Friday, July 29, 2011

My Last LCHF Meal

I had my last LCHF meal on Wednesday night the 27th.  As of yesterday I started doing the GI diet/lifestyle.  When I ate my dinner on Wednesday night, I had a very hard time swallowing down my food.  I had a tuna salad with green lettuce and baby spinach.  The tuna was made with a bit more mayo than I would have normally made it because of LCHF.  I think after a month of fatty foods I am a bit tired of eating this way. 

I'm not saying that LCHF is bad, I've seen really nice dishes and recipes that look great.  But to lose weight you should stick to 20g of carbs a day or less, which really limits the foods that you can eat.  I was pretty strict and I didn't cheat during my 4 weeks.  I lost a lot of weight very quickly.  I became worried about having loose skin, since I was losing weight quickly.  Also I became worried about my health since I broke out with the hives, I've never had something like that happen.

I grew up eating a lot of Asian type foods and dishes, and I feel most comfortable eating a lot of vegetables and fruits, than I do eating a lot of fats, dairy and meats.  I will continue to diet using GI instead of LCHF because I think their low carb way is a lot easier for me to follow and to stick with it in the long term.  Yes, I won't drop pounds the way LCHF will, I'll be lucky to lose a pound a week, but I need to do what feels most comfortable for me.

I don't think the LCHF of losing weight or lifestyle is bad.  LCHF is actually really wonderful for people who enjoy eating fattier meals and meats, and not worrying about portion size.  It just isn't for me, and that's okay.  From the Living La Vida Low Carb forums, I've learned that alot of others have tried numerous Low Carb style diets/lifestyles until they found one that suited them the best.

I will keep this blog up for English speakers looking for information on LCHF.  The information I have on LCHF here is still very useful and also my tips on what worked and didn't is still helpful for those out there doing LCHF. 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Took myself off the wagon for a day

I took myself off the wagon for a day yesterday.  I wasn't sure what to do with my hives, and if my diet was causing my body to have a bad reaction or lower immune system.  So I decided to look for another alternative diet.  I thought maybe the GI diet could be something I try (look at my previous post about Other Low Carb Diets). 

Since I wasn't sure what to do about my diet, and I was just tired of eating eggs with some form of fat, I didn't follow LCHF for a day.  I tried a real GI meal, had some strawberries and even had a small glass of Pepsi, oh yeah even some Italian chocolates.  If I was pulling myself off  the wagon to read the books and figure out what to do, I decided I was going to enjoy that day.  I actually didn't eat that much like I thought I would, I became really full easily, and even after a couple of sips of Pepsi it wasn't all that WOW sensation or feeling like I thought it was going to be.  The chocolates were good, but after I had 3 small chocolates, it was more than plenty for me.  I think the most pleasing part was the Strawberries, eating that was just heavenly. 

I thought after pulling myself off of LCHF for a day I'd be completely ruined.  I thought I'd crave nothing but sweets.  But I actually don't have any sweet cravings at the moment.  It's really strange, that I wasn't like a crack addict who with one dose goes straight back to being completely off the wagon for good.  I guess after a month of no sweets, my body just doesn't really care for them too much now. 

This morning when I weighed myself it was up by only half a pound, which I thought was really small for having carbs yesterday.  My weight usually jumps up and down the scale everyday, just the other day before I took a day off, I gained almost a whole pound, and that's with me counting every bit of carb. 

I lost a whopping 9.2lbs in 4 weeks, I'm really pleased about it.  But if I switched over to the GI diet I'd have to do GI i Praktikens Phase 1 part, which is very very similar to LCHF.  If I don't mind a much slower weightloss then I can do Phase 2. 

Other Low Carb Diets

I decided to look into many other low carb diets, to see if anything else will be a little veggie friendly, and less animal fat consuming.  I have to say after 4 weeks of forcing myself to eat creamy and buttery foods I am getting a little burned out.  So far the Paleo diet, South Beach, and GI diet (I know it's not really LC, just the 1st phase is) looks a bit more friendly for those that aren't into consuming a lot of fat and not enough veggies.   

I looked into the GI diet since I have some friends here who are doing it. It's a bit confusing when you read the information online on how you're supposed to do the diet. So I went over to the local library and picked up a Swedish book on the GI diet, a recipe book, and using a 3 phase method. The book explained alot, and how people lose weight doing GI diet. But it looks like to kickstart that fat burning process in Phase 1 they do a similar thing to LCHF for the first month or longer if needed. Then in Phase 2 they start to introduce some low GI foods into the diet, and cut out alot of fat, you can still lose weight in this process from 0 - 1 lbs a week. Then in Phase 3 it goes completely GI, and how it helps maintain the bodyweight you worked hard to get.

The Phase 1 part is not as strict as LCHF's weight losing phase of 20g and under carbs a day. They allow up to 20-30g carbs a day.  Seems they allow a bit more veggies and nuts into the weightlosing Phase 1 compared to LCHF's weightlosing 20g a day.  One of the books says that if you follow their 30 day menu you can lose up to 5kg in 4 weeks.  Really interesting and every meal has a net carb count next to it.  I don't see much of a difference from LCHF and Phase 1 of GI diet, since the recipes are still low carb and high in fat, but from things like fishes

Books I'm reading about GI diet:
GI i Praktiken (GI in Practice) by: Ola Lauritzson - it has a 3 Phase program with menus and recipes for each phase.
GI Dag för Dag (GI Day for Day) by: Ola Lauritzson & Ulrika Davidsson  - a book on how to lose up to 5kg in 4 weeks doing their Phase 1 and 2 GI diet. 
Klaras GI-Mat (Klara's GI Food) by: Klara Desser - a recipe book for Low GI eating/lifestyle

Rash, Hives, and Doubt

A few days after I started doing yoga and rebounding, I noticed that I got a rash on my neck (where the sports bra touches) and on my back.  I thought it was shingles at first, and after a week it did go away with ugly marks.  But this past Sunday I noticed red little itching and burning bumps began to appear on my upper thighs and arms.  The next day it spread to all my arms and legs, and even a little on my stomach. 

Yesterday I went to the doctor's to get this rash/hives checked out.  They told me that they believed it was a fungus type hives, and that it was caused by lowered immune system.  They asked me if I ate anything new or different than normal, and if I was stressing about something.  Only thing that was new was LCHF, and I wasn't stressed about anything.  They said the diet could possibly be stressing me and my body without me knowing it.  I got some medication for it to go away.  Hopefully it will go away or else back to the doctor's I go.

It made me a little worried about doing LCHF.  I never consumed so much fat, let alone dairy or animal fat in my whole life.  Nor have I consumed so little vegetables in my whole life.  It made me double think about doing LCHF.  Maybe my body is telling me something, that this isn't for me.  After all I'm half Japanese and was raised on a high vegetable and fruit diet with low fat.  I didn't get fat until I moved to Sweden (high fat and high starch) and got ill.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Fourth Weekly Weight Update

It's really hard to imagine that 4 weeks ago I started doing LCHF.  It's just two days away from exactly a month of no sugar, and only 20g of carbs a day.  This diet/lifestyle is pretty successful in weightloss terms.  I'm really shocked that I was able to lose the amount of weight I did without starving myself.  I'm sure after four weeks it's not considered losing water weight anymore.   

My clothes are looser and I see a big change in my body and my face.  My cheeks are the first place to show if I gain or lose weight.  I'm starting to look more like the old me.  I feel more energetic and alive, not sure if it's the diet or the yoga, or maybe it's a little bit of both.  I feel lighter on my feet, but then again I am literally lighter on my feet. 

 I'm still not done with losing weight, but at least I'm a big step closer to my old bikini body.  This past week I was a lot more disciplined in LCHF, I cut out a lot of my onion and tomatoes.  I thought they were hindering my weight loss after the last weight update.  So I haven't used them as much the rest of the week.  Surely it was the right choice because I was able to increase my weightloss this past week.  I wasn't too thrilled about the last weight update being one pound.     

Here is the fourth weekly weight update:

-2.6 lbs (-1.18kg)

Total amount since started: -9.2 lbs (-4.17kg)

Friday, July 22, 2011

Hard to lose weight? by Annika Dahlqvist

Hard to lose weight? (taken from: http://blogg.passagen.se/dahlqvistannika/?anchor=sv%C3%A5rt_att_g%C3%A5_ner_i )
January 10, at 07:14, 2006

Written by Annika Dahlqvist subcategory Miscellaneous | 168 Comments | Permalink

060,110
Now and then I get emails from people who tell me they are eating low carb, but still having difficulty to lose weight as they desire.
My advice is usually to start by reading through my "Diet Programs" correctly. (See the blog margin)
If there is no weight loss when you follow the program:
The first is to reduce the carbohydrates down to what is in a reasonable amount of vegetables (you do not fill your plate) and dairy products.
You can limit themselves to above-ground vegetables if you want to minimize carbohydrates. Root vegetables contain more carbohydrates.  Milk, sour milk and yogurt contains 5% carbohydrate, lactose. Replace happily to cheese and butter, without lactose.
And also nothing of bread, pasta, oatmeal, rice, potatoes, fruit, etc.
Then you can reduce the proteins down too, least you need it for body building.
It is 0.5-1 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. (Meat contains approximately 20% protein)
Excess protein raises the blood sugar.
The rest is fat.
Fat in dairy products, eat absolutely no light versions of cream, butter, etc.
Fat meat and pork. It is saturated and animal fats that the body ideally needs for its building.
Saturated fat in coconut oil.
Monounsaturated fats in olive oil.
Oily fish.


If you eat according to this and still not lose weight as you want, you think you might want to settle for who you are.
As you eat carbohydrate-rich lean and fat, so you can eat as healthy as possible, and you are so healthy you can be.

Inserted 060916th I have received quite a few reports from people who found it difficult to lose weight with the intake of dairy products. It is said that milk products causes the release of insulin, and that there is milk sugar, lactose, no milk protein that has this characteristic insulin. High insulin index, II.
Hints that the victim can try to cut down on, or exclude, dairy products if you want to go down further in weight.

Butter can handle most, and fatty cheeses can handle some. You can try these things out.
If you do not feel the need to settle for, but want to get down lower in weight, you will begin to reduce the calories.
You can watch the food tables, and figure out how much of any foods you should eat.
You can go down to about 1300 calories if you are female, slightly more if you are male.
The proportions which is the same principle. Approximately 50-100 g of protein (depending on body size), just enough vegetables and the rest up to the calories-the roof is fat.
(All the while of course also applies just the right amount of exercise, regularly. It is very good for health, even if it does not do much for weight loss)
Does anyone have other opinions and advice?
070,420
Right now I have a project going on to lose a few pounds, to my old ideal weight.
I try now to eat small LCHF meals, with 3-4 hours apart. The amount of these small portions may have to try different front. So far I have lost a kg. I feel that this method fits quite well for me.

Bad little tomatoes

Earlier this week I made a zucchini lasagna.  It was really good, but I didn't follow the recipe exactly, I put a little more onions and more crushed tomatoes then it said. I did make two lasagnas, one for me, and a normal one for my guy.  We were stuck eating lasagna for three days even though they were small.  I noticed that the first two days my weight went up a little.  The weight does jump around everyday normally.  After we "finally" finished the lasagna, I noticed a day later that the weight went down again.

I know tomatoes are one of the items that we should becareful eating while doing LCHF.  I think next time I will put less tomatoes in my zucchini lasagna.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Third Weekly Weight Update

Three whole weeks have gone by since that first day I went LCHF. So far it's been good, but I had a blah day today. I was really wanting something sweet to eat or drink. I almost felt like just giving in and having a chocolate milkshake or a Pepsi. Thankfully my guy was there to help me stay focused.

Maybe I had a blah day because of the scale. I weigh myself everyday, but I only count Tuesdays as the offical weight. I have to admit it's amazing watching the scale going up and down everyday. Makes me wonder if it's working correctly. I know that I shouldn't check the scale everyday, but it's a bad habit of mine, and at least it's not a sugar filled cookie or cake.

Here is the third weekly weight update:

-1 lbs (-0.45kg)
Total amount since started: -6.6 lbs (-2.99kg)

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Dragon Breath and Breath Mints/Gum

One of the worst side effects of LCHF is the lovely Dragon Breath syndrome aka: worst case of stinky breath ever.  I guess it comes from eating alot of dairy based products such as cheese, creme and yoghurt.  I used to hate the after taste and smell of my breath after drinking milk or having something dairy.  Well now I get to have it almost every time after I eat.  My man has pointed it out on several occasions that since I started the diet, in the mornings I have Dragon Breath that would scare even a dragon away.

So what to do about the Dragon Breath, a simple solution is to brush the teeth, gums, and tongue really well.  Another easy solution was to take breath mints or gums.  Though when being on LCHF breath mints and gums aren't your friends, since most of them contain alot of carbs per mint drop or gum.  My favorite breath mint drop "was" Extra watermelon flavour, until I found out that each mint drop has 3g of carb.  There was no way I would waste 3g of carbs on one mint on 20g of carbs a day.

Luckly a friend of mine pointed out that Extra professional Strong Mint gum is really good and strong.  Each gum has about 1g of carbs.  Of course it'd be silly to waste 1 whole gram of carbs on a tiny piece of gum.  So he recommended to chew only half a gum piece at a time, that way you only get half a gram of carbs, and the mint is strong enough that half of one will do the job.

LCHF Burger

LCHF Burger
LCHF Burger
All beef patty
Green leaf lettuce
Tomatoes
Pickles
Mayonaise - ALOT
Ketchup -  a couple of drops for flavor (ketchup has a lot of carbs even the less sugar and salt ones)
Mustard - a couple of drops for flavor (Swedish mustard tends to be on the sweeter side)

You can use the lettuce leaves to wrap up the burger to hold it, or use a fork and knife to eat it. 


We were lazy and super hungry yesterday so we bought frozen beef burger patties.  I was glad I looked at the carb info since the ones we usually buy had 6g of carbs per 90g patty.  I found a Tulip brand American Size all beef 110g patty with 0g carbs in it.  So we went with that one, and it was really good. 

LCHF Breakfast Bread by Lifezone

There's no point in taking a picture of the one I made since I took mine out the bowl too early and it broke in half.  This is the original recipe here LCHF Breakfast Bread by Lifezone, please view the page.  I didn't have coconut flour at home, but have a lot of shredded coconut, so I put some in the food processor and mixed away.  This little easy bread tastes pretty good, even my man who isn't doing LCHF liked it. 

2 breads / 1 portion

1 large egg
3 Tbsp almond flour (or coconut flour)
pinch of salt
25 g melted butter.

Whisk egg, salt and flour in a bowl using a fork. Melt butter and add to the mixture. Divide into two smaller bowls (like a cereal bowl) and microwave for 2 minutes. Remove from bowl and allow to cool a bit.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Snacks for LCHF

The options for snacking while on LCHF are very slim.  It's easy to avoid the temptation of snacking when you're alone, but when you have guests over or your dearest is snacking next to you it becomes tempting. 

Luckly there are some things you can snack on and feel pretty guilt free while on LCHF.  For example :

Beef Jerky or any type of jerky - make sure it's low in sugar, or you can make your own.
Pork Rind/flæskesvær - It's the only time in my life I can eat them without any guilt.  Thank god for the Danes and their flæskesvær it's heaven sent.
Cheese slices/pieces - with butter or cream cheese on it.  The higher the fat content the better.
Celerey - with butter or cream cheese.
Boiled Eggs - with butter or cream cheese or mayonaise.
Ham slices - with butter or cream cheese
1 piece Chocolate - 70% or higher.  I eat 86% dark chocolate since it is really low in carbs compared to 70%.
Brazil nuts - has only 3.8g of carbs per 100g.
Coconut butter mixed with Cocoa powder, cinnamon and heavy cream. 
Parmesan cheese chips - or any cheese chips  http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/snacks/r/cheesecrisps.htm
Heavy whipped cream - with cocoa poweder, vanilla powder, or with a little raspberries.
Meat chips - in Sweden there are moose and deer meat chips, in Germany there is pork chips.  Or take some ham slices and bake them in the oven.
Ölkorv/Salami - type meats sausages, make sure to check the carb amount.
Bacon strips - with cream cheese spread on top (one of my personal favorites).
High fat yoghurt - with shredded coconut or cinnamon.

Friday, July 15, 2011

A little bit of exercise and LCHF

When I started doing LCHF I wasn't exercising.  I've read some blogs of people doing LCHF and exercising, and those people tend to lose alot more weight per month than people who aren't exercising regularly. 

Three weeks ago I hurt my ankles, they were purple and swollen for a good two weeks. I had to stop doing my little workouts I began this year.  Finally after three weeks, I'm able to start jumping on my mini trampoline (rebounding).  It's something my mom showed me when I was visiting her.  I have bad knees from sports and the extra chunky booty doesn't help them with exercises.  So it feels great to jump around on the mini trampoline again.  It's a pretty good cardio and lower body workout without harsh impact on the joints. 

Yesterday I finally started to do some basic beginner yoga.  I've always been curious about yoga, but never bothered to try it out. It's amazing what a little bit of yoga can make you feel recharged and aware of your body posture.  All I have to say is no wonder why yogis/yoginis have great bodies.  I'll keep trying to do yoga since it's good to stretch and relax the body too. 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Japanese green tea and cream

Tonight we're drinking Japanese green tea (Ocha) , the real kind from Japan.  I haven't drank any green tea since I started LCHF, since I usually drink it with a  sweet or salty snack of some sort.  The snacks are usually something carb based, and well that's history now.

I don't munch with LCHF or get to really have desserts, I tend to drink coffee with heavy cream with vanilla and cinnamon.  For me it's sort of like a lil treat and it helps with the whole not snacking thing while my guy is munching away on chips, chocolates and candies. 

Instead of drinking the green tea plain like I usually do, I thought of the japanese sweet green tea au lait thing I tried before.  So I poured me a nice cup of green tea then topped it off with some heavy cream.  It tastes really similar to Matcha ice cream minus the sugar.  I love Matcha ice cream!  I think this Japanese green tea and cream will be my new favorite drink. (^.^)

LCHF Müesli

 Freshly baked müesli

LCHF Müesli
Metric
1 dl flax seeds
1 dl psyllium seeds
1.5 dl coconut flakes/shredded coconut
.5 dl almond flakes
.5 dl dehulled sunflower seeds
.25 dl crushed walnuts

1 dl water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 dash cardamom
50g butter (melted)

US measurement
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup psyllium seeds
3/4 cup coconut flakes/shredded coconut
1/4 cup almond flakes
1/4 cup dehulled sunflower seeds
1/8 cup crushed walnuts

1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 dash cardamom
1/4 cup butter (melted)

Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
Throw ingredients together in a large bowl and allow it to sit for ten minutes.
Place mixture on a cookie sheet/ oven pan/ etc.
Place in oven for 10 minutes.
Then mix the müesli and allow to cook for another 5-10 minutes until the surface is light golden brown and shiny.
Allow the müesli to cool down.
Store it in a tupperware or glass container.
Enjoy the müesli with some high fat yoghurt or crème fraîche.


I became pretty bored of eating eggs for breakfast every morning.  You can only do so many different versions of omelettes, fried eggs, and scrambled eggs.  Having a nice crunchy textured breakfast is a nice change.  The major plus of baking the müesli in the oven is that the smell fills up the whole house for hours, it reminds me of kanelbullar (Swedish cinnamon rolls).  In order to keep the müesli as low carb as possible I used mainly flax seeds and psyllium seeds which are both 0g carbs, and coconut flakes which is 3.4g carbs per 100g.  The almond flakes, walnuts and sunflower seeds aren't low carb, so I used a little just for flavor. 

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

My LCHF Gyoza Meatballs

My LCHF Gyoza Meatballs


My LCHF Gyoza Meatballs
Metric
800g minced meat 50% beef/ 50% pork
2 eggs
1/2 medium onion
6 garlic cloves
4-7 cabbage leaves
1 dl soy sauce
pepper to taste
around 3-4 shakes of ground ginger

US measurement
1.76 lbs minced meat 50% beef/ 50% pork
2 eggs
1/2 medium onion
6 garlic cloves
4-7 cabbage leaves
.42 cup soy sauce
pepper to taste
around 3-4 shakes of ground ginger

Add onion, garlic, and cabbage leaves into a food processor and process until ingredients are fine texture. 
Place meat into a large bowl, then add cabbage mixture, eggs, soy sauce, pepper and ginger to the bowl. 
Mix ingredients well with hands.
The mixture should look like this.

Mold meat mixture into small balls and place in a hot frying pan with canola oil(or whatever oil of choice) over medium-high heat.
Flip the meatballs over when the bottom side is browned.  When all sides are browned they're ready to take out.




Gyoza Sauce

Gyoza Sauce  
Soy sauce
Vinegar
for LCHF add Crème Fraîche


Mix ingredients in a bowl to taste.  Some people like their sauce more vinegary and some spicier.
To make the sauce LCHF, I put a couple of spoonfuls of crème fraîche into a bowl and then mixed in some of the gyoza sauce. 
LCHF Gyoza Sauce


I was really missing Asian food today.  This is the longest I've gone without eating something that wasn't an Asian dish.  Most Asian dishes are full of carbs like rice, noodles, and sugar.  So it's a cusine that's a mostly left out in LCHF.  I really love gyozas but their skin is made from dough.  But I was desperate today and made gyoza meatballs, and added crème fraîche to the sauce.  I ate my gyoza meatballs with some zucchini stir fry.  I wonder what other Asian dishes I can make into LCHF versions...   

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Second Weekly Weight Update

It's now been 2 weeks since I started eating LCHF.  Two whole weeks without sugar, I would have never ever thought it was possible before.  It's been pretty easy so far, though there are times when I do feel a bit tired of making sure I eat enough fat.  There are also times when I just feel like oh just one bite of milk chocolate, well that was because everyone around me was eating Marabou Sensations (Marabou is a popular Swedish chocolate brand).  I thought about the carbs, and about if I cheat on the diet then it'll just adds more weeks to it.  Chocolate you yummy but evil  you!

So I'm still counting carbs, and trying to make sure I don't go over 20g of carbs a day.  The results are worth it, since I am starting to notice my clothes fitting differently.

Here is the second weekly weight update:

-2 lbs (-0.91kg)
 Total amount since started: -5.6 lbs (2.54kg)

Sunday, July 10, 2011

LCHF Coconut Panna Cotta

LCHF Coconut Panna Cotta with Raspberries (with a lil extra vanilla)
 

LCHF Coconut Panna Cotta Recipe for 6 portions
Metric                                                                          
5 dl heavy cream                                                             
2 dl coconut flakes/shredded coconut                           
tablespoon coconut butter                                           
2 gelatin sheets (or 1 teaspoon gelatin powder)          
1/2-1 teaspoon vanilla powder                                       
Raspberries and Blueberries for garnish

US measurement
2.11 cup heavy cream
.85 cup shredded coconut
1 tablespoon coconut butter

2 gelatin sheets (or 1 teaspoon gelatin powder)
1/2-1 teaspoon vanilla powder
Raspberries and Blueberries for garnish


Place the gelatin sheets in water for 5 minutes, so they become soft.  Squeeze out the water from the sheets when they're soft.

Place the heavy cream and coconut butter in a pot and allow it to heat up.  Make sure you don't have the heat too high or else it'll burn.  Turn off the heat when it starts to boil (but don't move the pot) and add the shredded coconut.  Make sure that they don't boil over or burn.

Add the vanilla powder into the pot and take the pot off the stove.  Add the gelatin sheets and allow them to melt into the mixture while stirring.

Place the mixture into cute dessert glasses and allow them to chill for at least 3 hours in the fridge, the longer the better. 

Before serving, garnish the panna cotta with some raspberries and blueberries.


Friday night we had guests over for dinner.  So I decided to try out a dessert recipe I found earlier in the week from Liv Utan Socker.  I made mine according to the recipe, and made the rest with 250ml of sugar for the non-LCHFers.  When I added the sugar I took a pinky tip taste and it was delicious.  Though at dessert time mine tasted ok, but I got really bored of it soon.  Everyone else was enjoying their Coconut Panna Cotta very much, there were ohhhs and ahhhs and yums.  I felt that we weren't all experiencing the same dessert.  Maybe I should have never taken a lil taste test of the sugar one to see if it was sweet enough for the non-LCHFers, since I kept comparing my panna cotta with the taste test.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Congratulations Hanna!

I'm really new to LCHF, and about three weeks ago when I started to look for information on LCHF I ran into HannaKJonsson's blog.  I felt more confident in trying LCHF after reading her blog.

Today is Hanna's one year anniverssary living on LCHF, she's lost an amazing 34kg (74.8 lbs). CLICK on the link to see her picture results, if you use Google Chrome you can also use the translate feature to read it in English. http://hannakjonsson.blogg.se/category/hanna-2-bloggar.html

I think she's very inspirational because she's kept up with LCHF for a whole year and lost a lot of weight.  Grattis Hanna! 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Sugar Substitutes = Headache

The Swedish LCHF sites recommend to stay away from sugar substitutes/artificial sweeteners.  But I've ran into quite a few Swedish LCHF recipes that use sugar substitutes.  A friend of mine last week had a bottle of  Fanta Free Orange, so I gave it a try and  it tasted strange.  It made my mouth feel heavy and had a very awkward sweet and fake taste.  My brain knew it wasn't really sugar so it felt unsatisfying drinking the soda, there wasn't that wonderful "Ahhhhhhh satisfaction!" feeling.  So I wasn't able to drink even half a small cup.

Today I tried Pepsi Max, I heard that it tasted more like the real thing.  I drank less than 250ml out of a 500ml bottle.  I had to admit it did taste better than the Fanta Free Orange, and wasn't as heavy tasting. Though in the end Pepsi Max still had that very fake sweetness, and it doesn't come close to Regular Pepsi.  I was only able to drink the Pepsi Max by having lots of ice cubes, and two lemon wedges worth of lemon juice in it.  Again, I didn't get that satisfaction feeling, and before I got half way done with it I started to get a headache.  I tossed the rest in my glass away, and enjoyed a nice cold glass of water with my dinner.  

I learned a huge lesson today.   I never liked artificial sweeteners before, and I definitely don't like them now.  From now on I will not experiment with any more sugar substitutes.  I get more of a sweet satisfaction from eating a bit of tomato (^.^)

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Dreams of Sweet Pastries and Onigiri

The other night I had a dream where I ate yummy sweet pastries, I think they were danishes or pain au chocolat.  Then as soon as I finished eatting them I realized that I am doing LCHF and I can't have flour or breads.  Talk about an evil tease.

Then this morning I woke up from a dream where I was at a Japanese shopping mall, and I had an onigiri (Rice ball http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onigiri ) filled with takuan and natto talk about weird combo.  I ate the whole onigiri and then realized OMG NOOOOOOO my diet!!!  Rice is not allowed!  I woke up from the dream thinking "Nooo!", and realized it was just a dream, whew.  But boy did that rice taste so good, I swear it was rice from Tohoku, so soft, chewy and sweet. 

Dreams or nightmares?  I don't know, but I'm being teased even in my dreams.  Hopefully at least in the dreams I will be able to enjoy those carbs, and not feel the guilt. (>_<)  

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

First Weekly Weight Update!

It's been seven days of doing LCHF, and I have to say it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I am eatting breakfast, dinner, and a snack inbetween.  I really don't feel that hungry inbetween the huge breakfast and dinner gap.  The first two days on the diet I noticed that by dinner time I'd get dizzy and felt a little strange, that's when I realized I must be hungry.  Thankfully the other days weren't like the first two.

There are times I have to force myself to eat.  We had a couple of really hot days when you just don't want to eat and if you did maybe some cold soba or a nice sub-sandwhich would be prefect.  I read that not taking enough calories with LCHF can actually make you not lose weight, your body will think it's starving and hold on to the weight.

Now it's time for my first weekly weight update. 

-3.6 lbs (-1.63kg)

That's -.6 lbs more than I did on one month of a normal workout and eat less diet.  The best part was that I wasn't starving myself.  I'm sure some will say it's water weight or something else, but most people doing LCHF do lose about half a pound to five pounds a week.  I can't wait to see what next week will be like!
  

Monday, July 4, 2011

Coffee Craving

This morning I had an unusual craving for coffee.  I drink coffee only a handful of times a year, and it's usually made candy sweet (as my man refers to the way I drink coffee).  Coffee in Sweden is made viking tough, which is thick and strong.  No sissy coffee drinking here in Sweden.  I'm more of a mild, soft and smooth (non-viking tough) type coffee person.  Today I drank the instant Nescafé coffee (I know yuck), but it's easy for me to water down to fit my taste.

It's amazing how much the tastebuds become so much more sensitive when you go without sugar/carbs for days.  Since I can't use sugar, I bought organic vanilla powder and peppermint oil incase i wanted a little extra something to my tea or maybe coffee.  I added a very tiny little itsy bit of vanilla powder with a dash of ground cinnamon and some real heavy 36% fat whipping cream.  Delicious!

 

Sunday, July 3, 2011

What I ate today

Just to give an idea of what I eat for my diet, I'm going to write down what I ate today.  For brunch I made an omelette with bacon, tomatoes and green onion with a side of creme fraiche to dip in. 

Tonight we ate grilled pork, spanish chorizo sausages, halloumi cheese, with my homemade mashed cauliflower, and bernaise sauce.  Then for dessert I had some LCHF chocolate ice cream from Alvesta.

I've never had or made mashed cauliflower before.  I saw on the LCHF websites that it's recommend as a replacement for mashed potatoes.  I had to adjust the recipe to my own style, and I have to admit it's pretty tastey. 

Start, Goal and 20g of Carbs

I started on LCHF on Tuesday 28 June 2011.  So far I feel really good and I've lost more weight than I did on that normal diet I did for a month.  I'll post the results at the 1 week mark, which is just a couple of days away.  My goal is to lose 40 lbs (18.18kg), any extra weight I lose will be an extra bonus.   

There are many people who follow LCHF as a lifestyle and not just as a diet plan to lose weight.  As someone who is trying to lose weight on LCHF, I've been following the max 20g of carbs a day, with only a max 5g (5%) of carbs out of 100g foods.  So instead of counting calories, I look for the carb amount on foods I buy now.  Not everything low carb is friendly to the diet, so checking out the nutrition info has become very important to me this past week.

Planning meals has become a completely different ball game.  Now I need to rethink or redo recipes to make it LFCH friendly.  I wonder how I'm going to be able to eat Asian foods since most of them are rice and noodle based, and marinated with sugar or contain sauces with sugar.  At least Kikkoman Soy Sauce is 0g of carbs.

How I found out about LCHF

About three weeks ago a friend of mine named Jonas tells me about a diet he's on called LCHF (Low Carb High Fat).  He found about LCHF from his sister in Göteborg(Gothenburg) who's a nutritionist.  At first I didn't think too much about the diet, thinking to myself there's no way I'm going to go on any diet where I cut out my beloved sugars. 

Then about a week later Jonas comes back over to hangout with us, and I noticed that he lost some weight.  I was shocked that he was showing results so quickly.  Thus, I began to ask him 101 questions about the diet, how he feels, does he ever feel hungry etc.  During dinner I barely ate because of the diet I was on to lose some weight, while he sat infront of us eatting like it was Christmas dinner and he was on a diet. 

That night I started to look for all the information I could find on the internet about LCHF.  After I read through  these websites http://www.lchf.se/  and http://www.alltomlchf.se/, I started to get curious about the people who have been on this diet and how their results were.  There are a handful of interesting Swedish blogs about their  LCHF diet/lifestyle.  From these blogs I found some great tips and info, I'll share these in another post. 

After working out and eating less I lost only 3 lbs (1.36kg) in a month, it felt I'd never loose any weight.  I was always hungry and really tired by 19:00 (7PM).  It was time to change diets, and give LCHF a shot for a couple of weeks.