Mark's Munchies

[CaledoniaDreaming]

Mark, I didn't see the documentary but like the bands - Orange Juice more than Aztec Camera though! Don't forget, even having a meal out you can be low-carb even it's not full dukan. Having just the meat and veg when you're out and about should help. Also. enjoy your hols and if need be do some pp when you get back - you've done so well. I like simple recipes (just spent nearly three hours making a dessert that I'm not even eating!) = I'l try your fool on Sunday.

 

[Mark James]

Hi Caledonia

You're right, I will try to stick to meat and veg but no carbs. It just seems almost sinful (my Catholic guilt) to eat veg on a PP day! It'll be fine. Panic over.

I only ever do simple recipes because I'm no Jamie Oliver.

 

[CaledoniaDreaming]

Were would we be without our catholic guilt! I feel guilty having sugar free jelly and we're allowed it!!

 

[Atropos]

Peggy hopes you'll stay around despite Newbiegate... (great name for it, btw)

It's something that happens to all online forums at intervals - I am old enough to remember when the phenomenon was called the Eternal September!
Eternal September - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And yes, I know - that dates me to the pre-www era! I probably still remember crinolines and Queen Victoria's funeral,

 

[Maintainer]

Another tip for vacationing if you do decide to try to stay in ketosis would be to err towards Atkins if ever you don't find Dukan produce available. Mind you, given that the diet originated over here, you shouldn't find it difficult theoretically...

How about alcohol? Is abstinence likely to cause you strife? We are reliably informed that vodka + diet coke is the most Dukan diet friendly drink if one must partake

Newbiegate? Love it...

 

[Mark James]

I'd never heard of the Eternal September, Atropos. Interesting. I'll bet it goes way back - the Neanderthals were probably complaining about those newbie Homosapiens taking over the neighbourhood.

I wasn't planning on having a drink Joanne, but the best laid plans... Now that you've told me vodka and diet coke is pretty much acceptable, it'd be churlish not to.

Only joking, from what I've heard on here of people's experience getting absolutely mortal on one drink, not to mention a monster hangover, I think I'll just stick to the diet coke.

 

[Mark James]

Visited my mum today to paint her garden fence. Everything was fine until it came to lunchtime. I said I was eating nothing but protein today. She offered me a ham salad. I tried to explain that salad isn't protein, and I'm avoiding ham. She said how about a pork pie? Then she suggested bacon. I asked her to stop mentioning pork products and settled for a tin of sardines. Then she offered me a Kit Kat.

She's a bit like Mrs Doyle on Father Ted - a classic Irish matriarch who feels highly insulted if you decline anything she offers. Go on, go on, go on...

I wouldn't mind but she's (supposedly) been reading my copy of the Dukan book.

 

[CC]

Your mum sounds great!! Love that she offered a kit kat after all that!!! Hilarious!
Not heard the chat about vodka??! What's that about!? I have no desire to drink at all - if I am falling off the wagon it's for a big piece of cake
re: your hols, I would think one week PV then PP would be too much. Are you staying at hotel or self catering?
Ps I live reading your diary, great humor

 

[Mark James]

Hello Christell

The comment about vodka was something that Joanne (Maintainer) mentioned - that if you really must have a drink then vodka and diet coke is the safest option. Safter still not to have anything. I'm like you, I've no desire to drink at all, and if I'm going to lapse I'd prefer something with plenty of sugar!

For the holiday we're staying in a hotel - it was booked before I started the diet, otherwise we'd have gone self-catering. I'm not going to worry about it. It won't be practical (or enjoyable) to try to stick to alternating PV & PP days. I'll see how much I weigh when I get back, then decide what to do.

Mark

 

[anjuschka]

Hi Mark,

just *found* your diary and managed to read the last weeks' worth - you know not everyone is on-line and posting all the time...

Anyway - good luck with your hols, you've had all the relevant advice already: ie go PV all the way, even go CONSO, that allows you a bit more freedom whilst keeping to rules of the diet and (hopefully) staying the same or minimal gains which is what you're aiming for.

I have done two holidays so far: when in Cruise I went self-catering, and managed to stick to PV + extras which really probably came out as conso (one biscuit a day, fruit yoghurts, but avoiding carbs and fat like the plague ;-), and no alcohol). Shopping was tricky, I had access, for example, either Fat-free yoghurt with fruit (and sugar) OR low-fat yoghurt with sweetener. Plain yoghurt nowhere to be seen...

In a hotel environment it's harder, but even a continental breakfast might include yoghurt (that's where your oatbran comes in to play!) or boiled/scrambled (added butter no doubt though) egg options. On the ferry over I had exactly that - but it was an extensive breakfast buffet, so having yoghurt, eggs and mushrooms was a simple job. I also carry my trusted oat bran bread / muffins to have at these times.
Obviously if coffee & croissant is all that's on offer you're a bit stuck but if all else fails have your conso slice of bread for breakfast although it's not going to fill you up.
Up your exercise. I am now in Stab and my second (self-catering) holiday was this May, and I did mainly eat dukan-friendly meals but extras (such as the occasional ice cream etc) and had some wine at times etc But I added a lot of swimming into the plan so that helped me to stay the same.

 

[Maintainer]

...and if you mention you're on the Dukan diet, they might even be helpful!

I had similar conversations re protein with my Dad's girlfriend recently. She's a nurse! Amazing! As for the "just one won't hurt" attitude, it's so infuriating!

Personally I find it far easier to keep saying "no", than to have "just the one". Once the floodgates are ajar, I shove them wide open

 

[anjuschka]

...and if you mention you're on the Dukan diet, they might even be helpful!

I had similar conversations re protein with my Dad's girlfriend recently. She's a nurse! Amazing! As for the "just one won't hurt" attitude, it's so infuriating!

Personally I find it far easier to keep saying "no", than to have "just the one". Once the floodgates are ajar, I shove them wide open

Ah yes I wanted to comment on your mum - lol, well done on resisting! She sounds like my gran (and my husbands Nana) - though both died years before me dieting so I don't know what they might have offered / done whilst wanting to be super-helpful and supportive ;-)

As for saying NO and not 'just the one' I'm with you on that one Jo! I can say no, all day if need be. Refused a freebie chocolate in Hotelchoclat yesterday again (every time I go in there to buy a present...). but come the weekend, at home, I'll have 'just the one' biscuit with every cup of tea! But I need to add that nobody is forcing them one me, I'm just joining in with the rest of the family! If I manage to say no thank you from the start then the day is nearly won!

 

[CC]

Hey Mark - think you have a great attitude! You might as well enjoy your holiday and l
follow the DD principles as much as you can instead of becoming obsessed and stressed, it'll drive your wife insane!
Stick to it when possible and choose sensibly when you can't! - I'm sure if you take lots of long walks that'll help too!

 

[Mark James]

This is getting serious now. It's like an oatbran desert out there. I've been trudging these mean streets, and two gigantic out of town Asdas and an enormous Morrisons, and nothing.

In each it's a familiar scene of desolation: down the cereal isle there's a gaping hole next to the Ready brek where hoards of Daily Mail reading Dukanites have stripped the shelves in a panic buying, stock-piling frenzy.

I know I've got an over-active imagination, and way too many cultural references, but it reminds me of the opening titles of those post-apocalyptic TV shows people of a certain age may remember (Survivors/Threads/Crossroads Motel).

I've got 3, maybe 4 days stash left, then I'm going to have to start mainlining porridge oats. My last hope is Holland & Barrett. If they haven't got any, I could always order some online I suppose.

 

[dukandebut]

Threads! Fabulous film, but one that I don't think I could ever bear to watch again. I remember when we thought we could all die at any moment, at the mercy of a big red button. As for Crossroads, I think that's best left to the hardcore horror fans (we'd probably wish that they HAD pressed the red button if we were forced to watch that again every day).

I'm lucky in that I accidentally overstocked on oatbran a few weeks ago. In fact, the shortage is probably all my fault.

 

[Mark James]

I bought Threads on DVD a while ago in a misguided trip down memory lane. God, it's depressing, but still packs a punch. The melting milk bottles, Protect and Survive, the 'maternity ward' at the end.

Kids today don't know what they're missing, not having the threat of mutually assured destruction hanging over them. It's no wonder magic mushrooms were so popular when I were a lad.

 

[dukandebut]

Even worse, I bought Threads on DVD as part of my husband's birthday present several years ago (hadn't seen it before, but heard it was excellent). So his birthday celebration consisted of us watching raw scenes of death, destruction and genetic mutation, then sitting in shocked silence for about 15 minutes afterwards. I know how to party, me.

I'm now imagining the Hovis lad pushing his bike up a steep cobbled hill, his basket brimming with hallucinogenics.

 

[Mark James]

"I'm now imagining the Hovis lad pushing his bike up a steep cobbled hill, his basket brimming with hallucinogenics". (Why can't I do proper quotes on here like everyone else? Infernal computer machines!)

When I said 'lad', I meant teen - everything else you imagined was spot on. Flat cap? Check. Whippet? Check. Psilocybin-laced black pudding? Check.

Great choice for you husband's birthday by the way, Dukandebut. I love inappropriate film choices. My favourite was when my grandma and her friend went to see Withnail & I. And they enjoyed it!

They must have been innocent to all the drug taking - they probably thought everyone smoked a lot of roll-your-own cigarettes. Thank God they didn't try the drinking game afterwards.

I'm away on my holidays soon, so I'll be out of circulation for a while.

Keep on keeping on everyone. Plant you now, dig you later!

 

[Emms24]

Ooo where are you going on your holidays? Are you going to pack your Oatbran

 

[dukandebut]

"Great choice for you husband's birthday by the way, Dukandebut. I love inappropriate film choices. My favourite was when my grandma and her friend went to see Withnail & I. And they enjoyed it!

They must have been innocent to all the drug taking - they probably thought everyone smoked a lot of roll-your-own cigarettes. Thank God they didn't try the drinking game afterwards.

Your grandma and her friend sound like my kind of people!

The most embarrassing (and entirely accidental, I assure you) inappropriate film experience I've ever had was way back when we lived in France. A Channel called Canal+ used to show English language films in their original version very late at night. So we used to video these for viewing at a later date, leaving plenty of recording time at the end of the film because timings were often delayed due to televised football matches. Unfortunately, as we were to later discover, these English films were usually followed by hardcore porn, so after recording over the videos several times, you'd end up with extreme naughtiness immediately after the end of credits.

Cue my parents-in-law coming to stay and us deciding to watch a film. Then cue my husband and I popping into the kitchen to bring our guests some wine and snacks as soon as the film ended. We returned to find the in-laws studiously ignorning the telly screen, where a "lady" and two "gentlemen" were very enthusiastically indulging in a great deal of hankypankiness.

Of course, we then couldn't find the remote control to switch it off for ages!

The funniest thing is that nothing was ever said and it was all immediately brushed under the carpet. (My family would have been in fits of laughter if it had been them.)

Anyway, enjoy your holidays, Mark. Where are you going?