Week 5 - halfway there!

[SayrraT]

Morning all

Well done for reaching week 5, hopefully by now low carb eating should be pretty natural to everyone.

Just watch out for complacency, don't think "oh a wee bit won't hurt" it might!

If you need food inspiration (some people might find they are eating the same things and getting bored) check out the recipe thread or one if the many low carb/keto websites for ideas.

spreadsheet

Good luck everyone

Whoknows if that pattern fits best with your lifestyle then embrace it.* There is no need to have your main meal in the evening.* Why not have a big breakfast with, a decent sized lunch a bit later in the afternoon and a quick and easy low carb supper in the evening?

Just an observation but I’m finding really interesting how many people seem to get really and randomly upset when you don’t eat carbs.* I went for a curry last night (paneer tika and chicken jalfrezi) and ordered it without sides. The waitress was really upset about it. I explained I was doing Atkins. They then proceeded to bring me a free popadom, bowl of rice and a rice pudding dessert. It sometimes feels like everyone is out to sabotage this WOE.*

I did have a bit of popadom but avoided the rest.**

B- 2 babybel s and a handful of almonds
L-choppd chicken salad with avocado
D- curry

That's kind of what I'm doing Timbuktu but my quick and easy evening meal keeps ending up the same, cheese, ham, veg sticks. I need some inspiration. Can't face omelette twice a day. That's another thing, I haven't got any non-breakfast options apart from omelette at the moment and I will get bored of them eventually.

Are you sure that you're low enough on carbs overall? It just seems unusual to be famished, when most people quite quickly find they don't need breakfast after a month or so on this WOE. But I guess it could be different for different people. But just in case I'd monitor your actual carb intake for a few days, as if you're too high you'll be getting hunger pangs from blood sugar fluctuations. I'd also add more fats in for a while (taking out some dairy to balance the calorie intake) and see if that helps.

On meals, I think I'd be inclined to switch things completely - cook an extra portion of dinner every night so you can have leftovers for breakfast, and have a light, egg-based or similar easy dish for dinner instead.

Meals today
B hot water with a slice of lemon 1 slice Gouda cheese
L cheese (small piece of m&s Cornish cruncher with balsamic onion 1.2g carbs per 100g) and spring onion omelette; 3 small slices of chicken with some mayo, a few lettuce leaves
D will be lamb loin with fried aubergine and cavelo nero or cauliflower mash
Am still not drinking any wine or eating chocolate although I have been stockpiling 85% versions from different brands
Also staying off butternut squash, bacon and sausages but have got a small amount of Serrano ham and chorizo for meals this coming week
Must fill up my water bottle....

Like others I am no longer feeling hungry or feeling the need to snack

I would also try not to eat the same version of eggs every time. Why have an omelette every single day when you can just as easily have a mushroom and cheese omelette one day, scrambled eggs, bacon, avocado and salsa the next day, dippy eggs with asparagus and or/halloumi the next, baked eggs with spinach, cheese and tomato, and and so on and so forth. You will get very bored otherwise!

I really couldn't face any of that first thing in the morning Holger, I like all the things you've mentioned, but no way on earth could I eat them when I first get up. I've tried runny eggs and scrambled eggs but without toast to offset the richness/absorb the wetness a bit, they make me feel queasy. Avocado too, I like it but it makes me feel sick if I try eating it in the morning. Bacon is too rich as well. I've never had cooked breakfast regularly in my life, I just don't enjoy it at all. Even the omelette isn't great, it's just the only thing I've found that seems palatable.

Wh0Knows, if you are struggling to add fat, and don't like butter on your veg, have you tried olive oil or mayo? Or maybe if you like cream, use a creamy sauce (it can be on the meat/fish whatever rather than the veg, if you prefer your veg plain).

Ah sorry that was me being unclear - I actually was suggesting having your dinner leftovers for breakfast. Most dinners actually taste very nice in the morning, most are better cold, I find, at that time of day. Even a curry goes down nicely.

Egg based dishes would be for dinner - easy and quick and don't take much thought.

I don't like my veg oily full stop SoMuch. I've never really liked them in creamy sauces either, I detest pommes dauphinoise for example. They are fine incorporated into sauces such as in a curry, or plain steamed, or stir fried with a tiny bit of oil, but it's the greasy mouthfeel as well as the taste that I hate. Creamy sauces are fine on meat, a bit rich on fish (I also dislike fish pie, always have done). I like cauliflower cheese but you can't have it all the time and it really doesn't go with meat, it's a meal in itself for me. Mayo is fine on salad, but you can't put it on hot food or it would melt although it's nice with chips dipped in it. I am coming to the conclusion I am a fussy eater . There are very few actual food items that I don't like, but I have very fixed tastes about how they are combined.

Ah sorry Holger, crossed posts all over the place. I don't think I could face leftovers in the morning either, I have always been strictly a toast person in the mornings. Could give it a try though. Or have them for lunch then salad in the evening.

Sorry, I'm being very negative today, I thought from the start that this was going to be a very hard thing for me to do and so far it has been. I don't want to give up, but I think longer term I am going to need more flexibility than this WOE allows.

You'll find what works best for you over time

But maybe try to eat a filling (fat wise) meal in the evening, with plenty of veg, and don't drink alcohol or anything that will mess with blood sugars overnight. Then leave it a little longer in the morning to eat, so you're not trying to eat something that doesn't appeal first thing in the morning. Have a couple of hot waters with lemon or something to tide you over, and try eating a couple of hours later. A lot of this WOE is about trying to do things in a different way, and your tastebuds may change in a way that surprises you - but you won't know unless you try it!

Alternatively, maybe make up a batch of egg muffins and have those as a quick breakfast? Or at a push, have a slice of five grain German bread (or half, depending on size/carb content) with some cheese, or boiled eggs, or something else mild that you can handle in the morning. Not an ideal thing to have that bread, but for me I find it doesn't cause carb cravings.

Having breakfast/leftovers/salad for dinner would work absolutely fine too - it's all about doing things in the way that suits you best!

I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in the 5 weeks and often go weeks without it normally so at least that part is easy .

Wh0Knows - would a more yoghurt and berries/ bootcamp light type breakfast work for you? I've been alternating eggs with having ff greek yoghurt with a spoonful of cream mixed in, with a few frozen strawberrings and a couple of broken up pecan nuts. If you leave the strawberries a few minutes to thaw slightly they have an almost meringue-like texture. It's a bit desserty, but makes a really nice fresh feeling alternative to eggy breakfasts. You could also make it and bung it in the fridge the night before, although that would probably change the texture.

Also veg-wise, I do quite like oily veg but am finding all the extra cooking a bit much some nights, and do like a change from grease, so am sometimes just having lettuce wraps around the low carb bits of whatever DH and DS are eating. Works well for anything mincey, pasta sauces (with extra cheese), most meats chopped into bits etc etc etc.

Strawberrings?!

Yogurt is another thing that's too rich for the mornings for me although I do like it. I haven't eaten a single bit of fruit in the 5 weeks so far, it's another thing I find easy to give up. Eating later isn't really an option either as I have to get to work. The other thing I do like about my omelettes is that it's a good way of packing sone veg in.

So far today
11am - fried cabbage with red pesto and cheese. Surprisingly good.
3pm - Greek yog and cream
Dinner will probably be celeriac chips with cheese as the family are having lasagne. I may have a bit of the meat sauce, but it's a bit too carby with the onion and carrot. Although a little on the chips with cheese melted on top would be awesome...

I’ve been using shallots in lasagne etc since beginning boot camp, less carby than onions ragz. I find I use less too.

Posh lunch out: crab wrapped in sole with chive butter, fillet of beef (left the dauphinoise and other potato things) and broccoli. I may have had some creme brulee which I sort of justified by thinking its just cream and eggs and sugar. Black coffee. Managed to avoid wine and drank lots of water.

Before this WOE I would have eaten everything on my plate, including the chocolate petit fours, plus prbably drunk a few glasses of wine. So I am feeling quite pleased with myself. Noone has noticed I've lost a bit of weight, grr. I think I'lll need to lose another half a stone before it looks a bit noticeable.

B Creamy coffee and two rashers of bacon
L Ham and salad
D Mortadella and salad and some spoonfuls of a chocolate chia dessert thing with cream.

Quite a pig-heavy day, I notice.

Well done scabbersley

B - cheese omelette, half avo
L - ham, couple chunks of cheese - not hungry
D - chicken fajita salad. Dh and dd had wraps and chips with there’s, plus dips. I had mayo with my salad
Bit too much cheese?

I’ve also made dh a chocolate cake he saw on the tv the other day, dd some flapjacks to take to a swimming gala tomorrow. Didn’t even lick the spoon!

Gala will be a test tomorrow, confined in a hot swimming pool, bored. Going with lchf food so I’m not tempted.

Hope everyone’s having a great weekend

Welcome back and glad to read you're a successful cheater of death and week 4 BC stall, sleeping through it . So as you are at target now how are you going to maintain?

BECAUSE YOU ARE MEAL PLANNING WITH A YOUR PA.

Are you looking to be around 100 150 gm of carbs and high fat?
( recommended amount by LFHC sites was
if you eat a 2,000-calorie diet, shoot for 225 to 325 grams of carbs per day; and if you eat 2,500 calories a day, aim for 281 to 406 grams of carbs.)
wondering as several of use are less than a stone from target, which we hope to hit in the next 5 weeks.

Perhaps we need a 10 week Maintenance camp to build the new habits in January.

I made a delicious concoction tonight.

It was chopped up leek and chicken fried with garlic puree, cream and parmasean.