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!

Afternoon everyone! Starting off at 181 lbs which I've been hovering around for the past decade or so. Not great when you're only 5'4"...
Did Slimming World in 2005 and lost a stone...nothing dramatic but already had a healthy diet just ate too much and drank too much.
Wine my biggest downfall - frankly shocked when I consider that since then I don't think I've gone longer than four/five days without a glass or two at night.
I'm hoping flavoured teas will be my friend - fruit....just not the fermented kind!
Breakfast - two boiled eggs in a cup with butter (childhood favourite/guilty pleasure till now)
Lunch - salmon and mayo; green pepper; celery
Dinner - left over roast chicken; salad; watercress
Not looking forward to the evening....

The spare spaces on the spreadsheet have all been filled, so I haven't added my name below all the averages and stuff - will PM Sayra to make sure she sees this. Starting weight = 12st on the dot, so that's 168lb.

Anyway.

I have done my first full day and oh it was harder than I remember it being last year - but I managed.
Breakfast was a sliver of cheese (I have now bought appropriate yoghurt and will do that)
Lunch was a courgette, mushroom and cheese omelette with butter and 3 eggs
Dinner was salmon with vegetables - I always get this wrong because we have carrots pretty much every day, so it was carrot batons and broccoli - and then a snack of fried (in butter) halloumi.
Drunk about 1.5L of water, so need to increase that as well.

Had a bit of a headache this afternoon but that could just as well have been from lack of sleep as lack of carbs.

I really really need to get my sleep patterns back on track as well. Proper sleep is needed for proper weight loss. Now the toddler is bigger, I don't carry him as much either, so need to actually DO some exercise.

Anyone looking for a good evening snack should check out kale chips. They are amazing, crunchy, salty little beggars that really hit the spot. I tend to mix then with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever herbs and spices I fancy (chilli, garlic powder, celery salt, oregano or rosemary are a few faves) and wazz them in the oven for 10 mins on about 140c. They are also fab with a bit of parmesan sprinkled on before cooking.

Today is going well so far, 2.5 litres of water down, kettlebell class done and now having lunch.

Love being back on the BC wagon with you all

Thanks pisses anyway! Shame about the weight tracker, I really liked using it to log my weight.

So far so good today.....

Called at asda after picking youngest dd from nursery. Picked up olives and a Spanish salami selection, as eldest dd is off school and I shared my salad with her.

Shocked to see that the carb content for the 3 different types of salami was 0.3g, 3g and 4.2g! Unfortunately only saw it after I had eaten in.

As they are only thin slivers, I'm thinking it would take quite a lot to get to 100g, but still.

Trying a mango tea. Why do they never taste like they smell. So disappointing.

chester we had kale crisps yesterday. Salt and smoked paprika here. They are indeed delicious.

Just off to the loo again

I find the bit between getting back with the kids from school and tea time the hardest snacking-wise.
I've got cheese, Parma ham and olives, but I'm hoping e cheese will be enough.
If it gets really hard I've got left over roast chicken and mayonnaise although I'm hoping to save that for either tea or breakfast and lunch. I'm about half ya through my waiter as well which helps with not snacking as well.

I'm also crocheting

I know Mrs Koala throwing perfectly edible carby leftover food in the bin is painful. It has to be done though, because I got fat partly through eating kid's leftovers!! I put DS's leftover breakfast this morning (brioche) on the bird table not the bin. But you can't really do that with Spag Bol!

Will think about Kale chips (crisps, surely?)... need to be bolder with my cooking

i think i will try the Kale crisps. What's the best to flavour them? Do i just toss the lot in oil then put on a baking tray?

Just had an email from MrKoala - he is starving :( I made him a 3 egg mushroom and spinach omelette for breakfast and packed him with a big tub of beef and veggie soup for lunch. But he is missing nibbles i think. Usually his lunch would consist of a sandwich, fruit, houmous and crudite, crisps and bar of chocolate. He would also then probably have coffee and a biscuit/muffin/cake in the mid morning AND afternoon.

Trouble is he hates cheese, cold meat, olives, gherkins etc. all the usual nibbles i would have, he wouldn't touch. Also he usually has lots of milky coffee. I just don't know what to give him to sustain him thru the day. I am worried that if he gets too hungry he will just think fuck it and binge on cake.

He is a great big bloke over 6ft 1 and almost as wide. A while ago I worked out with his level of activity and size he needs 3300 calories a day. So i have always struggled to fill him up without him turning to crap snacks. On a budget it was a nightmare.

Any snack suggestions would be much much appreciated :)

Also just off to the loo again - 9th wee of the day

I think i have got fat entirely on his leftovers Eva! He used to be a good eater so there never were any, but he's going thru a phase . So there weren't any leftovers. Also we used to be so tight with money i struggled to get enough food on the budget i had, so i would always eat leftovers from the plates for my meals (i know i know). In fact, now we are more comfortable, i am finding it really hard to spend money on decent/good food. I feel guilty shopping at the butchers and not filling up on cheap pasta. It's now psychological and i feel a bit teary thinking about it.

MrsKoala - try him with slices of marmite on butter, I think someone was rolling them into balls and chilling them. Great for getting some fat in and will fill him up as well. Also give him a stock cube a day to drink, ups his salt and makes for something to look forward to.

Could he have nuts MrsKoala? I don't think we're allowed them for 2 weeks (need to check this) but maybe he qualifies for extenuating circumstances? (actually now I've googled 'extenuating' I'm not at all sure it's the right word, but you know what I mean!)

That's so interesting about feeling guilty spending money on good food. I used to feel that way until I had an inflammatory disease in my 20's and found a diet (paleo in fact) that cured it. Now I think I'd rather cut back on everything else to keep my body working properly. Though for people who are perfectly healthy on carbs the situation is different.

I've done well today and haven't craved chocolate at all! Admittedly we're only 15 hours in

Thanks for the suggestions. I can't even eat marmite in the same room as him let alone suggest he eats it himself. He wouldn't eat butter like that - it's why he hates cheese - the texture would make him vom. Irritatingly he is allergic to nuts.

I'm going to try this again. I can do it.

Going to try the kale crisps, I bought it today and had it sauted for lunch with a pork steak. Pork was nice, kale was...erm...chewy, and now I have a big bag of it to use!

Have cocked up a little with dinner and without thinking glugged red wine into the cottage pie base can't be that bad though can it? There's probably a glass and a half in and the lot will do about 12 portions.

i'm thinking of making a flax loaf of some kind. I know it can impede weight loss for some, but i think it's better than him giving up completely.

I will be strict with myself because i like all of the foods and i am home to cool and prepare. But i think he will struggle.

My hubby is 15.7st and 6ft. I used to get similar emails. I now make 3 eggs in a cup with loads of butter, cheese and pepper.

Then he has a BPC to wash it down. For lunch i make soup or leftovers from dinner. I also make ricotta bites which are like, little crustless quiches but not too eggy otherwise i couldnt eat them. However i am lucky he will eat pepperamis, cheese and nuts.

Would he eat ff yoghurt and cream with a few berries - being a big chap he might have a higher carb tolerance? Lettuce wraps with bacon and mayo? Chicken wings and garlic mayo?

My hubby cant believe it works, he knows nothing about it, he just eats what i give him! I explained carb flu and why he shouldnt eat too many carbs this weekend but it just went over his head and i think he is feeling it today. I keep repeating if he can give it the week, things will improve and he will feel less hungry. He drinks loads of milky coffees a day and he still looses more than me and i am far more diligent in my approach although not much lighter.

We are on a budget and i have to work hard to make it stretch but not drinking wine or buying takeaways helps. I also now shop at a local market and we eat a lot of whatever aldis super 6 is. Cheap bread and pasta were a mainstay of our diet. I struggle with food shopping but we will be in our late 50s by he time our kids are in their 20s so i look a it as an investment in their future. My Fil is mid 60s and has many many obesity related health probs and i dont want that to be us.

Ok is it crazy to weight yourself 5 times a day?
In one day weight goes 215.5, 218.1, 216.4, 213.9, 215.7 not wearing the variable weight of clothes, so it's not that must be just fluid???

now I weigh and go 2.5 pounds either side of the number. 218 means 215.5 and 213.9 means 216.4. Now those once a week weigh-ins don't get depressing if the number hasn't changed or even gone up slightly. If I know I have followed the plan it will just be water and it will drop soon as the body hasn't got rid of it. If I haven't followed the plan I know the reason.

Brekkie 2 egg, 1oz grated cheese 2 rashers of back bacon 9 mushrooms.
11ish bulletproof coffee 1tsp butter 1tsp coconut oil

3ish 3oz chick 2 cups of caulli, green pepper, turnip, celery + handful of kale

7ish 8oz pork centre chop 3 cups of caulli, green pepper, turnip, celery + handful of cabbage

6ish switch to drinking hot lemon juice green tea instead of coffee
Different spices added garlic, chilli, curry powder, turmeric & black pepper, salt and multi-Vitamin, calcium and fish oil pills.

delaying supper till 7ish means no snacky feelings before bed time.

Lunch at 3 is pre cooked and then warmed in micro when at work. Office job so don't have to take lunch at any particular time.

Lurkingmurking, i put 1tbsp of coconut oil and keep kale raw. I had my smoothie at 10am and now at 3.30 just started to feel hungry so have had 2 ricotta bites with extra cheese melted on top -yum.

Green smoothies without fruit are an acquired taste but the coconut oil was lovely and gave them a nice taste - really lifted the grassy flavour - not selling them am i?

So I had two cold boiled eggs and homemade mayo for breakfast.

Salmon fillet, salad, and feta with olive oil for lunch.

And I've got pork loin steak, buttered leeks and roast cauliflower for dinner.

How does that look?

Trying to avoid the 3pm slump. I am on an M&S rooibos, vanilla and cocoa nib tea. It's not hitting the spot really but I'm ignoring that!

I also got some M&S crispy bacon - whole packet gone in about 3 seconds whoops.

Ah!! Found the thread
I can't get the spreadsheet to work on my phone. Could somebody update me please? 145lb.
Glad to see some familiar names on the spreadsheet though. Will update my food later

MrsKoala Et all - How about pig snacks? I get pre cut pig skin to turn into crackling from my butcher allot better than the shop stuff and hits all the targets for getting fat in.
Oh and its so yum

ChesterDrawers
Do you use curly kale? Is there another sort? I have only eaten the curly stuff.
Ta

Ohh Pisses that's a really timely post. I have had a bacon shank in the slow cooker all day and i've just peeled off the thick skin/fat (and shredded the meat to make breakfast eggy cheesey muffins with) and was wondering if i could use the fat for anything. If i chop it up and slow roast in the oven would it make pork scratchings?