[lagerstarfish]

Aldi have good (and cheap) frozen chicken breasts, tuna steaks, pieces of salmon and white fish. if I'm still hungry at the end of a meal I cook a piece of one of these (steamed is good) and eat until I'm not hungry - saving the left over bit for the morning/lunch.
Aldi's frikadellen (ready cooked) are great to have in for quick snacks/lunch. They also do some nice pieces of hot smoked salmon with different herbs/spices.

[tomtom]

Aldi have good (and cheap) frozen chicken breasts, tuna steaks, pieces of salmon and white fish. if I'm still hungry at the end of a meal I cook a piece of one of these (steamed is good) and eat until I'm not hungry - saving the left over bit for the morning/lunch.
Aldi's frikadellen (ready cooked) are great to have in for quick snacks/lunch. They also do some nice pieces of hot smoked salmon with different herbs/spices.

Lagers, do you eat until you are full or until you are not hungry any more... going by the latter can be important too.,..

[SA Chris]

Try and avoid sauce based curries as much as possible, the sauce is usually heavy in fats (and they are bad fats). Cook using paste or curry powder and use chopped  tomatoes or puree watered down as a base.

[tommytwotone]

I'm still not sure about the whole carb embrago thing - while I have absolutely no background in SCIENCE, I thought that if you stuck the the low-GI carbs in sensible amounts then they were considered OK. A guy I climbed with reckoned that lean meat with low GI carbs and veg was pretty sensible.

I've recently switched to brown rice instead of white, wholemeal pasta etc and it does seem to mean that I last longer between meals.

Back on topic, how about looking at some vegetarian cookbooks? I've got a couple of cracking chickpea / lentil based recipes that are really tasty and healthy as well.

[Jim]

Some great input here - thanks.

The thing with brown or wholemeal rice/pasta as well is that it tastes a lot better better than white rice/pasta

[GCW]

The Boss is on the Slimming World diet, the new version.  SHe's done really well and lost a stone.

Anyway, you can basically eat as much fruit, veg and meat as you want as long as it isn't deep fried.  You're supposed to avoid using oil and shit but the basic idea is sound.  No sugary shit/chocolate etc, and limited alcohol.  I've cut down from <ahem> beers a day to one, and I've lost 5kg in a month or so.  Otherwise I'm doing little different.

[Richie Crouch]

I've just had an amazing homemade thai green curry with rice and in keeping in line with the spirit of the thread, washed it down with vino and 5 pancakes then some cholocate truffles. Score.  

On a more sombre note, I have been attempting to improve my daytime diet by large breakfast, a banana mid morning and then a tin of tuna + a couple slices of cheese and more fruit for lunch. Then another larger meal in the evening. (This does usually involve carbs but I don't seem to suffer from a slow metabolism yet!)

I drink a bit too much caffeine at the moment but I am sure this helps speed the metabolism allowing for more carbs to go in without the adverse effects... need some science  

[Adam Lincoln]

I've lost 5kg in a month or so.  Otherwise I'm doing little different.

Thought you were looking slim in your St Bees vid. 

[tommytwotone]

Some great input here - thanks.

The thing with brown or wholemeal rice/pasta as well is that it tastes a lot better better than white rice/pasta

Indeed - and I don't think it's *that* bad to eat a balance of them, compared to say all the Atkins shit you hear about, which might make you lose weight but with the compromises of dog-breath, lack of energy and increased cholesterol. Actuallly, hang about, ignore me - that description could be me and I'm not even on the Atkins...

Oh, and if you fancy falling off the wagon, while searching for a recipe I just came across the recipe for 'Mozzarella in carozza' that my old Italian housemate made for us once...safe to say it breaks pretty much every rule that's been laid out in this thread to date.

Nice though...http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/mozzarellaencarozza_89236.shtml

[Carnage]

has been mainly due to ditching high carb foods and eating more meat, fish and green veg. It

I can vouch this. I needed to drop some lard accumulated from 6 months on the bench and ditching the starchy carbs (white bread/rice/pasta) and eating more meat was key.

Also I ditched the beer and moved on to the Voddie and Slimline. Doesn't do you any favours asking for this in some of the Aussie pubs i've been in, but the effect on ones lard deposits is worth a few black eyes.  ;)

I know the jurys out but I also munch a couple of CLA caps with each meal. I'm not sure about all the fat burning waffle that goes with them but I think (which is very important with any borderline placebo) they can be beneficial in increasing lean muscle.  

[benj_d]

I am 17 and I dont have to care about these things. Its great...

Saying that, I do try to eat more fruit and veg and to not eat more than enough to satisfy my hunger. Looking at my father, I may have to prepare well...

[Houdini]

Ditch basmati in favour of large grade bulgur wheat.  Wheat itself is also great and about as low GI as it gets, soak it overnight - lightly boil in the morning, rinse it cold and make salads with chopped fresh tomato and fresh red chilli: very filling indeed.

Poach or steam as much as you can tolerate (which makes veg a bore but pimp it w/ stuff like pickled ginger, fresh coriander and a little shoyu soy sauce to keep the interest up).  Reduce your salt intake as much as you can w/ out cramping out.

[LucyB]

'Im Indoors always takes the mick out of my books, but a couple are really useful. 'The Food Doctor Everyday Diet' by Ian Marber is excellent, basically it's just replacing starchy carbs with complex carbs (ie veg!), pretty much along the lines of what a lot of people have been saying.

Carol Vorderman's 'Summer Detox' is a bit more involved if you actually follow it - no booze, sugar, meat, dairy, caffeine or processed foods for 2 weeks. Everything is lightly cooked or raw, but you can eat as much as you like. I usually lose quite a lot of weight, and feel great (after the dreadful sugar/ caffeine withdrawal headache at day 2). Disclaimer: last time I tried it, I got pregnant  That Vorderman has a lot to answer for...


Both books are particularly good for getting ideas for a variety of foods so it doesn't get too boring.

[SA Chris]

last time I tried it, I got pregnant 

I think I will avoid it then. Men's maternity wear is very unflattering.

[Plattsy]

Any diet which requires the person to completely remove a particular food group is bonkers.

A balanced diet with everything in moderation and a good dose of regular and varied exercise should be more than sufficient.

[slackline]

Any diet which requires the person to completely remove a particular food group is bonkers.

A balanced diet with everything in moderation and a good dose of regular and varied exercise should be more than sufficient.

  how anyone can consider cutting beer and curry out of their diet is beyond my imagination 

[vivahate]

Just returning to the serotonin-oats hypothesis... where did you hear this, sounds interesting.

I know that cheese is a precursor for serotonin.. tryptamine I think?

[Monolith]

Just consumed a monumental smoothie made on the guild premises. I didn't realise until I started drinking it she had put a shit load of ice cream in it. Smoothie culture is getting a bit like this though isn't it? Put a fuck load of fruit in the mix and then add ground up beefburgers and whatever else you want. Besides, surely smoothies have too much natural sugar in them in the individual portion sizes they seem to come in?

[vivahate]

Just consumed a monumental smoothie made on the guild premises. I didn't realise until I started drinking it she had put a shit load of ice cream in it. Smoothie culture is getting a bit like this though isn't it? Put a fuck load of fruit in the mix and then add ground up beefburgers and whatever else you want. Besides, surely smoothies have too much natural sugar in them in the individual portion sizes they seem to come in?

UoL serve smoothies? I guess the ammount of fruit you need to make a smoothie make them a bad regular choice for almost anyone who eats fruits/veg as part of their normal diet. But seriously, where is this smoothie joint on campus?

[Monolith]

Indeed they do and currently £1.00 for a large one (it's huge!). In the guild main room. Thinking about it, it might have been frozen yoghurt..

[slackline]

Just returning to the serotonin-oats hypothesis... where did you hear this, sounds interesting.

Google Scholar returns very little on this, but oats were used in a study of serotonin in rats brains as a diet that is poor in tryptophan (the sutdy is from 1977 and the full article is available here).

I know that cheese is a precursor for serotonin.. tryptamine I think?

Again Google Scholar is your friend (although you will generally find that not all of the papers are accessible, some have restrictions and so forth, but older papers tend to be available, and Google Scholar often lists a site where the paper is hosted by the author(s) if they have stuck a copy up on their web-site).

[jfw]

carbs in evening myth?
http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=42;t=000320;p=0

Paleo, atkins etc are diets that are "weird" enough to make you put a bit more thought in to what you're eating which can be a good thing (and restrictive enough to mean you probably consume less calories which can also be good).

I don't buy in to the "science" behind paleo that it is better or worse than other diets - i.e. that your body will necessarily run optimally on this combination of foods. I also love carbs!

My take on the matter is that if you are getting adequate (not excessive) nutrients and calories then your diet is probably ok.

Low GI seems a good way of avoiding peaks and troughs of blood sugar (and associative hunger/cravings) - its worth remembering that even high GI carbs can be balanced out when eaten with a protein (or other low gi source) source - so the traditional meat, potatoes 2 veg isn't as rubbish as we might expect given all the hi tech diets we have now.

My other thought is that humans are incredibly adaptive and have survived/evolved to be able to live/eat a lot of places, we have been farming (and eating grains and dairy) for a while now - a diet of seal blubber may not suit you if you live on the med and similarly a diet of olive oil and tomatoes may not be ideal if you live in the arctic.

[SA Chris]

Besides, surely smoothies have too much natural sugar in them in the individual portion sizes they seem to come in?

Apparently they do. Massive amounts of sugar, not much roughage.

[magpie]

Paleo, atkins etc are diets that are "weird" enough to make you put a bit more thought in to what you're eating which can be a good thing (and restrictive enough to mean you probably consume less calories which can also be good).

I'm not so sure, I reckon they are as likely to help form bad eating habits than anything else.  And, Atkins specifically, will fuck up your metabolism and stuff (yes, that's a technical term) really badly if you don't stick to it long term.  I did it a few times as a quick fix and while it really does shift the weight fast it also means you will pile it back on as soon as you start eating normally again, often faster than you did before. 

I've heard really good reports about South Beach and GI diets, they seem to be a lot more balanced than the more extreme carb cutting ones that were popular a few years back.

I know that cheese is a precursor for serotonin.. tryptamine I think?

Cheese makes you happy, that's real SCIENCE. 

[jfw]

mags - i love carbs and couldn't imagine anything worse than an atkins/paleo style diet - think I was just trying to say that, that type of diet does seem to suit some people (and they wax all lyrical bout it).