Cruising for Eternity

[anjuschka]

Wow how did those pizzas go. Sound yummy! I find it really hard not to have a bite! I know the cooking for others is wearying - hope they properly appreciate your efforts! I have had to make chocolate birthday cakes and not lick the spoon... At least I knew I would be allowing myself a piece the next day.

As for the oatbran vs Snickers - oh absolutely! Not sure if you saw - the amount of Oatbran each of us ended up in a TB varied quite wildly so there is leeway ;-) I've always been heaping my large spoons...

 

[scrumper]

dukan has always said that if you are bullimic that you can up the oatbran when needed to an extra couple of tbs ....i think if you have that craving and the oatbran will surfice then that is the way to go ... i know ive had extra oatbran when needed

 

[Brownie_Earthquake]

I think the pizzas turned out pretty good - they were well received anyway!
I made four different types: Mexican Spicy Beef Tostada, Jack Daniels Steak and Blue Cheese, King Prawn Garlic Butter and plain old Margherita! Oh, and buttermilk pancakes for dessert.

Pizza making is kind of like baking, which I prefer to regular cooking, it's almost - almost - therapeutic. However, it does take some effort to not participate, especially on a PP day!

So, whilst I cooked feast, my own menu was actually quite restrained:

Breakfast: Galette
Snack: Roast Chicken
Lunch: Steak Burger
Dinner: Grilled Turkey and Broth
Snack: Galette with Meringue

Exercise: Minimal, but probably walked a mile around my kitchen!


I missed the thread regarding the oatbran, but the thing with it for me is that it usually relieves cravings, and it doesn't require having way over the allowance - a tablespoon goes a long way.
Well, my tablespoon does - I started off the diet using a US tablespoon which was way smaller than the UK one, so I traded an have remained content with that, especially heaped!

 

[Brownie_Earthquake]

Yesterday: Somehow managed to feel like not raiding the entire kitchen.

Breakfast: Galette
Lunch: Grilled Steak Burger
Dinner: Mexican Grilled Turkey with Broth
Snack: Galette with Meringue

Exercise: A good yoga session!

I started thinking about the ingredients of a lot of the mixed spice blends... a few Ilike but don't use because of the added sugar. I love the Discovery Mexican Fajita spice mix, but refrain from using it due to the sugar content. Decided to try to recreate it based on the ingredients on the packet replacing the sugar with Splenda - result, almost identical! Extra-smug about that over dinner.

 

[Maintainer]

2lbs to go... wow!
On French sites, I've read that 1 tablespoon oatbran should weigh 15g... mine do (but I use the French "soupspoon", my UK tablespoons being humungous!)...

As for having more oatbran, I agree with all that far better than "something else" EXCEPT I advise caution - to all who read, not just BE cos we're in her diary - cos more than the quantity he recommends on a regular basis can affect vitamin assimilation and also of course that of any medication we might be taking.

Also, for many of us, having the extra once will never quite suffice and the itch to have it again another day will be strong.

So stick to extra chicken breasts and/or boiled eggs where you can (you being all, not BE particularly). If they're not appealing, then we really don't need anything, right?!!

BE... please let us know re specifics of your spice mixes... YUM!
Just 2lbs to go... wonder why you're so hungry though?

 

[dukandebut]

Oh, those pizzas sound amazing - particularly the Jack Daniels one. Drooooool!

You are SO close to target now, Brownie. Well done!

 

[Brownie_Earthquake]

Thanks

I keep expecting to see a gain though, I wonder if my progress recently has been a little too good to be true.

I was confused by how hungry I was last week - sometimes it's a couple of days where I just want to eat endlessly, but it's not really hunger, just having a huge appetite. It often seems worse on PV days - I take adavantage of having vegetables, so I want a big selection and a lot of it!

Yesterday:
Breakfast: Galette
Lunch: Chicken Vegetable Casserole
Dinner: Roast Sirloin and Vegetables
Snack: Galette with Small Milk, Approx 1tbsp Muller Light

Exercise: Running

 

[Maintainer]

I know exactly what you mean re the veg. I overdid things yesterday with a generous portion of salad at lunch, and nice veggies last night, and the scales didn't like me this morning BUT, as an ex-healthy eater, I refuse to accept that veg can make me fat so onward and offward!

Are you having extra oatbran?

 

[Brownie_Earthquake]

Well that's the thing, vegetables don't make you gain weight but will have an impact on water retention - but I do make the most of the opportunity.

Maybe the vegetables I have an excess of aren't the best choice - I love swede (what a ridiculous statement) which I know has a higher sugar content that other vegetables, but ultimately it's a 'good' sugar and I know if I ever want to maintain my weight it's going to at some point have to include eating regular vegetables and fruits, much higher in sugars and carbs - forget the sugar or carb content in every other food type!

I have two galettes a day, but they're one (usually heaped) tablespoon each. Sometimes I have a little extra, it depends, but sporadically - sometimes just a teaspoon, sometimes whole tablespoon, sometimes a couple of times a week, sometimes a week without any extra.

Yesterday:

Breakfast: Galette
Lunch: Cold Roast Chicken with Sunday's Roast Vegetables
Dinner: Steak Burgers with Leek, Swede and Spinach
Snack: Galette with Small Milk and 1/4 Muller Light.

Exercise: Minimal - still an hour in Tesco (searching for their half price Splenda - one box left and it was broken) and some yoga later.

 

[Maintainer]

My favourite vegetable is parsnip... I grew loads last year, now allow myself one or two every other weekend only! haaa!

Aren't supermarkets frustrating! At the weekend, I saw an interesting two for one offer, but there was only one left

 

[Brownie_Earthquake]

I like to roast it and let it brown a little with a tiny bit of Splenda, it kind of caramelises - it's almost like a dessert. I wonder, if, using oatbran, that would work like an apple crumble... that's an idea!

Yesterday:

Breakfast: Galette
Lunch: Grilled Chicken
Dinner: Grilled Turkey with Broth
Snack: Galette with Meringue

Exercise: Running - not that far though, it was so cold!

 

[Maintainer]

oh no... why did I come to read this diary?!!

 

[Brownie_Earthquake]

Sorry

One thing with this diet though is that it's given me an entirely new approach to food - a year ago if I wanted something sweet, I'd have baked cookies or a cake and wouldn't have comprehended a swede-oatbran crumble as a potential dessert!

I think seeing as I have an unkillable sweet tooth, that if I ever want to reach my goal and maintain my weight, I would need to be able to have regular alternative desserts - usually an oatbran sponge with yoghurt (which I have't made since I restarted the diet) is a really good substitute!

It's the same with other cooking too - the lack of necessity of certain ingredients, how much you can do with what the diet allows - and how often I see people cook with oil and say no, you don't need all that, just wipe it with a kitchen towel!

Yesterday:
Breakfast: Galette
Lunch: Grilled Chicken
Dinner: Thai Grilled Turkey and Broth with King Prawns
Snack: Who left that whole Roast Chicken in the fridge?!
Snack: Galette and Meringue

Exercise: A mini MiniStepper session.

 

[Maintainer]

What a fabulous snack BE... I have a lunch next Friday at a friend's place in the country, and I told her I'd cater myself, and I was wondering this morning whether people would think me awfully greedy if I turned up with a chicken just for me

One thing I do see from looking at the Dukan board, compared to some others, is that most of us really have found our way back into the kitchen to cook from scratch. Initially a bit of a pain when we first discover the diet, but in the long run far better for us.

 

[dukandebut]

I definitely need my sweet fixes, too, Brownie. Have you tried the Café, Chocolate or Vanilla Crèmes in the Dukan book? I have one of the chocolate versions almost every day. Whilst it's not the most intensively chocolatey experience ever, it tastes pretty good once you get used to them. I really look forward to mine now, and it's a nice finishing touch after your main meal.

 

[Brownie_Earthquake]

I did try making the crèmes, ages ago, but had very little success with them, and haven't tried since.

There's a kind of little mousse-type thing you can make out of skimmed milk powder, which I hadn't had in a long while because of cutting out the dairy - till yesterday!
I probably had quite a bit of the powder, but I don't know if there's a cap on that or if it's considered part of the regular dairy allowance? Anyway it was awesome and I won't be doing it again for a while

Yesterday:

Breakfast: 2-egg omelette
Lunch: Cold Chicken and vegetables I was preparing for dinner - and a grilled red onion, haven't had one for months!
Dinner: Grilled Chicken and Ham with Swede and Spinach
Snack: Skimmed Milk Mousse-thing
Snack: Galettes with Muller Light and Small Milk

Exercise: Running

I did a (forbidden) mid-week-weigh-in yesterday and saw that I was down another 3/4lb and maybe over-celebrated with the additions because I again ate more vegetables than a vegetarian and also added quite a bit of dairy, feel so sluggish now!

 

[Maintainer]

I saw on a French site to limit one's skimmed milk powder intake to 3 spoonfuls a day because of the high sugar content. Makes a nice change though, particularly for those of us who've been on the diet for a while.

I used to make pancakes with it way back when.

 

[anjuschka]

For a quick chocolate fix I have a hot chocolate:

1ts coca powder
1ts skimmed milk powder
1ts sweetener

in a mug, mix to a paste with a little skimmed milk, fill up with milk and mix well. Zap in the Microwave for 1 min, stir and test, zap again accordingly (I think I give it another 30sec but yours may be different)

It's a treat when I come in from a longish cycle ride late at night, especially when it's been raining! I look forward to it and so manage to avoid reaching for the biscuit tin.

 

[Brownie_Earthquake]

Only 3 spoons! I should have guessed, I exceeded that by a mile!

Hot chocolate: Thanks for sharing that recipe I had been making my hot chocolate with milk, instead of the milk powder, I'm avoiding the cocoa powder at the moment though, since restarting; up until a couple of months ago I had been having it fairly regularly with the oatbran.

Yesterday: A REAL protein day!

Breakfast: Galette
Lunch: 2 Chicken drumsticks - outside meat only
Dinner: Mexican Steak Burgers
Snack: Chicken
Snack: Galette with Meringue

Exercise: Nothing specific, had a busy busy day - lots of housework, supermarket, more dinner for guests etc. - probably burning more calories doing all that than in a regular exercise session anyway!

I did my weigh in and as of today am still maintaining my weight as of last week. However, not too disappointed as I did see greater loss a couple of days ago, so I figure (or I hope) it's just water weight for the moment.

 

[dukandebut]

Maintaining is better than putting on weight, Brownie, so not a bad result. You're so near to your goal, I do hope that next week or the week after is Conso time for you.