Hi guys I have read the book, bought the recipe book and have started this morning. I cannot believe the how lovely the food sounds and looks. I live with a lovely man that eats no vegetables at al!! Over the last year I have slowly forgotten that I love and need vegetables! It is so easy to make a supper that he likes and we all eat it! This is not so good for me or my 13 year old boy! I am also on the large side with a lot of my fat on my tummy. So here I am starting on day one, charging my Garmin (which has sat in a cupboard for over year) with a smile on my face and a determination in my heart. Any tips would be greatly recieved for a newbie. Good luck to you all.

Welcome Birdy76. Shout up if you have any questions. Also use the search engine at the top right of the page as many many question have already been answered and it will help you navigate some of the pitfalls. Good luck.

Hey Birdy76 – Today is also my first day and a few others… so we can hopefully encourage each other to keep going over the next 8 weeks and beyond. I already have appreciated so much the help I have been given today – it has stopped me from making some rookie mistakes. I am also impressed with the support and the knowledge. I think we will be just fine! 🙂 Onwards and downwards!

Thank I will have a navigate around the site.

Wow good luck. When you say rookie mistakes what do you mean. I think I have done ok for the first day, although struggling with the water and how much I am peeing🤣🤣. I know this will settle down over the next couple of days. I started with mushroom omelette, pepper and jewelled feta and I am trying the Aubergine with lamb tonight. I can’t believe that I have consumed way less today than normal and not feeling too bad. May it stay that way for the 8 weeks. Here’s to the inches shrinking!👍

There are lots of rookie mistakes. One, thinking the recipes calorie count are per recipe and not per portion, two, actually not checking the calories for yourself as they can be quite a bit out, three, how many carbs in an apple – think it is okay, no – 19g or carbs per apple. More are things like thinking it is okay to substitue one carb for another i.e. brown rice instead of white, bread made with ‘other’ flours, are sweet potatoes are okay – NO they are not. If you want to see a visual aid of what number carbs are in foods take a look at dietdoctor.com/low-carbs. Lots of things will crop up and we are always here to help. By the way the peeing just shows that this is working and your body is flushing out the fat – that’s how it leaves the body. It will calm down.

You are bound to make mistakes – I have been doing this for 3 years for diabetes control and I have only just learnt how to count carbs properly. Good luck.

Rookie mistakes ….Well, I had read that apples were low in carbs and it’s true, relatively speaking in comparison to some other fruit but in actual fact they are quite high, even up to 19g. When you are trying to keep your carbs low low low and in this first round they are probably not the best fruit to go for.. Allie advised berries would be ideal instead so would have probably gone over my carbs if I hadn’t had this advice. Also, was advised to use a tracker app which can help you keep an eye on your carbs/cals etc so I started using one at lunch today and think I would have definitely underestimated the figures had I not used the app to calculate the cals/carbs properly. So great advice from the forum today. Just had tuna & avo tonight. Not been super adventurous with my eating but will plan better for tomorrow. Your lamb sounds wonderful .. enjoy and let us know if you would recommend the recipe. Have a great eve! 💚

There is quite a bit of “science” on here. As I understand it, the first losses when embarking on a low carb diet are of glycogen, stored in the liver; which is water heavy, hence the noticeable peeing. After that, expended/”burnt” fat is actually mainly converted into Co2 and just breathed out. For reasons which I am not qualified to say, and don’t pretend to understand, staying really well hydrated and drinking 2 -3 l water a day does help – but that does equate to an equal amount of peeing!

The other rookie mistake is incorporating artificial sweeteners. Although they don’t have any calories they do cause an insulin spike. – Our bodies body doesn’t wait until blood sugar levels increase before it increases insulin, it increases insulin if you have anything which tastes sweet.

Whoops rookie mistake number one made! I made the lamb and Aubergine (very nice). I only used one aubergine as the recipe serves two, but forgot to halve the lamb and the pine nuts!! So I have gone over my calories today! But I am not berating myself as that would be silly. I will do better tomorrow. My son is joining me in the full English so at least i know I won’t be eating a two person serving🤣🤣. My son has also said he will try a lot more new things with me so even less chance of eating for two! Now back to the Aubergine dish, it really was lovely but I would suggest seasoning the Aubergine a lot more than the recipe states. It is a little bland compared to the meat. Maybe put some of the spices on it directly?? Anyone else found this? I smashed my steps today though so there is another positive. Good luck tomorrow.

Hi I hate sweetners so there is no chance of me making that mistake🤣👍. Thank you though.

Thank you I have drank at least 2 and a half litres today.

Thank you. We are only human and mistakes will be made. I am not worried though as I am determined to smash this. Fingers crossed.

Hi Sixturkeys, to add in to your post about water and peeing.

Our bodies need more water to help them process a carb high diet, so its not just the burning of glycogen that causes the release of water but also the release of water stored in the body tissues. -How much you have to release is different for different people. One thing to be aware of when you are going through this stage is that your body releases electrolytes as it releases water. So its helpful to increase your salt intake. (You may hear about carb flu, or keto flu – thats caused by an imbalance of electrolytes.)

Our bodies do not empty a single fat cell completely at a time and then move on to the next fat cell. Instead it uses a little bit of fat from an area of fat cells and replaces the fat with water. This is repeated until there is no fat left in the fat cells and then they collapse releasing the water. If you search for whoosh effect on the forum you will find out more about it.

Hi JGwen. I follow that; but if “our bodies need more water to help them process a carb high diet” what is the rationale for increased water intake on a low carb diet? And is it not the case that increased water intake means equal excretion, and that whether a depleted fat cell initially fills with water, the actual fat is not actually excreted in urine? I am with you on the dimpled/thumb press impression, but I don’t think it is right to say that “fat” is just peed out and that increased urination means fat is being burned. And what if there is no apparently classic “whoosh”? What does that mean: success or failure? Frankly I am confused beyond the broad parameters of low carb, moderate protein and healthy fat.

I can follow that up with the fact that fat is excreted through the urine. It might dissolve but it doesn’t just fly off into the atmosphere. It is also excreted in your poo and sweat. The reason you pee more is because of exactly that reason. Therefore you need to replace the fluid. With the fluid you will also be excessively excreting sodium so there can be an imbalance which can cause light headedness, nausea, just feeling rotton so it is a good idea to add a little salt into your diet, and I mean a little pinch. As you will not be eating processed salt laden foods you will be further depleted. So drink more and add a little salt.

As far as I can gather, most does actually through metabolising “fly into the atmosphere”. It is not expelled through poo, which is just the end product of a complex but scales wise not noticeable process.

We are delighted to have so many new members joining in April, and I’d like to welcome you all! 🙂 It’s helpful to
keep in mind that processed food and carbs retain fluid, and as we are eliminating them, the first week’s results
on the scale are primarily the loss of fluid. Actual fat loss begins in the second week, and drinking the water
facilitates it. Drinking 1/8oz glass every hour isn’t hard to manage, and if you can complete this directive by
9:00pm, it really helps with middle of the night trips to the loo. Pink himalayan sea salt or fleur de sel have
mineral trace elements in them, so a good choice when dampening one’s fingertip and collecting a small qty
really does help with any dizziness that might accompany “carb flu”. I have read reports that fat leaves in
the form of CO2, but I must admit that the science behind this was far less important to me than seeing a
consistent loss of 3.5lbs a week from month 1 to month 10, which is the amt of time that it took me to discard
10stone (140lbs). Alcohol is notorious for fluid retention too, and can really play havoc with the scales, and
can easily set you back an entire week. There is a reason that beer is called liquid bread, and wine is called
liquid sugar. 🙂 Avoid it if at all possible. Water glasses up, everyone!

Allie

Birdy76 – nice one on the making the recipes on you first day, jumping right in with 2 x feet, I’m impressed! Thanks for the tips too, will be sure to follow your advice when making that lamb/aubergine one. As for going over the cals it’s your first day. I ended up on 802kcals but I forgot to track a rasher of bacon 🥓, think I under counted the cream in my coffee this morning and I definitely did not drink enough water. Probably managed around a litre and half so I really need to up that today. Went to bed early hoping to keep myself out of temptations way. Worked! Now for day 2 and for correcting those errors.. and probably making others but I am happy that I did my best! Off for a 4 k run 🏃🏽‍♀️ will see how I get on! Have a great day! 💚

Morning GreenGal

I went to bed about 11pm, I did think about eating yogurt and fruit last night but realised I would be only cheating myself as I had already eaten my 3 meals for the day! When I looked at MFP my carbs were 25 for the day so I think that was on track. Protein was good but fat seemed quite high! But they were good fats so I am not too worried. Hope you enjoy your run. Running is one thing I have never been able to do as I have weak knees’! I also injured my knee skiing in March and it was that holiday that spurred me into action! The air in the mountains was amazing but of course a lot less oxygen so I struggled carrying all this extra weight. I did my stats last night and I am a whopping 18 stone!!! My waist measures 49inches!! That is not good for a 5’4” woman. But like we have said I am not going to beat myself up about it. In the book Micheal said to weigh yourself every day. Even after one day I feel less stuff getting out of bed this morning and according to the scales I have lost 7lbs already. 🤣🤣. I know my initial drop will be a lot because of my size so this will give me the boost I need to keep going. I love the food on this diet and the feeling of not being knackered after every meal because my body is trying to break all the crap carbs down. Here’s to day two and a full English for breakfast and a scrumptious lunch and dinner. Have a great day hun.

Hey Birdy! Woweeeee! 7lbs down is WONDERFUL! I bet you were over the moon! I’m 2lbs down this morning but I know that by the end of the week the daily discards will add up and I am hoping for a good number. I am around 5ft 6 ish maybe a little more and as and adult have always been roughly between 11st 7 and 13st 7 but for the last few years mostly stayed in the top 12s to mid 13s. I know it doesn’t sound like so much but mentally it feels like a HUGE obstacle for me. Having started other diets and given up as life gets stressful or for other reasons and then often reaching for wine or a g&t which keeps the vicious circle in motion my confidence in myself and in my ability stick to the diet is now at an all time low! I am turning 40 at the end of the month and I love exercise to keep my mood/endorphins high but it gets so much harder the more weight you carry. So for the sake of my future health my fitness and my confidence and my wardrobe of unworn, too small clothes, this time I feel I just have to stick to it! I am impressed with your attitude, you seem very positive and we are going to need a lot of positive self-talk to begin with. I hope your knee isn’t giving you too much trouble, next time you go skiing it will be so much more enjoyable, you are very brave. So I am visualizing you on the slopes whizzing down in a super new ski outfit as your old one is too big and me running my next 10k and coming in under 55 mins as I am not carrying the weight of a 3 year old with me! I feel spurred on just thinking about it! Raise your glass of water to another great day and will see you on here tomorrow!

Hi GreenGal I do understand where you are coming from and I do think all our weight loses are huge! It doesn’t matter how much you weigh If you feel uncomfortable, unhappy and really struggle doing the things you love them you are just as in need of this as me. I will always drop more than most as I am a lot heavier than most and have more to shift and I am sure that when I have lost a few stone it will slow right down. I have also done around 900 calories today because I ate the wrong breakfast. Full English should be consumed at the weekends when we only have to think of eating twice. It is too many calories to start the day during the week. We are having the apple cinnamon porridge tomorrow and it will be interesting as I get hungry really quickly when I eat porridge! By 10.30 I am usually hungry again. I am also on nights tomorrow and Thursday so that is going to be interesting too! I have decided to make the easy bolognaise as it makes six servings and it will be easy to have two servings over two nights so I can heat up at work. Next week I will cook some sweet treats as I think I will crave more when working(although my work is very physical). I work in a supermarket with easy carbs and satisfaction all around me.

I am also feeling very bloated at the moment but I am hoping it is not the start of constipation 😢. We shall see. Well done for your 2lb drop today and I will see you here tomorrow. Birdy x