Week 6 - Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - it's all downhill from here!

[BIWI]

Evening all.

I'm starting this thread earlier than usual because I have to be up and out of the house by 7.30 tomorrow.

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness as usual

And don't forget the Weight Tracker

I hope the God of Wooshes is looking favourably on you all!

From tomorrow I have 19 days until I fly off to Somewhere Hot, so I will be super vigilant and fighting off those pesky carbs with much vim and vigour.

Muffin in a minute- ie a minute on in the microwave.

Will have a think about menus sayra- work beckons!

Well, I wasn't planning on fourarms when I go to others I eat what I am given even if it is carbs so can they not eat what I give them!

I was trying to think of meals that don't necessarily need carbs, even before BC I wouldn't have had carbs with something like the taco bake so thought that with salad would be good.

Maybe with the salmon other people could have potatoes, I'd have celeriac mash.

Thanks sarah I read back and realised it was minute

Well, technically both, i did muffin in a minute in a mug

Will go downstairs and check the price in a mo, yup flax and linseed are the same (anyone know why it has two names?). I see no reason why you couldnt use horse feed, animal food doesnt get the same level of checks as human but its perfectly safe (i was looking at buying horse feed online before i found it - i already use vet tape, i am turning into a horse!). Its quite granular, its not fine at all. Will take a pic when i check the price :)

Ah bugger, the price isnt on there. Will have a look online...

Sarya I get ground flax from Aldi. It's in a smallish yellow packet with the cereals and is called Harvest Morn Golden Omega Milled Linseed. It wasn't too expensive too so you can give it a go to see if you like it.

Thanks for the advice re dairy too. I think I will try and leave it out as much as poss for the rest of BC and then maybe start adding some back to see if I can find out what the culprit is please don't let it be cheese. At least it seems I can maintain with dairy so if the worst comes to the worst I can have it once I am at a happy weight, I suppose

Pisses thanks for the ideas on dairy free meals and also my lack of appetite in the evenings. I've got chilli and 'rice' tonight which is always a favourite so hoping that might tempt me but if not I will try your idea of eating more in the day and a snack type meal in the evening.

I give mine forage plus balancer which has micronized linseed in - you can still see the linseed husks but presumably the rest is ground out into powder with the rest of the minerals in it.
I'll ask MN HQ about my greyed-out photo options as my username is also grey at the top, tho I can post ok. Strange, it never used to be.

Fourarms I've actually done THD in the past, just not very well, and remember the stuff about reintroducing stuff slowly to see how it affects your weight. I may well take that approach - thanks for the reminder.

Oo, never occurred to me they'd have it in aldi! Will get more from there as i'd guess its cheaper.

Why should we cook meals with carbs in them for other people?!

In actual fact, if I have people coming for dinner, I usually do include a carb element - so I will usually make a pudding, as people seem to expect pudding! But it's always as low carb as I can make it, and I always have a cheese board as well.

But people donT need extra carbs - nothing wrong with providing a lovely protein-based meal with sides of lower carb veg. How many people go to dinner and complain they haven't been given any pasta or rice or potatoes? They don't even notice.

From my own perspective, I know that if I provide the carbs, the more the evening wears on - and the alcohol goes down - the more likely I am to throw caution to the wind and eat the carby things too, so it's a way of protecting me.

Selfish, moi?!

By the way, I came across an interesting infographic about why alcohol leads to weight gain.

If i was cooking for carbers and myself i would do something like roast chicken/ham with celeriac/swede dauphinoise/mash/remoulade and a green leafy veg. I would happily serve/eat that even if i wasn't doing this woe.

Is anyone else planning a LC/BC xmas? I am starting to put recipes aside that i think will be nice/special and also stick with this woe. It will probably still be a bit higher on the carby side, but still better than the traditional food.

I was thinking xmas eve some kind of curry with cauli rice. xmas day - Starter crab salad. Main roast duck/goose with roasted celeriac, swede, carrots, shallots. served with parsley buttered kale and some kind of sauce (haven't decided yet). Boxing day - Starter ?prawn and avocado of some kind/stuffed field mushrooms? Main Venison/beef steaks with celeriac dauphinoise and caul/broccoli.

So can i ask what are your favourite LC meals which i can steal ? :)

Yesterday:
B - coconut porridge
L - small bowl cauli soup and salad of 2 boiled eggs, watercress, cucumber, mayo.
s - chunk of cheese & 2 gherkins
d - 2 black farmer sausages, celeriac dauphinoise & broccoli

tonight i'm going to try the recipe for chicken liver ragu ignore the mash and do celeriac mash. i will replace the marsala with either white wine or stock, or half annd half.

I'm going to my mums for xmas, but planning now to stay on the wagon for lunch so i can maybe have a couple of mince pies later.

Normally have starter, soup and fish course (they go way ott!) so if i have pate i only need to skip the soup from that (usually leek and potato - my dads favourite thing to cook). Main, turkey, beef and veg. Coffee with cream. Will have a think about dessert ...

Christmas is a bit of a minefield, and I would counsel all of us to really think carefully about what our strategies are going to be to cope with it.

From bitter experience, I can tell you that it's very, very easy to slip totally off the wagon for several days. It's a time of the year so strongly associated with over-indulgence, that it's very easy to say to yourself 'well I am allowed roast potatoes/yorkshire puddings/christmas pudding/chocolates/Baileys' etc, and before you know it, you've gained several very unwelcome pounds. Worse, it can be very hard to get back on to the wagon afterwards.

So think it through carefully; where are you going to be, who will be with you, when are you 'in control' of the food, when aren't you - and how will you cope with all of that?

And I'd certainly agree with MrsK that this is a really good time to plan your cooking/meals, and to make them as luxurious as you can, whilst keeping the carbs as low as you can!

Well, i am lucky as we will be at home so i will be in charge. I am also lucky in that i don't really 'do' puddings much and would prefer a piece of cheese anyway. BUT what will be hard is the booze. I will need to stock up on fizzy water and limes and some prosecco and just alternate between those i think.

I usually make xmas cake and my own mince meat, but i doubt i will bother this year. I will probably buy in desserts for those who want something sweet.

Just had my early lunch. 2 egg omelette with cream, bit of cheese, courgette, mushrooms, half a tomato and a slice of ham, served with rocket salad :)

I wouldn't worry about serving no carbs for one meal, but I think if I had someone staying for a whole weekend I would, although if you're eating some meals out they could probably eat them there to compensate.

My family cater for my diet when I eat at theirs (my mum makes lots of the veg she knows I prefer and adjusts my portion sizes of low carb veg accordingly) and I cook carbs for their meals here :)

Wise words re Christmas there.

All happening at ours, so I'm in control! Planning is key for sure.

Interesting article BIWI, that explains a lot. A frozen margarita is the same number of calories as a cheeseburger!!! Unbelievable.
It's funny, after the weekend I've struggled to drink my 3l water, I'm really forcing myself. Before that I was closer to 4/5 litres

I learned the hard way in my early days of LC that going off plan over Christmas is a disaster. I could tolerate the blip in the weight loss but I would feel really ill for several days until I got back into fat burning. Its just not worth it. Nothing tastes good enough to put up with feeling that rough! I will probably make myself some fancy dark choc truffles (if I can find where I stored the recipe!) so I don't have anyone pestering me to 'just have one' when the sweets come out and will treat myself to LC treats that are normally out of budget range.

I do see your point fourarms but I am not really sure that giving them LC stuff for the weekend is that bad. I know for a fact that if I stayed with this friend I'd get a pasta bake every night and toast for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch!

I just don't want to have to buy stuff that I don't use and no one is really aware that I am on this WOE so it would look odd if they had potatoes and I didn't.

My dinner plan for Friday is taco bake so that is lamb mince with aubergine, courgette, pepper and tomato over a cream cheese and creme fraiche base with cheese on top served with a green side salad.

Saturday night (unless we go out) is salmon with a green pesto crust served with broccoli, asparagus and celeriac mash.

I'll make a LC pudding for one meal either crumble or chocolate tarts/pots.

Breakfast options would be bacon, eggs, toast/scones or porridge.

Lunch depends on whether we are in or out but I could make soup or an omelette.

What cabs would you add to those meals for non-LCers?

RE Christmas I am just going to try and remember that I started this year the heaviest I have ever been and quite sad about it. I have worked hard this year to lose weight and the devastation I will feel if I stand on the scales in the New Year and I've put weight on will outweigh any pleasure I might have got from eating chocolate etc over Christmas.

I intend to give my sweets etc away to others, to eat the LC stuff at meals and leave the carbs. Booze isn't really an issue for me so that is fine and I will plan in advance for our big New Year dinner, I already have the menu.

Had a bit of a funky reaction to some new meds. My food intake is not under my control nor do I have any control over it. I would be about this but the reaction was too much to allow me to care about the food side of things. Will be back on track in hopefully 48-72hrs when the med has cleared my system and I am back to normal. All good fun

Oh goodness, Bitchy - that sounds frightening. Are you OK?

Sayra - I think your menu looks fine. One option on Saturday would be to do a BAB - a Big Assed Breakfast! - so not just bacon and eggs, but mushrooms, low carb sausages and tomatoes as well. Then for lunch all you would need would be something light - a big bowl of some low carb soup perhaps? And then your evening meal sounds fine.

To be honest, I find that it's easier not to offer carby stuff - no option then for people to notice/question why you're not eating something! And when I've cooked things like celeriac dauphinoise, which is so beautifully indulgent, who would query why there are no potatoes?!

Feeling a bit shaken up tbh and will be glad when the med has cleared the system. Reassured though that it has now been put on my records that I must not have this med again. I know sometimes it is trial and error to find the right med but would have happily not had to have gone through that! I'd rather have the old med and the out of control migraines!

Big ass breakfast sounds nice about now! it is one of my favourite things about this woe. guilt free BABs!