Best everyday diet or pcos

sabreena · 10-01-2005, 06:59 PM

Hi Girls,
what do you think is best to eat specailly since we are not really suppose to eat carbs, so whats best eaten at breakfast as i usally have kellogs k cereal which is full of carbs!!

and yes do you think its possible to loose a stone in two weeks time??

PollySis · 10-02-2005, 01:53 PM

Lose a stone in a fortnight? I seriously doubt it. Some of the crankier fad diets may promise you massive weight loss during their induction phases - but that sort of loss is not likely, or sustainable. The best way to lose weight is to eat sensibly and exercise more - and there are no short cuts. I once lost 9lb in the first 2 weeks of a low carb diet but my body then firmly protested by sticking at that weight then gaining it all back and some within just weeks! The thing is, if you eat sensibly and exercise more (doing things you find fun), you will FEEL a stone lighter in the first 2 weeks. Much of that early loss is just water, in any case.

Any diet that promises you massive instant weight loss is either lying or, basically, a starvation diet - whatever you lsoe at the start you'll regain with interest pretty fast. Whatever weight you lose is only temporary, as the body fights back. Any diet that asks you to eat a really narrow restricted few things is something to avoid.

Best for breakfast? I have 50g of porridge made with a tiny bit of skimmed milk, mainly water, and either honey or (sin of sins!) golden syrup. Other days I have a yogurt and 2 pieces of fruit, or 2 Weetabix and skimmed milk. My organic porridge is the favourite though! I'm not bothered about carbs so long as they're *good* carbs.

Any of Rosemary Conley's books have long lists of suggestions for breakfasts - fruit based, cereal based or even cooked!

There's no law that says we can't eat carbs! Just better to stick with the *complex* (Low GI) ones - so have pasta and bread but make it wholemeal, etc. Fruit and veg are full of carbs. I think there's been a lot of paranoia about carbs, but basically, they are the fuel your body can use to burn fat. I try and keep my fat intake down to less than 40g a day, and my protein at least 60g and track it all on an online diet and fitness tracker. If you follow a low fat, sensible eating plan and exercise too, you will lose at least the same amount of weight as anyone low carbing - and you will stand a better chance of keeping it off, as you have a healthy diet you can realistically sustain.

If you control the amounts you eat, as well - so become aware of how much milk you get through (even in hot drinks) in a day... weigh out the cereal (1 and a half oz a day, or 2 at a push...)

I've been losing around 2lb a week on a diet that's 60% carbs. (I follow the Rosemary Conley diet - nothing over 5% fat, except for a treat every day). In under 3 months I've gone down 3 dress sizes - all on carbs!

Sugar is not a good idea - and that should be avoided... but you can eat well and avoid it pretty well entirely except for the natural sugars in fruit, veg and milk. I dunno if you're confusing sugar with carbs?

Whether you low carb or just eat healthily (maybe follow a low fat diet or the GI diet), you will lose weight and your PCOS symptoms should lessen as the weight goes.

*tinks* · 10-02-2005, 02:20 PM

Hey, i agree with pollysis - porridge is definately the best thing for breakfast - although it is carbs it releases its energy slowly - i have it with skimmed milk, a little honey and a small greenish banana - its great on those cold winter mornings!
i dont think u can lose that much in that amount of time - but if u exercise and eat sensibly then u shud be able to lose a bit and tone up - dont go so much by ur weight - go by how ur clothes fit as muscle weighs more than fat.
i saw a nutritionist and she said to eat a balanced diet - not to not eat carbs but just to watch how much i eat and that they're unrefined - try things such as brown rice, stoneground wholemeal bread, wholewheat pasta (avoid white bread, white pasta...). another thing is watch your portion sizes - i used to eat much more than i actually need - nowat dinner my plate is a quarter of meat (or some other form of protien - about the size of a deck of cards -i try to eat fish - such as mackerel, salmon, tuna, sardines, and meats such as chicken, turkey, but go easy on the red meat which tends to be higher in saturated fat), a quater rice/pasta or other carbs and half veg. then follow with a bit of low fat yoghurt with fruit if u want. the GI diet is a good one to follow. and if u do want a treat just have one biscuit but eat it with/after a balnced meal so it doesnt lead to a rapid increase and then fall in blood sugar which leaves you craving more.
as pollysis said its not dont eat any carbs - otherwise i find i end up with even more uncontrollable cravings, just eat some but not too much and i find its good to snack on things like nuts and seeds with a bit of dried fruit if u want something sweet, or a bit of peanut butter (the cruchy organic kind!) on an oatcake. and drinking lots of green tea and herbal teas i find helps to fill me up and stops me wanting to snack so much in between meals, also drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day
and as i said before - for me exercise is the key - cos altho u may not lose weight it helps with insulin resistance and helps boost your metabolism so in the long run u burn more calories!
anyway thats just my opinion - different things work for different people - but at the moment this is working for me!
good luck
hope to help
claire xxx

sabreena · 10-02-2005, 07:27 PM

HI Girls thanks for your advice, its just that i am really fed up with being over weight now, and would like nothing but loose it all really quick but i know that would be a stupid thing to do cos i will put it all back on as you said...
well i supose its good bye to kellogs k and big curries and rice at night...
the thing is i am not usally a pasta eater, i usually just have curries as i was brought up in an asian family i cant seem to give up my indian food. which i think is my downfall...but i will have to if i want to do somthing about this..
Thankyou again..

PollySis · 10-03-2005, 11:25 AM

Hey Sabreena, it's not goodbye to curries! If you make them from scratch, using tinned tomatoes as a base, and adding the curry spices - and use Quorn, or a low fat meat like chicken - you can have a very low fat curry! Nothing wrong with brown rice, either! I have even found low fat Naan breads (Tescos). I invested in a really good non stick wok - and dry fry (that's *frying* without any oil) the Quorn and veg in it first, then cook the curry in it (like a Balti). Very low fat and tastes just great. I found a curry specialist shop where the bloke mixes up the spices for you, so you can pick whatever you like - but those curry spices you get in any supermarket work just fine, too!

If you're in a hurry, Homepride do a *curry* sauce that's not so good as the real thing but also very low in fat - it's about as hot as a Korma. You just need to add meat and veg.

sabreena · 10-03-2005, 07:34 PM

Hi Pollysis,
I have been cooking for a long time and my mum is a great cook so i have inherited that from her and i am a very good cook if i say so myself.
i have never cooked curries with cream or yogurt and always cook from scratch as i dont believe in ready made meals!!
my problem is that i do add a lot of oil in the curry making process and i eat very large protions!! i never buy ready made meals apart form nan's maybe cos making nan is a long process, but usually i just make chapati's or pilao made from basmati rice but i dont boil the rice i do cook it with fried onions so i suppose thats quite fattening as well.

i have experimented with brown rice which for some reason does not come out very well and i think it tastes no where near as good as white basmati rice :{
but i hguess as you say i should experiment with less oil or no oil, and use brown rice and yes more importantly than anything else eat half the amount i usally eat as i do eat a lot in the evenings...

PollySis · 10-03-2005, 09:59 PM

I must admit I didn't even realise you could dry fry things with zero oil, if you have a good enough pan - until I tried it! It's not as good as a real curry - but not far off, and better than nothing if you miss a good curry! If you can't bear to have no oil, have you tried those oil spray cans you can get?

Portion control is less of an issue anyway if you use no oil at all - and do a vegetarian, Quorn or chicken curry - you could probably eat til you're full without doing so much damage, if there's no oil in there to start off with... I've made it a rule I never let myself get hungry, or end a meal still feeling hungry - and have still managed to lose a couple of pounds, most weeks. So it's possible! If I eat a lot of something - I just exercise more that day!

If you already cook from scratch then basically all you're doing is eliminating the fat and oil which doesn't make for traditional Indian (or Italian!) cookery, but works better than you'd think!

I follow a low fat diet which means absolutely no butter (or the supposedly *healthy* spreads like Flora), no oil at all used in cooking, and no foods over 5% fat - and have found that it doesn't take long to adjust to it to the point that after the first month you'll feel repelled by eating anything oily! The only oily foods allowed are fish and a limited amount of eggs and low fat cheese and a limited amount of skimmed milk per day. Once you adjust, you find you can make most of your favourite foods just in a low fat version.

It might not be the curry you're used to - but it is possible to continue to eat the things you love, in a modified form, rather than suffer and go without (which just leads to bingeing, or breaking the diet entirely).

Good luck with it Sabreena - you can do this!