New & reading about the dreaded spices!!

[yelselnossirah]

Hello,

Am on day 13 of Cohens today. Must admit I am slightly obsessed being a daily jumper on the scales (the ones I weigh myself on and not the food....). Can't help it, think it would drive me crazy if I didn't. Mind you I did that daily before but it's now kind of nice seeing the numbers go down instead of up. So lost 5.5kg the first week (17cm) and this week only down 1kg so far (not measured myself yet). Whilst I am beyond delighted with the weight loss so far I can't believe it feels like it's come to a grinding halt.

Am just after finding this site and reading all the things about the spices, curry powder in particular which I have been using like it's going out of fashion. I have also been using the portugese chicken spices and piri piri spices (all dried & from the jar) are these also a no-no????

Thanks be to god I found this forum .......

[WSM]

Hi Y

Don't stress on the curry powder, just make your own blend from the 'approved' list. There are a few up in the recipes section.

Same really goes for Portugese spice mix and piri piri - they're both blends of spices. You'll need to check the ingredients on the label to tell if they're ok or not. If in doubt, post up here, or even better check with your consultant.

A good piri piri mix is dried parsley, garlic granules and red chilli flakes in equal quantities - mix together into a jar. Use your allowance (1 tsp or less) to sprinkle over chicken and then cook in a non-stick pan sprayed with oil.

Portugese mixes vary so much, but check the ingredients and if there is anything in there that is not allowed, make your own by putting everything in that you can and/or substitutes.

Also, when cooking meat this way, a good tip is to finely grate some fresh lemon zest on top as well, after cooking while the meat is resting. A good squeeze of lemon juice is also good.

Hope this helps!

[cathbug]

Hey

Well done on your losses so far.

I am also a daily scale jumper but being 8 weeks into it, let me warn you about the dreaded rises in weight. Every so often, sometimes around TOM, sometimes randomly, I go up. I have gone up 2kg overnight a few times. If this happens to you - Don't panic! You'll be back down plus some next time you weigh.

I can just about predict my up and down days now so I don't panic and can still weigh daily without feeling discouraged. I would love to be able to do this all without the daily weighing but my control freak personality is what it is, so I've learnt to make it work for me.

Good luck
Cathbug

[Two Princesses]

evie

[yelselnossirah]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I have now made my own blend of spices from the approved list and so far so good....