THE BARRY MONTH OF MAY CHALLENGE

[Lise]

to all of our newbies...it is hard at first to get used to the percentages but it's more likely that you will naturally fall into them if you stick to the basics:

for me....I hit a new low today...201......I'll be so glad to say goodbye to the 200's forever....I am so happy to be living craving free and carb free and to know that I can eat until full and not worry about food again until I get hungry again...

Here is a quote from Natural Health and Weight Loss about getting started, starting on page 27:

Eat Food

You dont' eat 'nutrients', you eat 'food'. When you look at these examples remember, if you look to the carbs and use fat wherever you can, your body will take care of the amounts without your having to count anything. Once you get used to this way of eating, it will soon become second nature.

Breakfast Select from:

-Fried bacon, eggs, kidneys, omelettes
-Cold meats, ham and continental sausage (check the carbs in the sausage)
-Kippers (smoked herring), bloaters (pickled herring), or haddock either lightly fried or stewed in milk and butter
-Tea, cocoa or coffee with milk or cream, with a little sugar if you must.
-Starch reduced bread (if you can find one that doesn't contain soya) with butter but not jam or marmalade.

Lunch Select From:

-Any meat with it's fat left on.
-Any offal: liver, kidneys etc
-Cold meats.
-Omelettes.
-Cheese.
-Eggs, cooked any way.

Eat these with salad or vegetables with as much butter or olive oil as you like. Follow with:

-an apple or other small fruit, with or without cream; cheese.
-coffee, cocoa or tea with cream milk but no sugar.

If you prefer sandwiches almond and parmesan pancakes make a good flour free substitute for bread.

Evening meal

The evening meal or dinner follows the same rules as breakfast and lunch. If you like an alcoholic drink with your meal, bear in mind its carbohydrate content and treat it as any other food. Dry drinks are recommended.

Having said that, it is better to make dinner the smallest meal of the day if you can. My wife and I usually eat only about 100-140 g of a full fat cheese such as Brie or cream cheese, and fruit either on its own or with cream. We also usually drink unsweetened cocoa made with 100% cocoa powder, water and cream.

He gave examples of each meal but due to the fact that I'm at work I don't have the time to type everything out. I just wanted to point out that this way of eating is very simple. I will list the Day's totals for the three sample meals which are as follows:

Carbs: 72.3 g (12.1%)
Protein: 111.8 g (18.8%)
Fat: 182.9 g (69.1%)
Totals Cals 2382.5

As you can see, this way of eating is not low-calorie

End of Quote

I really recommend that if you don't already have the book to get it. It is full of detailed proof of why this way of eating is healthy for our bodies. Not just to lose weight but to get healthy and avoid the diseases of civilization such as diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease etc.

Have a great day

Lise

[Fabat40]

Thanks for the advice all. I have Barry's EFGT book (haven't finished it yet but getting there!) . I put everything that goes into my mouth into Food Focus (the UK version of Fitday) and try to analyse.

I think my main difficulty this last week has been 3 things:

1. My protein is still as high as fat on some days - this is one area I'm finding challenging to get right!
2. I'm not getting enough water down - some days I'm spot on, others I get stuck in conference calls and wind up the day finding I've only drunk 1/2 litre
3. I have to admit that every now and then I've had the odd glass of dry white wine! I had 2 glasses on Saturday night and I have a horrid feeling this may be contributing to the weight gain this week

I'm going to aim for finishing reading EFGT this weekend and I'm going to aim for making June an entirely alcohol free month. I know once I get it all right things will stop yo-yoing and start shifting...it's just getting all the aspects right!

Thanks for the advice everyone =)

[Kapri]

Eat Food

Lise,
Congrats on weight loss!! Thanks for tips, info and encouragement.

I found this all helpful and in particular.

'You dont' eat 'nutrients', you eat 'food'. When you look at these examples remember, if you look to the carbs and use fat wherever you can, your body will take care of the amounts without your having to count anything. Once you get used to this way of eating, it will soon become second nature.'

Regarding this not being a low calorie plan ...I do find that odd. But my week of losing three pounds was the fattiest and highest calorie and the week of putting on three pounds was much lower calorie with slightly too many carbs and sugar. I don't get it but am willing to experiment.


Also, I'm mildly dairy intolerant ..get puffy eyes, dark circles, cold symptoms if I over do. Is there anyone else in the group who is walking a fine line here? It really helps me to have double cream (you call it heavy cream) in coffee and cheese as part of meals, butters etc ...I don't think i could manage this diet without a reasonable level of dairy.

Milk seems to be a bady ..so can avoid that. I am anti all products Soy based.

Any dairy dodgy people out there who don't want to avoid but wish to include a moderate amount?

Kapri

[CarolynF]

Hi kids..and Lise: Thanks for the quote..

Gosh, Kapri, I have dark circles and puffy eyes, too..Could I be intolerate of dairy??? I thought it was old age..I know that Mary Kay can't do dairy..She is lactose intolerant.
Do you think the lactose is what you are allergic to? Heavy cream doesn't have many
carbs, so would that be okay? I think you have to figure out what works for you.

When I gain, I have eaten too many carbs. Taco chips are of the debil.

[sjl330]

Carolyn, I'm so glad your party was a success and that June enjoyed it. I hope you like your new neighbors too. Will Brett be gone all summer to school?

I cleaned all morning. Changed sheets, did some other laundry, walked the pooch and now I'm heading out to run a few errands.

[Kapri]

Hi!

Ha - lol !I think it is related to dairy for me..especially over-consumption of cappucinos. I really notice a difference if I have more than 3 or 4 a week ...start to look like I've been in a boxing match in the morning ..ok I exagerate but it is a it like that.

I'll check out what Mary Kay does for the lactose intolerance.

Thank you,
Kapri

[CarolynF]

Originally Posted by sjl330

Carolyn, I'm so glad your party was a success and that June enjoyed it. I hope you like your new neighbors too. Will Brett be gone all summer to school?

I cleaned all morning. Changed sheets, did some other laundry, walked the pooch and now I'm heading out to run a few errands.

Brett started his summer class this morning: Communications for Engineers. It is about technical writing. I glanced over the book and basically it says to keep it simple when doing technical writing. His professor is our neighbor's niece!! Wierd, huh. Our neighbor was at the party and is one of Brett's favorite high school teachers. However, the niece is a tough teacher..from the UK (LOLO) and knows her English.

Kapri: Oh noe!!!! I have cream in my coffee all the time. Guess I'll have to be more coverup.

[Kapri]

I'm not sure that cream in coffee is the bad news. It seems to be milky coffee that is especially bad -for some reason. I don't know if the proteins are different. Perhaps Mary Kay knows.

I would hate you to be worried about a regular joy. I'll let you know if this new approach (cutting back on milky coffees) helps with 'boxer face'...the jury's out on cream!

I'll report back,
Kapri

[Kapri]

'Cream: Here's a simple rule of thumb: the higher the fat content, the lower the lactose content. (Even whole milk has a tiny bit less lactose than skim milk.) Half-and-half has just over 4.0% lactose. Light or table cream runs just under 4.0% lactose. Whipping cream (also called light whipping cream) has somewhere between 3.0% and 3.5% lactose. Heavy cream has about 3.0% lactose. For most people, therefore, a splash of cream in their coffee contains too little lactose to be concerned about.'

Kapri (real name Kathryn)

[CarolynF]

Kathryn: That makes sense..More fat/less carbs/less lactose..

[ebheffernan]

Hi all!
I took a little break and have just been sticking with whole foods (meats, nuts, veggies, fruits) but I'm going to BG it again very soon! I've decided to cut the whole counting calories thing for a couple weeks and see where it takes me, I got burnt out doing fitday and this is a decent compromise so that I'm not going wild I have noticed that if I overdo it on meat and dairy fats I don't feel as well. Maybe the whole A blood type thing? I dunno......I also notice that agave doesn't do it for me, I get to feeling jittery and icky. So back to very small amts of rapadura/honey (like, teeny tiny) I feel good on nuts, but I need to start sprouting them. I am good with chicken, turkey, lean cuts of beef (fatty equals blah), and butter seems to be fine. High amounts of dairy also aren't good. I have to limit cheeses, milk, cream, etc. I do fine with one serving of a medium fat cheese per day (gouda is my fave). Oh, and if I have my fruit with a fat I do better with it (cream cheese, gouda, etc) usually only berries but sometimes 1 or 2 slices of apple. as for the dairy intolerance, I bet if you could find a source of raw cream you would do better with it. pasteurizing (esp ultra pasteurized) does something funky with the proteins. I LOVE the raw cream that rises to the top of the raw goat milk we buy, but it is only a tiny amount and you have to let the milk sit for like a week or so to get it-I'm the only one who likes it though so I'll carefully skim it off and gobble it up! Ghee is also good if you find you can't tolerate butter. You might try sheep's cheeses, esp raw sheeps cheese as the casein is pretty much nonexistent. Sometimes you can find sheep's yogurt too. Anyways, hope you find what works for you! It's fun figuring it out
Becky

[Kapri]

Carolyn,

Yes I think that miht explain things. NO excuse for me to go mad with cream that said ( a major temptation to knock back a whole 10 oz tub!)

Becky,

I'm really interested in getting hold of non-pasteurised dairy ..still researching possibilities here in London. Everything I read makes me want to give it a bash.

Thanks for the other tips too.

off to bed

Kathryn

[CindyCRNA]

Carolyn, thank you for the pudding recipe. I'm going to make it now with Almond Breeze. I was lamenting with others on another thread about the loss of Instone's protein pudding and thought I would try to come up with my own.

Becky, I love smoked Gouda! As for Agave, I understand that it's GI is only a little lower than honey so it really isn't much help.

Kathryn, I would think you would have less problem in the UK finding unprocessed dairy than we can here. Most here have to buy it in "the underground".

Went to Whole Foods today and was surprised to see organic, grass fed beef at about $6 a pound. That's $2 less per pound than the farm I was looking at getting it from. Plus I can get Omega 3 organic free range eggs at Costco so I feel bad to say it, but no need for the farm. Also bought organic milk for the first time as BF is a big milk drinker. And organic dark chocolate covered almonds (for the BF) and raw macadamia nut. The almonds were $14 a pound and I bought 2 pounds! I hope he likes them!

[TuscanGirl]

Sorry I've been gone all day!

DS got off fine - he's probably at O'Hare Airport. The plane leaves at 10:00pm.

DD22 and I looked at cars today. That's what my mom is giving her for graduation. She liked this one.



Kathryn - Yes, I'm totally lactose intolerant. It happened over the last few years and it's been a lot of adjustment.

I use almond or soy milk. And I've found tofu sour cream, cream cheese, and shredded cheese.

The carb counts aren't as good as regular dairy, but you're right - it's very hard to eat EFGT or even basic LC without dairy!
I miss cheese!

I don't have your symptoms, mine are all gastro-intestinal.

My full name is actually Mary Kathryn!

Carolyn - DS and the other kids all went to Chicago on a shuttle.
It's about 3 hours from here. The same shuttle will bring them back home too!

DH wants to go out of town for a couple of days tomorrow and I feel like I have so much going on - I don't have time to relax!
Does that make sense!

*insert heartfelt indies here*

[CindyCRNA]

Yes, MK, there are times you just want to sit at home! Out of town can be exhausting.

Carolyn, finished the pudding and didn't have to alter it. Stirred in the protein powder at the end. The prook will be tomorrow when it is cold and thick. I will see if it is too thick. I used Almond Breeze and 1 T of Fiberfit but the corn starch does add about 19 grams of carbs. I have a lot of other thickeners I can use so I will experiments but it made 5 puddings and here are the stats for 1 : Calories: 125, Fat: 5.4 grams, Carbs (net): 4, Protein: 7.7 grams

[CarolynF]

Hi...

Wow..your mom is so generous, MKay Is St. Louis about the same distance from you?
However, I'm sure Chicago has more reasonable fares.

Cindy: I was wondering how your pudding turned out. When I made the vanilla one, it wasn't really thick, but a nice texture. Sometimes different thickeners make stuff gluey..

Becky: Do what works for you.. I'm not sure I could do goat's milk, though..sorry.

Kathryn: I'm a creamaholic for sure..So, I have to temper myself..

Cya in the a.m.

[Kapri]

Hi Cindy,

I missed your first message ..I'm using Fitday now on your recommendation and got a good score yesterday. Hoorah.

Good re raw dairy. Yes I am hopeful re a less regulated situation over here on the raw dairy front. There are farms and farm shops that produce it - my challenge is getting to a supplier for this area.

Wholefoolds do grass-fed beef ?Hoorah. We have a massive Wholefoods in Kensington ..I'll go and explore.

Oh ..I'm surprised about the Agave Nectar ..thought it was a godsend ...it is very sweet that said and perhaps there are no true short cuts when it comes to sweetness... I sometimes have it in heavy cream as a pudding and it is dangerously moreish... argh.

Carolyn,

Good to encounter a fellow creamaholic. Perhaps there is a twelve step group for us... it is most dangerous for me with said Agave Nectar or fruit. ha!

Down to work - it has been lovely posting here and I have burned my breakfast (blue cheese egg pancakes and bacon). This made me laugh.

Kathryn

Mary Kathryn (!) Hi there.

What a pain re the lactose intolerance. It must require ingenuity. Because mine is mild ..I have to keep an eye on it. I can make myself ill too.

It sounds like you can't eat any other animal dairy like goats or sheep too. Is that the case?

Have you ever explored raw dairy? Some people think it is the de-natured quality of the proteins that create the intolerance?? That's why I want to explore it a bit to see if it helps.

I'm going to be using a lot of coconut oil and some almond milk to keep the balance reasonable + try to keep an eye on puffyness and cold symptoms.

[Kapri]

Carolyn,

I think it's supposed to be a sign of our mild intolerance that we have an addictive attraction to cream. Barry G talks about the fat gauge that stops you over-doing it. That works well for me generally but not with cream (or yoghurt ..especially Greek Yoghurt...).

Have a good day,

Kathryn

[sjl330]

Hi, my name is Sandy and I am a creamaholic. You can add me to the 12 step program too. I don't seem to have any other lactose intolerances but I do think I could drink cream all day long. No, I haven't actually done that,...yet....but I never feel overfull when I drink it.

We have a nice gentle rain this a.m. I need to go to the gym and then a few more cleaning jobs around here. I probably need to try to make it to the grocery store too.

Cindy, did you hear any news on DHOR27?

Lise, it was great to see you posting!!! And you're doing great! I sent you a PM last week and was getting worried about you, so it's nice to see you're still around. I know how busy life can get. Is Kate out of school for the year yet?

Have a great day everybody!

[SuSUN]

Dropping in to say Hi, been MIA since our Florida vacation. Been enjoying this glorious weather up here after our long winter.
Glad to see you are all still at it, getting back at it myself.
Sandy, I too could drink cream all day.

Will have to catch up on all your posts.

Waving to Carolyn and All,

Susan
131.2# this a.m.

[Kapri]

Hi Sandy,

Perhaps we could start a movement lol!!

Great to meet another creamaholic!

Kathryn

[Fabat40]

Hello all, hope everyone is good today!

I'm staying away from the scales whilst I tinker. I've done breakfast/lunch today and am up to 1200 calories on a breakfast of bacon/fried egg and a lunch of micro pork rinds with 2 tbl blue cheese dressing and some brie. All that's given me 80g protein, 94g fat and 3g carbs. Unfortunately Food Focus doesn't give you a percentage.

[TuscanGirl]

Morning!

Susan!!!! Welcome back!

Kathryn - I thought I could have goat's cheese - but no - that didn't work either!
Sigh.

I haven't tried raw products, but I'm not sure where I would get them here. It's amazing where milk is hidden - in certain candy even, like red licorice!

Carolyn - yeah, mom is pretty generous with her money - it used to come with a big price tag, but now she doesn't remember.

The Chicago airport is farther than St Louis (3 hours vs 2) but overseas flights seem to go out of O'Hare more - at least the kids have always flown from there.
I got a phone call that the kids just landed in Frankfurt, Germany!!

DH and I are picking up DD25 from the St Louis airport today - she's coming back from a Florida vacation and then we're going on our jaunt. I hope we're home by Saturday.

Have a great week!

[Buffy45]

Morning dear friends and our new friends,

Let's see, night before last I woke up sick with reflux, coughing and the dreaded diarrhea that the metformin gives me and at times is horrible. (Endo appt. is tomorrow, I am getting off that stuff!!, at least I hope). Was sick in bed half the day yesterday so got nothing done, didn't even get on the computer so getting caught up with all the posts from yesterday.

Carolyn, glad the party for June went well, I am sure she was so happy you had that for her to say goodbye to so many friends and neighbors.

Whoo Hoo MK, nice car for DD, it is nice when grandparents can chip in and help with those big ticket items.

Love the picture of Carolyn and Sandy.

I am going to the 4th grade poem reading party for DGS 9 today, he called last night to ask me if I could attend so of course I said yes. It is nice when they have things that grandparents/parents/etc. can attend but I always feel bad for the little ones who don't have anyone special come to see them, I always try to take time to talk to each of them and tell them how much I enjoyed their part as well.

I think my mood is lifting a little, I hope. I hate feeling depressed!

MK, have fun on your jaunt, do you know yet where you are going?

[Buffy45]

Hi Susan and Lise, so good to see you here again!

Cindy, hope you get good news on DHOR 27.

Hope everyone has a great day!

[Kapri]

Leeway?

Ladies, quickie question. I am now at the 60g carb stage ..it is 4pm.

Do you ladies allow yourself any leeway? I noticed in Barry's book that some of his recipes/days end up adding up to 67g for instance.

Kathryn

[Lise]

Kathryn I wouldn't give myself any leeway. Try and eat fatty meat for the rest of the day like a nice juicy ribeye with a side of low carb veggie. Barry has a couple of lists of how much veg you can eat for 5 or 10 carbs. Have that as a side to your fatty meat and you will stay in your percentage for that meal. Percentages are not for the whole day. They are per meal. If you've had too much carb with your first 2 meals then so be it. It's in the past. Just try to look at each meal and decide if you have enough fat or too much carb. If not fix it before you eat and then eat and then don't worry about food again until the next meal. This plan is very simple. Just try not to complicate it or overthink it. Eat fat, moderate protein and moderate carb and you will lose weight and get healthy.

I can't remember who said that they couldn't handle fatty meat and would eat lean chicken breast. You may have trouble with this plan since it is eat fat get thin. Barry recommends eating the fattiest cuts of meat you can find. Chicken thighs with the fat, fatty beef, duck...etc. If I remember correctly he recommends tallow, lard, CO and olive oil for fats.

Hi Susan and welcome home

Buffy...everytime I read one of your posts about how sick Metformin makes you I just feel so bad...I remember when I first came here and you were doing so well following the plan and keeping your blood sugars low....I was so sure that you would be able to get off that nasty stuff and heal yourself with diet...I really hope you are able to get back into the right frame of mind so that you can feel better...I know it can be done because I did it myself...last April when I was diagnosed as type 2 diabetic my AIC was 7.9 and now with 13 months of dropping the sugar/starch and about 6 months of that following EFGT my A1C's as of last week are in the normal range..6 to be exact...I'm doing backflips I'm so happy and you can do it too....I know you can

So now I will report that I'm down another lb today...I have lost exactly 30 lbs since last April...it's been slow but steady....I did stall out from December 08 and only started to lose again in April when I drastically cut my carbs even lower but it's the same principal and I feel so healthy...1 more lb till onederland and no place to go but down

Sandy....thanks for missing me...I haven't posted much because I get a little frustrated when people tweak the program too much and then wonder why they don't lose but I've decided just to speak my mind and have people either love me or hate me....I can't do anything about what people think about me but I've decided not to keep quiet anymore...Kate still has school until the end of June...soccer has started...they lost their first game and tied their second just last night....after the game I brought Kate and her friend for ice cream sundae's at McDonalds because they had free coupons that would expire on the 30th...I didn't have anything and I wasn't even tempted...I'm loving the food freedom now that I have killed my cravings by taking anything sweet out of my life...it truly is amazing

have a great EFGT day

Lise

[CarolynF]

Hi...

Quick answer..60 grams of carbs is alot. Have a nice protein dinner..and maybe a green salad. Everyone is so different on the carb thing, but I would hestitate to go much higher unless you cut back on the fat.

Hey..Susan..glad to see you.. Florida sounds like a fun vacation.

On the "creamaholic" thing..Dr. A. would say no more than 4 Tbs. of heavy cream a day.
Cream is so darned nommie and we could easily overdo it. As opposed to eating 4 Tbs. of butter, which would be more self-limiting.

Buffy: We are all hoping and praying that your endo appointment will be a "good" one..

MKay: That is really kind of your mom..But not remembering is kinda bad.. My mom went through that..She used to ask me, "Who raised you?"..However, my bros and I had a good sense of humor about it..

Cindy/Sandy: Can't wait to see you ladies in the a.m...I'm leaving at 6:00 cuz I have many bathroom stops along they way...My Des Moines friends will get there around 1:00, so we will have plenty of time to go to the Nutrition place, etc..

Hugs all around..

I got my Active thing for the Wii today. It was a partial Mother's Day gift from Beth/Shawn..Now, I have to plug it in.

Lise: You will be in Onederland soon for sure.. Hopefully, the girls will give you a party..Speaking of diabetes..There was a lady at the Dollar Store today..She looked fantastic..She is on a LC diet because of her diabetes..She can have 10 french fries..LOL..

[sjl330]

I can't speak for the others Lise, but it sure doesn't bother me for you to speak your mind. It actually is very inspirational to me. Even if I might not be doing everything right at the time, when I read a post like you just posted it is a real encouragement to me. The other side of the coin of course is if it is discouraging for you to see everybody tweaking and actually falling off the wagon so much. I totally understand that too. But if you can keep posting here, please do. I think we can all use some "no nonsense advice" on doing this EFGT and doing it right.

[Lise]

Thanks Sandy...you're a real peach.......

Oh and I loved the picture of you and Carolyn...good times