Him and me are off on our holidays on Thursday! We will be at a live action roleplaying (larp) event in Derby for the weekend, sleeping in a tent and donning armour during the day.
Considering it’s been raining almost nonstop here for the past week, I think we will get more than a little muddy! But it’s all good fun 
This will probably be my last update until I get back. I’ll leave you with my progress for this week:
Lost a further 2 inches from my waist, an inch off my hips and an inch off my chest. Let’s see what 4 days of running around a field can do!
Later x
A simple yet sweetly satisfying treat was made by Other Half last night: chocolate cream meringues.
Easy to do:
4 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
50g xylitol sweetener
Mix all together and whisk until stiff peak.
Grease a muffin tray and spoon mixture into each one. The quantities above should be enough for 12.
Put in oven on gas mark 4 until tops go golden brown and feel firm to the touch.
Leave to cool for 5-10 mins then turn out onto a plate. Top with topping of your choice.
We used whipped cream and grated chocolate with 85% cocoa solids. It works out as less than 1 net carb per meringue, and they really satisfy a sweet tooth!
Last night the other half and I had a craving for burgers. We had some delicious venison burgers calling out to us, so I remembered a tip I found on another site about using flat mushrooms for the burger ‘buns’…so we gave it a go!
We put some cheese on each mushroom, stood them in a frying pan for a while until the cheese started to melt, then put them under the grill to crisp up a little. Meanwhile, we cooked the burgers in a skillet. When all was done, put it together and voila! Cheeseburgers!
And they were as yummy as they look! A bit messy to eat like normal burgers though, because there’s a lot of juice in those mushrooms.
The mushrooms we got were quite thick, so next time I might try flatter ones – Portobello perhaps. Might also pop a bit of Stilton on there for a Black n’ Blue. It won’t always be venison either, they’re just what we had in. Costco do a fantastic Aberdeen Angus burger patty pack, £8 for 10, and they’d be great with this.
My stomach is rumbling now…
Well, today marks the 3 week point of my Atkins diet. This last week has felt easier in a way, because I’m not craving carbs anywhere near as much, and my digestion has definitely improved.
However, we’re still struggling to eat 3 meals a day, and quite often go hungry. After chatting to some of the members on lowcarber.org, it seems that this would put my body into ‘starvation mode’, and it will retain the fat instead of using it for energy.
Hence why I’ve no energy and my inch loss hasn’t been all that good this week I’ve only lost 2 inches off my waist and an inch off my hips. Everywhere else has stayed the same as last week. 
That said, I haven’t been able to get to the gym this week so that might have something to do with it. And I’m not complaining about the 2 inch loss on my waist – after all, that’s where I want to lose it the most!
I just have to stay positive, get some emergency foods in, freeze extra portions of every meal, and make a concentrated effort to eat regularly! Oh, and get some scales, I really want to check if I’ve actually lost WEIGHT
Just had a simple meal tonight, no particular recipe to put up. Mashed some cauliflower and broccoli together with creme fraiche, and had it with store bought frozen fish – which was only 2.5 carbs!
I think the hardest part of this diet is the frequency of which you should eat.
Neither me nor Him are used to eating a set number of times per day, and we often skip breakfast and the occasional evening meal too. I guess it reduces the effectiveness of the eating plan, but I really hate forcing myself to eat!
The results of Him and I getting hungry last night…behold, the Nottage Pie!
Kinda like a cottage pie…but not. At all. But that’s what he originally felt like eating…
Anyway, this was really simple and quick to make, and tasted wonderful.
Recipe:
1/2 head large cauliflower
4 rashers smoked bacon
6-7 chicken goujons/strips, diced
Cheese to top
What to do:
Fry the bacon until starting to get crispy, then add in the chicken and continue frying until cooked through. Add herbs if you wish.
Meanwhile, boil the cauliflower until soft. When boiled, drain off and mash as potatoes, adding butter etc. We added some creme fraiche to make it a little creamier.
Put the chicken and bacon into an shallow ovenproof dish, and smooth mashed cauliflower over the top. Sprinkle with grated cheese and place in oven to heat through, then under the grill to get a crispy top.
Variations:
You don’t have to use smoked bacon, but the flavour of unsmoked doesn’t stand out as much.
You can do this with minced beef/lamb instead, if you want something more like a cottage pie. Chicken was just easier to defrost at the time
Hope you like it!
