Chocolate Oat Bran Muffins

Here’s a recipe for chocolate oatbran muffins, which is from the web but I’ve adapted slightly. I’ve only tried it once, so prepare for further adaptions as I (hopefully) hone this one!

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons of oat bran
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of no sugar added cocoa powder (I used Bournville, 100% cocoa)
• 2 eggs
• 6 tablespoons of zero fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• Sweetener to taste (I recommend more than you think is right – about 6 tablespoons)

Method

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Whisk the eggs and add to the dry ingredients together with the yoghurt. Mix until smooth.
Divide the mixture equally between 8 paper muffin cases. I recommend doubling up the cases if you don’t have a muffin tray as the mixture is heavy and may spill.
Bake in a preheated oven at 170 C for 20-25 minutes.

Serve with sweetened Total 0% fat yoghurt and a sprinkle of cocoa. If your muffin is dry, try drizzling it with a syrup made from 2 tsp instant coffee, 1 tsp sweetener and the tinniest dash of boiling water.

Attack phase: Day 4

Total diet nightmare – I weighed myself this morning to find I’d put on weight! Okay, so my weight fluctuates by as much as 3lbs from day to day. Perhaps today’s weight is because I ate a more varied diet last night, or because I’m a bit ‘blocked up’ so I’ve started eating oatbran by cooking it in ‘muffins’ (or a somewhat bland imitation thereof).

I also realised that the feta I ate last night thinking it was 1.5% fat was in fact 11.5% fat. Oops, won’t be making that mistake again!

Weight loss Day 4: I gained 1.5lbs! OH NO, bummer!

 

Day four	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snack	Water
Thurs2/5/013	3x chocolate oatbran muffin Total 0% yoghurt with sweetener	2x hard boiled eggs on cottage cheese Baked tofu marinated in BBQ powder seasoning 2x tbsp lentils with herbs, balsamic and sweetener	Meet the alternative veggie burger in oatbran pancakes with garlic yoghurt dressing		2x coffee 3x 75cl water Diet coke

 

Tomorrow I start my protein-vegetable (PV) days, which I will do for four days straight. Then it’s four days of pure protein and back to five days of PV, which should make my upcoming work trip abroad more tolerable. More on that later.

I have a conference tomorrow so will have to forgo the free lunch and wine and take my own packed lunch to eat discreetly. Baked butternut squash on a street corner? Oh, how the fine diner has fallen.

 

Attack phase: Day 3

Today is not quite so good.

I’ve had chronic hiccups (I don’t know if this had anything to do with the diet) and am pretty bored of protein. It’s all so damn chewy and bland! I’m also a bit ‘blocked’ if you know what I mean.

Granted, that’s because I’ve been sticking to a diet of mostly plain textured vegetable protein (TVP), which tasted great at first, but you can only have so much of a single thing (bar chocolate and wine).

The bonus is that, being so bored of it, I haven’t wanted to eat much, despite the odd tummy rumble. This is quite a novelty for me! I’m also pretty astonished that I haven’t had a single craving, whereas I would ordinarily have urges to eat something sweet or fatty everyday.

Weight loss Day 3: I lost 3.5lbs! That might be all water, but it still feels good!

Herby omelette, tofu & lentils

Day three	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snack	Water
Weds1/5/13	Mint choc protein shake with ½ unsweetened soya, ½ water	Meet the alternative –beef chunks (1 pk)	Low fat feta in a herby egg white omelette (1 yolk 3 white)Dry fry tofu marinated in BBQ powder seasoning2x tbsp lentils with herbs, balsamic and sweetener	1x chocolate oatbran muffin	2x coffeeDiet coke3x 75cl Water Herbal tea

Attack phase: Day 2

Today is pretty much the same as yesterday. I tried the veggie ‘beef’ from the Meet the alternative range, which was also very yummy.

I went to the gym again so had a protein shake both for breakfast and for dinner.

Weight loss Day 2: Stupidly, I didn’t weight myself on day one, so I don’t know how much I lost in those 24 hrs but I guestimate at least 1lb, maybe 2lbs from my ‘normal’ weight.

Day two	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snack	Water
Tuesday30/4/13	Mint choc protein shake with ½ unsweetened soya, ½ water	Meet the alternative –beef chunks (1 pk) LF cottage cheese (3/4pk)	Mint choc protein shake with ½ unsweetened soya, ½ water	Total 0% yoghurt with sweetener	2x coffee 3x 75cl Water

Starting the Dukan Diet… the veggie way

I was reticent about the Dukan diet from the start. It’s all meat, meat, meat and I’m all veggie, veggie, veggie. I’d don’t live next to a health food store, I have never cooked tempeh or seitan and my tofu is the consistency of either snot, or chewing gum. So what exactly am I going to eat?!

Well, fellow veggie Dukan dieter – research is key. There’s simply not enough info on veggie Dukaning on the web so I started this blog as a way of collating all the info I find for myself and for people like me.

Here’s what you can eat during that Attack (first phase) and on PP (pure protein) days thereafter:

Fat free Dairy
Hen’s or quails eggs (three egg whites for every one egg yolk)
Fat free cottage cheese, fat free fromage frais, fat free Greek yogurt, fat free quark/plain yogurt and fat free milk. (No more than 500g of fat free, or up to 2% fat dairy)

Vegetarian Protein
Seitan
Tempeh
Tofu
TVP (limit this as its higher in carbs)
Quorn mince (the only type of Quorn allowed)
‘Meet the alternative’ products (similar to Quorn, sold in Waitrose)

Others
Shirataki noodles (you can buy these at the Dukan shop)
4 tablespoons oat bran a day (the contents of the box say 100% oat bran and not steel cut or rolled oats. This is higher than the meat eater’s allowance and there’s a lot of fun things to do with oatbran, which I will explain later)
Two tablespoons of lentils a day (any kind. Again, this is not allowed for meat eaters). 

Condiments
Vinegars, balsamic, soy, mirin, tamari sauce, miso paste, herbs and spices, lemon juice, onion, low-fat low-salt stock cubes, sweetener.

I also add protein powders to my veggie Dukan diet. I must say that Mr. Dukan is very against protein powders, believing anything but natural proteins upsets the body’s balance (and just eating protein doesn’t?!) Anyway, until Mr. Dukan blesses us veggies with better alternatives I will find protein powders not only extremely helpful but essential.

15 Key Points of the Dukan Diet Attack Phase

(Please note, these were written for meat eaters but the same principles apply)

1. Oat Bran – Eat 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran each day, preferably in one serving.
2. Water – Drink a minimum of 1.5 liters/litres of water daily
3. Exercise – Walk briskly or exercise for at least 20 minutes a day.
4. Fat Free Dairy Products – Try to have less than 1 kg of fat free dairy products or 700g if using soy/soya “dairy” products.
5. Permitted Proteins – Eat as widely as you can from the permitted list of 72 protein foods .
6. Additional Extras – Make full use of the additional items which are allowed.
7. Nothing Else – Do not eat anything which is  not listed as a permitted protein or an allowed additional item
8. Sodium – Try to keep your salt intake down to prevent water retention.
9. Wheat Bran – Use the optional 1 tablespoon of wheat bran allowed each day to help avoid constipation.
10. Meals – Eat three meals a day plus a mid morning and mid afternoon snack.
11. No Missing Out Meals –  Do not be tempted to skip meals.
12. No Added Sugars or Starches – Ensure that the food that you are eating has no hidden sugars or starches
13. Weigh In – Weigh yourself once a day first thing in the morning before breakfast but after going to the bathroom
14. Vitamins – Take a daily general purpose multi-vitamin tablet
15. No Extension – Do not be tempted to extend the Attack Phase beyond the recommended number of days.