starting….) if you have questions/comments etc. You can find it by looking for recent topics under the Forums tab.
posted by Sonz
on 8 Jul 2020 at 15:49

caronl thank you
posted by SunnyB
on 8 Jul 2020 at 19:53

Hi Sonz, there’s nothing wrong with adapting your usual recipes to fit into the low carb WOE. This has largely been my route and in fact looking at old recipes from a new angle can spark culinary inspiration. My spice draw has never been used so much! I’m sure you will soon be cooking up a storm, just be sure to calculate the cals and carbs in all the dishes you make.
As Caronl says, take a look on the forum for recipes and for advice and support, the weekly thread is a great place to go. Hope to see you there.
posted by Britta
on 8 Jul 2020 at 20:45

Hi Sonz. I followed the recipes in the recipe book for a few weeks. It gives you a good feel for portion sizes in particular and I really recommend doing that. After that I got a bit bored of the recipes in there and started converting my own favourite recipes using a calorie calculator app. I use one called Fatsecret and it tells me how many calories a dish is and also gives the macros. So then I adjust a bit to make it fit with where I want it to be. You quite quickly develop a feel for it.
posted by sunshine-girl
on 9 Jul 2020 at 14:07

Hello Sonz, I like the recipe book that goes alongside the BSD book by Dr Claire Bailey (DrM’s wife) and Sarah Schneker jointly. It is simply the BSD recipe book. It has all the recipes you need but the calories counts are not 100% accurate so check the ingredients yourself. Even if they are out a bit they are a good place to start before you start making up your own recipes, as you will. I can tell you one book not to buy The Diabetic Weight Loss Diet by Antony Worrall Thompson unless you want to eat things like Asian Calf Liver, Smoked Trout kedgeree, Hedgerow yoghurt (you have to forage for this one), Paillard of venison and so on. So fancy and not even good for you. My husband bought it for me when I was first diagnosed. Bless him.
posted by Sonz
on 10 Jul 2020 at 10:22

Thank you everyone. I have the book that goes with the diet, and have made loads of them already. But I do like more complex meals, thought NOT Asian Calf Liver Sunshine Girl LOL.

I’ll take a look at Fatsecret Britta thank you, I just get a bit fed up of working everything out every time………Lazy Mare I am.

SunnyB is there a list of things I should completely exclude to keep low carb, apart from the obvious I mean. I’m thinking specific Veg or protein as I eat just about everything.

Can you see how I got here HA HA HA.
posted by sunshine-girl
on 10 Jul 2020 at 13:11

Sonz, if you type BBC Good Food into your normal browser it will come up with hundreds of recipes, you can filter for low fat, low carb etc
posted by Sonz
on 10 Jul 2020 at 13:30

Sonz, if you type BBC Good Food into your normal browser it will come up with hundreds of recipes, you can filter for low fat, low carb etc
Thanks, I use a lot of online pages, but kind of like a book in my hand, old fashioned I guess.

I think I still panic about how many grams of carbs is too much on this 800 cal 8 weeks.

You’ve all been so kind, thank you.
posted by sunshine-girl
on 11 Jul 2020 at 13:37

I know what you mean about having a book in your hands. I love to flick through my recipe books. If you have lots you could maybe adapt some of the recipes. If you are not up to that, besides the BSD Recipe Book I recommended above, I am sure the Diet Doctor site must have a book to go with all their online recipes.
How many grams are too many, well a lot of people try to stick to around 50g but some go as low as 20g, which I cant do without struggling to reach 800 calories. You might not be aware but the normal recommendation for carbs is 360g per day so we eat so much less. If you want to set yourself a carb goal, say 50g, just put everything you are going to eat into a calculator and see what it comes out at and adjust accordingly. Just dont get too hung up on numbers if you are doing the best you can.
posted by sunshine-girl
on 25 Aug 2023 at 13:54

Lots of good recommendations for recipe books but this is a very old thread. Also, I suspect this person is advertising. For all the low carb and keto recommendations the first recipe is for fried potatoes. Not great.