Low/no carb recipe: pancakes

Inspired by a recipe from Blogilates which is just eggs and banana, I investigated how to make pancakes with pretty much no carbs in them.

Per person:-

•  - 1x egg
•  - 25g cream cheese - this is the only source of carb, so check the label carefully (the cheese I'm using at the moment has no carbs, so it can be a 100% carb free recipe)
•  - 20ml double/whipping cream
•  - 2/3g coconut oil to cook

1. Blend egg(s) and cheese with a blender/food processor.
2. Add cream and blend some more.
3. Heat a pancake pan with your choice of oil (I use coconut oil)
4. Pour mix into the pan and cook on a medium heat
5. Cook mix until the top is almost set
6. Turn pancake and cook the other side
7. Slide onto a plate and top as desired - it will deflate when it leaves the pan and look more like a pancake.

Best eaten hot as they go quite brittle as they cool down.  I think thicker is better here for the consistency, so a smaller diameter pan like I used for the blueberry and yogurt one than I used for the cheese one at the bottom below.

With cream, Greek yogurt and blueberries - beautiful texture

Rolled up with grated cheese inside - a bit too thin and brittle

Yep, I like me a Mule

Those little Mule MegaBites really are the trick.  I've had to buy a load more.  They're just great; a perfect little ~100kcal boost before or after a training session.  Just keeps the wolf from the door and the mental frame a bit more even.  Even at 99p a bar from Evans, I'm not bothered about trying to make my own version.  Life's too short.

Veatables

I'm really rather sick of all the "healthy" and healthy sweet snacky bars you can get.  I don't have a sweet tooth, they're usually far too sweet for me and I usually crave savoury snacks when I'm hungry.  And look what I found the other day...

  Fresh, soft, tasty vegetable-based snack bars.  They come in three flavours; "Tomato Pizza", "Thai Sweetcorn" and "Sweet Roast Vegetable" and are made from between 50% and 64% fresh vegetables, 34% - 38% dried vegetables and then flavour enhancers such as Gruyere cheese, chickpea flour, salt, seeds etc.

Because they contain fresh vegetables and some cheese, they do need chilling...

"To make each bar we take fresh vegetables (some pureed, some roasted) and mix them with ingredients such as Gruyere cheese, sweet chilli sauce and fresh herbs. We combine these with dried vegetables to make sure that each 45g bar contains the equivalent of 80g of vegetables.

 Once mixed the ingredients are moulded into bars and are transferred to trays to be baked. After cooling we wrap them and then they’re ready to go.

Each bar contains only natural ingredients and is a combination of fresh cooked vegetables with some dried and concentrated vegetables.

Because they are so fresh and natural they need to be stored in a fridge until they are eaten. However, it is absolutely fine to pop one in your child’s lunch box as it will last perfectly well up until lunchtime and beyond."

As soon as my sample pack arrived (one of each flavour) I scoffed one, the "Sweet Roast Vegetable" flavour one.  When you open the packet, the smell is really quite amazing; like pizza or a vegetable pasta sauce with cheese on top.  The texture is soft and crumbly like a really soft, fine-textured flapjack.  And it tastes so tangy with a reasonably strong Gruyere twang to it and a definite strong butternut squash flavour.  Half an hour after I finished the bar and my mouth was still watering from the flavour.  At 99kcals and 1 portion of fruit and veg, they're satisfying on the belly, but moreish on the flavour.  I might just have to grab another one out of the fridge...


("Thai Sweetcorn" tastes a bit curryish... hints of chilli and spices as well as the cheese).

New TOTAL yoggits

TOTAL have brought out some new snacking yoghurts.  Being something of a fan of their plain Greek range (I scoff a bowl of 2% most mornings with fruit compote and added whey protein), I was eager to give them a go.  They're sort of like Muller's "Fruit Corners" and build on the existing TOTAL 2% with honey corner, but these new ones are 0%.  Flavours so far are Blueberry, Strawberry, Tropical Fruits and Honey.

This is the yoghurty bit of our fridge... :o)

So far, we've tried the Blueberry, Honey and Strawberry and the Strawberry is pretty darned nice, though I found the fruit to be over-sweetened (thankfully it is actually sugar and not aspartame or anything else in that vein).  Apparently the Blueberry one was really sour and grainy, but I've not tried that one yet, so.  The Honey one suffers from being yoghurt and needing to be in the fridge but having honey which pretty much solidifies if you do that so you need to leave it out for a bit before trying to eat it otherwise you just end up with a hard lump of honey with a thin covering of yoghurt on it and it just won't mix in.

I think it's going to be handy to keep a pot or two in the fridge at work for those times I cycle in and had something else before I left the house and need a top-up when I get in to the office.  Given that it's low fat yoghurt with fruit compote, all I need to supplement is some whey powder as that makes it exactly what my normal breakfast would be anyway.  More convenient than keeping a large pot of plain yoghurt and a tub of compote and not really getting through them and ending up throwing some away.  And I'm all about the not wasting food (I really can't believe how much most people throw away; utterly shocking to me).

In the mean time... I need to try one of those blueberry ones myself to see whether my views on it are the same as Mr TOTKat's views.

Weight Loss: How to do it!

I'm currently featured as a weight loss "success story" on the Weight Loss Resources web site.  And as a result of that I've had a few questions, mostly around "how did you do it?"  and "I've tried and tried and I can't seem to get the weight to come off and stay off, how did you manage it?".   So I wrote a little piece on it.  (It's a permanent article for reference in the articles section down the side for future reference.)

This is pretty much how I did it...

It's both very simple and really difficult at the same time.  The real keys are brutal honesty with yourself and planning.  The final bit is maintenance; the changes you make to lose weight must be sustainable as you will need to hang on to those changes to keep the weight off forever.

• Logging - very very very important that you brutally honestly log absolutely everything that passes your lips, having weighed it to be certain of how much you've had.  That last couple of spoons of yogurt from the kids' dessert at dinner -does- count; that bite out of your best friend's hot-dog while you're out at the cinema -does- count; but it is -so- easy to forget that you had them, forget to log them and then wonder why the numbers seem to add up but the weight loss isn't happening.  It is a well known phenomenon that people almost never log everything they eat, not because they want to lie or cheat, but because they actually do forget things because their brain doesn't see it as important at the time.  So, if you're out and about and don't have access to your online logging resource (in my case Weight Loss Resources - WLR), keep a notebook, write things down and then enter them into WLR when you can. And weigh everything. Portion sizes do matter.  Seriously, take a look here.

• Exercise - can make it harder to be sure of staying inside your allowance; the calorific value of food is a reasonable guess, based on burning food to see how much heat it gives off.  Not exactly the same way your body processes it, but near enough for an estimate.  The same is true for exercise; the effort required for two different people of the same size, weight, height and age may differ based on so many other factors.  The estimates in WLR for exercise are quite variable and if you want to be closer to a more accurate estimate, invest in a heart rate monitor if you can.  But -do- exercise as it will help to maintain your existing muscles while you're losing weight; it's no good losing lots of weight that's muscle as you won't get any definition in your shape and it's less "good" for you to be losing weight through muscle loss than fat loss.

• Snack.  Regularly.  Seriously.  If you don't allow yourself to get hungry during the day, by eating little and often, you end up eating less overall to feel satisfied and lower the likelihood of splurging.  Or to put it another way, if you leave it too long between meals you will most likely eat bigger portions and with less careful choice in those meals.

• Planning - Plan your food and exercise at least a day in advance, if not for the week.  If you plan, it's harder to have little "oops" moments and you can plan in for treats to keep you from straying too far off the path or help you make informed choices when spontaneous things happen.

• Eat enough - It can be worth trying for a slower pace of weight loss as you may not be getting enough energy to keep your metabolism working properly.  Many people have switched from 2 or 1.5lb loss rates to 1lb loss rate and suddenly the weight starts coming off properly.  It varies a lot from person to person and giving it a go for a few weeks is really the only way to find out what will work for you.

• Have a "down" day/week every now and then.  I was lucky that I never really needed to do this, but very many people find that their bodies are clever and cotton on to the fact that they're getting less food/more exercise and adjust your metabolism to deal with the reduced intake vs. output.  Keeping your body guessing (but do stay on or under maintenance kcals) can help break out of that learning behaviour and kick your metabolism back to where it should be.  If you're doing heavy exercise 3/4 times a week, maybe take a week off from it every 10-12 weeks.  Or plan in a "cheat" day every week or fortnight where you do eat up to or even a bit over maintenance kcals rather than sticking to loss. 

• Weigh everything.  Unless you have the most amazingly accurate estimating skills, your portion sizes WILL drift.  And usually upwards.  It will start to add up to a few more kcals every day than you're logging and again you'll wonder why the kcals seem to add up but the weight loss isn't doing.  In effect, you're kidding yourself.  Stop it.

• Don't rely on the scales for the measure of success.  Take body measurements periodically, maybe once a month, and keep track of that as well as weight.  You may find there are times when the scales don't shift, but your body changes shape and you lose a few cm around bits of yourself.

• Patience - with yourself and with the people who will try to, knowingly or not, sabotage your hard work.  You are only human; you will have off days and that's OK.  Just as long as they're not every day ;o)  And other people may not understand what you are trying to do, how or why and they can in a well-meaning way end up trying to sabotage your efforts by offering you food, tempting you out of exercise or saying "oh come on, you're not fat!".  It's down to you how you deal with it; I wasn't very good at that part, to be honest, I just hid and didn't go out!

There -will- be hard times; I remember many many tantrums and fits of tears during my main weight loss period.  The forums on WLR can really help with that and with advice and support when the going gets tough or you have questions.

So remember... plan,  Log EVERYTHING and be honest with yourself.  Losing weight isn't rocket science but it isn't easy either.  You can do it.  You will get there.  But you have to really want to change your lifestyle and keep it changed for life.

Not really feeling the journal vibe

I'm really not feeling the journalling vibe at the moment.  Probably mostly because I've been out and not been doing very well on the keeping things sensible front.  So.  Quick round-up and probably a couple more days of quiet if I'm still not up to it tomorrow.

Monday... I had a great gym.  We went out to dinner (I had goats cheese terrine, steak with spinach and cabbage, and stilton and water biscuits at the end) to celebrate something.  I ended up lots of kcals over maintenance (2962kcals, 750kcals over maintenance) mostly due to the Bellinis before and the champagne during dinner.  We stayed out in town - fantastic blaggage on where we stayed but that's a story for another day.

Tuesday... rest day; we couldn't be bothered to cook so we ended up with takeaway.  I was still very comfortably under maintenance kcals (1646kcals, 140kcals under maintenance), but...

Wednesday... the scales punished me big-time.  Back up 1.5kg again.  Yeah I had saltiness in the takeaway, but seriously.  *sigh*

Gym today was good and bad.  I was "helped" by some guy who told me that seeing as my planks looked so comfortable (hah!) I should try lifting alternate legs, or doing Superman planks.  Yeah.  Thanks.  I do know how to progress planks and actually I was trembling during those planks.  However, my arms did feel amazing during and after my clean and presses, buzzing/fizzing/vibrating; nice!  AND, my negative motion pull-ups are getting better and more controlled.

I got a freebie from Ocado the other day; a new snacky bar thing, branded by "Elizabeth Hurley".  I was very skeptical and then I read the ingredients and there actually wasn't any crap in it.  I tried it today after my protein shake after gym as I was still hungry (I'm having one of those "permanently hungry" days :o/)  Very sickly sweet but pretty flavourless in the end though.  It was supposed to be banana and chocolate flavoured but it was just bland and sweet.

So, not impressed and wouldn't bother actually buying these.  There are plenty of other, better products on the market already and, yeah it may have "only" 100kcals in a bar but there's nothing special about it, it didn't taste of much and it was only 26g.  Many many other, better fish in the sea.

Dinner today was not too bad in the end, despite the fact that Halloumi goes rubbery pretty quickly after cooling down.  The mango went very nicely and mint in the dressing topped it off nicely.  But, like all of the rest of today, I'm still hungry.  I am.   It's not fair.  I wish I wasn't.  But I am.  And all I really want right now is crusty, white baguette with spread, not even butter.  I could nip out and get some from the Sainsburys down the road, but I'm not going to.  This week has started off badly enough already (though the food on Monday was really good and clean too, I drank a bit too much wine) and I'm not sure how much of my current weight is transit/water etc.  So I do want to be close to my loss kcal target for the day.

B - greek yogurt with 1 scoop MP Max, fruit compote and flaked almonds
S - banana
L - salad; lettuce, celery, cherry tomatoes, beetroot, sweet pepper, Food Doctor Herb Boost, chicken breast
*gym*
S - 1 scoop MP Max in skimmed milk
S - Elizabeth Hurley bar - chocolate and banana
S - carrot and houmous
D - salad; lettuce, mint, olive oil, vinegar, mango, toasted pine nuts and grilled Halloumi

Calories (kcal) [kcals to maintain weight (inc. exercise)	1765 2220]
Protein (g)	140.8 (32.3%)
Carbohydrate (g)	137.6 (29.6%)
Fat (g)	73.7 (38.1%)
Fibre (g)	23.9
Fruit & Veg	12.2

Not ideal, but ready to re-set.

I've over-indulged just a tiny bit (really, not being sacrastic for once!) in the last 2 days. Under maintenace kcals 2 days ago but had lots of wine and then over maintenance yesterday with a potato wedges and pizza dinner. This has resulted in 1.2kg gain in 2 days! I know it's not real weight and my weight on the day before that was unrealistically low (I think, though I was very hydrated, so perhaps it was real). I know with sensible eating choices and keeping hydrated that that 1.2kg will fall away again.

BUT

3 days of all-inclusive, gorgeous, gourmet food and wine and champagne starts today. There -is- a gym and I -have- packed gym kit and swimming togs and HRM. I -fully- intend to do weight training once and swimming at least once.

But I feel afraid that I will put back on fat that I keep working very steadily to lose (at a rate of roughly 0.5-1kg per month). 1kg can take me 1-2 months to lose at the moment because training hard makes me hungry so I need to eat 5-7 times a day (not equal meals, but 3 meals and 2-4 snacks of fruit, nuts, carrots, celery, houmous etc.).

I don'd do New Year's resolutions because I feel they're just so false. You can resolve to change something at any time, why pick New Year why not just do something when you've decided you want to do it? This year, however, I feel the need to just relax a bit for a couple of weeks - keep up the exercise of course, but lay off beating myself up about not being at least 250kcals under maintenance every day. Until the New Year.

4th January I start a new plan to fine-tune the strenght and body fat. I'm looking at some of the Rachel Cosgrove stuff and some of the Maxitone stuff and will ponder over the next few days the exact plan. Until then, I'll try very hard not to panic about getting fat from a few days of rich food and drink. Honest. I'll try.