new to the forums:help desperately needed!

lynzpower

I have tried to do low carb diets ( with varying success) and I know from my own experience that the more she eats the more she will need.

Its my advice that she minimises starch carbs as much as possible, as this does seem to go with the advice already recieved.

She will need to drink a LOT of water too, I would recommend at least 3 litres a day ( 2 is standard) unless she has had advice that this is too much ( it shouldnt be as 2 is standard.

It is worthwhile trying as hard as you can to reduce the input of carbs, while keeping a low intake. Keeping this low cost can be difficult, but I recommend a lot of eggs/ low fat cheeses

Mushroom omelette for breakfast ( I use at least 2 eggs)
Tuna salad lunch ( heavy on the tuna/ cottage cheese)
Chicken with veggies ( eg the light ones, salad veg, asparagus, mushrooms, peppers, leeks, onions. Basically the ones that are pretty much water and vitamins- no starch,

Drink at least a pint of water before each meal.

It seems expensive at first, but once you realise that you eat much less, its my experience that meals become cheaper as you tend to eat less if they are low carb/ low fat/ high protein.

I didnt get on with Atkins as the high fat aspect made me feel rather ropey. But avoilding starch carbs is quite easy - once you get into it. She will feel rough for a few days as the nasties drip out of her system, but as she is at home, she needs to also ensure she keeps moving - excercize vids at home might be the way to go on this.

I recommend the helpline above too

Keep us posted.

Mappygirl

Hi wanting,

Just wanted to say Hi and welcome - there is loads of help on here!

http://www.food.gov.uk/healthiereating/eatwellplate/ - try this link (i hope it works!) this talks about balanced diets and has loads of info about food.

Talk to your local health service - ours runs a 'be healthy' course which has loads of info on having a balanced diet on a budget and practical cooking sessions to.

Good luck wanting!

mardatha

Home made soup !

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Hi again wantingtochange08, I just answered one of your other posts and came across this here, I'm sorry to hear about your wife's illness, are there any benefits you could claim? Attendance allowance maybe?

Have you looked at pulses and lentils? they are cheap and some of them can be sprouted on the windowledge and used in salads and stir fries and are packed with nutrients. Tinned fruit is good too and cheap for your 5 a day. Best of luck

LilySue

Hope this is not too much off topic, but I was wondering if your wife would like this website, it's a PCOS support site, goes into all aspects of dealing with PCOS ( including diet). I thought it might provide some support for her while you are out during the day, I'm a fellow PCOS sufferer and I find it a helpful place : http://www.soulcysters.net/

Penny-Pincher!!

wantingtochange08 wrote: »

Bulking our diets up with carbohydrates is a big no go. My wife has severe PCOS and any Carbs she eats mostly turns into fat. She has tried the Atkins (and similar) diet in the past though, and it makes her very ill, so a low/no carb diet is out of the question. It needs to be balanced really, which will be difficult.

Plus I work long hours myself, and I am also responsible for cooking, as well as all other household chores and helping my wife attain a certain amount of comfort after spending all day alone without help. It's tough, which is why it has to change, and fast. She also had a minor heart attack a few weeks back ... she is only 30 So I don't have much time available to cook. So whatever I cook needs to be as quick as possible.

To be clearer. My wife weighs in excess of about 36 stone, and suffers with Agoraphobia. Getting outside help is not an option. We have tried and failed too many times to risk wasting time going that route again.

You really need to seek proper medical advice. Changing your diet could cause more problems for your wife with her current medical conditions. She should really be assessed by Social services as Im sure she would qualify for some kind of help whilst youare at work.

Does she claim DLA? As she is unable to do tasks for herself, I think she would qualify until she gets herself a little better.

I dont mean to sound rude, but even if you cooked all the meals and ate healthily with your wife, can you guarantee that she will not eat the wrong things when you are out working long hours?

PCOS is a common illness in women and there is a specific diet that you can follow that has been proved to help with the symptons.

I really do think you need medical advice.

PP
xx

Primrose

:wave: Welcome. Am sure you'll find lots of support and good ideas here.
If you can get to your nearest library (you're a Council Tax Payer - they're free to use! ), go to the Cookery Book section and borrow a few to get some ideas of recipes for healthy eating and cooking. Consider cooking with beans, lentils and other pulses. They're cheaper than meat and provide good protein. They are also excellent fillers to pack out healthy vegetable soups and make them a meal in themselves. If you don't have a pressure cooker, try and get one via Freecycle, from a car boot sale or a Wanted for Free ad in your local classified newspaper. Pulses and stews cook quickly in them (saving fuel costs and time). As somebody else has suggested, porridge is an excellent food and can be jazzed up by putting in chopped apple, sultanas, blackberries, etc. Never eat white bead. Alway buy wholemeal. It has far more fibre in it and is much healthier. Raw carrot sticks make healthy snacks and grated up with sultanas and shredded white cabbage make an nice side salad to help with your healthy "Five a Day".
Also, with your wife unable to go out, she is almost certainly not getting any exercise which would help reduce her weight. Could you try and implement a gentle programme every evening of walking on the spot whenever the TV adverts come on? This "little & often" might help her psychologically to feel that she's taking back control of her health regime. Good Luck - hope that coming on here gives you some support in trying to turn things around.

Kaz2904

Didn't want to just read and run.
Firstly, ((((((((hugs)))))))) to you both.

If your wife has had a heart attack recently then it may not be very good for her to start drinking masses and masses of water as the heart has to work harder in order to move all the fluid around.

I don't know a great deal about diet for sufferes of PCOS so am not able to be much help there I'm afraid.
Porridge oats are good for breakfast, they have been shown to lower cholestorol too. Very cheap- 54p for 1kg.
I had a google and it suggested that cinnamon is good for cholestorol and lowering blood sugar, so is the pectin in apples. You could do a stewed apple and cinnamon topping for your porridge to give it some natural sweetness. This could also be used for a pudding to help bulk you up at night. (I'm assuming you have cinnamon in).
Try freecycle for windfall apples, people may be experiencing a glut of them at the moment.
Another trip on google suggested that PCOS sufferers should only eat whole foods (not processed) and no flour. Apparently 5-6 small meals a day.
Porridge would sort breakfast. Elevenses could be some raw carrots with houmous (home made and I never add tahini any more). Lunch could be cous-cous with veggies stirred into it. Afternoon tea could be fruit salad and a handful of seeds. Evening meal could be something along the lines of potato skins (you could eat the inners to boost your intake and fill you up) with fish and vegetables. Fish is very good for omega 3 oils and you ought to be having it at least 3x per week. Sardines and pilchards are both good for this and reasonably inexpensive if you buy it in tins.
You could have this in a mashed potato pie but if you can't have too many potatoes then you could try to substitute sweet potatoes and squashes for less carbs, more nutrition and still the nice fullness.
Another thing for encouraging your wife to excercise would be all of these little meals. If she needs to keep going to the kitchen then she will find that she is inadvertantly getting a little more excercise.

Good suggestions about the blackberries for crumbles. If you're unable to use flour then you could make a crumble topping using porridge oats and a little sugar or avoid the topping and have stewed fruit.
I hope I've been some assistance- I hope that MrsMcawber sees this thread as she has had phenomenal results with weightloss over the last year by ditching the diets. TTFN, Kaz.

wantingtochange08

Thankyou all for all your replies, very helpfull information. Ill try to reply to you as soon as i can but for now, heres an inventory of what we have in the house :
I kilo plain boil rice
tin plum tomotoes
sea salt
2 tin potato and leek soup
red kidney beans
2 fruit cocktail tins
mushroom soup
broad bean (tinned)
cut green bean (tinned)
balsamic vinegar
white vinegar
golden syrup
black pepper
fine herbs
turmeric
bakin powder
veg stock cubes
lamb stock cubes
dried parsley
mild chilli powder
oregano
cinamon sticks
cumin seed
american bbq seasoning
vanila essence
paprika
4 bags ready salted crisps
penne pata
super noodles (various flavors)
chinese rice 3 pkts
corn flour
casta suga
spagetti
2 packs chick casserole
brown sugar
crackerbread
coco pops
potatoes
brandy
whisky
Thanks for looking, please send recipes if poss so that i can get some different things done over the weekend
thanks, wantingtochangeo8

wantingtochange08

Guys, I am really sorry. After posting last time I fell asleep at the computer.

I am gonna have to leave you for tonight, and answer your marvellous posts tomorrow night when my eyes are open a bit more.

Thanks so much, I really appreciate everyone effforts, just sorry i cant keep my eyes open any longer

Exhausted wantingtochange08