Hi,

I am still reading the book, and wondering why options are added after 2 weeks following the basic plan, why not immediately ?

Also I am from Singapore where a lot of chinese food is found. Wonder if anybody here is from this region can give me tips on eating out in this region.

Hey cyyssg,

I'm also from Singapore and following Protein Power more than CAD but I've read the books and after a while, tweak the regime to suit myself better. I give myself Reward Meals every Sunday when it's family day but am good throughout the week (I try anyway)

Options are added after two weeks to monitor how your weight loss has been going and to cater to your needs (maintain weight, losing too fast/slow etc.) accordingly.

If you have to ask about eating out in Singapore, I guess you don't get out much eh? There are so many options and since I plan where we dine on Sundays, I always find a myraid of choices and am always at a dilemma. I understand that Chinese food can be tricky, but because I follow a low fat / low carb diet, I stay away from fried food (yes, that means no fried wantons) and starchy stuff (banish the sweet & sour pork!). Have the crispy skin chicken (I prefer not having the skin), beef tenderloins and seafood. For hawker fare, lots of options that are zero-carb. Bak ku teh, pepper crabs, kway chap, duck, soups (not Szechuan, wanton or shark's fin though - go for miso, water cress or fish head) and tofu.

Just stay away from the obvious rice and noodle dishes and sushi. For snacks, there's Otar (1g carb), Taukwa pok (1g carb), BBQ chicken wings (0g carb) satay without gravy (2g carb) or a dim sum prawn dumpling (3g carb). Even beef rendang and curry mutton are 1g carb each.

Or better still, take a break from Chinese food (which often add corn starch to their sauces, you can request for the chef to leave out the ingredient).
Try italian - go for veal or chicken piccata, scaloppini, antipasto and sauteed portobello mushrooms.
Indian - lamb curry, kebabs and tandoori chicken.
Japanese - miso soup, grilled cod fish, shabu-shabu and sashimi.
Thai - tomyum soup, beef with basil, mixed vegetables.

See? your possibilities are endless. Just remember your meat, seafood and salad rule. Other tips for dining out would include requesting for the sauce to be served seperately, subsituting the baked potato/fries for a salad and voicing your dietary demands. However, if you're following the CAD plan, you can always incorporate your Reward Meal during times when you dine out. It's always easier to control carbs when you prepare the meal yourself.

Good luck and have gastronomic fun! I hope I've been of some help.

Thanks for replying, Mortalsin.

Information very useful.

Do you know of any specialty stores selling low-carb stuff ?

I am looking for ThickenThin not/Starch low carb thickener by Expert foods to replace cornstarch in my cooking.

Hope this plan will work for me.

BTW, Why did you pick Protein Power over CAD ?
I have not read Protein Power, but seems CALP quite easy to follow.

Also do you think I should take GTF Chromium before the 2 weeks ?

I would follow the book exactly. Add the GTF Chromium after two weeks. Chromium was the first option that I added simply because it was easiest.

I truly think adding all the options made a big difference for me. I did them one at a time very slowly. By doing this you can see and feel any affects of the changes that you made and then you will know how much it is actually helping you on your road to better health.

Best of luck to you....
Libby

Hey again,

I'm afraid Singapore is hardly the conducive low-carb place so there isn't much chances of you getting low-carb products easily like our fellow Canadian and American LC-ers. Possibly the only item that you will come across at your local supermarket that you hear mentioned here alot would be Morton's lite, used primarily for potassium deficiency. Just read the labels carefully and do away with corn flour completely. Health food stores like Nature's Farm stock flax meal, and perhaps you could subsitute corn flour with almond flour, soy flour, wheat bran etc. I won’t be too much of a help in this area for I’m no culinary connoisseur. :P

As for my preference for PP, I really chose to go LC because I’ve been battling with eating disorders and thought that CAD would be a good way so as to never feel deprivation, especially being in a culture where grains and corn starch rule. I later realised that the Reward Meal concept, albeit tempting, is hardly beneficial for my problem. Protein Power is more ‘balanced’, in my opinion, because it allows an initial intake of 55g of carbs for people who aren’t more than 20% above their ideal weight. There are days when I don’t even go above 50g because I really stopped craving carbs! Most of my carb counts come from fruits and a slice of wholemeal or multi-grain bread in the mornings. When dining out, I choose places where I am able to control my carb intake (like western eateries, instead of noodle bars) and therefore can still allow myself the occasional treat of tasting someone’s tiramisu.

Are you in charge of the family’s meals then? I’ll figure that it’d be easier concocting a low-carb meal as compared to refusing my mom’s fried rice. If you’re the family provider, switching to LC should be a breeze – they wouldn’t even know they’re on a diet! Perhaps you can consider ordering LC products online, and I think the nearest would be NZ - http://www.lowcarbsupplies.co.nz/
I admit that can be pricey to upkeep so another alternative would be to try ‘foreign’ supermarkets like Jasons’ (located at Raffles City), Liberty (at Plaza Singapura) or the Australian Pavilion at Bukit Timah’s NTUC. I haven’t been to the Australian Pavilion yet but I’m pretty familiar with Australian products, having lived there for the past 5 years. See if they stock Lowan’s Soy Flour (8.4g carb per serving) or Tip Top’s Burgen Soy-Lin bread with 11g carb per slice. I’ve managed to find sugar-free gelatin and Splenda too at local supermarkets so you won’t have to deprive your family! Also, read up on the recipes so as to spice up your LC meals.

Like Libby advised, follow the book if you are new to LC. Some people find it easier to follow things to the letter and whereas others like the program to cater to them. Take the chromium after 2 weeks and once you get the hang of it, you can start listening to your body’s needs. I currently take a good multi-vitamin packed with nice extras like chromium, selenium & inositol and also a L-carnitine supplement, both from Nature’s Farm.

Another good tip would be to take green tea daily. It has thermogenic properties and aids in weight loss (or so the research says).

Keep in touch and I’m glad I’ve found another Singaporean on this!