Can anyone help please? I would like to buy carbquik and Polydextrose. I can only find it on the net from USA, which I wouldn't mind as the exchange rate is OK at the moment. When I put in an order for about $20 worth of stuff the postage was $79, I couldn't believe it. So of course I didn't buy any. Hope someone can help! Thanks

Yeah I know what you mean about postage! Especially for things like carbquick. Books have about the same high postage prices, because they weigh so much.

What is Polydextrose?

As for carbquick, is it the fact that it's like a lowcarb flour that you like? What are you after it for? Just because there are usually easy substitutes you can use. Your local health food store usually has whey (mostly bought by bodybuilders, so shouldn't go out of fashion) which can be used in cakes and things. Especially the flavoured ones.... mmmm

Or if you're wanting to make you're own bread (I haven't found any decent lc bread in Aust) there are bread mixes around too. Empower make a good one my local health food shop stocks. It's like a multigrain and only 6g per slice or something like that. Great with cream cheese. You can buy Empower online too and cheap postage within Aust ($5.95 flat rate).

e

I read about PolyD in another LC forum and it is a sweet soluble dietary fibre. They made Brownies with it and said it bakes similar to sugar, as you get the sticky texture and don't get the bitter aftertaste.It also adds fibre, which is good. I made choc brownies the other day and used some stevia as well as Splenda to try and lower the carbs. They looked delicious, but the aftertaste was horrible. Even my dogs wouldn't eat them.
I've since found a recipe for bisquick to use for baking , made from protein isolate and almond flour, so I will experiment with that.I will look for the Empower bread mix and try that too.
I am doing well staying with LC, this is my 7th week and I've lost 11kg. But every now and then I crave something a little cakey and I thought if I could make something LC and yummy, I could resist the full carb version.
Thanks for the help.
Caz

Well done Caz with your 11kg loss! I bouce up and down, having a bit of trouble blending Atkins with my lifestyle but I'll get there, just needs a bit of work.

I haven't heard of PolyD but I know there are lots of fibre things out there. Health food shops are good for that kind of info too. If you were in Melb I could recommend a couple but I'm sure there'd be a whole bunch in NSW too. Just go to the grocery section (passed all the pills) and have a look.

OK, just did a little reseach on PolyD and found it's an ingredient in almost all the Atkins bars, shakes etc. I also called one of my fav shops (pretty comprehensive) and they said it's usually used for athletes that do long distance running and other endurance activities but she wouldn't know how I could get a hold of any by itself so sorry I can't help you there. But, I learnt something anyway

Good luck with the Empower bread mix, shouldn't be that hard to find. I've found several shops that stock it. Also, Atkins bread mix is on sale at my Coles for $10 a tube (instead of the normal $22) so I'm buying a few of those before they stop being available.

And check out eBay too, they have a good range of those sorts of things for us Aussies - not too expensive postage usually.

e

Hi e, Thanks for checking around for me, it is appreciated. I asked at a health food store in town and he knew of PolyD, but said it wasn't available for retail sale in Oz. I'll just keep looking around as it's bound to be for sale eventually. If you could let me know your fave health food shops in Melb, I can get my sister to look as she's going home to Melb this weekend. Also which coles did you get the atkins at, they don't sell it at my local one. I buy from safeway, but of course it's full price.
Sometimes I crave some bread or spuds, but I just think of how much better I'll feel during summer and for the rest of my life when I'm lighter and that keeps me on the straight and narrow. Today my brother in law made a yummy brekky of breadrolls filled with bacon, eggs, cheese and onion. He very kindly made the same for me, but in a casserole dish instead of in a roll. It was very nice. I'm lucky my family is supportive and doesn't pressure me to eat what they eat.It makes things easier.
How are you going with your next goal, are you close? The scales have been stuck for a few days now, but I'm trying to walk a bit and drinking heaps of water. I am looking forward to breaking the 80kg barrier, it will feel good when my weight is in the 70's. Good Luck. Catch you soon.
Caz

Sorry I hadn't checked this site 'til now. Don't know if 'this weekend' is still now! My fav health food shops are Evelyn Faye Nutrition in Bourke St in the city 1st - huge variety and cheaper than other shops I've been to. They have a site at completehealth.com.au but, being close I just go there in person (also more available in person than on the site). 2nd is Go Vita at Highpoint in Maribyrnong. Good parking (as opposed to the city) and still a good variety. A bit more expensive though but the staff know what they're talking about which I like. 3rd is an online shop thexton.com.au Cheap postage and good variety (not quite the same for lc-ers as Evelyn Faye tho). I hear they're based in QLD so maybe you could go there in person if you're ever in that state visiting. The staff there don't know all that much about the products though (as in, if you email them a question). They tend to refer you onto the manufacturer which is time consuming when simply browsing. When I called up a shop about your PolyD, I called Evelyn Faye.

I went to Coles in Avondale Heights. This week it's gone back up to its normal $20.85 for bread mix and $9.95 for pancake and muffin mixes though ... so I don't quite understand. Happy I bought a few while they were cheap though and I'll keep checking every time I visit.

Wow, it's so lovely your brother-in-law and rest of your family is so understanding. I get either lecturers or 'knowing looks'. I get questions about what I'm eating and why and 'don't you know it causes kidney failure?' so I keep it to myself. Which is very hard. I'm close to my family and they invite me over for dinner very often. So far I've just had a 'weekend off' every 2-3 weeks and done dinner with them then and it hasn't aroused any suspicion (except that during that time I ask to take the food with me instead of eating it there and get rid of it when home). But, the scale isn't moving in the right direction at the moment so I need to fix something soon. I don't think all this up and down is helpful and I'm kind of lost at the moment actually with how to get my life to work with this WOE permanently.

e

hi e, Thanks again for checking out the Polyd etc. I'll get my sis to go and have a browse for me at those health food shops and see what she can find for me. I will check out thexton.com when I get off here.

Sorry to hear your scales aren't moving, I know how frustrating it must be, but maybe you are losing inches. My scales didn't move for nearly a week, but yesterday another kg was gone. Yahoo.. I know I'm losing size though because a pair of jeans I bought a few weeks ago that wouldn't do up, now do. They are still a bit tight ,but at least I could do them up while standing.

It sounds like you're doing it a bit tough at the moment but hang in there, especially with summer coming. I bet all of a sudden you'll start losing again. Are you eating enough, I find if my carbs are around 10 -15 a day I don't lose so I eat a few more vegies and push up to 20 - 25 and it starts coming off again.But then again we are all different.

My Mum used to nag me at first when I started this woe , so I went and had my bloods done and they were good and I was happy losing weight so then she accepted it.

Catch you soon. Good Luck
Caz

Hi Caz,

How did your sister go?

It's not that that scales aren't moving for me, it's that they're moving too much. Up down and all around. I just want to be either stable or steadily losing. Not always slipping up and having to relose the same weight over and over. My inches are going up and down too.

Sometimes clothes are comfy, other days they're too tight to wear.

I've recently just upped my carbs actually, I was probably under 10g per day (I don't count religiously). That's from veggies, I gained the rest of my carbs from dairy. Maybe I'm going over the 20g mark now I've added extra veggies and not less dairy but I'm feeling better for it and the scales came in 0.5kg down this morning so I might stick to this for a while. Maybe more like OWL?

Great news to hear about the ending of a mother's nag lol

e

Hi e, How are you? Good to hear you've lost a bit. I'm just sitting at the moment, so I think I might try and get more exercise and see if that helps. I spent 3 hours in the garden today, so that should get something happening.I suppose I should be glad that the scales aren't going up.

I love my Mum, but it's funny sometimes that she still treats me like a little kid. I guess we never really grow up ,in our parents eyes. I know she means well.

Have a good weekend and we'll talk soon.
Caz

I've tried the following Empower products and I fully recommend them:

http://www.empowerfoods.com.au/products/?product_id=5

http://www.empowerfoods.com.au/products/?product_id=6

The Fibre-X cereal is pretty decent stuff. The chocolate muffins are really good with whipped cream and low carb ice cream!

I personaaly recommend the GNC stores. They have a heap of low carb stuff and body building protein stuff!

Hi all,

Thanks for the encouragement Caz, I'm sure I'll get a handle on it soon. It's just hard changing your lifestyle, u know? I'm glad I can have Hungry Jacks and the like on this WOE, I feel less like a freak when I grab a quick bite with friends. Low fat is so widely accepted, it wasn't nearly as hard to alter my lifestyle. I hate that I have to keep it fairly quiet too - if I want to avoid "the" talk and all that cr*p. And, now I've finished winging hehehe. Usually weekends are pretty hard but w my bf in Canberra this w/e I'm eating well. My TOM is coming up though and I made the dire mistake today of looking in the icecream freezer on the way to the checkout while shopping. Oooooohhhhhh ......

Hey Dave, welcome to the thread. I haven't actually tried either of those two Empower products but I've tried most of the others. Ever made lasagne out of the low carb tortillas? I think that's my next adventure.

As for GNC, I have nothing kind to say about them or the arrogance received from their staff WHILE processing my Atkins maple syrup purchase. So, therefore I wont say anything at all

Glad you like them though and have fun ... no Empower products though!

e

Hi Dave, Thanks for the info. I haven't tried the muffins, but I will they sound good. I love the cereal, I have it for brekky with cream and strawberries.I've made cheese and bacon muffins with Fibrex too. It looks like they have a few other good things for sale.Thanks again.

Hi e,
How's it going? I hope there is less of you since we last chatted. I'm not losing much at the moment, but I'm sticking with it. As long as the scales aren't going up I'm happy.
I've had a few adverse reactions from people too when I say I'm on Atkins, but it's me losing and their loss. lol.
Sometimes I just say I've cut out the white stuff instead and they don't seem to react to that as badly!!! I wish people would research before they rubbish something they haven't tried or don't know anything about. I was pretty ignorant too until I read DANDR and joined this forum and read all the great advice on it. I try not to criticise if I know nothing about a subject. So I never have much to say about anything. Ha Ha.
Catch you soon.
Caz

Oooooh cheese and bacon muffins with FibreX mmmm that sounds good! Did you follow a recipe at all? Or just put it roughly together? I still have the Atkins cereal for when I'm desperate (otherwise it causes cravings - some people have coffee, others have chocolate but my vice is icecream and grains hehe) and you can't really cook with that.

There is less of me at the moment! I weighed in another 0.5kg down this morning!! I haven't been this weight in a couple of months! Yay!!

I'm glad you're not gaining, that's still important. You'll get that whoosh before you know it, I'm certain. Just keep up the good work.

I either don't tell people anything or if they wonder about something - like we go to a takeaway place and I eat around the hamburger rolls - I say they're packed full of sugar and sugar doesn't go too well with my body. Which is true - I tend to get dizzy spells and stuff from too much sugar. I'm glad to say the instance of this happening, while it hasn't disappeared, has greatly reduced since lc-ing.

Sometimes, because I ask for things without tomato sauce now, I'll say that I just don't like how sweet or sour the fast food chains sauce is ... then I go home and add my lc tomato sauce hehehe.

You say you were ignorant before reading DANDR, what did you think was bad about Atkins? What made you actually pick up the book and read it?




e

Hi e,
Glad to see you are losing. Nice work. I feel a whoosh coming on soon.
I found the recipe for the Fibre-X muffins on the empower web site, along with a few other good ones. I miss my bread more than anything, I think. Spuds, pasta etc don't really worry me anymore. Today I had ham and cheese toasted sandwiches. They were yummy. I will have to be careful with these or I could go overboard.

I found a microwave bread recipe and modified it to lower the carbs as much as possible, and then I cut the little loaf into 4 slices, smothered it with butter, cheese and ham and then toasted them in the frypan. I think I went to heaven for a bit.

Before I read DANDR I had only heard bad things about this Woe. Alot of people said it was bad for your heart and cholesterol and that you quickly regained the weight when you went off it. (But any diet 'is like that'). I did low fat so many times I've lost count. I once lost 20kgs doing low fat, but as soon as I went back to my old ways I gained it all back, plus heaps more and thats why I'm here today. Also that it was too hard to stick too and a boring way to eat, as in not much variety.

This is the second time I have LCed, the 1st time I only lasted 3 weeks, but I hadn't read the book and I was mainly eating bacon, eggs and meat. Very boring. This time I did my homework and found heaps of recipes, so I am never bored or hungry now and I feel I'm eating in a healthier way than before and I feel really good, plenty of energy etc.

I decided to try this Woe eating because I had tried everything else and never kept the weight off and realised that any eating plan I chose would have to be sustainable for the rest of my days. I found that the foods I could have on this Woe were the ones I enjoy the most. A girl can't survive on lettuce leaves and yoghurt forever. So here I am and I'm so glad, as I know I've made the right decision this time.So why have you chosen this Wol and are you happy with your decision, is it right for you?

I should stop going on now, I feel like I'm preaching to the converted. I'll save my breath. Take care and I'll talk to you soon.
Caz

Hey Caz,

Don't worry about preaching to the converted to me, I'd actually like some help in that area if you've got it.

I talk in other weight loss forums and in one, one lady was saying how, while sick, she upped her fat levels and felt a lot better. Her TOM symptoms were lessened too. She knows I lc (I'm either the only one or one of two on the whole site hehe) but I don't go too indepth in case they start feeling like I'm pushing it on them.

Anyway, after she said this I mentioned that that's one of the things lc-ers notice when they start Atkins and that there are many other health benefits. I said I'd post some links to info if requested. It's been requested. Now, I need to find some really good info for people that have been low-fatting, that wont sound like sensationalist nonsense.

I was thinking something on cholesterol and it's unsubstantiated concerns. Maybe something on menstruation (as it seems to be of interest). What about something on fibromyalgia?

I'll take a look around but if anyone has any good links or can think of something good - but not too controversial, it's still early days - let me know.

In other news, I weighed in another 0.5kg lighter this morning! I had my fitness assessment done at the gym and did my first workout in months! Feels so good. The only bad thing is they did my measurements and weight again and I've gained, which I knew. Gained in all areas but 9cm on my waist! I didn't realise it was that much!

Ah well, I wasn't too surprised. I was a bit surprised at my lack of strength now but I'm hoping if I've once had it, that it should be easier to gain back. *fingers crossed*

Your cheese and ham sandwich sounds yum
My vice is oats (like in Anzac biscuits ) and icecream.

Be careful you don't have too much! hehehe ... how many carbs per slice did your bread come in at?

Hmmm I hadn't heard that stuff about Atkins increasing your cholesterol and causing problems, glad it isn't true!

Also glad you have discovered lc recipes hehehe atm I'm shopping around on eBay for a few books (I think I wrote that in another thread somewhere). I get a bit confused when they list pasta, flour, sugar etc in the ingreds tho. I don't think I'll listen to that part, like Rosebud says. But, I can't just look them up on the net and make them ... I must have them in hardcopy or .. I dunno it just doesn't work

You asked about me making my decision to lc. Personally, I'm one of those people that feels physically fine low fatting and low carbing. I will admit I can function well on less sleep and be more alert when low carbing, but this is something I've only discovered in the last week.

I've always been fairly vegetarian, just because that's how my tastes work (and I always thought it was better for you) so eating all this meat is still something I'm getting used to. I eat a lot of fish instead, that makes it more enjoyable. Creamy tuna mushroom mix, mmmmmmm

I made the choice because WW (with whom I lost the majority of my weight so far) restricts more and more the lighter you get. I could do more exercise being lighter which meant I was getting hungrier and hungrier. I couldn't go to the gym on an empty stomach or I'd have no energy and die after about 5 mins so I went less. It was a vicious cycle really. So, I looked into other plans. Tried the peanut one, mostly because it was different to WW and had foods I'd avoided, like peanuts, on it. It was good, but you couldn't have a normal life on it. Then I tried Atkins. I joined this site and started getting educated. Now, it's not even the weight loss that keeps me going, it's the health benefits. Low fat reeeeeally isn't healthy for you, I just couldn't go back to putting my body at that kind of risk of diabetes.

Did I babble on too much? Sorry, I do that sometimes :P

Do you live with a family at home Caz? Have a family to cook for? Just interested in how those differences affect people. I live w my bf and we eat separately (we work shifts and rarely, if ever, meet up where eating is concerned).

Speaking of shifts, I have an early one tomorrow and it's half passed 10. I'm off to bed, have a good night all.

e