Just wanted to say hi.

The DH and I (sort of) started the diet two weeks ago with the aim (for both of us) of losing weight and (for him) of hopefully reducing his arthritis pain. We don’t know if we have any blood sugar issues. Currently, we are only easing in – for instance, I let him finish up his normal fruit yoghurts and mid-morning bananas, etc, until they were gone 😉 – and we have not cut down as far as 800 calories – to tell the truth, I am not really calorie-counting, although we are definitely eating substantially less. We have both lost about 6lbs in two weeks.

I am having no problems with the diet – to my surprise given my fondness for red wine and chocolate – but he has only been on the diet properly for two days and is feeling nauseous in the morning until he eats – I take it this is normal and will pass? He is also craving sugar, chocolate, etc, like crazy and is feeling utterly miserable – desperate for the eight weeks to be over so he can go back to his pint of hot chocolate and biscuits in the morning, and huge mounds of spuds with every meal. Although he suffers a lot of arthritis pain, he is unconvinced that diet can help him, and he is not used to feeling hungry.

Breakfast is apple and fromage blanc with pecans; lunch is a stir-fry, grilled salmon or 100% beefburger or chicken, with steamed veggies, or a casserole, ratatouille or soup; dessert is full-fat fromage frais with berries; and dinner is a salad followed by yoghurt. I am full and feeling fine; he is just ravenous all the time. Is this because he didn’t cut out carbs two weeks ago like I did? Will it pass?

Any advice gratefully received.

Hi Lulu
you can reassure your husband that the carbohydrate cravings will soon pass, and, by the end of 8 weeks he won’t be tthinking of chocolate nevr mind wanting it.
Sugar is so addictive, it comes as a major surprise to most people to find that they suddenly don’t need it anymore.
Make sure you both are eating plenty of healthy fats from full fat dairy, olive oil etc, and it’s imperative to get those 2 – 3 litres of fluid inside you every day.
Best of luck on the journey to both of you.

Hi lulu,
If you are hungry , can’t you have more smaller meals and spread it out over the day and evening?

I look for the foods with the least calories and fill up with them.

Do you think hubby may need something substantial to eat instead of what my hubby calls ‘rabbit food’?
If you can, get him a tuna steak, this is like eating a steak, you need a knife, and he will feel as if he is eating ‘man’ food. This with plenty of veg. Just an idea.

Make sure the tuna is from a sustainable source.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Thanks Bill. I keep telling him I’m sure it will pass, but it’s good to hear it from someone else. He is a total sugar fiend!

Lucia: more, smaller meals is a good idea. I hadn’t thought of that. I can get him a tuna steak at my supermarket sometimes (we live in rural France, so it’s pork country around here). He loves the food I’m doing, but just misses his potatoes, sandwiches and cereals, even apart from the biscuits and cake, LOL.

Hi,
When I have kids over, I mash up cauliflower and call it mashed potatoes.
When I make chips in the oven , I use sweet potatoes and call them fries.

This way I am getting them to eat some veg.
They have the allusion they are eating their normal junk food, they have never said it tastes different.

If hubby is missing his spuds, can you not add cauli (see above) and pretend?
He might miss the idea of spuds.
Worth a try.

Oh, and with the kids I use Linda mccartneys burgers, put it in a bun, sweet potato chips and call it my McDonald’s.

They don’t know the difference. I have even wrapped them in a paper napkin like the originals 🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔😇😇😇😇😇😇

love lucia
Xxxx

A lovely idea – I’ll try the sweet potato chips, and maybe other roast veg too, as they are more toothsome than steaming. The DH hates cauliflower (and kale, spinach, olives, watercress, broccoli, lamb’s lettuce, most green things…) but I have given him celeriac mash, which he very much likes. And I make veggie burgers out of carrot pulp (left over from juicing) and ground almonds, which he also likes, but he misses the bun… I remember a study of different diets in the UK found that men just could not stick to the Atkins, despite the high meat content, because they miss their bread and potatoes, and he’s definitely in that category!

Have you tried cauliflower mash though? If he dislikes cauliflower, you may well find the mash on top of cottage pie, for instance, tastes perfectly ok to him – it has done for others (including my family!)

I’ll give it a try. 🙂 He can only say no, can’t he? My husband has almost no sense of smell – can’t smell flowers, etc – but he can smell sulphurous vegetables and protests when I even cook them because of the smell in the house (I almost have to cook my favourite veg – broccoli – in secret). Today I’m doing veggie burgers and celeriac mash – wish me luck!