Ok, so the recipe no-carb ploughmans suggests a matchbox sized piece of cheddar..now my ‘matchbox’ sizes seem to vary dependant on how hungry I feel at the time..Has anyone else had this problem. Has anyone weighed a matchbox sized piece of cheddar?? I find that having a weight to go by helps me stick to the correct portion size.

Hi KittyHoney,

I read that a matchbox size of cheese = 30g ….so a small matchbox😕!

Hope that helps,

Imogen🌻

Thank you Imogen, I will weigh the cheese next time…I’m sure my ‘matchboxes’ have weighed quite a bit more!! Oh well I would rather keep to the correct calories 🧀

B – yogurt, raspberries and tahini
L – cauli rice, prawns, spring onion, and dressing of fish sauce/soy sauce/chilli flakes/lime juice/garlic
D – Ostrich steak, creamy mushroom sauce and veggies

Wooh ostrich steak, do I take it you are one of the down under BSD peeps. More to the point was it nice.
🐓🐓🐓 haven’t got an ostrich. Ooh love your sauce, have put it over to memos to try out later, was that nice.

No I’m in jolly old Britain and the Ostrich steak came from Lidls. Have to be careful not to over cook the ostrich steak, as there is almost no fat in it, best cooked pink to keep it tender. Have used it before and it’s very nice.
I’m guessing the sauce you were keen on is the thai style on with the cauli rice and prawns – it’s yummy and an old fav, for a lighter sauce, you can leave out the oil and soy and it still works.

Ooh love lidls and aldi mind you to get to either of them I have to drive at least 40 mins, so defeats the object of money saving, but last week did an enormous shop, and as its next to the coast went for a long walk, the dog loved it. So all happy.
🌊🐬🐠

I see I can’t post this in recipes as it’s not my own but would like to rant about the lovely meal I’ve just cooked from a BBC Good Food recipe. A lovely light fish dish. From Italy – 14th century no less! easy to make and very tasty. I found about half the quantity of fish was enough for me to eat at one go. I cooked 80g of fresh spinach for my veg.. Here is the link http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1653/almondcrusted-fish-with-saffron-sauce
Aldi sell packs of 2 sea bass fillets – have frozen the other one for next time.
I also didn’t have fresh fish stock so used a cube and didn’t have a shallot so used piece of a red onion. other than that… 🙂 Can’t see a way to add a photo so you will have to imagine the result.

Dinner was chicken breast, 19g of cashew nuts, garlic, broccoli and Tamari sauce, and rocket soooo delicious!! 👏🏻👏🏻

Really like the sound of that Almond Fish recipe weescotty.
B – Yogurt, Blueberries and Tahini
L – Cauli Rice, Prawns, Capers, fish sauce and Thai Spices
D – Lettuce, sundried toms, two tiny beetroot and roast chicken breast, sprinkle of walnut oil and Nar sauce

B – yogurt, raspberries and chia sprinkle
L – smoked salmon and a fried duck egg
D – Lamb sausages, leek au gratin and cauli rice

This thread is helpful for beginners like me. Getting great ideas.
Brunch – Light curry Kedgeree made with steamed cauli rice, small piece of fresh salmon, white beans, onion, tomato
I topped it with a soft boiled egg, a few capers, lots of fresh parsley and oregano, and a couple of flat anchovy fillets.
Good points: 395 cals Low carb 23 gms and sugars 7 gms, good balance of 30 gms protein 17 gms good fats. Healthy tasty and so filling I could not finish. So a good start to my BSD.
Bad points: Bit high on sodium. Quite hard work so I might prep a couple of serves next time.

Great looking dish weescotty! Shall try this very soon.

A small latte coffee (frothy but with little milk) in bed.
Cauliflower soup with some grated tasty cheese in it and lots of pepper for lunch.
Super low-fat minced beef cooked with garlic, grated ginger, Chinese 5 spice, fresh chillies and soy – then add a stack of low carb vegetables as a kind of stir fry. Delish!
Cups of tea (yes, I add the mil in as calories for the day otherwise I’d go mad)
Water…and more water.

B – yogurt with a few grams of cocoa, some omega seed mix and 4g honey
L – pancake made with one egg and 10g hemp protein powder, topped with 40g smoked salmon
D – Chicken with a lemon sauce and cauli rice blitzed with fresh basil

Day two.. I admit I struggled a bit trying to get the calories correct.

My breakfast and lunch were from the book and fine, but I had a few between-meal almonds and walnuts as snacks – not realising as a newbie just how high in calories they are!! I had no idea nuts were so high.

Which left me with only 170 calories to play with for dinner.

Dinner was 100g minced turkey, 150 g cauliflower rice, with garlic, a sliver of finely chopped onion, parsley and some herbs. This brought me to approx 170, but then it tasted quite plain so I sprinkled some parmesan over it – Ended up going over 800 by 50 calories.

A spoonful of chopped nuts, a spoonful of natural yog and a few berries. Fair play, I’m absolutely ravenous now. Lunch will be a mixed salad with brie and bacon. Tea tonight will either be a chicken curry or bean curry with popadoms.

There’s a penny sale on at H&B too so I might have a few pistachios this afternoon.

Not an issue to go slightly over the calories, GemGem, it should be an average of 800 calories.

One thing I noticed on the BSD was how good spices taste! I added more ginger and garlic to recipes, additional salt and pepper (don’t forget with all the water we are eliminating salt from the body and therefore need more), and I adore chilli.

So you could experiment with those and find that with very little calorie additions, you’re making really tasty food. Have just got into making my own curries and though I say it myself, they’re delicious! 🙂

Great suggestion Igorasusual thank you! And thanks for the tip about salt, I didn’t think of that… for two days I have not added any at all … hmm and i’m already over my day’s allocation of food… I might go dip just the tip of a teaspoon in the Vegemite jar and stir it in some hot water for some salt! (I’m Australian, Vegemite is the best thing ever!)

I’ve never made curry from scratch, that’s impressive! This diet really does make you think about food so much more doesn’t it! Flavours, spices, nutritional content. I saw another of your posts on a different thread about My Fitness Pal showing a breakdown of your nutrients, I had a look at the website. I’ll have a shot at that for tomorrow’s meals. Thank you 🙂

Be warned GemGem, you may have just started a vege/marmite war. Marmite of course will be the undisputed winner because vegemite is what the devil himself eats. 😉

Ok I concede Marmite is delicious. It is.
I will even eat it myself when the shop runs out of Vegemite. It does have a lot going for it.
Buuuut, its not really a war, is it, when Vegemite is unquestionably much much Much much nicer 🙂

Just for your info – how I did the curry

for 2 people, so the ingredients/calories etc would be halved for one portion:

100g portobello mushroom chopped
2 spring onions chopped
6 baby plum tomatoes chopped
40g baby spinach leaves
300g courgettes chopped into chunks
1 green chilli pepper (de-seeded it was about 18g)
20g red pepper chopped
2 hard boiled eggs
1/2 tin coconut milk (200ml)

Spices I used:
garlic paste from a tube (about 2 inches)
ginger paste from a tube (about 2 inches)
medium curry powder 1 tsp
turmeric 1 tsp
cardomom seeds (1 tsp)
coriander seeds (1 tsp)
black mustard seeds (1 tsp)
fenugreek seeds (1 tsp)
cumin seeds (1 tsp)
black pepper
salt

fresh coriander (2 tbsp) (I have some which is frozen and I keep in freezer)

mustard oil (2 tbsp) (I ordered this specially from Amazon – it makes the food taste genuinely Indian, but of course olive oil will do)

Heat the oil, add the black mustard seeds until they pop, then add the garlic and ginger paste, the rest of the spices, the chilli pepper and the red pepper, the mushroom, onions and tomatoes, pepper and salt. Once softened, put in the spinach.

Whilst this is going on, heat a dry pan and sear the courgette chunks over a high heat until they start to brown and soften. You can also cook the eggs if they’re not hard-boiled already.

When the vegetables are softened, and the spices mixed in (you might need to add a bit more oil), this will take 5-10 minutes, then add the coconut milk (shake it up before opening) and stir it all in, bring to the boil and allow to simmer.

Peel the hard-boiled eggs and add to the pan (spoon over the juice so the eggs are covered).

When the courgette is browned and softened to your liking, add to the pan and mix in. Add the fresh coriander over the top.

You are now ready to serve!

We had this in a bowl and ate with a spoon. You could serve it with plain broccoli or your favourite vegetable, or cauli rice if you like.

By my calculation, total calories for 1 portion was 348 calories, 14 carbs.

And it was lovely. Not too hot.

🙂

Ooh Igorasusual, that sounds lovely. I made something similar today with a marrow, which had been a tiny tiny courgette a couple of days ago! 😀. Didn’t add coconut milk or eggs, so more of a side dish than yours. I was just desperate to use the blighter up! Will have it tonight with some leftover chilli and cauli rice.

Just re-started the 8 weeks as we had slipped a little off plan while moving home. Today I have :

L – bulgur wheat, chopped veg & a little raspberry vinegarette
D – salmon on stir fried veg
S – yogurt with chopped fruit & nuts

I just had some really nice sweetcorn and kale fritters from waitrose, along with their yoghurt dressed coleslaw – along with tomatoes and a pile of spinach. There was some potato in them, but only 14g of carb.
Both were really nice – I know I could make these things myself, but neither had junky ingredients added, and it’s so tedious (and tempting to snack) faffing with such small portions

I had greek salad for brunch, so all in all, well under 800 calories – I had a glass of wine too.

I mentioned the amazing array of plain full fat yoghurt that I’d encountered in the Turkish supermarket yesterday to a friend who is Turkish today – he said he always likes the Turkish yoghurt from Lidl best!

I’m in full agreement about the Lidl Turkish yogurt, it is lovely – really thick and creamy. I use this to kick my day off pretty much every day, adding various toppings to ring the changes. Only use between 80g and 90g of yogurt, but it keeps me feeling full until lunchtime.

Today I’m treating myself to a leaf salad with figs and goat cheese, dressed with olive oil and balsamic – yum!

So far I”ve had:

Brunch – scrambled eggs, low calorie black pudding and a grilled tomato
Snacks – nectarine and a small packet of pork scratchings (felt the urge!)
Dinner will probably be a mixed salad (lettuce, cucumber, spring onions, green pepper, tomato, pomegranite seeds, mixed seeds (5g) and feta cheese. I might have a few nuts it I have the calories left.

I usually have a proper lunch but I got up late today and have felt full up from the brunch. I seem to be sleeping so much less.

Am on holiday – so am not counting calories. This is not the amount of protein I would normally eat. Breakfast – half a sausage, one slice of bacon, scrambled egg, slice black pudding, tomato and mushrooms + coffee. Lunch – two cups coffee. Evening meal – starter one oyster, two prawns, smoked mackeral, smoked salmon and crab. Main lamb and aubergines, desert small bowl strawberries and cream plus more coffee. I also did do 15K steps – admittedly quite slow steps as we walked by the sea chatting to our friends.

I didn’t intend to eat lunch – but at about 3pm I was in a supermarket where the delicatessen has brilliant sausage rolls.
I know, not very BSD.
But I bought one, instead of a packet of four.
One was 75p – a packet of 4 was £1.50
But I bought one, instead of a packet of four.
buying a pack would have saved £1.50
But I bought one, instead of a packet of four.

– And it was very nice, and I am still well under 800 calories, and 46g of carbs for the day

Yes, pre BSD I would have eaten all four – not necessarily all at once, I’d have left a polite interval – but not too long in case it went a bit stale.

That sounds really do-able Frog. I would also have eaten the whole lot more or less at once. Probably hurriedly, stood in front of the fridge, as if I thought that it didn’t count like that. I think this way of eating really might bring some understanding and control to my life.
I really want a sausage roll now though!

Sorry Bissell!

this might be a good forum to add a link for ideas for meals. If you are confident what you can and can’t eat there are recipes on the Marks & Spencer website that could be added to your menus. Only calories were worked out on any I checked which is why I suggest for folks already on the road a while http://cookwithmands.com/recipes ( am I the only one astonished at how big this website is now? A while since I’ve visited and takes ages to find anything on the forums and I see quite a bit has been added on the pages about the diet since I joined )

One year on now, what have you eaten today? How did your 8 week 800 daily cals go?
I’m on round 2. I’d lost 18kg last year, put on 22 this year.😔. Yoyo continues.

Hi Choccy Holic.
Really sorry to hear that; it must be depressing for you to have put the weight back on. I guess the main positive is that you are doing something about it, which is never easy, so congratulations.

Without wishing to sound in any way smug or condescending, do you know what went wrong? And have you planned how to do things differently this time? I find that this is key for me. I’ve always found the losing the weight bit easy (well, not easy, but easier!) but it’s the keeping it off that is the really tricky bit.

Good luck for your new start. Believe in yourself and you will do it permanently this time.

Thought I would add to this thread as I love the idea of knowing how others spend their calories…
It would be great if we could keep this going seeing as last post was back 2016!

So, today for me:

Breakfast : Baked omelette – 2 eggs, bacon, tomato, spinach and cheese
Lunch : homemade veg soup
Dinner : home made low carb cottage pie

what’s yours?

Today I have had:-
Breakfast – Full fat Greek yoghurt with fresh strawberries and a sprinkle of linseed and sunflower seeds.
Lunch – warm chicken and roasted red pepper on a bed of courgette discs with homemade yoghurt, garlic, olive and lemon dressing.
Dinner – hopefully hubby is making a simple beef stew with lots of mushrooms and red peppers. I have a small portion of mashed celeriac in the fridge so I will have it with that.

Today I have had

Breakfast- coffee with cream

Lunch- homemade mushroom soup
Greek yoghurt with raspberries, pecans and cacao nibs

Teatime – going to make the egg/cottage cheese muffins from the recipe book and have them with salad. Followed by a cup of coffee with cream and half a square of Aldi 85% chocolate.

This is a great thread to get new ideas. I tend to eat the same foods but am trying to mix things up a bit. Am going to make the cauliflower pizza one night next week. I remember it was always one of my favourite meals when I first started BSD. I need to mix things up a bit for variety. I am vegetarian so not as much choice.

There are so many yummy recipes to try! Having a thread dedicated to ones own menus for the day gives others great ideas, I know I am already interested in the shared days so far…thanks

Sunshine e girl, I tried linseeds for the first time yesterday. I opened a bag I’ve had for ages and is probably out of date. They had a slightly strange taste. Not fishy exactly but in that area. Is that normal or are mine just off?

Sunshine I put golden linseed in my breakfast yogurt this morning as I saw yesterday that it helps certain things along🤣. I have also brown linseed and wondered if you knew which were best. Skipping I opened a brand new bag today and they don’t really have a smell. So I think yours maybe off😢💞🦜

Hello, girls! I learned something today..linseed and flaxseed are the same product! They are more commonly labeled
flaxseed here in the States. I use both flaxseed and chia seed, but I prefer the later in that it doesn’t have to ground
to release the nutrients, as linseed/flaxseed does. Chia is a little more costly, but I appreciate the convenience. Chia
also becomes gelatinous in liquid, which makes it great for chia pudding. Preground flaxseed is also available,
but it doesn’t have a long shelf life, and easily goes rancid. Best stored in the fridge 🙂

Hi Allie chia seeds are expensive £5 at least in Sainsbury’s, but I found they sell shot packets of them for only 40p which is good. I have never tried a pudding made from them but I did buy some coconut cream the other day as I think it was Essie that said about a pudding with the.seeds and coconut cream. 😋💞🦜

She DID, Birdy! She’s the pied piper, and when it comes to her recipes,she knows that I will follow her anywhere 🙂

I make the chia pudding recipe from this website, it’s called chocolate and raspberry chia pudding. It’s supposed to be one helping but I put it into 4 small shot glasses which works out, including a teaspoon of creme fraiche on the top, at 47 calories and 1g of carbs. It feels like a real treat without causing much harm with the daily allowances!
I sent for some chia seeds online , can’t remember how much they were but a lot cheaper than supermarkets.

She is fab! Now I just need to find the thread where she put how she made it🤣🤣🤣. What time is it with you? I have been hungry today had yogurt fruit, nuts and lindseed and ate the chocolate I was meant to have last night🤣. All accounted for and macros are good! I am sure it is just that time that is affecting and the waking hours reversal too. I am so glad I only work part time, I could never go back to a full week of nights again! Is it me or does seem a little quiet today in here? Mind you yesterday was buzzing💞🦜

Birdy, you can find the recipe easily if you pull up her “replies”. Just type in Esnecca, then click on her name. You
can read her history of replies from the most recent backwards! 12:30pm here at the moment…

Brill thank you Allie. Ok so my craving is for a rare steak! I have one in the fridge and it 225g in size I want it with a big salad! I would then need to think of snacks for work that won’t blow my macros out the window. 💞🦜

Birdy, that seems like an awfully big steak.Probably around 50g of protein and 400cals depending on the type.

Are you only having one meal today, Birdy? 225g of steak = 8oz. which is 460cal. and 58g of protein, give or take,
depending on the cut.

I know it is big and pre BSD I would have ate the whole thing with copious amounts of chips, battered onion rings and salad. I was thinking of just having a 100 grams of it and a nice green salad of rocket, cucumber, green pepper and spinach with oil and lime dressing with a few chilli flakes. 😉💞🦜🤣