You can cook your cauli rice like fried rice
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/38850/cauliflower-fried–rice-.aspx?o_is=SR
that recipe works well, just leave out the pork if you want it as a side dish. I’ve munched it up and although it isn’t exactly the same it is very tasty!
Hi Izzy, thank you so much 🙂 that looks really delicious, better than my usual recipe! It’s 17 years of hubby and I becoming a couple next Saturday and we usually have a takeaway, so that will go great with a homemade chinese-y tasting chicken curry. Fab!
ooh now… if you like chinesey
I make chicken and cashews similar to a takeaway. fry up onion and chicken then add cashews for a few mins, then add soy sauce, chicken stock (we like a chilli in there as well) and cook for a short while serve with cauli rice and steamed broccoli. Yummy.
And this… well it isn’t chinese I think it’s japanese but this curry sauce works well for BSD and even my picky daughter eats it. She wouldn’t normally come within arms length of a courgette…
http://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/recipes/chicken-katsu-curry.aspx I’m making it tonight. Instead of breadcrumbs I dip the chicken in olive oil and then roll it in a little coconut flour, bake them in the oven. It’s yummy!
Congratulations on your 17 years together 🙂
Hi Izzy – I’ve made that for tonight’s tea already too (the Katsu)! I saw it on this site somewhere earlier in the week and pencilled it in for tonight, maybe it was you who’d posted it? I’ve left the chicken plain though as I didn’t have anything available to coat it with, but – coconut flour – noted, that’s not as pricey as the almond stuff, is it? The sauce is really tasty! I’ve never had Cashew Chicken before but it looks like something I’d like. I might make two mains for one and we can share half each. I’m trying so many different things, and losing weight 🙂
Thank you very much 🙂 We both deserve medals for different reasons, but it’s been a lot of fun 🙂
Josie, if you’re out there still – thumbs up to the Aldi Greek, thanks for the heads up. A smidge higher in calories than the Fage but it’s good to know there’s another nice one out there if I can’t get hold of it 😀 (and a fair bit cheaper too!)
coconut flour is cheaper than almond flour yes. Almond flour is pricey but it makes lovely crackers and pancakes 🙂
Glad you like the katsu sauce, we’ve eaten ours. I’ll be doing a roast chicken on Sunday and we will likely have a little of the leftover sauce then as well.
I’m the same as you I’ve been trying so many different things I’ve become sooo excited by food again. before in many ways food had become dull and guilty.
I’ve had steak for tea so I’m happy! Anyway , I have a question that needs clarifying. Is almond flour the same as ground almonds? I once had an argument with my (now ex) boyfriend about whether ground almonds were in fact the most expensive product in the shop. He claimed that the 52″ plasma tv was more expensive, but by weight I’m
not convinced..
I can’t help with the argument haha.
However ground almonds and almond flour are not quite the same, there is a bit about it here. Elana’s website has great recipes.
I made some crackers with ground almonds a few days ago, because the recipe said I couldn’t and I’m stubborn like that… haha. They were a ‘mare to get off the greaseproof paper but they baked lovely when I did. Hubby had them for lunch with cheese today. Enjoyed my Katsu as well, had a couple of chickpea wraps to dip in as there was negligible chicken thanks to my miscalculation. Hubby nearly cried when I told him the amount I’d cooked was for us both 🙂
Janey that made me laugh 🙂 Almond flour, as my hubby would say… HOW MUCH!!! I haven’t told him how much it costs yet, I’m saving that for a ‘down day’ to give me a laugh. Sometimes it’s nice to see a grown man cry, especially when they’re tighter than cramp. I’ve taken to calling him Mr Krabs. I think it’s just ground more finely, but you have to be careful doing it yourself or you end up with nut butter.
Well, I have a pork loin joint roasting away, it smells lovely, another hour to go. I made some homemade apple sauce earlier with the tiniest bit of Candarel, just to take the edge off. Guess what that’s getting shoved on tomorrow? You guessed it!
Ah so not quite the same then!
Ooh that link to Elana’s almond flour recipes has some fantastic options on it, thank you Izzy! If I keep the boys out of the kitchen I reckon I can get some of those goodies past them. I realised too late that allowing them to SEE me pureeing the cauliflower mash last evening was probably a fatal error in the whole cottage pie fiasco. Some people just don’t realise what’s good for them.
By the way, I’ve found good value almond flour on Amazon so will be remortgaging the house to purchase a small bag…
This is the cheapest Almond flour I’ve found
http://www.realfoodstore.co.uk/blanched-ground-almond-flour/
It is cheaper the more you buy,
I bought some from amazon to try and once I knew I liked it I bought 4kg about a month or so ago. I’m half way through it lol.
I justify it easily. I used to spend plenty of cash on crap and now I don’t. Anyway… it’s a health investment!
If anyone finds it cheaper let me know!
That’s a really good way of looking at it. No crisps, cake, biscuits, chocolates, takeaways, alcohol… so surely we can invest in something that will allow us to have a little treat that we used to consider ‘normal’ occasionally? It was Elana’s salt and pepper crackers I made with the ground almonds and they were surprisingly good. Almost pastry like.
I make those all the time although I do use the flour.
If you take a few crackers and mash them up, they also are good for coating chicken/fish etc. Sorry if I am repeating myself I can’t remember what I’ve posted where!
i really like the Aldi greek yoghurt and it lasts me for 5 breakfasts, i mixed a couple of teaspoons of this with a couple of teaspoons of creme fraiche to put on the top of my vegetable lasagne, also using spinach instead of pasta. They do Halloumi as well much cheaper than everyone else.
I have not bought into the Almond flour that lots of you are talking about. Saving that obsession for later into the plan, is anyone else new to Metformin and have they found that they are consumed by tiredness.
Izzy, I think there’s so many people joining or lurking anew daily that repetition is going to be key or they may miss out on this info if they don’t read the right threads, in time it will be swallowed up. I’m going to invest in a bag, probably 1kg first to see how I get on with it. I had thought about using them as a coating but they were so calorific for the size that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Wah.
Josie, I’m not diabetic but a quick google search says that it is a problem for a lot of people. I just put ‘Metformin tiredness side effects’ in a search and ‘extreme fatigue’ and ‘chronic fatigue’ were coming up a lot. If it were me I would go back to my GP and tell him/her, is there an alternative that you could take, or is it pretty much that or nothing? Sorry, I know nothing about this sort of stuff, I’m on this diet for weight reasons only.
if you want to have a bit of crunch without too many calories you could crumble a little just on top of your fish or chicken etc rather than coating the whole thing.
I’m no expert as I’m not diabetic either but I do believe there are alternatives to metformin and if you go back to your doctor explaining they are making you ill I would hope you could get to try something else.
Oh Lucky Maneki, what a wonderful reward for you – a stone. Well done you 😊
Thank you my lovely 🙂 I was chuffed to bits. Still the same today, my ‘official’ weigh after a week, but I’ve also lost an inch from most places on my body, two in some parts 🙂 Raring to go for week 2 now. It’s going so well. Let those not be ‘famous last words’ please 😉 And tomorrow at Father’s Day Lunch, lead me not into roast potato temptation, and deliver me from Yorkshire Puddings.
Congrats on your first stone, that’s amazing!
I’ve only lost a lb this week and no inches which is annoying but I have discovered spiralising! I’ve also discovered courgettes aren’t the slimy mess I grew up eating, bulks up a dish nicely for hardly any calories! I also bought some Tahini although I’ve no idea what to do with it!!
Thank you JCH 🙂 I know, I surpassed anything I thought was possible to be honest. I know bigger people lose more weight in the first week of a ‘diet’ but the most I have ever lost before on any plan is 7lb. Mind. Blown.
Hey, don’t say ‘only’ a lb, you’re about a month in now aren’t you? It’s a shame it has to slow down and can’t go at Week 1 rate all the time. But a pound is a pound and it’s a pound off not a pound on, celebrate it as if it were seven pounds. I’ve stalled, this is my third day at 16 stone 9lb. The infamous Week 2 has started!
I bought a spiraliser in the January Sales and so far I’ve only used it to make courgetti and my husband has had spiralised apples a few times. He’s not a huge fan of the courgetti unfortunately. Makes sad puppy dog eyes at me when I feed it to him. Need to be a bit more inventive with it, I think. I don’t think I’ve ever tried tahini, let me know how you get on with it, I’m feeling very adventurous 🙂
Happy sunday Lucky! Today may be the day I try my M&S jeans on to see if I can get in them again.. I’m feeling good after a virtuous day yesterday, plus I went to the roller disco with the Swiss family dysfunctional (long but hilarious story) so it could be time to see if 6 weeks have paid off. I will let you know via happy or sad face later!!
Roller Disco? Roller? Disco? Good luck with the jeans trying, hoping for happy faces all round. I still have a pair of never worn size 18 dark blue jeans hanging in my wardrobe that I bought when I got down to an 18 a few years ago. My jeans of choice because they’re slightly stretchy, not like a size 24 shoving into a 18, just… a bit of give, you know? Bought two pairs, same brand, same style, just different colours… but couldn’t get into them. When I held the two up against each other there was a clear inch, inch and a half difference between them. My guess is that they were a wrongly labelled 16. I’ve never given up on them though. I think I’m going to make them my second non-scale goal. The first is a beautiful cream floaty dress with butterflies on. It would be lovely to wear it somewhere with hubby this summer without the worry of spilling red wine down it! 😉
Have a fab Sunday Janey, let us know about the jeans! I’m going to watch seven other people eat my Mum’s amazing roast potatoes while I have mashed cauliflower instead… It’ll be worth it, it’ll be worth it, it’ll be worth it, it’ll be worth it…
ROLLER DISCO!! Hahaha
A few years ago a friend and me were recovering from a bereavement that affected both of us and we decided to play a lot. It was a good life lesson in some ways and we try to still do it but in all honesty it’s much less now. Anyway one of the things we did was buy pairs of retro rollerboots (with the 4 corner wheels like we had as kids) and we played up and down my street outside, holding the baby monitor whilst my daughter was asleep inside! I still have my rollerboots and I keep threatening to take them out. Now I think I must!!!
Hope to see smiley faces later re the jeans!
I had a pair of those in the 80’s (when it was acceptable haha), blue, red and white, with yellow wheels and ‘stopper’ at the front 🙂
Yes, get them out! If for no other reason but 30 minutes burns 250 calories!! Now, that sounds like my kind of exercise! If I wasn’t so awfully unco-ordinated. I’m not safe on two legs…
Haha @ when it was acceptable!
Mine are white with pink detailing, laces and pink wheels and stopper!
I will get them out I think, but not now off out in my bigger wheels lol (car)
Never could quite master roller skates or ice skates for that matter, think of Bambi and you’ll get the idea…
Keeping everything crossed about the jeans! I’ve got some lovely clothes tucked away which are my goal. I’m wearing my new size 18 Fat Face t-shirt today, it’s been a while since their stuff fitted!
I haven’t seen my BF in a month and he’s coming today, I’ve lost just over a stone since I last saw him 😊
Oooooooh girlie rollerboots! I’ve just checked and there is nowhere locally that does roller skating 🙁 There’s an ice rink near Chester but… I did it once in my teens and vowed never, ever again, one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.
Wow JCH that’s lovely! Does he know you’ve lost weight or is it going to be a surprise? Either way, have a lovely day together. I bet you’re so excited. I love Fat Face clothes, unfortunately they don’t cater for my major boobage. Think… matronly. Think… Nurse Gladys Emmanuel. Hattie Jacques. Meh.
I think I’m going to go upstairs and try some clothes on 🙂 You never know, do you? Eeeep.
Congrats JCH.. Your boyfriend won’t know what’s hit him!!
So… The M&S jeans are ON!!!! Happy dance around the bedroom! Like you Lucky, if I like something I buy it in several colours (clothes, shoes, kittens?!) so I have these corduroy numbers in dark blue and burgundy. They have a spectacularly unforgiving waistband but both pairs fit, and without muffin tops!! They’re a bit warm for summer so hopefully by the Autumn they may even be too big 😆
Ooh you need to seek out roller discos immediately. The kids all got roller boots for Xmas so we took them to the disco and realised that rather than sitting there on our phones for 2 hours it was much more fun to rent a pair of boots and join in! Apart from hitting my head VERY hard on a wall the first time I tried to slow down I’ve had a great time and they play lots of Old Skool tunes! Plus, I have discovered that, regardless of age, shape or weight, if you can roller skate, you are SEXY. There are a couple of blokes there who to be honest, are not in the best shape and obviously enjoy a few too many lagers and jalfrezis BUT they can move! My aim to learn to skate backwards, which is unlikely but why not?
Yayyyyyyy well done on the jeans! Mine won’t go further than my knees 🙂 But there is progress on the size 20’s, all pull up… *could* close them if I tried reeeeeallly hard, but I would be uncomfortable all day. Butterfly dress (which is a size 22)… fits! Previously it’s never gone over my unfeasibly large boobs. Just got hubby to take a photo and, as I knew I would, I look like a sack of spuds in it, and even worse from behind. Even worse. So, it’s now hung up on the front of the wardrobe, where I can see it every day, and the next stone gone, I will try it again and take a picture. It’s one thing fitting into something, it doesn’t mean it’s going to look good on you, does it? It’s so pretty that I would even have it altered if it became too big for me.
Old Skool? Like… like… ACIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? Janey, were you a raver, too???? Sounds like such fun, I hope your head is ok, bless you.
When I was a teenage raver, I was a size 8… *sobs quietly*
Haha, I was only a partial raver as I grew up in the Isle of Wight and them there farmers don’t like that sort of thing. But I did like the music and I was a size 10/12 at the time (also wiping away a teardrop). I get your point on clothes ‘fitting’ vs actually looking good on! People tell me it’s not true, but I usually think I look like a bloke in a frock. Mainly because Claudia Schiffer borrowed my legs in 1987 and I’m still waiting for her to swap them back….
Smoked salmon and poached eggs for brunch. Now onto (hated) gardening. Oh the heady delights of it. Bring back the Prodigy!
He did know but was still surprised when he saw me 😊
Well done on the jeans! Even if you felt lousy in the dress at least it fitted, which is more than it did a little while ago, be proud of that and don’t focus on the negative x
Janey that made me 😂 Claudia Schiffer 😂 I am so short that 27 inch pants legs are too long. Oh loved that music, I have a playlist on my iPod but some of the tracks now I can manage 20 seconds and 😳 Off! I’ve gone over to the dark (Radio 2) side now. I use glow sticks for camping only. I actually saw The Prodigy at our local nightclub (there was only one back then!) who held a rave night every Weds. Happy days. It’s chucking it down here, we did our gardening yesterday. I have lovely tomatoes (not a euphemism… 😂) this year, six different varieties. Hubby dug trench for cable as he’s having electricity put in his summer house which is a pub. He’s teetotal. Don’t ask. Couldn’t tell you.
JCH I’m so glad it surprised him, you’ve done fab 😊 Yes, I’m in it! First time ever. Now I have to make the image in the picture look like the image of how I look in it in my mind. No biggie… 😁
Did really well at lunch, mum was great about it, had roast turkey, mashed cauli, sprouts, carrot and swede mash, broccoli, peas and sweetcorn. I had half a stuffing ball. I know maybe some of the veg may not be as good as others but she was so harassed I didn’t want to mess about further. Lovely sweet strawberries and Fage for dessert. No idea on the calories of anything today but I’m certain it’s well, well under 800. No breakfast and prob Fage and blueberries later if I get peckish. Eldest home from Uni Thursday for the summer and we’ve been using his room as a dumping ground/ironing room so I’m off to put things in their rightful place. Wish me luck, I may be gone some time… 😞
Goooooood Morning campers! Hi de hi!
Scales still showing 16 stone 9lbs, but today also heralds the start of that certain time of the month, so considering I haven’t had the usual ‘WTH??’ weight gain I usually have on the first morning, it looks like it’s been swallowed up this month. The weight loss is there, I just have to wait a few days for my body to stop being a GIT before I see it. I don’t think I could have coped with a gain, even if it was for a biological reason. Silver linings 🙂
Even though I’m not a chocoholic by a long shot, if it was a choice between sweet or savoury, 9 times out of ten I’d take the savoury… but. Unfortunately this week is the lesser seen one time out of 10. And I do have a tendency to turn into a snarling, demented rat bag if I don’t get chocolate. This is going to be interesting. Granted, more interesting for my husband. He won’t be able to resolve this in his usual, sweet, kind manner (nipping to get me a family size slab of chocolate and a two pack of pies) (and a Cinnamon Bun) (maybe two). If he suggests making me a bowl of Fage and berries, he will become one of these mythical people you hear about from nurse friends. Those who were taken into A&E to remove strange objects from certain orifices. Because he will have a Fage pot inserted somewhere. Sideways. So my question is, has anyone found that being on this diet reduces the chocolate/junk urge at this time of the month? Or is it made worse? This is really going to be my danger time, the next couple of days, I can feels it in me waters. If I get through this week, I can get through anything.
Hi Lucky, absolutely loving your posts! If you can get past the cravings then great but if not Lidl do a pack of very small, dark chocolate bars filled with dark chocolate mousse which are 82 cals and 6.2g of carbs per bar. They are lush and I usually find one of those with a nice coffee sorts me out when it’s ‘that’ week. Or Green and Blacks 85% dark chocolate is quite nice as well. Hope this helps. Btw the Lidl choc looks like a solid chocolate block. It’s only when you open the packaging you realise it several tiny bars of chocolate inside!!
Morning Clematis 🙂 Thank you very much 🙂 Oooooh I haven’t seen those chocolate bars before! They sound lovely, I am a dark choc girl anyway, which helps, and 82 cals is ‘do-able’ isn’t it? I think tiny chocolate bars are probably safer for me than a slab, to be honest 😉 I will definitely pick some of those up tomorrow while trawling the supermarkets. If I can see today out, that is… Thank you for the heads up!
Hmm. Tried to make my own gram flour yesterday to make pancakes/wraps. Total and utter fail. It didn’t help that I havent’ got a working oven at the moment, and I was using tinned chickpeas. I tried to dry out the chickpeas on a pan, then used a nutribullet to make the flour.
I made the batter then left it a couple of hours and starting frying. All I ended up with was a gloopy mess of slightly soggy fried chickpea mush. I think I’ll be buying gram flour from the shop from now on!
Oh dear Lucky, I feel your PMT pain as I am also a long term monthly psychotic maniac when those days hit! Although I have to say that I have definitely been a lot less murderous in the last 2 months and while the chocolate cravings are still there I have rode them out. Judicious consumption of cappuccino seemed to help, and then when totally desperate, some cubes of strong cheese.. Just about got me through it. I absolutely love G&B 85% ‘heroin chocolate’ but I fear that I would not have enough willpower to only eat it on PMT days 😕
Timmy – home made gram flour??!! That goes hand in hand with making your own butternut spaghetti. Life is too short and gram flour is that cheap that it is a waste of time even entertaining the thought. But at least chickpea mush is nourishing. Probably..
Lol. I didn’t eat the mush. It didn’t look particularly appetising! I’m an impatient blighter and wanted to try out the pancakes yesterday, but this was 4pm on a sunday, otherwise I’d have nipped down the supermarket!
As it is, I’m off to the healthfood shop today to see what they’ve got that tickles my fancy. Gram flour is on the list!
Hi Timmy, oh my that sounds horrendous. Don’t let that experience put you off! If you’re not one of these who has to have things from healthfood shops, then as I said earlier in the post, my local Morrisons had huge bags of the stuff for £1.49, last week. I know it might not necessarily be every Morrisons but it might be worth a look, it would last ages.
Janey! Heroin Chocolate! I am crying here. Between your Heroin Chocolate and my Crystal Meth Fage… we’re a right pair. I really hope the week and a bit off the nasties will make the usual cravings diminish slightly. Hubby asked how I was feeling. ‘Homicidal’ was my answer.
Chickpea Mush. It’s not the future. Forewarned folks… Top marks for trying though, Timmy. Fair play.
Chickpea mush sounds about the level of my cooking. Don’t think I’ll try it though.
Lucky, apparently Sainsbury have got a massive bag for £1.50 too. I’m going to pick some up later.
Awwwwwwww Winifred, I’m sure it’s not that bad? No, I’m giving chickpea mush a miss too.
Great stuff Timmy. Hopefully you’ll have better results with this batch of flour 😉 And if anyone asks, hey, can I make my own flour? Now we know. It’s not advisable. Nor is it edible. I am in awe though at the lengths you went to, I almost wish it had worked for you. You deserved it to work.
Hello Clematis76 – I was at Lidl just now and couldn’t find this – “Lidl do a pack of very small, dark chocolate bars filled with dark chocolate mousse which are 82 cals and 6.2g of carbs per bar.” Is there anything specific it says on the packet? No doubt me being dumb….
There’s an amazing dark chocolate with raspberry in Lidl… I’m not sure I should tell you about it though…:-))))
BUT one square is not too bad think 60/80 calories and not many carbs and if it helps me continue with the plan, it’s well worth it!
I’ve been on the BSD since 11th May and have lost 11.4kgs, which I am delighted about. I started at 98.4kgs, & would like to get to 80kgs by the 8th or 9th week, although that maybe a bit optimistic.
1. My weight seems to have stopped at 87kgs, and It does not seem to be going down. 85.6kgs is the my next target as that will be equivalent of 2 stones lost, but I don’t appear to be getting any closer. I run & cycle about twice a week, I walk the dog most days, & 3 mornings a week to the press ups squats & crunches. There have been a spate of social events recently which have taken me ‘off piste’ on a number of occasions in the last week, and I suspect that this May be a factor. But what else is happening to stop the weight sliding off as it once did?
2,The other issue I have is that I have a colostomy, & for the 1st four weeks, there was no reaction to the new regime. However in the last week, my bowels have come very busy, and I am wondering if things will settle down as my system gets accustomed to the diet. As the diet is working, I am loathe to change. Anyone had similar experiences.
Any observations or advice will eagerly read.
Regards
James
From squeaky cheese to chickpea mush to busy bowels.. This thread really has it all!
Epspecially – definitely agree, a square here and there is better than snapping and falling off the wagon completely. I think I may have tried it, is it a very thin chocolate, and the raspberries like freeze dried? If so, yes, it’s lovely 🙂 I’m trying to hold off everything and be really good for the 8 weeks, but if I have to have a little bit of chocolate here and there, then I’m going to. So far, so good though.
Hi Jimbo, well done on the amazing weight loss! This is only my tenth day so I don’t really feel like I can answer your questions as to why it’s slowing down. I always found (on other diets) that when I hit a plateau, if I cheated for a day or two, it got things shifting again, but on this plan, cheating would mean reintroducing things that I don’t want to. Re the bowel thing, I am stumped. You’d understand it if it was at the start of changing a diet, but to happen a month in is a bit strange. Sorry I can’t be of any help.
I know how to throw a good thread, Janey… what can I say 🙂