Week 1 - January Low Carb Bootcamp: and we're off!

[BIWI]

Evening everyone. I hope you're all ready, prepared and raring to go!

Here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness:

for you to enter your starting weight

Have a good look at the tabs at the bottom, as there you will find the rules, the list of allowed veg and lots of other really useful information.

I've also started the questions thread , so if you have anything you need to ask, that's the best place to ask it. The chat threads move really quickly in the first weeks, so this thread is the best place to ask your questions.

And this time around, I thought it might be useful to have a thread to post about good/interesting low carb products that you come across:

Here

Good luck!

Mindful - welcome!

Yes, absolutely you can combine it with 5:2, and it should help you on fasting days. But I'd say leave that until you are well established with low carbing, and so that you know that your blood sugar levels are properly stable

Thumb - can you really eat unlimited quantities of fat?! You really must be abnormal

Please make sure you're eating breakfast ....

I've met lovely Thumb, knew there was something strange

Breakfast for me today is scrambled egg with mattesons garlic sausage and mushrooms, fried in butter. With coffee and cream

Thumbwitch - I also add a generous slug of olive oil to my meatballs (plus grated Parmesan and oregano if I'm making them to have in tomato sauce and courgette tagliatelle)

I am a daily weigher when trying to lose weight. When I don't weigh I just seem to put pounds on. Jumped on the scales this morning and I am 4lbs less than Monday and it is only day 4. I know it is only because I have stuck rigidly to the rules. I tried unsuccessfully the last two weeks and ended up weighing more than when I started. I know if I break the rules the pounds will go back on again. Biwi's big stick is the only thing keeping me away from a glass of wine at night. Breakfast is two duck eggs mixed with a generous knob of butter and a big dollop of mayo.

I've lost 3lbs! My son was confused as to why I was smiling about that as he thought I meant £3

DH forgot to scramble the egg, it is now more of an omelette

Janx I'm smiling doing despite a distinct lack of sleep last night

Just checking in to say hello to everyone. I'm up to my eyeballs with work and well, life, at the moment and I'm struggling to keep up with all of that, never mind this fast moving thread! Thanks for adding my weight Sarya (on Monday!)

At the moment, I'm just rather absentmindedly boot camping; I used to plan meals etc., but now it's just left over roasts and buying random piles of veg and using them up in various hash-type-things. The problem with this is that I have to make a conscious effort not to eat cheese (it derails me a bit) am I'm eating far too much of it at the moment.

Have a good Thursday everyone!

I am having a warm protein shake for breakfast to combat the cold.

Cream, warm almond milk, cocoa butter, chocolate flavoured low carb protein powder.

Blended up, it's like a very decadent hot chocolate. Not ideal, but all my low-carb breakfast bits are at work, and I can't get there due to the snow!!

Well done on your loss Please. I wasn't going to weigh myself until Monday and I haven't added my name to the spreadsheet - glad I did now!

Morning all.

Best i'm with you on the tea in the morning. I just can't drink anything else. I have 2 tsp of whole milk in my tea first thing and that's it all day. I can't do black tea at all - even tho i have very strong tea anyway i just need that bit of milk in it - so it's fruit tea for the rest of the day (before this woe i would drink about 10 cups a day - 3 one after the other first thing )

This woe may have had a breakthrough with MrK - last night he said not to pack too much in his lunch as he was full yesterday and forced himself to eat it all . We had the ipd moussaka last night and when i dished it up we both looked at it a bit as the portion was half of what we would eat of my usual moussaka (with pita bread and salad with a carby dressing). I served it with a big green salad and a light oil and vinegar dressing. But it was so filling and rich we just about finished it. It was really yummy.

I tweaked the recipe slightly and used 500g lamb mince, 2 leeks, half a pack of mushrooms chopped, 1 scant tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 heaped tsp dried oregano, lamb stock instead of water (i have a freezer full of homemade stock so use it whenever i can). Also i used 2 smallish aubergines and 100g of grated cheddar on the top of the 'custard', instead of putting 200g feta into it.

Speaking of stock - i have a large pot of chicken stock i need to use. Does anyone have any lovely soup recipes? I have leeks, spinach, cauli and swede.

Hope everyone has a good day. :)

Goodness, day 4 already! Feel like I am getting more into the swing of things. DS and I shared some eggs this morning although I cooked them separately as he can't have butter - coconut oil has been a stale in our house for some time.

chester is it lamb neck fillet? If so, how about kebabs or souvlaki? If it is on the bone, long slow cooking with a bunch of veg is good!

well finally took the plunge and weighed myself, 14st 2lb which i am very pleased with. I was 14st 9lb at xmas . I sort of BC before official start date and have been hardcore since monday. Now i know its all water but there is a teeny tiny chance i will be in the 13sts by the end of the month i havent been that weight since before the DC and that is only 1.5 st off wedding weight.

Still huge on my 5ft 5 frame but onwards and downwards. Off to drink more water with a song in my heart!

Good luck everyone

It is most odd, yes! I don't know about unlimited amounts of fat, but certainly more than many people seem to be able to cope with! But maybe that's because I've always eaten a fairly fat-rich diet - I've never given up on butter, cheese, full fat milk or double cream.

MrsK - your moussaka sounds good, I bought an aubergine yesterday with a view to making something like a moussaka, might try your recipe :)

Breakfast is a real trial to me but I am pushing myself to do it - I have the yoghurt, I just have to remember to eat it It will get easier next week when DS1 is back to school and we are back on a schedule.

Its good when they get on board so well done MrK, that moussaka sounds lush i will have to dig out ipd cook book.

I turn chicken stock into cauli soup, just boil cauli (fresh or frozen) in stock add curry powder and shallots. Finish with cream or coconut cream.
I found a recipe for coriander pesto on here and its amazing in the soup - i freeze it in ice cube trays and add a cube as i reheat a bowl full - amazing but then i love coriander.

I love how fast this is moving! Lots of really delicious sounding good ideas on here too. I'm well into the swing of things. Have this awful cold that going around so not eating much but making sure I have three small meals.
thanks also for the buttermint tea recommendation, I'm drinking pints of it.
Happy Thursday!

Good Morning fellow healthsters

Concentrating on stopping the coffee creep today and forcing water instead.
I'm sure it's psychological but drinking water makes me feel colder plus our downstairs loo is actually a portal to Siberia so the extra belts off trousers down is losing me heat.
Plan of action is not to get dressed at all today and wear onsie with arseflap.
Yes I look lazy.
Yes I look worryingly like a redneck.
I will be warm and superhydrated though so the postie will just have to bare the trauma

B. Eggs.
L. Salad.
D.Pulled pork.

S. Crackling and cheese.

Have a good un everyone.

If you don't want to dig out the ipd Moussaka recipe - it's very simple (this is my version):

Fry 500g lamb mince in olive oil, when browned add 2 sliced leeks, 2 sticks celery chopped, half a pack of mushrooms chopped, 2 large cloves garlic crushed, 1 scant tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 heaped tsp dried oregano, 2tbsp tom puree, lamb stock/water to just cover, simmer till fairly reduced and dry. Fry 2 smallish sliced aubergines in olive oil and set aside till meat ready. Put meat sauce into the bottom of a dish, layer aubergines on top. Mix 300ml of double cream with 3 eggs and pour over. Top with 100g of grated cheddar and bake in a 180 oven for 30-40 mins. We got 4 servings.

Have you tried hot water Fatstacks? I quite like it and it's supposed to be good for your kidneys according to my mum who may not have reliable scientific evidence. Or sometimes I put a bit of hot water from the kettle into cold water so it's not quite so cold, especially at this time of year when the water from the tap is colder than the fridge.

Oooh I like the idea of souvlaki, Grinch, thanks for that

I'll try it Stuntnun it hadn't occurred to me to drink warm or hot
It will break my stare of grievances with the fridge too, thanks

Morning all! I am 3lbs done and my trousers are definitely more forgiving than the last time I wore them - very very pleased.

Bit of a headache this morning but I realised that I didn't drink much water last night (though I sunk 3l at work).

Today's plan is:

B: 2 eggs, mushrooms and ham, 2 x coffee with cream
L: Leftover LC shepherds pie
D: Pork shoulder steaks, asparagus, celeriac fondant
S: Cheese, egg muffins
E: Spin class

I've got a good weekend of exercise planned.

Tomorrow morning I have coffee with the school mums which is going to be tough but I plan to get there first and order a black americano and have a little pot of cream in my bag.

Wow, this thread moves really fast! Sorry, can't read through all the posts, but just wanted to post what I ate yesterday.

3 egg omelette with a little red pepper, onion and 2 cherry tomatoes with a tsp of mayonnaise.
A very small mug of homemade veg soup, a small pot of coleslaw.
Roast chicken with cauliflower in butter and sprouts.
A snack of some cold tikka chicken slices.
Lots of black decaff coffee and water.

I don't feel any less bloated, tbh, but I just got AF today, so maybe that's why. Also possibly why I've been shovelling coleslaw into myself in the absence of anything sugary!

On the plus side, no carb flu yet.

Didn't manage to walk yesterday due to having too much work on, but I'm determined to get out today for half an hour.

Morning all.

Will have some breakfast in a mo. Will have eggs scrambled with cream & made with butter. And 2 field mushrooms fried in butter.

When I get back from work will have some feta & olives.

Dinner tonight is salmon & will attempt to do some cauliflower rice.

I've lost 3 & 3/4lbs since Monday.