Luxury Low Carb

I unwittingly gave the low carb craze a go yesterday. The current trend in weight loss is to go very low carb. Everything from Atkins, to South Beach, to the Four Hour Body is based on the idea that it is the carbohydrates that make you fat, so you can eat practically unlimited protein and fat with no ill effects. While I agree that switching from white carbohydrates, like white rice and potatoes, to more complex carbohydrates like quinoa and lentils is good for you, I cannot believe that eating unlimited calories of anything will allow you to lose weight.

It is my wedding anniversary today; however we are travelling to see family this weekend so my husband and I celebrated yesterday by going out for lunch together. We weren't planning on it being a big deal, but somehow ended up having lunch at one of Jamie Oliver’s famous restaurants in the City of London (it was the only one without a queue). As we were there early we got a great table by the window, with a view over a park behind St Paul’s. I had a lovely crab salad to start, and then we shared the Chateau Brillant for two, with a side of mashed carott and swede and cream.  The beef was meltingly tender, juicy and tasty, and the rich red wine we chose went with it splendidly. Needless to say I can only guess at the amounts and ingredients in this meal, though I am reasonable confident I had over 200g of beef alone with at least 400 calories. This would have been OK but I’d happened to have a low carbohydrate breakfast of eggs and beans, had only brought a Sponser Protein Snack bar for my afternoon snack, and then we had to finish off the roasted butternut squash at dinner.

All together I had less than 160g of carbohydrates and over 175g of protein, resulting in less than 29% of calories coming from carbohydrates, a new record for this blog. Despite getting more than enough calories for a rest day, I was starving all evening and craving sugary snacks. Having some popcorn helped, but I definitely went to bed hungry and woke up hungry this morning! I have no idea how people on these diets manage to stick with it for long enough for it to do them any good!

The Score:

Calories:	Protein:	Carbs:	Fat:	Alcohol:	Fibre:
2164.14	175.84g	158.15g	79.38g	18.0g	33.48g
	32%	29%	33%	6%
Calories burned through exercise:		Rest Day

What I ate:

Time	Item	Amount
07:30	Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 each
	Cold water	200mL
	Whole Scrambled egg with 2 egg whites	3 eggs
	Heinz Beanz, reduced sugar and salt	180g
	Mushrooms	100g
	in butter	5g
	Raw tomato	115g
	Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice	200mL
09:30	Black Tea	500mL
10:00	Raspberry and Echinacea tea	250mL
10:30	Brazil nuts	6g
	Cashews	17g
	Plums	110g
12:15	Crab plate with tomato, avocado and dressing	1 serving
12:30	Chateau brillant for two	about 250g
	Carrot and swede mash with butter, cream and chives
	Red Wine	175g
14:30	Green Tea	200mL
15:30	Green Tea	200mL
16:30	Sponser Protein Snack bar	1 bar
20:00	Baked salmon	100g
	Roasted butternut squash	150g
	with Olive Oil	3.5mL
	Microwaved cauliflower	80g
	Microwaved broccoli	82g
21:45	Butterkist butter flavour microwave popcorn	25g

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.