AprilOneFourFour Member

I have wine three or four times a week. I like a glass while I'm cooking and one with my meal. I don't eat chocolate or cake or biscuits or crisps, and I'm fine with that, but I wouldn't give up the pleasure of a glass of wine at the end of the day. I'm losing a pound a week.

Lots of people here recommend eating your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) minus 15%. You can find the TDEE calculator on the web. It's likely that it will suggest over 1200 cals a day which will be good news if you're too hungry on that number. I worked mine out and, minus the 15% it came in at around 1400 a day, if…

I'm on 1200 and I'm finding it just fine. I cut sugar and white flour out of my diet and I find that I don't get terribly hungry. I don't formally eat my exercise calories back, but I think a few glasses of wine when I go out / at the weekend probably takes care of them. After the initial two weeks of high losses, I've…

Som Tam - in more authentic thai restaurants, a salad with shredded green mango, cherry tomatoes, green beans, peanuts and chilli. There's some sugar in the dressing, but there's sugar in nearly all thai food. It's not huge amounts. You can probably have a curry if coconut milk is allowed on your low carb. Obviously you…

I weigh in on Wednesday morning. Just once a week. This means that if I feel I need to compensate for any treats at the weekend, I have two days to do it. Probably things don't work that fast, but it pyschologically works for me. I do intend to weigh more often as I near my goal weight, because I am definitely not going to…

You sound like you've got a good plan in place. It's definitely much more reliable to earn it ahead of time than pay it back after! (Or it would be for me.) I would add to other replies, that while you should allow yourself a good time, do listen to that little voice inside your head if it happens to speak up. The one that…

I think there are quite a few oddities like this in the book. I included zuchinni on cycle 1 with no problem. But then I also included avocado - it's probably better to go with your own knowledge and research and keep the carbs down, while watching to ensure the calories don't drop too low.

Another thing which can be very motivating is to hook out some clothes that are too tight / no longer fit and start trying them on once a week / fortnight. I've not lost a huge amount of weight, but I HAVE got back into three pairs of jeans / trousers than I love. I'm working my way through all those garments that I…

Leave some of your roasted pieces un-paprika'd, cut them into cubes and mix with cubes of feta, chopped mint and parsley and some pine nuts with cous cous.

You can cook rice in the oven, I only do so in the following recipe, but this could be adapted to seasonal produce and different flavourings. Vegetable Biriyani: In a pot that can hold all the ingredients, roast some veg for 15 mins at about 180c (courgette coins, chunky chopped red onion, a cubed potato, green beans is a…

Roast the asparagus with french-fry-cut courgettes - about 15-20 mins with one toss to make them a bit caramelised and delicious. Towards the end, add in some peas and serve this tossed with a little grated parmesan and the oil they were cooked in. Make enough to have cold the next day, it's nice both ways. You can also…

The first cycle you eat lean protein - skinless chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, some lower fat cheeses with salad, low-ish carb veg and 2 pieces of fruit and 2 portions of probiotic dairy a day. You drink water and lemon to start the day and a cup of green tea after every meal. No sugar, no white floury things, no alcohol, no…

It didn't work for me. Embarassed that I tried it, but I did. I'd say, pretty uncontroversially, that you are better off spending the time you're supposed to spend listening to this every day, exercising or preparing good healthy food. I was stuck too, I've found the 17 day diet has gotton my weight loss moving again, but…

Darude - Sandstorm - 11 minute version Uninvited - Freemasons version. Both really make me work.

17dd does take a fair bit of planning ahead - particularly at the beginning when you're working out what you can have / how to adapt typical eating habits. The author gives day by day suggestions, but they are scanty in detail and look way too low cal to me. As you may know, it's a low-ish carb plan - no bread, rice, pasta…

I find that one of the best budget tools is to sit down for 20 minutes and write a meal plan for the next 3-7 days, starting from the point of what I've got to use up. Then I can freeze anything perishable and buy the minimum extra. It sounds like you've got enough to cover lunches and dinners, so all you need is whatever…

Thank you. I'll have a look. It's very interestng for somebody like me who HAS TO net fairly low to lose weight.

A large Greek salad - Sheep's feta, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, black olives, olive oil, red wine vinegar and dried oregano. It is absolutely delicious. Greek yogurt and homemade blueberry compote for dessert. Heaven!

I love the people who get their knickers in a twist about starvation mode and start bragging about how much pizza and cheesecake they can eat. That's so HEALTHY!

You can have apples...and pears, and plums, and blueberries, and oranges, and strawberries. No refined sugar though, so it's not for everybody.

If you happen to like lean protein, veggies, salad, fruit and yogurt, you could do 2 cycles of the 17 Day Diet. I have been on it for 2 weeks and have lost 7lbs and dropped a dress size. It really suits me, so I don't see any problem keeping with it over the long term. I haven't been 100% slaveish to it - I've had some red…

Try your bikini on, that should do it.

Fantastic thread. Thanks so much for taking the time.

If you want fish and chips either share one large portion with somebody else or buy small fish and ask for half a portion of chips...paying for a whole one if necessary because you'd rather pay 80p than scoff yourself silly. I lop the ends of the fish and take the batter off the underneath. Mad, but hey ho. Or you could…

I hated Atkins, but it didn't suit my preferred food habits. Too fatty and not enough fibre - or at least the way I did it. I've moved on to 17dd and am on day twenty-ish now. I just like it and think it's the right way for me to eat most of the time, plus a bit of red wine. My husband took it up because I looked so much…

Start logging everything. It's a bit of a slog at first, but you get used to it and it's REALLY helpful. Not least because, if you read the boards here, you'll come across a ton of different opinions about how to lose weight / lose weight THE RIGHT WAY. So, to keep your sanity, note what you eat and drink, note your…

For 17 days you eat chicken, turkey, feta, fish with salad, veggies. Plus 2 portions of fruit and 2 of probiotic dairy. Some green tea. Some water with lemon. Then you move onto a less severe 17 days and then even less. If you haven't lost what you want by then, you go back to no.1. I think it's pretty easy - have a look…

I wouldn't take this as too much of a scary sign! The author says you'll lose water weight at first. I think the diet is pretty healthy. While some people feel freaked out about the idea of a prescribed eating plans, some of us like them and find them useful and it's not like you're cutting out any major food group here.

I bought some from a USA supplier via ebay - about £6. It's very good. Worth asking a friend to bring it back from USA. Or maybe we should all get on to Holland and Barratt?

I'm on day 13 of cycle 1, I lost 4lbs in the first week (have to lose about 25 to lose in all) and I'll weigh in again tomorrow. It really suits me, I like the food - lots of veggies and salad and yogurt. I feel much leaner and I don't find myself getting very hungry. It needs a bit of planning and cooking, but that's fine…