Week 8 - Low Carb Bootcamp - Come on Andy!

[BIWI]

Welcome to week 8 where hopefully the tennis will distract us all from England's performance in the World Cup!

Come and register this week's weigh in on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness or on your own Weight Tracker

And just a reminder re rule 6 - because I'm a bit of a broken record about telling you all to drink more - here's how much you should be drinking:

6. You must drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day.

The more weight you have to lose, the more water you should drink. This is from another low carb website

Water is essential to weight loss for those who eat low-carb. The minimum consumed in a day should be:

Your Weight----Litres
140lbs-----2.5
160lbs-----3.0
180lbs-----3.0
200lbs-----3.5
220lbs-----3.5
240lbs-----4.0
260lbs-----4.5
280lbs-----4.5
300lbs-----5.0
320lbs-----5.5
340lbs-----5.5
360lbs-----6.0
380lbs-----6.5
400lbs-----6.5

High levels of ketones in the blood stream can lead to a reduction in ketone production, therefore being well hydrated could aid in keeping the levels low and ketone production ongoing. Consuming enough water can have many other positive side effects: aids your kidneys with the processing of protein, reduces the retention of water, helps with preventing constipation, and reduces the levels of ketones released by your breath, which in-turn will reduce breath odour.

However, drinking a lot of water can mean that you also need to keep an eye on your electrolyte balance. You need to make sure that you are consuming sufficient sodium and potassium. On a low carb diet we can eat more salt, so make sure that you are cooking with salt and adding salt to food, if you like it. Good, low carb, sources of potassium are spinach (raw), avocado, mushrooms, courgettes and asparagus, as well as salmon and yoghurt.

In this hot weather, remember that you will also be sweating a bit more, so you may need to try and squeeze in a little bit more if you possibly can!

Thanks Sayra - I'm pretty chuffed with 10% although have a lot further to go.

He's due home on Saturday

I am running round like a blue arsed fly doing all the jobs that have been ignored since he left. Can't do a thing without a deadline

Re the berries - I have been allowing myself seven raspberries a day with my FF Greek yoghurt. Delicious. Will carry on enjoying them to the max while they are in season. Not sure why 7 - I remember reading ages ago that 7 almonds were a good snack, so I seem to assume the same number of raspberries is probably not too many, but just enough to enjoy!

Im feeling good today - did the school run in a pair of my old size 10 jeans! Up til now Id been wearing leggings or maternity jeans (16 week old ds). Id like them a little looser but they certainly gave me a lift and some encouragement to keep on. Been invited to a party in a few weeks so hoping I'll have some choice of what to wear, which Im looking forward to.

Youre all doing super well writing down what you've eaten etc, I haven't meal planned for a couple of weeks as things are a bit tight at the moment so we're emptying the freezer etc! Thankfully though we always have salad in the fridge and tuna in the cupboard

I wish there was a big badass book full of all of your recipes and ideas, would be so much easier, I can never be arsed to go trawling through the threads .

Anyway, Im drinking lots of water and Ive just had kippers with butter and a coffee for breakfast. Not sure I'll need lunch - didn't eat first thing as my friend came back with me this morning to cut my hair. For dinner Im thinking low carb sausages and cauliflower cheese and some veg.

Have a great day all xx

Afternoon, sounds like lots of people doing pretty well this week . Things have been a bit hectic here with surprise visits, school trips etc so haven't been able to get on mn properly for a few days. Weighed Monday and was only down 1/4 lb but today I'm down another 1 3/4 lb which means I've hit the 2 stone loss mark since March . Still got a long way to go but I can't see me going back to eating lots of carbs again now so hopefully I'll get there eventually. I had to make a cake for visitors at the weekend and everyone was saying how nice it was and how sad it is that I can't have any anymore but I just looked at it and thought yuck, it even smelled awful to me and I used to be the worlds biggest cake fan!

Wow Bird, two stone?! Fantastic.

Bird that is absolutely brilliant, well done. I'm not quite across the 2 stone mark yet, and you've done it so quickly, you must feel great. Have you enjoyed shopping for some new clothes?

BIWI yes, next Monday for real! The excitement is a big replaced by wobbly tired fear - eek. It is a big deal though and it'll be ok once I get going, I hope.

I'm preparing veg for the freezer today because I'm sure I'll be too tired and I don't want to default back into old ways.

Brilliant, Bird!

doineedhelp - It's almost a crime not to eat the berries at this time of year, they are so good - I have some each morning with yogurt (but I do lose weight slowly however I have to enjoy this woe otherwise I won't stick it)

Bird - an amazin loss, well done. Wish I could feel the same about c..e - I haven't had any since Jan but as it's a big birthday at the w/e and I'm going out for nice meals, I'm wondering if I should allow myself some - in a mindful planned way of course.

Cauliflower Egg Fried Rice

1 small cauliflower
2-3 echallion shallots
1 egg
coconut oil
soy sauce

1. Cut the leaves off the cauliflower, then break it into florets; rinse, and then put them into the large bowl of a food processor with the metal blade. Pulse until it is in pieces roughly the size of grains of rice

1. Melt a large dollop (be generous) of coconut oil in a wok and when it's hot add the cauliflower and fry on a high heat for a minute or so

1. Whilst the cauliflower is cooking, peel and dice the onion, then add to the wok and continue stirring/frying until it's all soft and the cauliflower is starting to brown (this won't take more than about 4-5 minutes). Season with a little salt and some black pepper

1. Whisk an egg

1. Move the cauliflower and onion mixture to the side of the wok and add a little bit more oil to the visible base of the pan. (You'll probably need to tip the wok up slightly to do this) When it's hot, tip in the egg. Leave it till it starts to set, then stir it and, when it's more like an omelette/scrambled egg, stir it into the cauliflower.

1. Before serving, season with some soy sauce

Hello all!
BIWI, that sounds delicious ...!! I have to try it soon.
BIRD, well done for your loss.. You must feet terrific!!

Today I went to costa to catch up with a friend which has become a grandma. I was good as I order a decaf black coffee with ice . Tbh it tasted hell, as I don't like black coffee at all, but apart from water I didn't know what else I could have... :(

Food today like Monday and Tuesday, nothing apart from water, as I have a very bad chest infection and sore throat and I can't bear to eat anything

I just have a quick question if anyone can help me. I bought some coconut cream because I love it but when I've opened it it was really runny, like water with a few big ish hardish bits in it. Normally when I get it it's like really thick cream. I tried stirring it to combine it again but it wouldn't work. Any ideas what's wrong with it?

supermum In Costa you could have an Americano with cream.

never try heating it gently in a pan?.

Today has been

4 rashers of bacon
Two tins of tuna with mayo
Tonight will be chicken, frozen spinach and creamed coconut curry.

Have been on a trip today with work.. Getting a wee bit emotional about all my preschoolers last day on Friday.

No breakfast
L - ham salad with cheese, cucumber and mayo
D - chicken, courgette and mushroom fried in butter with broccoli cheese (no cauliflower)

Last aerobics tonight for the summer. Getting a bit worried what I'm going to do to keep my exercise up

Thanks BEST, tbh, the only thing I really fancied was cold water, but since my friend was paying, I thought that to ask for water didn't sound good, so I opted for the black Americano.

Never stick it in the fridge? It should solidify again.
Great day foodwise today. Just realised I haven't even thought of what's for supper so need to go get something out the freezer. Oops. At least I had a delivery last night, so there's lots in.

Thanks for suggestions. I didn't really want to heat it because I eat it cold and it had been in the fridge all night so was cold when I opened it this morning. I have another pack in the fridge so I'll try that one now.

never my most recent coconut cream was runny not solid and it is in the fridge. Mine isn't lumpy but it is the consistency of yogurt.

Can anyone help me please? If I wanted to make a thai curry what can I use? I have coconut milk but what about the paste etc? Thanks...

I bought (and kept in the fridge) 8 packs of blue dragon coconut cream - 4 were thick paste and 4 were like coconut milk

I'm going to use the thin ones for cooking

SPECIAL SPREADSHEET ANNOUNCEMENT

Since it is the season of berries etc and quite a few of you are now doing BLC and are wanting to eat berries I have added a fruit carb counter to the spreadsheet. It right next to the veg counter, I have only put some fruits on but if there is anything else you want added then let me know.

I took the carb counts per 100g from here if anyone wants to look, please also let me know if you think that any of the counts are wrong.

Woo hoo!

It's worth noting just how high these 'allowable' fruits are, just in case you're thinking of troughing on them regularly

Yeah BIWI I should have added a disclaimer!

Oh wow, so many lovely comments, it's so nice to be able to share successes with everyone here, no one I know in RL is,has or shows any interest in low carbing and they all just tend to roll their eyes or say 'oh your still on that diet then'. My family are all loudly proclaiming that I have lost enough now and should stop too, I used to be tiny and I get the feeling that they all prefer it when I'm bigger so they can be the skinny ones . DP is happy I'm losing but has pretty much zero interest in how so it's great to be able to talk about it with people

lowcarbforthewin - Thanks

LittleMissDisorganized - Thanks, it doesn't feel quick, especially when there are weeks with only a 1/4lb loss, a stall or gain but when I actually stop and think about it it really hasn't been as long as it feels. I did have a woosh recently after only losing 1lb max a week for a while and then not losing for a couple of weeks so that helped speed things up a bit, I expect it will slow down again now.

I have got some new clothes but I ordered online, I haven't braved the high street changing rooms yet, that might have to wait a while longer!

Good luck starting back at work, once you get there I'm sure i will be great and your nerves will disappear

BIWI - Thankyou

Suzymoo09 - Thanks, I think if I hadn't touched any c..e since starting bootcamp I would still miss it and want to eat it but I tried a tiny taste of a fancy one at a family meal that everyone was raving about in week 4 (I think) and it tasted vile so now that I know that it won't taste good I don't care about not eating it.

Interested in the comments about Blue Dragon coconut cream.I had 2 or 3 cartons that were lovely but then I got one that is liquid with a big hard lump in the middle. I squished and mashed it into a paste and added it to my cream as usual but when it was chilled its gone back int lumps. I now have whipped cream with unpleasant chunks in it. Hope my other cartons aren't the same.

morning, sitting here with one very sore and puffy eye thats not able to focus properly. DS2 yesterday decided that being told not to poke me in the ear meant it was open season on my left eye ...

Nice fruit counter SayraT , could we have apples and bananas added please. and is there anything else apart from rhubarb that falls under 4g ?

Yesterdays food
b. yogurt & cream 200g
L. curry mince, aubergine, mushroom surprise
d. 2egg tuna omelette with salad
9pints water

have a good one all