AshieFan's Diary

[AshieFan]

Hello all

This is my first post

I started the GI diet 6 weeks ago. In the first 5 weeks, I lost 5 lbs which was great as I find it extremely difficult to lose weight. On my 6th week weigh in, I had put on 2 lbs. I am so disappointed and a little depressed TBH.

Anyway, I think its my portion sizes that are letting me down. My rice and pasta and bread are ok, its the beans, lentils etc that I am finding difficult to portion. In the Rick Gallup book, it says eat about 120g of meat - I hardly eat meat - but if veggie then just substitute the meat for the pulses etc. Am I supposed to eat 120g of beans or can I eat as much as I like? Because I am lazy, I tend to put all my veggies in with the beans and make stews, curries etc and basically have nearly half a plate as I figure there are a lot of veggies in with the beans.

Anyway, I have decided that I need support and I need to do a food diary of what I have eaten. I am relying on all of youz to help me

Just on a side note, I eat porridge every morning since I started the GI plan because its a no brainer and makes life very simple. I had run out of porridge, so this morning I had Special K. Boy, did I notice the difference. By 10am (I had breakfast at 7.30am), I was so hungry that I was shaking and feeling out of control. I am never going to make THAT mistake again!

Anyway, I am 4ft 10, weigh in at 9st 1lb at week 6 and I have 20 lbs to lose.

[CaliSweden]

Hi, and congratulations on the weightloss. I'm new to GI so I won't be able to give you tips on it. But I know how it feels to gain weight while dieting. I put on 2.6lbs from switching diets, and it's a bummer. But I'm going to keep trying and know that maybe next week the weight will go away if I eat properly and eat small protions at a time.

[AshieFan]

Thanks, Cali. Since we have both started around the same time, perhaps we can support each other? What do you think? I read on another thread that you were thinking about starting a food diary? I think that its a great idea and it would be useful to compare our diets as well.

Good luck with your weight loss. You have done really well so far.

[CaliSweden]

Thank you AshieFan. I have a blog, but it's unrelated to this diet, but related to my weightloss. I did start a diary here on this forum. I only made two posts in it. You should start one too. I think it will be nice to support each other It's great to compare notes, and also get tips.

[AshieFan]

Cool. I look forward to the mutual support

This is what I had today:

Breakfast: Special K (never to be repeated experience)
Snack: 1/2 cucumber with a dollop of hummous plus glass of milk - was so hungry
Lunch:bowl of mixed bean soup with dry wholemeal toast (lucky me - I don't like buttery toast with soup)
Raspberries
Snack: two tablespoons of cottage cheese with tsp of no sugar jam plus glass of milk
Dinner:quarter plate rice w/ half plate of chickpea and veg curry plus yogurt cos it was too hot!
Strawberries and plain fat-free yogurt
Snack: tablespoon of cottage cheese with tsp of no sugar jam - I am actually addicted to this and will eat it even for lunch, bigger portion of course.

I did not eat enough fruit today. I think I also do better if I plan my meals rigidly.

[CaliSweden]

Your food sounds yummy. It makes me want to make some curry, too bad my guy doesn't like curry, but oh well he has to eat what I cook No sugar jam sounds good, is it with sugar substitute? I couldn't find no sugar added jam here, maybe I have to search better next time.

I read that AllBran is much better on the GI, and Special K wasn't. I bought some AllBran Plus, but I haven't tried it yet. I get really hungry about 2 hours after eating dark bread with all the seeds and grains in it.

Does eating dried fruits count as fruit? Otherwise I'm not consuming enough fruits either.

[irish molly]

Hi Ashie and welcome. It's great that you and Cali can encourage each other.
Any week I had gains was down to eating too much. I would weigh out food and check portions till I got back in control.
Cali, dried fruit does count towards your portion of fruit. Just be careful though as it is high in sugar, so a very small amount is a portion! You could have 150 g berries instead. I find frozen mixed berries a great freezer standby. 150 g added to a 100 mls yoghurt make a filling snack.

[CaliSweden]

Thank you Irish Molly, I will keep that in mind about the dried fruits. I don't eat too much of it since they tend to be pretty sweet. But glad to hear at least the bits I do eat count as fruit serving.

I don't know why I haven't thought about using frozen berries>_< We eat a lot of berries here.

[AshieFan]

Thanks for the welcome Irish Molly. Yes, I do need to control my portion size but I would rather do that visually than weighing things out - I HATE weighing things with a passion eg 150g of something. However, I don't mind using cups or tablespoon measurements, for example, 1/4 cup of cooked rice or 4 dessertspoons of yogurt. I must admit I have not even been doing that so I better get back on track.

Cali, the name of the brand for the no added sugar jam is St Dalfour, apparently its based on an old French recipe, but I am not sure you would get it in Sweden - perhaps you have your own version of it. Might be worth looking in health shops (we can get it in the supermarket here). Its delicious. And I'm not a fan of jam either

I do eat dried fruit but rarely and only with something else, for example, yogurt or porridge.

Cali, my partner does not really like most of what I cook eg pulses, curries, so on the days I cook that sort of stuff, he sorts his own dinner out, usually baked beans on toast LOL.

Well, I started the morning off with a cup of hot water and 3/4 cup of porridge (cooked in water only) with a teaspoon of almonds, 1/2 cup of berries and a splash of milk. Followed by vitamins. Yay me

[irish molly]

Yay, my kind of brekkie. I usually have porridge made on water with a little chopped apricot and a teaspoon of mixed seeds added. I find it's the best breakfast for me to keep me full all morning.
I only ever weigh foods to refocus visualising correct portion sizes when I start to see weight going up.
You sound totally focussed and I hope you have a great week.

[AshieFan]

Ok, the rest of the day:

S: Apple
L: Left over soup + 1 slice dry toast followed by cottage cheese and jam + water
S: raspberries
D: yesterday's left over curry, tons of salad plus yogurt plus lots of water. Am very full indeed and quite pleased that I did not eat rice

I will probably have a dollop of hummous later - I don't think I can face any more salad with it. I have got a real craving for chocolate which I have in the fridge. It's the 70% cocoa solids one so if I leave it a while I know I can't eat it anyway because it keeps me awake if I have it after 8pm and I am busy till then with bedtime routine for toddler. Talking of which...

[CaliSweden]

Nice and good job! You can eat basmati rice and brown rice they're at 55 on the GI. I just try to eat a small portion of it.

[Splenda]

Hi Ashie, just stopping in to say hi. Well done so far!

[irish molly]

A small portion of rice is allowed. Per Patrick Holford it is only about 35 g which is just a dessert spoon. I use quinoa instead as I can have twice as much for a portion.

[CaliSweden]

Does that mean we should only eat two dessert spoons of quinoa??? OMG I've been eating way too much of it then