Week 4 Low Carb Bootcamp - Keep on keeping on

[BIWI]

Morning.

I see that some of us are struggling.

I see that there is a lot of cheating.

Hmm. I wonder if there is a connection

Seriously folks, this is not a terribly forgiving WOE. The idea of Bootcamp Light was to give you a bit more flexibility, but not to send you spiralling into a chocolate and alcohol-fuelled frenzy!

Come and confess all on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness or on your own personal Weight Tracker

Remember that weight loss may stop in weeks 3 and 4 - sometimes 5. It takes this long for your body to become keto adapted, i.e. to switch fully from carb-burning to fat-burning.

And if you're continually pushing up your daily carb intake, all you are doing is delaying this process

Hope you all have a good week.

Hope, sorry you're not feeling well. However, bear in mind that ANY diet (if the point of you doing this is to lose weight) will not let you eat cake or drink wine, so it's not like WW or SW (which only allows 2 small slices of bread a day as a carb thing) is going to be much easier in that respect.

I appreciate that it's depressing not losing when you've been sticking to the rules, but this WoE isn't always a straight descent - it's very common to stall or plateau, until your body readjusts and starts losing again - dispiriting thought that is!

Anyway, hope you feel better soon and good luck no matter what you decide to do.

LittleMissDisorganised thank you for the water advice - I'm a SAHM at the moment while we're remodelling the house so am not generally sat in one place for too long so it's difficult, but I have made an effort today and definitely drunk a lot more (but still not enough!)

Thanks to the tube strike I have to go into town tonight for rehearsal as half the cast can't make it out East, so it will be in a pub or coffee shop. I shall stick to water there (that's the plan at any rate) and will see how that fares.

Miss I don't have a mandolin, I almost bought one in the summer and couldn't decide which one so I didn't. May have to reconsider that.

Chester my hair is dull and frizzy and my skin is horrendous. Partly due to the time of year I think but yes, I was hoping to be glowing and swishing by now too.

Steel I love that website! Have bookmarked.

Betty she hasn't tried to say it's unhealthy (wouldn't dare ) but she's a huge feeder - totally expresses love by feeding everyone, and she had brought the pudding over (we'd done a BBQ so plenty of low carb fare with extra carbs for the others). I think me declining pudding was a direct assault on her wellbeing, evidence of a 'fad' diet and further proof that I'm more than a bit bonkers. I think my reaction only confirmed the last point.

I need to try these cream cheese pancakes!

Oh Chipping I wish I could suggest something. As a complete carnivore I'm not very good with vegetarian dishes, and it's even harder for you, I think, not eating eggs. I don't know what I'd eat (although I'd like to expand my veggie repertoire and eat less meat). Are there veggie/vegan/eggless low carb blogs out there? Can you list out your meals and see what we can suggest? Have you tried low GI?
Good suggestion from Eva about what to tell your mum. Just emphasise the health benefits rather than the weight loss?

hope sorry it's hard at the moment. You said that you stuck to bootcamp 'pretty much' in the first fortnight... How much? Completely? The 4lb gain will be the replenishment of your glycogen stores (and therefore water) from the cake. As Steel said, it's not a forgiving way of eating to start with. If you list your bootcamp meals out then we can give you pointers, but you need to ditch the bread, stop the cheating and start again. If you stick to the rules and give it some time, you will lose weight.

Yoghurt I like that SOS/SOC.

Lovecat the last few days I've been measuring out the amount of water I need to drink, so two full 1.5L water bottles filled with filtered water, so I know how much I've had and still need to drink. Really helped actually, and .i drank them easily so it reassured me that I was drinking enough.

Haven't had time to read all the posts (yet) Crabby was the Kashmiri chicken and spicy cauliflour your recipe ? It is delicious and keeps really well, this will be a staple , DH loved it too. Thanks

humanordancer

Dinner was tartiflette, with balsamic-y leaves.

I hope that wasn't potato tartiflette?! And balsamic is definitely not allowed on Bootcamp or Bootcamp Light - it is way too carboy.

humanordancer

Dinner was tartiflette, with balsamic-y leaves.

I hope that wasn't potato tartiflette?! And balsamic is definitely not allowed on Bootcamp or Bootcamp Light - it is way too carboy.

So carboy I had to post it twice

Just had belly pork. Regretting only doing two strips. Also regretting not buying the cheaper ie fattier pack. How I love fat

What do we feel about corned beef? It looks to be very low carb but is there anything I should know?

Snowie are my recipes all too involved? I often have the luxury of time to cook so I don't give it much thought, but I can try to do some simpler ones. I very often make the more time consuming ones in bulk, so enough for DP and I to have two night's worth (DD eats different food, usually). The slow cooked dishes can be prepped the night before or in the morning and then left on overnight/during the day.

I'll say again as well - those of you struggling to devise bootcamp meals for you that the whole family can eat, do consider feeding them their usual stuff (especially if they're reluctant) while you get used to this WOE and build up your library of recipes. Batch cooking when you have time is good; something for them and something for you so it's in the fridge/freezer when you need it. If you're struggling to get used to bootcamp, low carbing, what you can and can't eat, and dealing with a reluctant family/having to justify the food as well, it's fine to take the path of least resistance - you can convert them later. ;-)

Sorry - not being lazy ..... Just in a mad post school supper frenzy . Can anyone quickly tell me what I do with courgettes to replace spaghetti .... ...
Will catch up and post later - mad day getting through flooded rds in Somerset ...

Yes, exactly that BIWI - with no alternative. My advance questions had gone unheeded, but I never imagined it would be just potatoes You can imagine how my heart sank when I spotted the balsamic...

Social Obligation Carbs alright, ThatYoghurt, you have it there.

I was so frustrated I drank more wine

I'm no longer accepting dinner invites from anyone who doesn't get it.

Yes Colette that was me. Glad you like it! (I got it from a book though so can't take all the credit)

MrsHugh - aaaargh re the floods - hope you're all ok!

I shave the courgettes with one of these to make the spaghetti (more like fettucine), then fry lightly. They shrink a lot. If you boil them, they will disintegrate - I've never tried steaming, but I believe you can...

Hope, sorry you're struggling. I don't know if you've read the rest of the thread but I was in a similar situation to you on Monday. I even signed up for weightwatchers in a fit if panic.

But the advice i got was great and made me realise I wasn't following the rules 100% so to expect results was a bit daft.

I've since given myself a talking to, dusted myself down and thrown myself back into it. A day later I lost 2lbs, which was most likely glycogen from my 'pretty much' sticking to it.

So anyway, point being - can you give it a few more weeks and really commit? Eat fat, drink water and try not to cheat? That's what I decided to do and so far I'm glad. If be bloody miserable by now and probably off the wagon already after three days of WW.

Thanks lovecat the starving hoards have been fed and my ' spaghetti' and meatballs were delish !

Calamity Corned beef is a really good value and convenient protein. I cook with it a couple of times a month at least. Of course being processed and containing nitrates and/or nitrites it's not as 'clean' as would be desirable but at a quid a tin it's hard to knock it. Some recipe ideas using corned beef are..

• good old corned beef hash with diced fried (or mashed) swede with a couple of fried eggs on top

• corned beef and cabbage meatballs

• slow cooker corned beef and chipolte stew

I have also used cold corned beef slices as the substitute for the bread in a cheese sandwich

Calamity there's a corned beef hash recipe on the recipe thread using celeriac that I'm making for tea tonight.

I am beyond excited about it. Will report back later.

Ooh thanks!

I'll look out for your review Chester! :)

Sarah I've just had a heart attack in H&B when I saw the price of coconut oil, I don't mind paying if I like it but begrudge £16 if its yakky and it didn't look appetising says she who'd never eaten greek yoghurt, celeriac, belly pork, ... til a few wks ago

crabby I lurve your recipes especially the cauli cheese but it might be the reason why I'm not losing much. Kashmiri chicken is planned for Saturday - didn't have all the spices to do it last week.

BTW I make my cream cheese pancakes slightly differently - 1 egg, tbs cream cheese and a glug of cream and a splash of vanilla if I want something sweet - delicious with a blob* extra thick double cream and berries

• technical cooking terms

calamity I made the 'banned' 1990s SW corned beef and cottage cheese quiche the other day and its delicious, a small wedge hits the spot when I get the evening munchies.

tin of corned beef diced
2 leeks sliced and fried
200g cottage cheese - check carb count I found one that was only 2g/100
3 eggs

line a flan dish with corned beef and leeks
whisk cottage cheese, eggs, S&P and pour over

I added a handful of grated cheese then bake til set at 200 - I'm rubbish at timings much to DHs annoyance who loves the oven timer and believes the timings on the back of packets

Woolfey my trick in the week is to use the slow cooker (the pork carnitas on the recipe thread are delicious and the cold leftovers were even better) or fry whatever meat we're having in loads of butter and when its done put it on a warm plate and then add cream and/or cream cheese and either cheese, mustard or black pepper to make a sauce. My other staple is fried mushrooms with a tub of cream cheese stirred in followed by a handful of grated cheese, sometimes I'll add some crispy bacon especially if I'm having it as a meal at lunchtime. I end up using every pan but that's what dishwashers/husbands are for

brag alert - I went out without make-up for the first time ever on Saturday and Sunday and I'm a full-slap girl. Its either the water or the HRT I started at xmas

Oops, sightly overdid it with the use of delicious [grin}

I've been a bit crap at listing my food this week.

Breakfast is usually Lidl greek yog and lunch is often a tuna or avocado mayo salad with lashings of olive oil.

some recent dinners have been...

• savoy marinated chicken thighs (marinaded in mustard, mayo and paprika)

• crustless spontaneity

• curried lamb mince (mushrooms to bulk it up and a sprinkle of edamame instead of peas so it was more like a keema)

• jerk pork chops and celeriac rosti

• halloumi curry (amazers)

Crustless SPANAKOPITA

not spontaneity. FFS!

steeleye my cocoa butter was also a leftover from raw chocolate making. I got mine from choc chick.

I've had another one this afternoon, much prefer the taste to coconut.

@ crustless spontaneity...mmmmm, sounds delicious!

Home with a headache. Hideous commute into work this am, which ended in me picking my way through dogshit and puddles in the least salubrious parts of sarf Lunnon - in heels! - trying to get to a Very Important Meeting, because my bloody train went somewhere random. I swear the driver was smirking when he told us that it wasn't stopping anywhere we thought it was...

Then the lunch served at the Very Important Meeting was, of course, carbtastic. I stuck to one bit of chicken satay, a teeny weeny chicken sandwich and a teeny weeny slice of melon. Avoided the cupcakes, even though I was jonesing for some sugar by then.

Am cooking me up a big bowl of creamy, garlicky mushrooms with spinach tonight. Cannot wait.

And in other news, my scales arrived. They measure body fat, bone and hydration levels, apparently . Anyway, they have me at 10st 13 and a whopping 30% body fat. One third of me is officially blubber.