Week 8 - Pre-summer Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Morning all!

The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness is here

Looks, at last, as if we have a bit of sunshine - at least Darn Sarf.

A bit of a less fraught week for me, so it may even be possible that I hit the gym mid-week, which I haven't done for months.

I'm avoiding the scales this Bootcamp, but tried on a couple of dresses I bought a few weeks ago, which were a little on the tight side. One of them fits perfectly now, and the other one is almost there, so I know things are working. But I know that I've a way to go before I'm 'there'!

Hope those of you who are weighing have a good result today!

Here's to another successful week.

[Gcalgske]

I generally don't eat breakfast but if I did it would be an avocado or a green smoothie (usually spinach/celery/avocado/almond milk/coconut oil/ACV) I IF most days 16/8 but will gauge it on my hunger. If I'm hungry I eat. I normally just have a black coffee and a water and break fast around 1pm.

Lunch is usually a homemade soup (Cullen skink with cauli sub'd for the potatoes is currently my fave) or a couple of boiled eggs/2 egg omelette or fried eggs with veggies - a whole courgette or some kale, shallot and mushrooms - fried in lots of butter and coconut or olive oil. I've recently been loving the BLT 'boats' which is a couple of rashers of bacon in 2x large romaine leaves witha little tomato and lots of mayo and avocado to up the fat, also love chicken wings and ribs with celery or cucumber sticks.
Dinner is normally a fatty cut of meat pork belly or low carb chilli/bolognaise (made with 20-23% fat mince), chicken thighs with skin and fat, fatty salmon belly. Veggies are normally courgettie / kale/ cauliflower rice (for faux pilau or risotto) or roasted cauliflower. I try to keep dairy quite low (it's insulin promoting) regardless of carbs and protein so try to keep it low but don't exclude. Occasionally will have a baked feta cheese or a Greek salad.
Love a creamy coffee!
I don't really snack but would go for olives or a bit of 85% + cocoa dark chocolate.
Key is to keep fat high - it makes you full. I don't track everything/ all the time but when I do I normally am quite high on the calories (1700+) do definitely not starving.

[DoctoraNova]

Sounds very reasonable Gcal thanks for explaining. Does that fit in around family? Or do you cook anything different for others or do you all eat more or less the same at dinner?

[SestraClone]

Gcal, Id love your cullen skink recipe please!

[Stilllovingmysleep]

Mothership sorry to hear this! But as BIWI says you've had good weight loss in the early weeks. Just hang in there. I've been doing LC with some tiny exceptions since March non stop and have lost 6 kilos all in all. It's slow but I've noticing the weeks when I don't lose weight. I just accept it happens. For example this Monday I weighed in at more than a kilo compared to the week before but it's Wednesday and that's already gone and I'm back to minus 6 kilos again. It really really fluctuates and also stays steady for a few weeks in a row sometimes.

Having said that do try slightly lower dairy and see how you get on...

[Veryflummoxed]

Hi all
Brunch was a LC sausage hard boiled egg and left over coleslaw.

Dinner was belly pork coleslaw and green salad. Various teas and water.

[MaryThorne]

Holiday meals are a bit all over the place -
B (lateish start): coffee with cream, Brie and Edam
Nothing for lunch as we were out and about and nowhere to get anything
Snack: Boursin as I was preparing dinner
D: low carb bolognaise (sp?) with creme fraiche and Parmesan cooked in butter and coconut oil, lettuce with homemade vinaigrette, small glass white wine

[MaryThorne]

Ps welcome Doctor and welcome back gcal.

[BIWI]

Lots of dairy going on there Mary ...

[bettyblueeyes83]

Was at catered work event but actually the food was quite LC for a change. Drank milk in drinks, drank alcohol, and ate cheese without thinking about it - I think my brain has fully accepted LCHF but not low dairy or alcohol (doh!) so I'm going to need to watch that. I also had some hummus and there was a small amount of BNS in one of the salads. Not the best start to being stricter (!) but avoided all cakes, lebanese bread etc which were plentiful.

B: scrambled eggs with butter and dash of cream, half an avocado, coffee with cream
L: sea bream with various prepared salads, olive oil, small portion cheddar
D: mezze (halloumi, baba ganoush, okra, hummus with lamb) mixed grill, Greek salad
S: three prosecco, coffee and tea with milk, lots of water

[Gcalgske]

SestraClone I've put it on the recipes thread. It comes out at about 6g carb/15g protein per serving.

[Gcalgske]

DoctoraNova it works fine for family. I don't do 'low fat' anyway, I believe that everyone should be eating whole, as natural as possible foods so I like that my daughter eats with me 80% of the time. She's 3.5yo and I let her add carbs where she wants to (veggies, fruit, yoghurts, bread, occasional sweets etc) she's a normal healthy weight.
My hubby is a bit tougher, he likes my cooking and eats what I make plus carbs - so I normally end up making two 'sides' eg: with Bolognaise courgettie for me / spaghetti or pasta for him (daughter usually has a bit of both), with roast meats roast cauli for me/mash and peas for him (again she normally has a bit of both), with steak salad for me and salad and chips for them, with curry cauli rice for me/normal rice for them.
The only thing I do is normally add melted butter or 'extra' fats just to mine so that they are having real, good fats but not to excess.

[regularbutpanickingabit]

Flying in so apologies for only skim reading.
Overdoing dairy is something I need to watch and I also have PCOS. Hadn't realised the connection, so thanks for that!
Away for work
B - waitrose smoked salmon roll up things, cheddar cheese pieces
L - cooked chicken with spinach, Mayo, toms and feta
D - lc sausages with 2 fried eggs, spinach salad, tons, cucumber and feta

[Stilllovingmysleep]

Gcal how interesting! Maybe a silly question but how can it be managed to have 80% fat in practice? What sort of meals would that involve?

[DoctoraNova]

Sounds great to me Gcal. I am a big believer in natural and whole as far as practicable. My daughter is almost five, and she naturally tends towards a LCHF diet anyway, with yoghurts and some kiddies treats too. However getting to accept veggies is really tough. My husband is a very intuitive eater too, it's really impressive to watch and helps keep me in check. I am quite greedy
Ok, having said that, how big exactly are the portions in the uber camp? Like, I could put ALL the mushrooms in the eggs. And how much tuna?

[Gcalgske]

I tend to make sure each meal is about my macros (when I'm just starting out - then I go with it)

This for example is my cheats version of Cullen skink (using stock
Cube) plenty butter and cream in there.

[BIWI]

Doctor - the only part of uber that's weighed is the carb part. The rest doesn't matter! You can have as much tuna as you want.

But if I've given a weight for something, that's to give you a carb count. Ubercamp is about ultra low carb as well as being dairy-free

[Gcalgske]

Sausages, roast radishes with butter, shallots and olive oil.

[DoctoraNova]

Roasted radishes, wow. I never would have thought of doing that.

[DoctoraNova]

Ok thanks BIWI. Am slowly cutting out milk from coffee. A bit less every day. Am getting there!

Why do I always post twice?

[SestraClone]

Had yummy smoked salmon/cucumber ribbons/boursin roll ups for lunch, perfect on a warm day!

[regularbutpanickingabit]

Still away:
Breakfast - Leon avocado, salmon and egg pot with an extra egg
L - lc sausages with avocado (had packed this myself without realising what breakfast would be!), spinach, olive oil
S - brownie. Eek. Not a usual occurrence but a client-cannot-say-no job.
D - not sure yet

[SestraClone]

Had a cheeky takeaway tonight - chicken kebab with lots of salad. Left the pitta obviously!

[bettyblueeyes83]

Anyone got any bright ideas on what to do with a red cabbage I bought for a good reason that I know can't remember?!

[BIWI]

Yes! Boil it in salted water for around 5 minutes, then tip into a colander and drain.

In the pan you used to boil it, add a very large knob of butter, and a smidgeon of oil (it stops the butter burning), and then add 4-6 chopped shallots (to taste and depending on the size of your cabbage). Saute the shallots till soft - rather than frying to brown them - and then tip the drained cabbage back into the pan. Stir well, to coat with the fat, season with salt and pepper, and then braise for around 20 minutes, with a lid on the pan. After this, add some wine vinegar - about 2-4 tablespoons (sorry, I do this by eye!). If you have any raspberry vinegar this is even better. Braise for another 5-10 minutes.

It's lovely cooked long and slow.

[SestraClone]

Betty, make sauerkraut! thehealthyeatingsite.com/how-to-make-sauerkraut/ I plan to use this recipe once I get a jar that seals properly. Fermented food is supposed to be really good for you.