Week 3 - Sumer 19 Low Carb Bootcamp - Bootcamp Light?

[BIWI]

Morning all. Today sees the start of week 3, which is when you can, if you wish, move on to Bootcamp Light. This means you can now introduce some fruit, some nuts and seeds and alcohol in moderation.

Note the bold formatting!

However you don't have to move on to Bootcamp Light if you don't want to. If it's working for you, then by all means stay on Bootcamp. Some people choose to do Bootcamp during the week but take a more relaxed approach at the weekend.

Here are carb counts for fruit - you can see that most of them are pretty high. These are taken from Sainsbury's website and show the amount of carbs per 100g:

Canteloupe melon 4
Raspberries 4.6
Blackberries 5.1
Galia/Honeydew melon 5.3
Passion fruit 5.8
Strawberries 6.1
Watermelon 6.8
Peach 7.5
Plums 8.8
Papaya 8.8
Nectarine 9
Blueberries 9.1
Pineapple 10.1
Kiwi 11
Apples 11.8
Mango 14.1
Lychees 14.3
Grapes 17
Pomegranate seeds 18.7
Banana 23.2

When it comes to nuts and seeds, these too vary widely:

Brazils 3.1
Walnuts 3.3
Pine nuts 4 (but beware - toasted pine nuts are 10)
Macadamias 5.3
Pecans 5.8
Desiccated coconut (technically a fruit!) 6.4
Almonds 6.9 (smoked almonds are 7.7)
Monkey nuts 9.3
Peanuts (salted) 10.9
Fresh coconut (from the chilled cabinet) 15.2
Cashews 18.1

(These carb counts for either salted or unsalted)

Seeds:

Sesame 0.9
Poppy 4.7
Chia 8.6
Pumpkin 15.2
Sunflower 16.4

As far as alcohol is concerned, the best drinks are clear spirits (gin/vodka/whisky/rum) but you need to be careful what mixer you're using. Soda is by far the best option, but if you want something else, you'll need to go down the artificial sweetener route to keep the carbs low.

Dry white wine and Champagne are OK, and red wine. Avoid beer and cider.

@TheWaiting I didn't drink coffee before I had twins

Thanks for all the water tips , have topped up today ( I’ve been to the loo many more times than usual , as an expected side effect ! )
B cheese omlette
L bottom of the fridge salad ( lettuce leaves , cucumber, ham , feta avo and olive oil dressing)
D fajita spiced chicken breast with mushrooms, courgettes, small amount of red onion and pepper ( I put most on DH plate ) sauce made with double cream and a drop of tomato passata , cauli rice a bit more avo and some grated cheddar on top
Was very nice , and I’m good and full now

@Tinkerbellx I agree with the salad recommendation.

I do egg mayo/tuna mayo or chicken mayo (cook an extra piece of chicken the night before when I have chicken for my dinner). Chuck in with a load of spinach leaves, cucumber, small amount of tomato and spring onions. I tend to throw together in the morning, takes a couple of minutes.

Should clarify that those are my go-to work lunches.

Dinners tend to be some protein with a lot of veg cooked in butter, courgetti/cauliflower rice with mozzarella, cauliflower rice risotto; if I really can't be bothered I will have a couple of boiled eggs with some mushrooms and spinach. Or, as some of us are finding, you may not even be that hungry by dinner time

@Tinkerbellx
I’d stock the fridge up with ready chopped veg , greens , stir fry etc
Frozen veg as well ( the choice is endless in my local Tesco )

Chicken breast , ( low fat , I know , but easy ) add some cream and cheese and you have quick and delicious meal

Pork shoulder is lovely , but needs a long cook , so maybe a Saturday night dinner , then a couple of leftover meals , nice with stir fried cabbage

Pork scratchings are my new favourite snack ( when I really fancy a biscuit )

not sure whether to be proud or blush about your comment about my use of MN formatting

Be proud, prettybird—your commitment to formatting helps us all recognise your “voice”. And even if I sometimes (always reading from a phone) to get through the formatted posts, I always find them friendly, funny, helpful, and very, very you. Muchos kisses, my wee Scottish partner in crime.

@tinkerbellx I fry up a pack of low carb sausages and a pack of cooking bacon on a Monday and that s my breakfast for the week. I have salad or leftover dinner for lunch and I use a slow cooker a lot. I try to make things that will do 2 dinners also. We had a slow cooked roast pork this week that did us 3 dinners!!! ,(could have been 4 but I couldn't face it again)

I'd better not get banned then, as I wouldn't be able to return under the radar as a PBP, if my "voice" is so distinctive

But thank you for your kind words

Oh yes we pretty much always cook extra for dinner. That way I get at least one ready made lunch for the next day.

We never, ever seem to have enough left over from any meal.
There’s 6 of us though including a teenage and preteen boy and a 10yr old DD all of whom are very sporty thus always very hungry.
I do stews and stuff in the biggest round le creuset set they make and it always gets eaten. Between rugby, football, hockey and tennis they’re constantly complaining they’re hungry.

Struggling today. Just back from staying with family in Yorkshire (and just as well I took my own food with my food with me, or I'd have really struggled), and I'm exhausted after a 4 hour drive down the M1. Also a bit sad, and I don't know why. Combination of both is making me want to dive into a vat of pasta (always my comfort food).

I haven't, we've ordered Thai instead. Really didn't fancy another curry, as I'm limited in what I can order. Went with Tom Yum soup, which I love, and stir-fry prawns with broccoli, hoping that is ok and reasonably low carb. Breakfast was two boiled eggs with butter, lunch was a service station McDonald's chicken and bacon salad without the balsamic dressing.

Also had a piece of cheese and some pork scratchings to try and make the sadness go away. It didn't work. Also on my second g&t. Sorry BIWI.

Much better day after going a bit rogue. Tried on all my holiday clothes last night ready and while it all fitted, plenty of things will benefit from a bit more off so not out of the woods yet. I've enjoyed the thread today, especially the wedding dresses and the near unanimous vote for buttermint tea which I will seek out.
B: 2 scrambled eggs
A few pecans
L: salad of mozzarella, lettuce, spinach, cucumber and tomato with oil, mayo and pesto. Yogurt (from a big tub from Costco, highly recommend it) with almond butter.
Snack of manchego before Pilates
D: spicy lamb mince with aubergine, cauliflower cheese and green beans.

It’s a lot easier to have leftovers when you’re not feeding an army of growing, sporty children and teenagers! It’s only the two of us now, so it’s pretty straightforward.

I guess you could specifically cook one batch of , divvy it up into containers, keep two or three in the fridge for the week and freeze the other portions, and label them all clearly as belonging to you with the threat of BIWI’s stick if anyone steals any...

Awe, Greebo, sometimes you just get days like that. I felt like that this time last week and went completely off plan having pizza and wine. The pizza made me feel bloated and horrid but the wine helped and I still lost 1lbs last week and I’m already down 2lbs this week so I’m able to put it in perspective. Your food today sounds fine to me. Maybe you could do with a bit more fat. Are you on wk3 BC light? If so, maybe some nuts with double cream? Or a little dark chocolate with your g&t? Just a couple of squares. I’m probably in line for the big stick for saying that as it encourages emotional eating but sometimes a little of something comforting can stop you reaching for the bowl of pasta or carb laden chocolate treat. Hope you feel better in the morning.

Now look. Stop making me feel sorry for you all. How can I get my Big Stick out now?!

Sorry for all ills and woes. But know that we’re all here thinking about you and willing people to do well

Sadness is tough. And sometimes your emotions really do need soothing. I’ll always be an emotional eater, that’s just who I am.

You’ve navigated it well.🌷

I hope you feel better soon.

@Greebol seeing family disturbs my emotional equilibrium it's never quite what you think it is going to be. I also find it brings up emotional issues around food and leads to the urge to eat all the things. Sad is part of being human and just be kind to yourself

Thank you all. We suffered a bereavement last year and it's hard to be there without her. Kept expecting her to walk into the room.

The prawns and broccoli came in an unexpected sweet-ish sauce, so I just picked them out.

I have just eaten an excellent pizza made with coconut flour and topped with salami and pepperoni. Recipe found here.

healthyrecipesblogs.com/coconut-flour-pizza-crust/

It was really gorgeous and I could only eat three quarters of one half of the recipe amounts.

Re: water. I am not good at drinking plain water but have found that Asda's blackcurrant fruit tea bags (75p for 20) will flavour cold water very nicely.

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal 

@PushkarKali looks good!

I've just had steak with asparagus and spinach (cooked in butter, natch) and a small glass of red wine.

At a bbq tomorrow and providing desserts. Will make a LCHF choc mousse so I can partake and a fudge brownie traybake for everyone else.

That was meant to be for @GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal - I am clearly the opposite to @prettybird and hopeless at MN formatting!

I just spend too much time on here (mostly on the phone, on an old version of the app) and have had time to learn some of the quirks (and learnt to use the -- or the * or the ^ for emphasis rather than selecting the Strikethrough or bold or italic options, because I make too many typos as I type)

Plus my mum brought me up to be a grammar pedant, a habit that I've extended to my formatting

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal
I know that feeling well having lost both my parents when my children were very young. The concept of a family gathering just stops and you need to get your head around it and adjust to the new normal. Hope you’re ok.

@TheWaiting low carb (high fat) hot chocolate... this is my favourite:

• desert spoon of butter
• desert spoon of coconut oil
• teaspoon of raw cocoa (a big one)
• 3 desert spoons boiling water, maybe a bit more

When all the butter, coconut oil has melted add 2 spoons double cream

Blend.

Drink some warm, put the rest in small cups in the fridge. You can reheat, or just mix and have them cold.

When I first started this recipe I add a half teaspoon of stevia, now I love it with no sweetener.