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.

And my day is getting better... I have just learned that Rhubarb is a vegetable and am therefore now wise

Rant away Thewaiting far better it vented here than risk face planting a pile of carbs. (Said with that age old double standards of not taking own advice).

I have a shopping delivery tonight but not a clue what I've ordered! Really hoping I was sensible

And my day is getting better... I have just learned that Rhubarb is a vegetable and am therefore now wise grin

Oooh so rhubarb gin is fine then?! Ducks from the big stick

Shag I know you said you felt like the school snitch, but you made a very good point and it hit home.

Thanks for that, notjustexploring. I really liked your post—honest yet positive. You’ll get back in the swing of things and be grand.

m0therofdragons I adore how your mind went from vegetable to gin, in a heartbeat!

I’ve lost 1.2lbs this week, taking me to 1.2lbs in two weeks.

WATER, WATER, WATER!!!

I’ll be mostly staying with strict bootcamp. I don’t give a toss about berries and nuts and whatever else, but am sure I will succumb to a Gin & Slim at some point.

You’re all terrific. I’m wishing everyone the strength to stay on course this week and next, and look for NSVs rather than weight loss, just in case progress is slower than normal. Also, appreciate the amazing food you’re eating.

May bootcamp is my favourite.

Back from camping. I was low carb of not bootcamp. Resisted lots of bread made on the fire and crisps etc - but had a burger in desperation at one point (long story) and quite a lot of wine.

I’m recording my lowest weight last week, which was 6ibs down in total

Not worrying about scales too much today, am KOKO without going to BC lite. Nothing too challenging now until another camping trip in three weeks

For those that are disappointed at their lack of weight loss/unexplained weight gain, one of the things I've noticed when the scales stop moving downwards or go up without rhyme nor reason is that a) I haven't had enough water (even if technically I've had the prescribed amount) and b) I've been going to bed too late

Honestly, addressing the latter (which is difficult for me as I'm a night owl ) by making sure to go to bed before midnight really helps get the scales moving in the correct direction

It's as if our bodies need the sleep in order to dissolve the fat and then you pee it away in the morning - or at least, that's the way I like to visualise it Seriously though, I think that there is a scientific reasons to do with hormones. @stuntnun or someone more knowledgeable than me might be able to explain better (or might just tell me that I am talking nonsense )

Oh, I think I know the answer to the going to bed late slowing weight loss. Sleep deprivation causes elevated cortisol levels in the body, and cortisol basically inhibits fat loss?

Thank you all for being so kind about throwing my toys out of the pram, especially as my husband and I do share the adulting load equally so compared to many others I really have nothing to whine about. Actually when I was throwing my strop he figuratively patted me on the head, gave me a cup of tea and went to do the dishes. Anyway, the grown up me is now in charge again.

My day 2 of bootcamp is going well. I had three boiled eggs mashed with cheese and double cream for breakfast, lamb meatballs with halloumi, aubergine and shallot for lunch and I've had two creamy coffees do far. Salmon stir fry is planned for dinner, salmon to be marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and chilli. Vegetables are red pepper, shallot, spring onions, mushrooms and mange tout and cooked in the marinade. I continue to ignore the many cans of diet Coke and slimline tonic dotted all over the place.

@ShagMeRiggins the friend I'm out with tonight is currently making rhubarb gin but I will be driving. I don't drink very often these days. Maybe twice a month max. Not worth the calories or hangover! My brain does still think like 20yo me though!

Purely anecdotal drivel but on the subject of weight and size not necessarily going hand in hand (there was chat about this on week 2), a recent example of this in action for anyone who might find it reassuring...

Fri last week I weighed myself and was down over a pound since that Mon’s weigh in and yet when I put my jeans on I had to go up a notch on my belt . Couldn’t work out why? Tummy was actually feeling flat, everything on track etc.

Then after Sat’s wine binge I did a weigh of shame and had (unsurprisingly) gone back up by about 5lbs, but YET my belt was back down to its original position, which was one of actually needing a new notch made (the equivalent of a couple of spaces).

So there you go Weirdness. I was ”muffining” thin air.

Had a lovely lunch at Pho today, it's one of our favs as my son is coeliac, but is also good for low carb. They do rice bowls with the option to have cauliflower rice instead, they also gave a low carb starter, salad rolls.
Plus kids eat free as its half-term!

Just waiting to go into my exercise class.

Have had coffee with cream, Lettuce Wraps with left over curry, a bit of cheese, some blueberries.

Am on my 4th day of brisket and assorted veg here - I would say the difficulty of finding small cuts of meat is a downside of living alone, but I love brisket, so it isn't.

Am also sticking with BC heavy for another week. I have an insane mental block around my next target, which is only 1lb off. But every time I reach it I lose the plot and go bananas on wine and crisps. I haven't managed to reach it and go past since January. I'm seriously considering resetting my scales to show a couple of lbs heavier than I am to trick myself into continuing.

@Athelstane think of the weight as your Baranburh, the Vikings and Scots may be ranged against you but ultimately you will prevail. B it of a housekeeping day here including a humongous queue at the Post Office and not so little boys showing a marked reluctance to get out of their pjs.

L Greek yoghurt with raspberries and creamy coffee
T left over Bolognese with spinach, mushrooms and mozzarella.
Coffee with cream whilst out at lovely Italian opposite the Post Office

Have also bought scales so can weigh on right day and not just at work

Apologies for radio silence. Been slack but not appalling over the weekend, so pretty much staying with boot camp this week. Just ate too much asparagus forgetting the fodmap issue, so now inflated like a football

Lunch left over bolognaise sauce.
Snack three cashew nuts which I didn't need to eat but fancied because I saw them and suddenly felt it's "allowed" even though I know cashew nuts aren't low carb enough. So I need to address that mind set.
Dinner a 4 oz spicy burger (1.9 carbs) tomato, asparagus, samphire and mushrooms cooked in butter, with mustard. It was delicious.

B: 2 eggs scrambled
Snack: a few walnuts and a wedge of manchego cheese, the king of snacking cheeses
L: goats cheese pearls with salad of spinach, little gem, tomato and cucumber with Caesar dressing and oil. Greek yogurt.
D: pan-fried salmon and lots off purple sprouting with an amazing dressing of peanut butter, chilli and soy sauce loosely based on a Nigel Slater recipe. Would have added lime if I had any.

Managed an (almost) 3 mile run, felt better than Saturday's awful parkrun but still not brilliant.

On target for water/chamomile tea and only one regular tea with milk in.

About to cook up a recipe using lamb mince and aubergine I'm quite excited about for later in the week.

B: 2 boiled eggs
L: awesome recipes from boot camp sticky threads: a slice of quiche and creamy spinach soup
D: sausage and veg pesto tray bake

starsky22 the problem with Pho is it is a crime to go there and not have the prawn goi cuon (crystal rolls) and the pork cha gio (deepnfried pork rolls), neither of which is particularly low carb! And I wouldn’t have room for the delicious cauliflower rice dish you described. My husband low carbs with me and said the “rice” dish was fab** last time we went, but I didn’t have the discipline to avoid the rolls.

Hiya stranger!

m0therofdragons enjoy your evening.

**he didn’t actually use the word “fab.” Probably more like “quite good.” He’s properly British.

Feel very pathetic having an issue weighing myself (parents have a lot to answer for - enough said). My clothes are definitely a bit looser and I am less lumpen. I have an old Boden velvet coat I use as a sizing helper - couldn't have gone out in it 4 weeks ago. Fits much better now - even if the weather's wrong.

Still in the same (stretch) jeans but Spanxless today and my legs (and upper arms) look better already. I started 2 weeks before the bootcamp. My first post-menopause low carb effort so we'll see how it goes.

Heyyy everyone.

Had a good day. Had a half hour of reaaaaally fancying something, anything, sweet and silky to eat away some sadness. But I had some pork scratchings instead, followed by a peppermint and liquorice tea.

Lunch was a fried egg, two rashers of bacon and a fried tomato.

Dinner was megrin sole fried in lots and lots of butter, with a big pile of green beans. Sauce made from butter, lemon juice and parsley.

Need to chill a bit today, feeling rather antsy. I know why, too. Maybe I ought to go out in the evening sunshine to walk it away.

Happy evening everyone, and KOKO. 🌷

Haha @ShagMeRiggins I'm also an enthuser...everything is fab, amazing, fantastic and I'm married to someone from whom 'quite good' is a massive compliment

I'm finding it bloody hard going at the mo due to half term. I hate being out of my routine with a million temptations trying to throw me off kilter.

KOKO everyone!

Can anyone add to the recipe threads? Just made a lovely dinner of sliced minced beef with shallots, baby sweet corn & celery and wanted to share it!

Oooo, share it here too!!! Sounds good!!

Really simple to make! I'm rubbish with measurements so it's all estimates
Knob & a bit of butter, add 3 shallots, a stick of celery, some baby sweet corn & 2 cloves of garlic, fry for a bit until soft.
Tsp turmeric, Tsp & a bit chilli powder, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp cumin.
Fry for a minute or two, add the mince (I used 500g) fry until brown add a little salt & pepper & some Worcestershire sauce if wanted.
I served it with some broccoli for me and noddles for husband, could use the bare naked noodles if you want