Week 7 - Low Carb Bootcamp - Girding our loins and getting a grip

[BIWI]

Morning all

Having a bit of a snigger to myself, because autocorrect wanted me to tile the thread 'Girding our doings ...'

Here's the spreadsheet

We only have four weeks left. I know! Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?!

There's been a bit of slippage going on, I notice - and whilst it's not all been of our own doing, sometimes it's about situations where we've reverted to 'learnt' behaviour or type.

So. Let's all pull our socks up! We have only four weeks left, but those weeks could make all the difference.

If you're worried about how the next few weeks are going to go, perhaps a return to Bootcamp rather than Bootcamp Light might help?

Whatever strategy you adopt, here's wishing us all very good luck

@Siameasy i love that line. I really want to be stronger about not feeling bad about saying no to things. I'm still so hungry from going off plan so the effects do last aaargh

@Siameasy

That's a motto to live life by, I reckon

We've managed 12 years (or 22 if you add the period pre-DC) with one house rule:

Don't Be A Knob

But I reckon we'll now add your philosophy.

No breakfast this morning due to family commitments and interestingly I wasn't starving either. Just made a huge plate of salad leaves, avocado, spring onion, olive oil and topped off with a can of tuna mixed with mayonnaise 👍

Am I to late to join the party? I just started doing a keto diet last weekend. Been having issue with binging on and off for years. In desperation I went and saw my dr at the start of last summer and she referred me to a psychologist. I've been seeing her for the last six months but feel like progress has been slow and I'm still incredibly frustrated with my weight. I'm not extremely overweight (which is why I think I got away with the binging as the rest of my diet was actually really healthy...). Then I read a few things on Facebook over the last few weeks about sugar and cravings and began looking into a low carb diet in case my problem (or at least part of it) is a physiological problem rather than wholly emotional one. I've spoken to my therapist before I started and have to report back how Im managing so it's all with her approval. So that's how I arrived at keto.

Been loving it so far. I did Atkins years ago and felt really restricted but I'm feeling with there being so much recipes and things online it's much easier - so far! The only thing I've really been craving is juicy fruits like pineapple and grapes, which is ironic as I rarely ate fruit before...And a wee bit of bread to mop up oily juices and sauces...

Started last Saturday and I'm 6lb down as of this morning. Hoping to lose about 2.5st all together so will see how it goes. I know the initial weight loss is primarily water weight so prepared to see a more gradual loss over the next wee while but anything will be good and if I break this vicious cycle I've gotten into with binging on carbs then all the better.

Any tips for newbies really appreciate :)

Hi all!
I've just found this thread but would love to join. I started the keto diet on Monday and I'm in total disbelief at how good it is.

I did lots of research, a big shop of essentials plus vitamins and haven't stopped eating all week. The scales are down 7lbs already it's crazy!
I'm a keen cook and baker so this week made keto bread and a keto New York cheesecake which were easy and delicious.
I'm using a Keto app too.

I've felt great up until yesterday when I started getting achy limbs, I haven't done anything to warrant this so I'm assuming it's the diet. Has anyone else experienced this?

@soloula

For me, there are a few tips that can't be over- emphasised, but you'll get much better advice from some of the long-termers! FWIW:

• Take your measurements. Some weeks you'll lose nothing, but will still have what we call "non-scale victories" as your shape changes and you generally feel less shit. It's not just water-weight, it's your body rebuilding infrastructure;

-Eat three meals a day, but more than that, eat the fat and don't feel weird about it. In the first two weeks particularly, this way of eating is getting your body to adjust. I remember BIWI was quick to notice if we tried to skip breakfast!

-Drink the recommended amounts of water. Seriously. Most of us have tried to dodge that at some point or another and it always shows on the scales;

-This way of eating is unforgiving, particularly at first. You can't have the odd doughnut and make progress;

-Plan your meals and shop accordingly, so you don't get hungry and eat all the chips;

-Weigh yourself often and hold yourself accountable. If you can't bear to get on the scales, it's a sure sign you're cutting corners;

-booze will slow down progress. Soz.

-Read through all the spreadsheet tabs and previous threads and recipe tabs.

Welcome @pollysproggle and @soloula!

Couple of things - firstly, Bootcamp is a bit different from a strict keto diet. Make sure you've read Bootcamp rules (on the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet, which I link to in the OP)

If you're feeling achy, this is probably carb flu - you need to make sure you're getting more sodium (in particular) but also the other important electrolytes, magnesium and potassium.

For the sodium, try a hot drink made from Oxo or Bovril or Marmite; cook with salt and add it to your food.

For the other electrolytes, good food sources are salmon, spinach, avocado and full fat natural yoghurt.

You can also get electrolyte tablets - Zero, by High5, which Holland & Barratt sell, along with people like Evans Cycles. Or you can buy them from the High 5 website.

BIWI I think my DH just can't be bothered to properly understand this way of eating. He does lots of things by halves, it's not just the cooking. It's much easier for him because he's male, muscular and does a lot of exercise so he can get away with a much higher carb intake than I can. I scraped the sweet sauce (figs, balsamic glaze and honey ffs) off the lamb chops and he'd cooked steamed broccoli alongside which was fine. Just not a very substantial dinner. For those not in the know, DH and I have been eating low carb since 2013 so if he hasn't got the hang of it by now then he probably isn't going to.

Hi All. Re 'not getting it'. My DH doesn't 'get' food in general. He can't get his head round food groups and calories etc. He genuinely doesn't see the difference in eating (and giving the kids) biscuits for breakfast as opposed to eggs. 'it's all food' apparently . His total lack of understanding also extends to preparing food and reading any kind of recipe instructions so I don't have to worry about him making me food I can't eat. The only hassle is if he does 'cook' it's inevitably some kind of pie you heat in the oven and oven chips or baguette and ready prepped moules mariniere. (no veg ever!)

It just means I now have to cook everyday rather than having Saturday/Sunday night off. Today he has gone off to see his dad and I said we had nothing in for dinner so he said he would pick something up and cook. But I had to say no, buy a chicken instead and i'll roast it etc. Even tho i'm tired and sick of cooking.

DOes anyone have any recipes which include camembert?

I have one in the fridge which is really ripe and smelly and DH has threatened disposal if it's not consumed! I don't blame him - it reeks!! I am the only cheese eater in the house so I want a recipe I could use it in which I could then either reheat the next day or freeze? I'm just browsing the web but it's all baked to be consumed in one go recipes so far.

@MrsKoala it makes a decent cauliflower cheese! You could add broccoli etc, but plain old cauli cheese with some mustard is perfect.

@MrsKoala melted into a pan with some leeks, cream and mustard? Yum

Apparently there's a soup too (excuse DM link):

www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1081011/Cauliflower-camembert-soup.html

But what do you say to him @StuntNun? Just scraping stuff off food means you're actually giving into him - he's cooking what he wants, and what he can cope with, without thinking about your needs! It's selfish!

And @MrsKoala, how does your DH cope at work? Is he able to deal with complex situations? Surely he can learn (or make himself learn) about food. He can't really believe that eggs and biscuits are good equivalents, surely?

Oh they all look great. I will get some shopping tomo and make a sort of veggie bake with cream and maybe some soup too (it's a large wheel and I've got some homemade chicken stock which needs using up).

@BIWI He only learns about things he cares about (similar to me) so he just doesn't care at all about nutrition or weight, so glazes over completely. I'm the same with excel and word and databases He knows he needs to lose about 2-3 stone but he doesn't care remotely about it so wont bother. I've spent years trying with him (when he has said he wants to lose weight) only for him to eat what I make then go out and eat something completely off piste because it was there/he was hungry. I ended up thinking to myself when I was spending hours of my time (which I have precious little of) why am I doing this? Would he give any of his time for anything for me? So I stopped caring. He wants a diet where he can eat whatever he wants and lose weight

My Dad is the same. I think there is a male entitlement and sense of injustice about weight which women I know just don't have. Most women I know have watched their weight/been conscious of their appearance from a young age and their physical activity/metabolism etc has meant they have put on weight from teens onwards if not careful. But all the men I know do physical jobs and seem to be able to eat what they want throughout their 20s and early 30s and then when approaching 40 it all seems to slow down and they get quite indignant about it and think if they just pretend it isn't happening and pout about it.

DH was in the army till he was 28 and is a massive bloke so his fitness was amazing. He still argues that food makes no difference and it's all exercise that matters. But I tell him it's 80% food and 20% activity. He just thinks it's my fault as I wont 'let' him go to the gym everyday. (always someone elses fault of course!!)

@MrsKoala

Forgot to add, Camembert freezes well. Cut into wedges, wrap in foil and put in a freezer bag. You can then use as and when.

DH sort of understands this WOE , though he thinks low fat is the way to go
He chose the Indian meal , the other choice would have been Pizza and garlic bread , so it may not have been the best choice ..but it wasn’t the worst
I had a mouthful of the carby stuff , but rice ? Not worth eating these days

The weather has been wild , so we didn’t go out , and though I’d planned pork for dinner , we had the old favourite Chicken n Cauli Alfredo again , slightly different as we had no spinach , so used broccoli , and had a bag of Tesco frozen mushroom medley , so chucked that in , couldn’t find the Parmesan , so used Red Leicester ( which made the sauce an absolutely beautiful colour ! )

Roasting cauliflower is such an amazing discovery , do try it if you haven’t done so already

Hoping to find my old meal,plans from MFP , and recreate the meals from my first week in Bootcamp last October ( will reread the rules too ) and hope for a really good week for all of us,not just me

sorry about the sneezing, people

Living by yourself plus: you get to eat low carb every time.
Living by yourself minus: you have to cook every meal every day every week every month... and you can't have ready meals because ingredients. Plus, yuck.

True joy is someone else making you a good meal.

So...
Food: still on the gold stars for veg, meat, eggs, butter, fish, and nowt else
Fags: 5 days down and not even missing it (actually, that's the dreadful cold, but I'm taking it)
Booze: weeeeellllll, I've not had anything for five days out of seven, which is worse than I'd planned, but better than I was tempted. So, back on the teetotal wagon again.

Dinner this evening. Doner meat, cheese and Prosecco! Kids and DH has fish and chips #classybird

athelstane having no-one to cook for you is often better than someone to do it who buys/cooks the wrong thing. "oh, you've got no potato" says dh. Has he not noticed I've had no potato this year?

Food today:
B - avocado
L - chicken liver pate, salad
D - cheese (probably too much cheese)

How carby are German sausages compared to ours?!

My experience of German sausages is that they are made of meat and fat, with some seasoning, often black pepper and nutmeg and fillers like bread relatively unknown.

There are loads of varieties so some may be more carby than others but generally they will be labelled so that you can check.

After a long break, I'm back on the low carb wagon, for the last week at least. Good to see some new and not so new usernames. Very glad to be back [waves]

Can I emerge from lurking in the shadows to ask where a recipe for cheesy leeks can be found? I have three leeks, and people on this forum speak highly of this dish. So I must try it!

Cheesy leeks? Don't know if there's a specific recipe - but for a good cheese sauce, I'd heat up a 300ml pot of double cream. When it comes to the boil, add a heap of grated mature cheddar (at least half a normal pack - but very much to your taste). Let it all melt in, season with black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Boil your leeks till tender (or any other veg), drain, and then pour over the cheese sauce. You could also bake it then in the oven, with more grated cheese on top, till the cheese on top goes brown and crispy.

@latebloomingleo

For cheesy leeks, microwave sliced leeks with a splash of water for 3mins; drain water; stir in half a tub of cream cheese and season with pepper; recover and cook for another couple of mins (or longer depending on preference/microwave)

@BIWI's version is much more grown up 😂😂