NatalieW's Diary

[NatalieW]

Hi I'm Natalie. I thought I'd better put a diary together to try and keep me on target more, just hope it helps.

I have done low GI since January 2012, when my weight hit the highest it had ever been, 195lb. It has taken me three months so far to lose 16lb so far. I do feel at times it is really slow and get annoyed by it.

I go to the gym three times a week, I do two classes - one is jump & stomp and the other is Zumba. The other session is going on the treadmill. I managed to run 25mins without stopping, my target is to hit 5k to do the local park run regularly.

I have two major downfalls, I am married to a marathon runner (you can imagine the food!) and I'm a working mum and eat when I am tired.

The next two weeks will be a test weeks as I am on Easter Holidays, so got to try and work on not eating rubbish!

 

[NatalieW]

Food today

Breakfast - porridge with blueberries and cinnamon

Lunch - falaffel burgers (need to check spelling!!)

Dinner - spaghetti bolognese with turkey mince and veg with salad.

Snack - apple.

Did have a oops.. had a piece of cake.

Did a 30mins run on treadmill today which was 3.72km in distance.

 

[Plumfoodie]

Nice to see another diary going! Congrats on your loss so far; I know it can be frustrating but weekly losses in the 1-2 lb range give you the best chance of losing fat while retaining lean muscle. Much more than that and muscles are probably shrinking too. your goal of running the 5k sounds great.

My husband is a runner so I can completely sympathise with you there. Does yours lose weight at the drop of a hat? Mr plum does, and he has no spare weight to lose - but he's not very good at eating extra on top of my food that we both eat at meals. He doesn't seem to much care (especially as he's not doing a marathon this year) but it bothers me!

Looking forward to reading your updates!

 

[NatalieW]

Yes his weight just drops but he can put on as well. He was much larger when I first met him and now there is nothing of him at all. Rather boney sometimes!

But he does burn a silly amount of calories, like on Sunday he ran 23 miles in under 3hrs, so there goes his daily calorie intake before breakfast.

I find it hard when he needs to carb load for a race and I don't!! Makes meals difficult.

 

[Plumfoodie]

One thing we've started doing is making up a big batch of a salad based on quinoa, bulgur wheat or pasta at the beginning of the week and keeping it in the fridge. He can then have a big scoop of it if we're eating together and I'm not having anything too carby. Hoping this will help stop his current loss, don't know if this would work for your household?

 

[NatalieW]

Oh that's a brilliant idea. Do you have a recipe?

 

[Plumfoodie]

The latest one we're trying is this one:

Tone It Up! Blog - We LOVE Food Friday: Drop10 Faves

Another one we really like is:

Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa Recipe at Epicurious.com

But really you can put in whatever you like. We usually start with the carb component (quinoa, rice, pasta, bulghur wheat, couscous - or some of the blends you can buy in the supermarket now), add plenty of chopped/grated/diced veggies and then a oil/vinegar based dressing - but you can also use a creamy dressing with pasta quite successfully. You can also add beans, nuts or grated/crumbled cheese (although this is better kept in a seperate tub as it can go slimy after awhile).

This page gives a sort of DIY approach to pasta salad which could also be used for other grains, I think:

Five Steps to Perfect Pasta Salad Article - Allrecipes.com

 

[NatalieW]

Wow, they look fab. I shall try that when we next get the shopping delivered.

I am going to attempt gluten free hot cross buns later today. My daughter is gluten free and getting to the age she wants what everyone else has. Although she does understand when I tell her it will make tummy sore. http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/hot-cross-buns/

Just wondering how good on low GI it would be.. can swap sugar for an alternative but its high on dried fruit.

 

[Plumfoodie]

Unfortunately gluten-free flour tends to be high GI. But if you want to have one with her as a special Easter activity (it is only once a year, after all) I'd suggest only having a half, spreading it with butter and having something with protein alongside it - both of these things will help slow down the digestion of it.

 

[NatalieW]

Breakfast - porridge, blueberries and cinnamon.

Lunch - chicken and rice

Dinner - curry and rice

Snacks - hummus and carrot. Oat svobe bread

Off out with my mum and monster today, will refrain from cake!!

One thing I have noticed since doing low GI, I don't get the 'shakes' when blood sugar low. Which is nice not to have. I ended up being severly diabetic in my pregnancy and don't want to go through that again next time.

 

[irish molly]

Welcome to the forum. Low Gi should be very suitable for you particularly as you suffered pregnancy diabetes. The change from high white carbs to better alternatives is a bit of a challenge. Either try and opt for smaller portions of favourites or look for alternatives.
For example:
3 Baby new potatoes
35g brown rice, dry weight
35 g wholewheat pasta, dry weight.
These portions seem small but are adequate. Bulk up your plate with leafy veg or anything that grows above the ground. Root veg are high Gi.
Try substitutes for old favourites:
Beans of any kind are great. Mashed white beans, bean chillies, bean stews, soups, salads are all very filling and low Gi.
Quinoa is a great substitute for rice.
Lentils are also good carbs.
Oat bread makes a good substitute for regular bread. ( recipe in the recipe thread).
Check out recipes in the recipe thread in the Stickies section. Add some of your own favourites too.
One tip I picked up which I found great was to eat the protein and veg or salad on your plate first. Scoop the potato, pasta, rice or bread to one side and eat some of this last. You'll find you leave some of it behind. When eating a wrap, maybe leave the thick folded bit on the plate.
Adding lemon juice, vinegar or cinnamon to dishes helps reduce the GL of the meal.
Good luck and keep posting your menus.

 

[NatalieW]

Thank you Molly. That was really useful.

I will add to recipe section, I make a good lentil chilli and chickpea soup which I tend to eat daily when at work.

 

[NatalieW]

I am having a reasonably good day so far!.

Breakfast - porridge as normal.

Lunch - chickpea burgers.

Dinner - curry again

Snacks - apple, hummus.

 

[NatalieW]

Well I've had a bad couple of weeks. Ended up putting 2lb on!

Last week I lost 0.8lb.

Yesterday had a much better day.

Breakfast - porridge and blueberries

Lunch - lentil soup

Dinner - steak and veg, couple of potatoes.

Snacks - apples, hummous, oat scone bread.

I will say I feel much better being back on it, don't feel so heavy in myself if you get what I mean!

 

[blue-kat]

hi Natalie, just wanted to say slow weight loss is good, and those healthy habits are all the time becoming more ingrained to replace old less healthy one.
will look out for your chick pea soup recipe.

 

[blue-kat]

P.S. I'm trying to do the alternative version of the high energy carby salad for runners as my standby.

i've got a bowl of low GI slow release energy salad (chick peas +misc veggies, celery, red onion and home made dressing) on the go, so I can fill up quickly on the good stuff.

 

[NatalieW]

Hi blue.kat.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one struggling with a runner in the house! I shall make sure I have a low GI salad in the fridge from now on.

This is the recipe. I will put it on the recipe section as well

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/333614/red-lentil-chickpea-and-chilli-soup

I will admit to having a slice of cake as it was someone's birthday yesterday.

Does anyone calorie count on MPF as well as do Low GI?

 

[DeeCe]

I do!

 

[irish molly]

When I switched to GL I counted cals on mfp for a while. Be careful about this. You might find yourself obsessing on the cals and not the quality of the food, you may save cals for stodgy non GL treats etc.
Certainly, it is great to count the cals until you establish your new eating pattern. Weighing portions and counting the cals help you visualise correct portion sizes.
The GL books won't say to do it this way but do the equivalent by using the contents of a small plate or bowl or your fist as a measuring tool.

 

[NatalieW]

No the books hence the question.

I am so hungry today, I don't know if its because of pmt or due to exercise yesterday. I did an hours class which is aerobics, body conditioning and step.

Ive eaten porridge, two apples, hummous and lentil soup. I'm still starving!!