Week 9 - Pre-summer Low Carb Bootcamp - our last two weeks!

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Not a good day for me. Have had a horrible night's sleep (i.e. hardly any) because I have a really nasty cold, which is making breathing difficult.

Have a full-on day at work to look forward to as well, which is nice.

Anyway, here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for you all

Just two more weeks to go, so let's keep this last fortnight a strict one.

I'm glad to know there's a continuing thread too. I think I will carry on, if only because I had proper carby food yesterday - noodles and an indian pancake - for the first time since boot camp and I have had tummy ache all night.

We had our annual international evening at school yesterday. It's such a lovely night and the food is delicious. I felt too rude to say no.

I am moving to Spain with my children for a year in August and will be cooked for by my mil for the first few weeks. I'm probably not going to be able to lchf and I am worried about it. Just how fast do you start gaining weight on returning to more conventional eating? Their food is very heavy on potatoes bread and things fried in flour / breadcrumbs but I won't want to ask for many favours as she cooks for the whole family. Its a traditional thing and is enjoyable for her but also tiring these days.

Any idea on those Greek yoghurt lollies I posted the ingreds of earlier, anyone? And/or any recommendations for something 'pudding-ish' after dinner? Dh often has something nice like a magnum ice cream and I would like something also that's not just ff yog and berries. Saying that I might track down these coconut yoghurts, what's the brand name? Is it Coyo or is that just the abbreviation on here?

marg you might find its easy enough if you just eat the same family foods as everyone else but omit the carby bit eg eat the meat and veg but skip potatoes etc. People probably won't even notice if you don't say anything to draw their attention to it.
Also, there's probably a lot of salads involved which should work ok for you? Good luck

Beans and pulses are OK in moderation - like any other carby thing! - and they're certainly much healthier than pasta or bread. As well as often very delicious.

Babs - that's quite a lot of carbs for one lolly. However, if it's an occasional thing, and the rest of your day has been low carb, then they're OK. I'm more concerned about you saying you're gagging for something sweet, and that once you start to eat these it's a bit of a slippery slope, and before you know it you're mainlining the Magnums!

Thanks biwi. After BC I'm going to add them back in small quantities and see how it affects my weight loss. I've a feeling it might be ok, I'm now realising how carbtastic my previous diet was, with bread and pasta all the time. Cutting these out will make a huge change without a lot of effort really.

Thanks BIWI - am really not missing sweet stuff, it's just wanting to have something else after dinner like dh and wondering if there's any kind of low carb type of after dinner snack I could have, perhaps those coconut yoghurts will do the trick, am in love with coconut right now

I have to stop myself going to Waitrose because I'll buy so many of those CoYos

At £2.99 each for a small pot, they're horrifically expensive

Just posting to confess to having eaten a small portion of fries with my lunch on board the ferry travelling home from France oops

margaritas I live in Spain and i think the traditional food is more LCHF friendly than typical English (or Irish) fare to be honest. Lots of vegetables, lots of fish, LOTS of olive oil. They will be really impressed to see you drowning your salad in olive oil. Carbs tend to come from lentils and beans, more than potatoes (although they aren't unheard of) and bread. But it's generally accepted that some people are "muy panero" (bread fiends) and some people aren't. So I would just announce from the get-go about not being a big bread eater and then they don't count you in when they go to the bakery. Meals tend to be self service from the centre of the table so you can fill up in veggies and salad offerings and then limit other portions. Tapas and raciones are sooooo easy to eat low carb. The Mediterranean diet is really healthy.

Spanish are quite open, friendly and accommodating in general, and curious about other food cultures, so I bet you they'll be interested to know "what you eat back home" which leaves you free to make up your own rules. You could offer to cook for them and introduce them to celeriac (if you can find it!!!), and other stuff like cauli cheese etc.

Don't stress it, the fresh produce is unparalleled and the food is fab here. Just try not to gorge on the fruit. Or the wine. Although Spanish people are more aware of the fattening effects of wine, as far as I can tell.

Actually you could just decide to live on cheese and jamon. They would
love you for that!

Just by living on seasonal market produce I lost half a stone when I arrived here. Am on this thread now to lose baby weight - nothing related to the Spanish diet.

Some CoYos are half price in Tesco at the moment (ie still ridiculously expensive)

Thanks Doctora you have reminded me it might be a bit easier thsn i am thinking, although mil is from Galicia sk mire potato etc there. I think I will get awaycwith eggs asking for breakfast as everyone fends for themselves and my egg habit is it is already a joke with and dcs. Dinners will always be jamon y queso con ensalada so that's ok. They know i have a thing for calamari fried in batter and often do it because of that so not sure how to get around that one. I ghink i will just ask for chuletas etc wighout breadcrumbs - reasonable as that is not doing something rather than doing something extra. I think i am worried as my usual strategy if she makes something i don't like is to fill up on bread, which my fil likes because he is the panadero de la casa.

Checking in. Had my WW on Friday and have lost 3lbs this week. Will add to spreadsheet on Monday.

This is the first week I have felt a bit bored with eggs, meat, veg. I think I need to change things up a bit. Also planning ahead for being on holiday. Going to France so should be relatively easy eating out. I am planning to continue low carbing though so I don't get the whole "fuck it" head on and go back to my old ways.

Does anyone have any advice or experience of how much latitude you've given yourself on holidays without having to start all over again? Or do you just STAY HARDCORE?

I am just sneaking in to confess that I had a major 'fuck it' moment this afternoon. Feeling low and suspect that triggered it. First proper splurge in 6 weeks. Feel rubbish. Will try to draw a line under it. No point dwelling….

Just made first batch of fat balls. 8 peanut butter 8 lemon. Under 1 carb and under 100 cals. Just a tiny bit too yum tho

Will - the difficulty of slipping on holiday I'd it's hard to get back into ketosis. I slipped the last few days of my holiday and wish I'd just stayed keto. Or keto plus wine tbh cos that was fine bread esp just makes me bloated and bingey even tho I adore bread

Erm, recipe please lasttimeround! They look beautiful.

Ooh fatballs! Tell me more?

Yes I think I might allow myself a bit more wine and fruit on hols but steer clear of bread etc.. I can cope as long as I have an endless supply of excellent cheese and steak.

Oh erm feel slightly put on the spot as just made it up rather than followed recipes. The recipes are all just fats plus flavouring.

Anyway my made up versions

Peanut butter
40g coconut oil
40g butter
20g peanut butter
Melted it in a ban marie. (Pot of water simmering on stove smaller pot of the ingredients inside it.)
Added a little truvia to sweeten
Spooned into ice cube tray

Lemon
50 g coconut oil
50 g butter
Melt together as above
Some lemon flavouring and truvia. That filled up the other half of the ice cube tray. It's a silicone one. I'm not sure how well they'd prise out of a normal plastic tray

Freeze

Once frozen I've put them in a tub in the fridge. They seem to be holding their shape. I'm planning on making chocolate ones tomorrow by replacing peanut butter with chocolate. And make a batch of whatever other flavouring I can source in lidl.

If they've all melted into a pile tomorrow I'll post with a recipe link instead. could happen.

Or fat bombs I think fat balls might be the ones you get for birds. Anyway they do taste nice

I agree the fat balls/bombs look very good.

I've had

Brunch. Two fried eggs with melted cheese on a bed of watercress dressed with olive oil.

Dinner. A repeat performance. Lamb, samphire,spinach and mushrooms.

Best of all. All my water three and a half litres today. Black tea, herb tea.

Oh and that's mushrooms with my eggs. I'd forgotten till I saw the photo. I wonder what else I've forgotten.

You can buy silicone moulds dead cheap on Amazon. I melt supermarket dark chocolate in the microwave and mix in nuts to make my own choccies. Hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts and brazils are all good. Cocoa nibs are nice too.

No advice wilfsell but watching with interest. Off to Rome in the morning for 6 days

No chance of staying hard core. Wine will be daily and I won't be able to resist some risotto or pasta once or twice. So basically I have no idea really how it will go. I'm hoping keeping the food carbs to just a few occasions will minimise the damage but who knows.

Tell you next Sunday! Enjoy France.

Yum! Those fat bombs look good. Just nice for a little treat.

I found a recipe for low carb baileys! My Christmas is sorted!