Monday, 15 January 2018

Low-carb January – 15 days in


Hi readers,

How are you all today? Are you well? Have you survived Monday and made it out the other side, a stronger yet more wearied soul?

I hope you’re not too wearied, readers! I’m feeling a little rough myself. Was hit by a sudden, quite intense cold over the weekend (literally – it felt like I’d been hit in the right side of my face!) and I’m still trying to get back to normal. Resting and drinking much water.

These last few days, I’ve been relishing long, warm showers. And my book – I’m currently reading Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Liz Gilbert, and enjoy her thoughts on the topic. Also, I keep listening to Want Your Feeling by Jessie Ware, and Erase/Rewind by The Cardigans. These songs are on my mind.

And I’m almost half way through low-carb January – hurray!! Taking stock of how I’m finding things so far, in case you’re interested in trying out a low-carb diet yourself, I’ve had a go at noting down my main ups and downs with it so far…

The ups:

·      I’m often full – it’s rare that I’ve been feeling hungry. I just eat at mealtimes and if I’m flagging / feeling lightheaded otherwise.

·      I’m saving money on alcohol – it only takes one glass of wine to give me rosy cheeks at the moment, two and I’m tipsy.

·      I’m excited to try new recipes and meals and ingredients – it’s introducing fresh ideas in the kitchen and different flavours to my plate.

·      I really appreciate treats – whether it be a few squares of dark chocolate, a mug of hot chocolate, a chocolate mousse, a few spoons of peanut butter… I’m very grateful for these now.

The downs:

·      I’m not really up to high intensity exercise – running and any exercise classes involving jumping up and down have my heart soon racing.

·      I’m finding it hard to adjust to buying the ‘full fat’ version of foods, as I never have since I began buying my own foods.

·      It’s not a diet everyone’s on top of – friends and family range from bemused to bewildered and, so far, only my mum has offered to try and feed me.

·      I’m burning money on fruit – berries and avocados aren’t exactly the cheapest fresh produce, but my diet would be sad without them.

·      My complexion’s taken a hit – I immediately broke out in spots when I changed my diet and this is only just calming down now. I’ve had them literally everywhere.

I’ll be interested to see how things have changed by the end of the month! Will I have more ups or downs in the end?? 


I can tell you one thing fo sho – I will CERTAINLY be ready for a cheat day on the 1st Feb with cereal, orange juice, a banana, pizza and peanut M&Ms. Cannot cannot wait.

In the meanwhile, readers, I can link you to a few dazzlingly low-carb recipes I tried out over the weekend, as I had friends visiting me in Sheffield. For this special occasion, and in a bid to wow them with the wonders of low-carb dieting, I took on some proper recipes.

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RECIPE TIME

For dinner on Saturday night we enjoyed a Keto goat cheese and mushroom frittata…





Click HERE for the recipe.

… then, for dessert, we tucked into Low-carb coconut and chocolate puddings!


Click HERE for the recipe.

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And I would recommend both recipes, readers. I managed to prepare both in advance, so everything was breezy on the night. I was just setting the table, dressing salad, and pouring wine, as the frittata reheated.

Then I served my puddings with a blob of crème fraiche on the top, and a little grated dark choc. Which worked a treat. I’d initially been a little disappointed when I poured the pudding mix out into ramekins, as it doesn’t look like that much. But, really, it’s such a rich dessert you couldn’t eat much more. And that’s coming from me – a certifiable chocaholic.


I really like how, on the Diet Doctor website, you can easily adjust the recipe to display either English or US ingredient measurements, and you can set the quantities for exactly how many people you’re feeding. This doesn’t always work out – you might get 1 ¼ eggs! – but it often does and it saves cooking more than you’ll need.

The one thing I would say, when it comes to the frittata, is mine needed longer in the oven than the recipe specified and then still wasn’t quite set in the middle. This could be how it’s meant to be. And it could be due to the fact I was using a deep cake tin rather than a skillet.


 But, if you’re the kind of human that likes a frittata to be 100% set all the way through, I’d leave yourself a little extra oven time just in case and skewer in the middle before removing from the oven. If your skewer comes out clean and dry – then you’re good to go!

What do you think, readers? Would you give these recipes a try at your next dinner party? Do you think your guests would enjoy? Would YOU enjoy, most importantly? I hope you have a dinner party occasion soon, readers. It’s fun to host!


 I’ll leave you to tackle the week ahead, readers. Should you have any low-carb inspiration for me – please fire away! I have 16 more days to go until February. And if you have a song or a book you’re living by at the moment, please do share. It’s interesting to hear what gets us all through January.

Take care, lovely readers.

And skewer safely,


Hayley



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