The Phantom over in sunny London was querying how this diet works. I think I confused him when I went on the high carb diet a week or so ago.
Basically… fat boy here had ballooned in size over the past years to a huge 160 kilos. I visited a diet specialist in January (2006)… who also treats my sleep apnoea… and his advice was to follow an extremely low carb diet for as long as it takes me to get my weight down to 100 kilos or below. Still not ‘thin’… but acceptable.
Bearing mind the alternative was heart attack, stroke, diabetes arthritis, atherosclerosis, and the remainder of those wonderful geriatric ailments arriving somewhat prematurely I figured I ought to give it a burl.
The diet basically consists of meal substitutes… which strangely I can purchase from him :)… which I have at breakfast and lunch… and an evening meal. The evening meal must contain one piece of protein around 250 grams in weight and be as low fat as possible. It must contain as little carbohydrate as possible. That means I have to forgo potatoes, peas, rice, bread, etc etc etc. I’m not allowed to eat fruit, fruit juices, chocolate (naturally) or large amounts of any vegetables that themselves are high in carbs… such as carrots, swede, celeriac and the like. Finally… no caffeine…. and no milk.
You may wonder what’s left… and I can tell you so do I sometimes. For months I found myself living on the powdered meals and salad. But it did worl and I lost 30 kilos by June. Then I hit problems. I can even pinpoint the day and meal where things went askew.
We went to the Easter Show here in Sydney and the next night I cooked a barbecue. I was allowed to eat one protein meal so ate with everyone else. However, I either ate too much *or* something in the meal contained one of the products that changes the way my mind functions.
I established some time ago that there is something in my usual diet that knocks me into depression, removes all my motivation and creates other issues too numerous to mention right now. The effect is that I produce all the markers of an addict… but the drug is food!!
But whatever it was from that night onwards I began having real problems sticking to the diet. Some weeks later I picked up a virus and came down with a case of pneumonia. I went to my GP (having long since stopped visiting the consultant out of embarassment). The GP said my diet was too restrictive to allow my body to properly fight the disease and to ‘ease off a bit’. Unfortunately… ‘easing off’ isn’t an option to an addict and I slipped easily back into the old cycle of stuffing my face which anything I could find. The result… weight zoomed back to 160 kilos.
So… my bodily functions began to collapse again. Finally realising I needed to pull myself together… I managed to drag myself back to the consultant, purchased more of the meal replacements… and made a new appointment and set off down the path again.This time the advice was to try to avoid an evening meal altogether until I was down at least 10 kilos and properly ‘back on track’.
SO far all seems reasonable well. I *have* eaten a few meals and don’t seem to have suffered any major setbacks but I *have* isolated a few foods that cause me problems… some things I shouldn’t eat anyway like “twiggy” sticks (mini-salami things) and instant gravy… but also strangely… some chicken! I seem to react badly lately to eating chickens which I think it due entirely to the ‘autobaste’ ingredients added to make them ‘moist’ after cooking. This highlights one of the problems I’m facing. Some ingredients just aren’t listed on products like fresh meat so you can never be 100% sure what you’re getting.
The answer to that would appear to be to eat only organic vegetables… and especially organic meat… or leave meat out altogether?. Neither option is easy where I live, but I do *not* want to slip back to the old eating style. Regular readers will be aware I’ve recently discovered I have all the indicators for both ADHD *and* Aspergers Syndrome… both of which can be controlled.. or at least have the symptoms ameliorated… by diet, so this awareness might be useful in helping me keep in control this time.
Either way… over the past three weeks I’ve dropped the 10 kilos so I can start eating small amounts of different foods watching carefully to see (feel?) if I’m developing any of the ‘signs and symptoms’ that push me in the wrong direction.
Fingers crossed this time I’ll make it. I’m nearly 60 and I’d like to be here long enough to see my girls get married… or something. 😀
The Eclectic Interweb 
Cheers! You were right about me being somewhat confused about the diet. So its actually a calorie-controlled v. low carb diet. How are things like peas and beans? Give me some things you can eat and I’ll try and come up with some ideas!
As soon as I find the little booklet that I bought when I started the meal substitution I can be a bit more specific. Until then (and probably after) my basic meals can only be made up of 250 grams of ‘protein’… sourced wherever… with a plate of anything that contains very little or no carbs. Also must be low fat… and not contain milk products or caffeine. I’m not sure if I can eat eggs… but if so they’d count towards the total protein I suppose.:)
So no legumes or beans… no root vegetables except perhaps a raw carrot as a treat or if I get hypoglycaemic. No grains… including all wheats, rice, wild rice, oats etc. No fruit or fruit juice. No tea or coffee, no porridge.
It isn’t calorie controlled as such. I can eat as much as I like of anything that has no carbs.
But it’s a *real* pig trying to make decent meals out of cabbage, broccoli, and salads… esp. when in theory I’m not supposed to eat tomatoes either… well they *are* a fruit are they not?? 😀
I’m not really complaining actually although I accept it looks as if I am. I am grossly overweight and I need to do something urgently. I can’t ‘cut down’ because when I eat real food I lose all inhibitions regarding amounts and simply scoff whatever I can find. It’s a problem I’ll have to deal with sooner or later because I can’t live off meal replacements forever. For a start they contain little fibre so I have to supplement them with Metamucil… thus a gloppy glass of psyllium husks keeps my internals functioning as well as they need to.
So… bearing that in mind… if you can make some suggestions that don’t involve liposuction, plastic surgery or stomach banding… I’m all ears 😀
Eeek! Stir fried broccolli. (can you use oil?) Lightly cooked cabbage finished off in the wok with chilli and ginger. Cole slaws made with veg like julienned fennel, dressed with lemon or lime juice, or a mayonnaise substitute made with tofu whizzed with water. Oh, and maybe celeriac remoulade!
I think I will have to do some research!
Now you see why I’m stumped. The options are *very* limited. Mushrooms are ok… as are most herbs and spices bearing in mind the quantities used are minimal…. but celeriac and ginger are out. Celery stalks are ok… as are the salad *leaves* such as beetroot or nasturtium.
As summer develops I’ll be ok with mixed salads etc… and I can eat a lot of salmon. As everywhere the salmon is farmed but it’s only $20 a kilo so is cheap enough to have as often as I can manage it.
Alos, don’t forget that your mindset is now looking towards piping hot nourishing meals designed to keep the cold at bay, whilst we are looking towards meals that refresh and cool! 😀
Still… if you can come up with something to tempt a powdered palate… I’ll be more than happy to try it out!! 😀