Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp - the end of the first half

[BIWI]

Morning all. Very sorry for the late start of this thread. I was at my desk early this morning and forgot all about it

Here's the spreadsheet

Looking forward to seeing how you all got on last week, and I hope that the dreaded week 3 and 4 effect will now be in the past!

Good luck for this week

Tiredofit - was that a Lidl or Aldi one? The Lidl high cocoa one is foul (although I quite like their 74% one).

I like the Lindt 90% chocolate - but as it is both rich and expensive, I only treat myself to one square maybe two at a time.

Tiiredofit - I like the Montezuma's dark chocolate - I started on the 85% and have worked my way up to the 100% Absolute Black. And you do have to persevere a bit, but I wouldn't go back now. It's such a chocolate hit that you really only need one tiny square at a time, and the best thing is, my DC say it's disgusting, so leave it completely alone

Stayed the same this week ( though I’m really not sure how reliable my scales are , the first time I stood on , I’d put on 3lb , so obviously I disregarded that ! )

Had a good look through the recipe thread , got some nice ideas

Taking my car in for a service , so will have 2 1/2 hours to wander round town .. will definitely get my 10,000 steps in !

Argh, I really need to kick my wine habit. Basically every weekend I am undoing all of my hard work in the week.

No change for me, I'm wondering whether I'm at my weight now and won't lose more, I've been lighter but not healthier in the past (smoking, drinking and eating crap) so I think I may just accept that this is it and up my exercise.
Still suffering with sore boobs, bloating and feeling emotional which is annoying but hopefully that will bugger off soon.
Made 2 batches of soup last night (managed not to throw it all over the kitchen this time!) Could do with clearing out my freezer and getting rid of anything I'm not going to eat to make room for the yummy new food .
Shopping takes so long now, I'm constantly checking the carb amounts - Ex Dp is even worse! He's lost 20lb despite mainlining on Fat bombs
Keep going everyone!

I got a nice surprise on the scales this morning...2lbs off since yesterday. I am starting to notice with my clothes and belts now too. Feeling good today.

Does anyone have any low carb recipe books they would recommend? I'm using the threads in here and looking online to get meal ideas, but I would really love a couple of good recipe books too!

This was the first week since July when I first started where I have put on weight (2lbs) rather than losing or staying the same which was really disappointing. But then again I had a week where I strayed here and there, was travelling for work, no exercise combined with that time of the month so...

Happily this morning those pesky 2lbs seem to have disappeared so back to feeling motivated again .

Does anyone have any good ideas for savoury snacks? That seems to be what I miss the most - I don't eat red meat (beef, pork, lamb etc) so pork scratchings which I hear a lot about won't really work for me.

@KNpepper For snacks I have been having bits of cheese or my new discovery is smoked salmon canapés from Sainsbury's - little rolls of smoked salmon and cream cheese.

Another snack is a slice of cheddar cheese spread with butter and Bovril or Marmite.

Or babybels. You can also make them into "crisps" by quartering them and putting them into silicon muffin case, blasting them in the microwave and then letting them cool. Or you put piles of grated parmesan or chedder onto backing parchment/a silicon baking sheet and putting them in a hot oven until melted. Leave to cool and they give you a nice bit of crispness.

Macademia nuts I believe are amongst the lowest carb of nuts.

Or do extra buttery brussels and snack on them cold or is that just me?

Boil extra eggs for when you need a snack - they keep well for a few days.

@AthelstaneTheUnready hope you're feeling better and the Dam has been breached and those pesky fat cells get emptied, soon.

@Tiiredofit - Your right Dark Chocolate is foul it all tastes like that. Avoid the evil chocolate, pop the bar you have in the freezer and if you ever get the urge/craving get it out cut or crack off a small bit and remind the "devil crave". Well at least for the next 6 weeks.

Down to 212 yesterday, had a day off, Christmas shopping, i.e driving around the malls and outlets sitting in armchairs waiting for DW and DD-no 1 . They spent 20 minutes in a card shop looking at the knicknacks. Lunch was Salmon salad and hot sauce dressing. Found some Phillipino Pork Scratchings here not enough fat on them but satisfies the crunch and does great as a snack.

Good luck everyone, KOKO and hope you all had a great Day 1 of 40.
on this week 1 of 5 BC.

KNpepper olives are nice. Lots of them in grocery shops if you’re on the go, but my favourite is Fragata anchovy stuffed olives. Savoury-tastic.

Also Babybel. Portable. If I recall correctly, during m first bootcamp in May 2017, the “exploding” babybel was all the rage. Can’t remember details but it involved a microwave.

Can’t go wrong with a hard boiled egg. Also portable (in a sealed sandwich or sealed snack bag), but care must be taken—wouldn’t peel it on the tube.

prettybird beat me to the Babybels!

And Grah’s mention of crunch satisfaction reminded me—why not just celery, with the richest, most flavourful low carb dip you love? Clearly, the celery is a mere delivery system in this case.

Ooh, celery dunked into St Agur blue cheese spread - utter heaven. Gives that good savoury hit too.

Celery with pate, Philadelphia, sour cream & chives, chilli dip...the possibilities are endless

I really wish I liked celery now!

Just had a snack of some Port Salut cheese 👍
A rather more sensible dinner is on the go
Fried salmon fillet in butter with Romanesque cauli , spinach , shallots mushrooms and courgette stir fry

I don't like celery either - but I do like celeriac

I've spent the afternoon in the garden, digging up nettles and weeds, so using plenty of energy, right...? Just scanned my Libre and my blood sugar has gone UP steadily all day - how does that bloody work? My body is making a mockery of me, clearly.

Having a lovely dinner of salmon fillets and roasted tenderstem broccoli.

Me too @prettybird, so far tried the dauphinoise and the chips and really enjoyed them.

My favourite dip for celery is half cream cheese half soft blue cheese mixed together. Nom!

SpiderKitty I like the Idiot-Proof Diet Cookbook which you can get for £2-3 secondhand. Lots of nice recipes but really excels with its low carb rubs and marinades.

Savoury snacks
I like all the ones mentioned above and am getting to like celery (as a delivery system).

Also good as a quick bite:
Kale, with 'ribs' removed - oiled in a bowl or bag, spread on a baking tray, sprinkled with salt and then baked in the oven till very crisp. Yum!

Celeriac - sliced with a potato peeler and given the same treatment as the Kale - takes a few mins longer in the oven but also delicious and good with a creamy dip

I loath mushrooms but my son loves a giant mushroom filled with cheese/salami/chopped veg and toasted.

Cold meats and olives are delicious

smoked fish and cucumber

Tinned sardines or tuna

I am planning to try the 'seed crackers' on the bootcamp recipe thread.

Tom Kerridge's Dopamine Diet Recipe book is quite good.

Many of his recipes are a bit complicated though and they're actually better if you simplify them, using Boot Camp Rules principles. He also uses a bit too many articulate sweeteners - fine for the desserts but not necessary in the savoury dishes. He also does things like pour out the fat/reduce the day, which I don't bother doing

On Diet recipe books
I've enjoyed browsing new ideas in a number of low-carb books but am often returning to my old favourite books and tweaking their recipes where necessary. It is amazing how many things do fit in with the rules and how adaptable the HFLC approach is.

Can I ask if anyone knows the difference between LCHF diet and the Keto diet? They sound v similar, but someone asked me earlier and I couldn't say.

Yes Wildheart a lot of my cook books have loads of recipes easily adapted to low carb! Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater both spring to mind but other old favourites of mine too.

Tootstastic keto is a medical diet used in the treatment of diseases such as epilepsy. It's very low carb, so no fruit or nuts, and you need a high fat macro which isn't quite so essential on low carb. You also need to restrict protein intake which isn't needed on low carb - you could eat nothing but meat and still be low carb. Basically there's no point doing keto unless you have a medical reason to. It's potentially beneficial in cancer for example. However the word 'keto' is sometimes used as a name for low carb so some websites, such as Diet Doctor, have rebranded themselves as keto in response to that.