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.

I'm sure I read somewhere that you can do a shepherds pie type meal in the slow cooker, not sure how or if it would work with celeriac mash though! Lots of options with the slow cooker

@Stuntman I've got some chai tea bags. I think I'll do that tomorrow. I was having it with coffee in but I've gone off coffee again.

BIWI is it worth buying something like this www.vonshef.com/vs_en/digital-induction-hob?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9NPcwtHB4gIViLPtCh3nqgw4EAQYCyABEgL7qvD_BwE for one pot hob meals and frying, to supplement the combi oven? You may well re-coup the cost on pre-prepared meals over the 8 weeks and it’s always handy as a back up in the cupboard. My current set up is a two ring version of this that we bought as an interim after our old hob packed in a couple of years ago but too tight to replace until whole kitchen redone and does the job really well. Two ring about double the price I think.

Congrats and on getting your kitchen done btw. I will vicariously enjoy yours while waiting for mine which is months away yet. But at least last week’s leak through the ceiling from bathroom has improved the appearance

@biwi I heart my slow cooker. I bought one and was determined for it not to be a waste of money gadget so I tend to use it at least one a week. I did our pork joint in it yesterday and regularly do whole chicken. Soups and stews would also be good or a lasagna like mince with courgette or leeks instead of the pasta layer...

tasty.co/article/christinebyrne/low-carb-slow-cooker

And I’ve clearly forgotten how to hide links

Absolutely failed on water again today. Can somebody please whack me with a stick. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’ve always been a big water drinker, but the minute I joined boot camp my daily consumption has gone right down!

Also feeling solidarity with those feeling a bit flat/sad today. I know mine will lift and what’s behind it but agree that it’s strange how that urge to feed the stress/emotion just springs out of nowhere. Still, I reckon a bar or two of (small) 85% choc is still better than previous go to stress habits. Years ago it was fags, then drinking. So I’m heading in the right direction.

Away at the weekend, pub lunch on Saturday. Not sure where exactly yet because there’s a few to choose from but none of the online menus are showing anything remotely non-carby. It’s all breaded or battered, pies, potatoes and pasta. My best chance is a salad or ploughman’s I think. Or a good specials board!

Should add, that if you’re new to induction hobs, you need to check your pans are compatible. They need a magnetised base so ceramic/glass/copper/aluminium are not suitable.
(There are also non-induction portable electric hobs. As well as different brands/prices obvs.)

Hello all, I'm still catching up on threads as we only got back from hols last night. I did ok food wise when we were away.

We went to a lovely Italian restaurant where we had cheese and salami casserole to start. It was basically An enormous dish of melted cheese and salami. Heaven! Then tenderloin pork with mushroom sauce.

I'm back to porridge today, and have worked the entire day from 9am to 10pm tonight on a protracted legal issue. Tomorrow will be rinse and repeat. I've been so distracted, I'm struggling to remember what I've even had today. I think it was:

B: coffee with almond milk
L: chicken breast with tandoori and hm mayo dressing.
Sn: bowl of spicy cauliflower soup.
Dinner: small bowl of bolognaise sauce.
Random almonds that were mindlessly inhaled.

Need more water.

Waves to @BIWI

V tired today, and not really in the zone.

B: poached egg, hollandaise, mushrooms spinach
L: Smoked mackerel (checked it was carb free), g. yogurt, leaves
D: meatballs, tomato sauce, cheese, leaves. (I know this wasn't the best)

Well sick of leaves tbh. I'm too tired and am looking for quick food energy.

We have just completed an extension and new kitchen BIWI and i would second a portable induction hob. Ours was from IKEA and was invaluable. Dh now has it at work but as a pp said is a useful back up

Creeps back onto thread , and holds hand out for big stick

Been hopeless , and have put on so much weight , completely self inflicted
Had a busy and stressful time at work ( self employed and hoping to sell up and retire ) and I just couldn’t carry on with the carb flu symptoms
Feeling more positive now , and need to repair the damage
Looking forward to some buttery scrambled eggs for breakfast and have a fridge full of leafy green veg 👍ready to be made into lovely salad bowls

Thanks, Ninkaninus - sadly my nearest M&S is over 100 miles away. The nearest town has Tesco, Lidl and the Co-op, all of them fairly small. I shall have a rummage :)

After last week's fall from the wagon, I'm back on it and have almost repaired the 4lb damage. 1lb to go so I'm hopeful I can get under 10st by next Wednesday (maybe even by Monday). Park run scheduled for Saturday. Determined but also enjoying the food which makes it easier. Steak for dinner

The smell of chocolate is everywhere in my house, source one freshly decorated birthday cake (not my birthday). I might need will power today. Totally not connected to chocolate cake I have a craving for corned beef. This is something I eat once in a blue moon so no idea why I keep thinking about it. There is a strong possibility of corned beef hash for dinner tonight, will substitute potato with cauliflower, broccoli and perhaps swede or celeriac. I love celeriac but there doesn't seem to be any around at the moment. Now I'm rambling. Apologies.

I can’t have drunk enough water yesterday as I have a headache that started in the night. Despite planning on sticking (mostly) to strict boot amp I had a glass of red so that prob didn’t help either.
Yesterday was
cheese omelet
Prawn cocktail w avocado, cucumber & lettuce
Meatballs in cream sauce, cauli rice, roasted courgette & brocoli.
Then I had more choc peanut butter bark. Luckily the rest of my family has finished it off so I won’t be tempted!

I’m still finding celeriac at Waitrose, sidelines. And at a local farm shop. Not really sure when it’s in season, though.

We got some in Sainsbury the other day. I wonder if there are measurable celeriac-buying spikes aligned with bootcamps?

Does anyone have tips for peeling the bloody things?

I have a day out with my 15yo today, so have prepped 2 hard boiled eggs and a veggie sausage to keep me going. Also some of that round smoked Bavarian cheese which he loves. I remember considering it the absolute dernier cri of sophistication as a child.

We are off to Pitzhanger Manor to see the Anish Kapoor stuff.

I never can wait until weigh in Monday! I am not a daily weigher, but it seems I am inclined to do it twice weekly. Maybe 7 days is just too long to wait to see if it's working

I am 1lb down today! I am very happy because I am not feeling it come off and not feeling like i'm on a diet (except for rare, mood related hob nob cravings...). I'm eating very well in fact. I was losing hope thinking that I had to be living off salad to lose weight. Anyway, I am 1lb off my normal and 6 lbs off my upper range target. Fingers crossed that we continue to lose. KOKO losers

I’ve lost half a stone I’m total so far and definitely feel and look slimmer

I think I’m aiming for another 10ib or so.

MrsVertBibby putting celeriac in the microwave for a couple of minutes helps with peeling

Completely failed to negotiate a social situation yesterday and ended up eating fish, chips and mushy peas. We're making use of my DSD for babysitting before she starts university in September so I went along with DH to one of the summer runs in his old car - think a bunch of (largely) old people meet up, follow surprise scenic route roughly in convoy of assorted vintage to modern cars then have pre-ordered food in the pub. I'd deliberately not pre-ordered as the choice was fish and chips or cottage pie, with the plan of eating first and saying we'd only confirmed a babysitter at the last minute. However my small bowl of lamb mince and aubergine at 5pm wasn't very filling, it felt a bit awkward trying to make a better choice from the full menu when nothing much appealed and they had pre-ordered food going spare due to a couple of no-shows. I also felt it was ridiculous to opt out either of the whole evening (which I'd considered) or miss eating something I love alongside everyone else, mostly people I don't know or don't know well, to lose a bit more weight from a healthy position largely for vanity reasons. So a bit disappointed but we've a quiet weekend planned so shouldn't have any issues KOKO'ing and I've still not had any booze at least and I did leave a few chips.
Rest of the day was 2 eggs courgette and cheese omelette for breakfast, machego and walnuts for snack, and goats cheese salad as previous day followed by yogurt at lunch.

VeryLittleOwl

LIDL has some very good bratwurst sausages which are no carb. Aldi has some really good salt and chilli chicken wings (frozen) so LIDL might have something similar - they are lovely dipped into guacamole.

NSV for me: dh asked me if I'd lost a lot of weight already as my tummy is noticeably smaller

Still only 5lb though - a long wee way to go to get back to where I was last summer, let alone where I'd got to at Christmas

@MrsBertBibby I just slice it into discs and then slice the edges off. No celeriac peeling in my house!

That reminds me, I must make some celeriac dauphinoise this weekend 😋

I have a client lunch today, so no breakfast this morning. I've checked out the menu and I'm going to have halloumi fries to start followed by fish (tuna or smoked haddock) with curly kale in garlic butter.

Morning everyone!
Looking for some advice, I have 3 night shifts from Sunday and normally would eat all the carbs & processed food! We have a microwave at work so I can take a couple of made up meals to re hear but looking for some easy snacks?
I think I'm gonna get a couple of this Aldi slimwell freezer meals that were low carb & cook up some sausages & chicken drumsticks with some broccoli but I know I'm not going to want to eat a salad in the middle of the night!