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.

laska
How do you prepare your kefir?
I’m sure I have small bags with the kefir culture lurking in the cupboard.

I've just had to run to the tiny corner shop for emergency supplies as my hotel has no food available til 6 and I've been chasing bugs all day.

I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself, I bought a huge bottle of sparkling water to catch up my levels and also cocktail sausages and Babybel.

I'm thinking dinner may need a high veg content.

Koko not full carb flu - I really suffered with that when I first went low carb, triggered a migraine and vomiting, the full works- but I've been relatively low carb for a while. However I do have a headache tonight, about to pop an electrolyte tablet in my next glass of water.

Phew, just caught up with all messages! It's really helpful reading how everyone's doing.

I've been low carbing on and off for @12 months, but have just had a rather long "off", so I'm excited to be back on it, and able to be part of bootcamp with less distractions than my previous attempts.

Things are going ok so far, my head seems to have clicked back into low carb thinking, and I'm enjoying digging through recipes to create lovely food.

Thanks BIWI and all who make bootcamp so brilliant

Missed lunch today bit just making tuna steak and buttery brussels.

Water poor again. Must do better.

Found out i've got a job interview coming back. I've had a couple already this year and not been successful so i hope this one comes off. I'm determined it won't throw me off track!

Hi everyone, oooo the thread had moved fast.

My cold is much better, my head still feels like cotton wool but I can breathe! Lol
I've been having lemsips and throat sprays😁

B: 3x sticks of celery and Philadelphia with black coffee
L: chicken curry with spinach and Greek yoghurt with black coffee
D: will be spinach, tuna, feta cheese and cherry tomatoes

I've drank 1litre so need to catch up

Hope everyone is doing ok. I'll catch up with thread now

Loving seeing all the meals and positivity.
Getting some great ideas!

Could someone tell me what 16:8 fasting is?
And what does WOE stand for lol?

Justmuddling thanks for showing the graph, it's good to see. My weight has stalled week 4. I'm a daily weighed too. I've heard from the lovely Biwi and Athelstane that a stall is normal at this stage. And it's good to see on your graph that the weight gradually comes down rather than big drop at the beginning

@millionaireshortie

What's proving so tough for you? Let us know and I'm sure we can help!

@MrsCoyote

If your yoghurt tastes like chocolate then that's really not a great way to start Bootcamp! We're trying to break the hold that sweet things have over us.

@HenryInThetunnel

Good luck! What's the job for (f you don't mind sharing)?

Ive just had h/m Broccoli and blue cheese soup . yum (I had it for lunch also )
mandelinka I have liveKefir grains , have never made it from powder.. you just keep them in milk until its fermented enough for how you like,then drain wash the grains and pop them into more milk (it must be full fat) if its in the fridge I do one a week ( 1 pint to tablespoon of grains) as its slower if outside the fridge its ready every couple of days ( i prefer to drink it refrigerated though . your powder should have instructions, but buying live grains is quicker .. if you google you'll find lots of people selling them.. and once you have a good batch youll find you can pass some on also ..

Lonesurvivor where did you buy the frozen cauliflower rice pls?

Lurknolinger do you use grated courgette instead of rice? I luurvve courgette and look for any ideas on how to add it into meals

Maybeitsbecause I'd recommend a little celery and cream cheese and a black coffee and cream, when you get in from work. I feel the same and will always do the black coffee and cream and a little of a snack like olives. Satisfies me until everyone's home. Warning - don't snack too much. I've done this and then didn't feel hungry enough for the evening meal.

Justmuddling that's really good to know about shallots v onions. I'll switch to shallots👍

Thanks for asking @biwi! It's primary teaching but i'm trying to make the leap from secondary so i think i tend to be the 'curveball' candidate and they usually go for someone with more recent experience. It's much nearer home which is what i need. I spend too long driving at the mo.

I've found Greek yogurt mixed with double cream and a teaspoon of cinnamon is really lovely for a change. And when you want a comforting drink that isn't coffee or tea, a mug of Knorr chicken stock (from the bottle of concentrate) with a dash of double cream in really hits the spot.

WheelyCote - WOE = Way of Eating. Because that's the mindset you need to get into, rather than thinking of it as a "Diet"

16:8 Fasting is not something you should be considering yet it you are only in Week 4.

It is Fasting for 16 hours and only eating in an 8 hour window - eg missing breakfast.

It's not encouraged on Boot Camp (until you know you are really well fat adapted and comfortable with this WoE) as it is too easy to crash and burn: get hungry and fall face first into the temptation of carbs. Hence the rule of 3 meals a day.

WheelyCote you can get frozen cauliflower rice in Tesco. It's really handy to have in the freezer, it's in individual portions that can be microwaved.

I like slicing ribbons of courgette (using a cheese slice but I suppose you could use a potato peeler) and frying them briefly in butter.

Also use them, cooked the same way, as the case for a "courgette" carbonara.

Just got through everyone's posts! These threads go really quickly...I've been good today

B - sausages, mushrooms and scrambled egg (am staying a hotel)

L - had a Buffett and ate very little 

D - Ham and egg salad but no dressing as I'm on the train

Drank 2 litres so will probably miss my target for that today

Mumofapickle how did you make your chicken and mushroom soup pls?

And another here who drinks from a bottle. It works for me

Bibliomania I like the sound of your recipe, I'll be trying it thank you

Spider drooling over your scallops!

Henry That's great! When's the interview?

Managed 2.5ltrs water so far so just half litre to go.

Love reading everyone's posts. Good to know we are all in this together.

Prettybird 👍 :)

Blackteaplease that's great to know! I'll will grab some when I'm in tesco next

Prettybird ribbons of courgette would be great when I do bolognese. I've been eating bolognese with baked sliced courgettes mixed in but the ribbons would feel more like pasta

I made two lovely soups recently - I'll put the recipes on the thread, but wanted to put them here first:

Celery, leek and blue cheese

These quantities are all based on pre-packed veg from Sainsbury's, as well as a 450ml pot of chicken stock (from the chiller). The plastic pot is important as you'll use it as a measuring jug, so don't throw it away!

1 pack leeks
1 pack celery
1/2 pack echallion shallots
3 cloves of garlic
150ml double cream
450ml pot chicken stock
100g butter
blue cheese of your choice
salt/black pepper/crushed chillies (this last is optional)

Slice the shallots, celery and leeks and fry in the butter

Crush the garlic and add to the pan, and continue to fry. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and a pinch of chillies if you want. (You're not looking to make it hot, just to give it a little bit of bite)

When everything is softened, add the chicken stock, and then refill the chicken stock pot with water and add that to the pan as well.

Put a lid on the pan, turn the heat down and simmer for about 20 minutes.

When it's all cooked, use a stick blender or a liquidiser to blend the soup till it's completely smooth. Add the cream, check for seasoning, and heat again till the cream is 'cooked' into the soup.

This should make enough to fill your plastic stock pot four times over. Use this to pour one quantity into a plastic bag that you can seal, and then either chill or freeze.

When you're serving it up, crumble the blue cheese over the top, to taste. (My preference is for Roquefort, but you could use any blue cheese that you like).

The whole quantity of soup comes to c.30g carbs, so 7.5g per serving. Each serving is a generous bowl.

So I've decided that the week I finally give up carbs (for the very last time) is Also the week I should give up caffeine. Well, any caffeine after 2pm anyway, in the hopes I might actually start to sleep at night. Wish me luck. I want to cry.

Cauliflower rice ready-prepared works out quite expensive, though it is much easier. I buy a couple of cauliflowers and a celeriac every week and blitz them in my food processor before putting them into plastic trays (like takeaway containers - Sainsburys do them really cheaply in packs of about 8 I think) and then I've always got some in the fridge or freezer.