And off we go! Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 1

[BIWI]

Welcome everyone. We have over 150 people signed up this time, so it's going to be pretty busy, and the initial chat thread is going to be very fast-moving!

Here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for you to post your starting weight.

Remember, you don't have to input your actual weight if you don't want to - you can index it, which means starting at 100 and then for every pound you lose, you take off a point.

If your name isn't on the spreadsheet, don't panic! Just add your name to the bottom, and then the lovely @AthelstaneTheUnready will re-alphabetise the list.

If you're on the spreadsheet and you don't want to be, don't worry - just don't enter any info, and then you'll be deleted after the first couple of weeks.

Hi everyone.I only work part time and find it more difficult to stick to it on my days off...At work it's easy to keep longer breaks between meals especially as I leave house @8am and come back just before 8pm.
So easy day today as I'm at work
bibliomania how do you prepare your cauliflower pilau with eggs and prawns?

Hi all!
This is the first time I’ve tried low-carbing, and it’s a bloody revelation!
I’m still struggling to get my head around the high fat content (but really enjoying it!)
I’m mostly surprised at how my cravings are just disappearing and managed to get through last night with just a decaf coffee with cream instead of a tonne of chocolate and crisps

Today:
B Greek yogurt with vanilla essence (it didn’t add much tbh so I may get the powder a PP mentioned) Coffee with cream
L Egg mayo with lots of salad
S Boiled egg, coffee with cream
D Roasted chicken thighs with roasted veg

I’m delighted I can eat swede (mashed with lots of butter), olives and pork scratchings!!

Also thanks to all of you who’ve done it before, and for the tips and encouragement.

Forgot to mention - lots of water, about 3.5 litres.
I find it easier if it’s in a bottle for some strange reason! I’ve got a few refillable ones from TK Max - at home, at work and in the car. Just keep refilling. I prefer it to drinking water from a glass (no idea why!)
Just thought some of you who struggle to drink enough may find it easier too.

Hello everyone
I've enjoyed reading all the positivity on the thread. I have eaten ok but still have a bit of water to go.
Glug glug

Hello everyone! I did the bootcamp this time last year but then gradually fell well and truly off the wagon so really need to join in. Will do the spreadsheet later.

My biggest downfall is the time when I get home from work and want to snack. Think this may stabilise as my body de-carbs, but right now I am ravenous but need to wait for rest of family to get back before having dinner (and for the dinner to cook).

Veg really won’t cut it, boiled eggs don’t appeal and I have no self control with cheese. Any suggestions?? What are your go-to LCHF snacks?

I've just had a packet of pork scratchings to keep me going until DP gets home and we have dinner.

I tried the Total yoghurt (5%) mixed with a drop of double cream and some vanilla , didn’t like it much sadly , so will try something different tomorrow

Lunch was Brie and olives , with some cucumber

Dinner , a lovely concoction of pork mince with chopped celery , mushrooms,, red pepper , tomatoes ,onion and carrots
With courgettesa and aubergine and a sauce made from yoghurt, cream and a drop of milk , grated cheese on top and baked
Was really nice , I had some broccoli, DH had the same with a baked potato

I’m going with the idea that if it’s green and leafy , or grows above the ground , it’s low carb veg ?

Missing my fruit at the moment , but I like water so at least that’s easy

I know what you mean bluelefant, I’ve work from home two days a week and I always find the office based days easier.

Day 2 food was
B - buttery scrambled eggs salmon
L - Rocket lettuce spinach 5 cherry tomatoes ham cheese mayo
D - hm chicken and mushroom pie. Filling only, dd and dh has pastry lids. Broccoli. Was delicious.

Almost all my water

@Doilooklikeatourist try using shallots instead of onion, far less carbs.

👍@Justmuddlingalong

Well done everyone on another day completed!! Definitely going to try that cabbage/kale creamy bake tomorrow. I do have a question though. I’m in a bar after going to the gym (at last) and eating no carbs all day BUT now have no clue what to drink. Water yes but anything more fancy?? I really want something as a reward. Think this could be why I eat too much - looking for a reward.

I've made it! Another evening without the wine, and it wasn't such a nag tonight either.

Have felt quite bouncy today - no doubt due to do with feeling good about making positive choices.

B: creamy coffee and half an egg (don't ask)
L: big mixed salad and 2 tins sardines
D: roast pork, broccoli & leeks in butter
S: none, didn't feel the need today

Rshard and lephant, I'm also working from home 1 or 2 days a week - tomorrow being one of them. I broke the snack habit the very first bootcamp I did, and although other things sneaked back in, I've never fallen back into that one thank goodness. Office days are easier to skip whole meals though, that's for sure (can't avoid it sometimes).

Waves to maybeitsbecause . I know you said cheese is difficult, but I always have babybel in the fridge now because a) they're lactose free so don't set me off, but b) they're such a faff to unwrap that I don't tend to gorge as I would with big, solid lumps of the stuff. Otherwise, black olives - big handful, or two, or three. They're veg, right? . Gem lettuce works surprisingly well to stave off hunger because you can eat loads of it, so by the time your stomach realises it's been tricked by the bulk and there's not much hiding in those watery green cells, it's dinner time!

get you, blue, with the gym!

I'd have sparkly mineral water - ask for ice, lemon and lime, in a good glass (no pint glasses). I think fruit juices are out, and sugar/sweetener soft drinks too, so not sure what other choice you have!

I'm the same with water TightPants, I find it way easier (and I'm sure it tastes better) when I drink water from a bottle.

Do you like fizzy water at all bluehaze? I sometimes alternate between that and still water.

The konjac noodles made me feel distinctly iffy today, I've eaten them in the past (although not for ages) with no issues, but felt very ill after lunch today. I don't think it was anything else I ate as everything in the stir fry was well cooked and I felt ok after about 4 hours, so seems a bit short lived for food poisoning. I have another pack in the cupboard, not sure if I'm brave enough to try again!

@maybeitsbecauseim I'm crap at snacking, it tends to end up as a meal in itself, but when DH sits down at supper time with cheese & crackers I'll have cheese with cucumber slices. They're crunchy and cracker-shaped! And I have quite an impressive cheese board, if I say so myself.

I've gone off pork scratchings after too many hairy ones 

Didn't eat very well today as was too busy.

Snack- cheese cubes

T- cod and cheesy leeks

Not enough water

Dodged the carbs though!

Well I started the day pretty well but I didn't end well
Made broccoli with melted cheese and wanted some chicken with cheese out of the oven with a bit of a creamy sauce.
Nothing wrong there except as usual I used breadcrumbs and I only realised until dinner time
Had some cheese as snack and filled me up pretty well.
Better write a good plan before I make any more mistakes in the kitchen and end up another day with carbs that I don't want!!
Seems my sweet tooth seems to disappear a bit and I'm on 2,5 litres today 1 more to go for today,

lovely buttery mushroom omelette for dinner , (and some cheese.. )

Have also had lots of (herb) tea

Spiderkitty If I remember correctly, a few bootcamps ago a poster felt really quite ill after eating the konjac noodles. I have had them a couple of times and been ok. Maybe they weren't rinsed well enough? Hope you're feeling better now.

Tomorrow I think I am making a sort of fish pie with cauliflower topping

Another one who prefers drinking water from my bottle, dh bought me a lovely camelback one.

Your fish pie sounds lovely laska

Pretty good day today - my urge to snack is currently in abeyance but I’ve been really helped byDH not being gone so I’m eating before I put the DT’s to bed.

Spirallised a couple of courgettes and cooked them down in butter with a bit of fresh chilli before adding a dollop of double cream and having it for dinner with a baked salmon fillet - was yummy!

Anyone else finding their MFP is going a bit nuts at them for not eating enough calories? Even though I’m eating loads!

Well, killed Day 1 of 70 and Day 1 of 69 half done for me.

No Cheating on Day 1.
I put stickers on the pantry and fridge to remind me. Reach for warm/hot water if getting peckish, gets into the blood quicker.

@Justmuddlingalong Great Graph,
Like you I am a serial weigh-er and need to write it down to see were it was, only remember the previous couple of days.

@TightPants drinking the Water from a bottle does seem to make it flow easier, my office bottle is a vodka 750 ml glass bottle. Fortunately don't have any clients in our office, well not often. Home ones are insulated bottles from my bike. wide enough lid to get ice in to cause the body to heat it before use.

Portion control still required on the cabbage front for me, cut thin strings and call it cabbhetti or little squares for skinny rice, full leaves for the cabbage rolls or layers in precooked mince so it gives a crunch.
You'll be surprised at the sugar content of those buggers. Sugar 3.2 g per 100gms but this site does say it is one of the healthiest veg www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=19

Hope you all having fun and killing Day 1 of 68 tomorrow.

Cabbage isn't super low carb, is it ok to eat freely? I love making coleslaw with it, with Greek yogurt, mayo, and s and p.

Today the kids had croissants but I forgot to eat breakfast, ended up stopping at a garage for a boiled egg!

Lunch was ham salad with vinaigrette

Snack - half a bag pork scratchings. They give me heartburn, mind you.

Dinner I made Bolognese , the kids had pasta and I had cubed courgette fried in butter. Lovely.

I always find water hard on my work days, I work in schools so can't glug constantly. That means evening glugging which means disturbed nights!!

I love reading people's menus for ideas. Do keep posting them!

If you go by the introductory highlights on the BBC 10pm news, Brexit is going to be the 8th item, if it's on the news at all, as it wasn't mentioned