Week 6 - Low Carb Bootcamp - welcome to the second half!

[BIWI]

Evening all

I'm starting the new chat thread this evening, as we're going to be away tonight, and I won't have an opportunity to do this tomorrow morning. And I know how you all start chomping at the bit after about 5am on a Monday, waiting for me to start the new thread

So here is the Spreadsheet

Hopefully now we've got through weeks 3 & 4, things are starting to go well for you all. Although I have noted the various lapses

Look forward to hearing how you've all got on

@ShagMeRiggins thankfully I've never experienced carb flu so I've never had the issue! I'd imagine that the tabs are a faster way to get the electrolytes into your system - but that real food is probably a better and more Bootcamp-compliant method!

Ultimately though it's whatever works, and wouldn't do any harm to have the tabs to hand.

@Nonononon I've been doing a lot of Googling and there are lots of articles about low carbing and the impact this kind of diet can have on depression and anxiety - mostly they say that it should improve the conditions. But a low carb diet that's not very nutritious - i.e. if you're not eating plenty of vegetables and unprocessed foods - does seem to be implicated in a worsening of the conditions.

This is an interesting article

Might be worth reviewing what you're eating in the light of this - and in particular consider including these seven foods that can help you to boost the serotonin in your body . They're listed as Eggs
Cheese
Pineapples
Tofu
Salmon
Nuts
Turkey

Swerve the pineapple though!

Struggling today. Feeling realllllly hungry. Had a square of chocolate after lunch and a couple lumps of cheese.

L- mini chicken fillets fried in butter, pea shoot leaves, avocado, spring onion and some Boursin

D- butter chicken with Krispy kale (I know it's early but I eat with the kids!). And it was DELISH!!!!

4.5L of water

Have been good all weekend. But really fancy some pastries. I think I've been watching too much cooking on tv! 🙈

Determined to stick to it. Weigh day is Friday so KOKO!!!

@moleeye if you're hungry, perhaps you shouldn't be dropping breakfast yet?

Hi @BIWI I've been doing 16:8 since the start and been fine. I find that breakfast makes me hungrier!

It's tiredness I think, the baby has been up a lot in the night lately.

I'm ok now I've eaten dinner and am keeping busy. 😊

OK! I agree with you, though, about breakfast making you hungrier.

If you're hungry, then definitely eat - although go for the cheese over the chocolate! Make sure also that you're keeping your fat levels high. Both your meals today, with chicken, risk being a bit low in fat as the chicken is a relatively low fat protein (especially the fillets - if you used chicken thighs in the butter chicken they will be a bit fattier)

@SittingontheSidelines I'm rather ashamed to admit its ready made at aldi.
It's among the sandwich meat, you can eat it hot or cold and is 0.8g per 100g.
I'm sure someone better than me could make it really nice, (or come up with a recipe) although I like it as is, heated up and with butter.

Food today was:
B lowcarb slice (last one) butter and cheese, creamy coffee
L cauliflower cheese and some crispy bacon
D roast pork leftovers, creamed cabbage and broccoli

And lots of water!

I think I've had too much cream and cheese the last few days, will cut down a bit on the dairy this week i think.

Managed to swerve Greggs , and had lunch in a Cypriot cafe ,
I chose a baked avocado , stuffed with red peppers , mushroom , onions and lots of olive oil , Then lumps of feta cheese on top , not a perfect choice but very nice

Dinner was leftover Sunday roast pork , with LC cauli cheese , leeks, spinach, mushrooms and broccoli

Lots of water , and over 11,000 steps
Tenby today

Thanks @BIWI, I hadn't thought of that, it was thighs in the curry.

We are having bunless burgers and salad tomorrow (with hallumi fries) so that will up my protein intake. Looking forward to it, nommm

Check in:
B: cream coffee
L: green salad with beef, salami, tomatoes and dijon, mayo and vinegar dressing

D: Cajun chicken breast, kale in cheddar cream and mustard sauce, butter grilled asparagus with rock salt and broccoli.

First foray into cheese and cream (more than in just coffee) since I cut back so that will be it for me this week in terms of cheese/ cream in meals.

Checking in:

B: scrambled egg with mushrooms (lots of butter and some cream.

L: salad with a couple of bacon rashers, feta and an olive oil dressing. Creamy coffee

D: roast pork with crackling and tenderstem broccoli with butter.

Just checking in! Lost 3 pounds which is a pretty good week loss. Down to 12 st 9.

B - none, didn't have time this am
L - chicken tikka salad with mayo
D - pesto crusted salmon with buttered broccoli and cabbage

@Nonononon I'm on sertraline and I've had those symptoms, but only when I was upping my dosage initially. I've had no effects from this diet though - fingers crossed they can figure it out!

Posted my weekly update on last week's thread!

Good day despite being out and about:

B: 2 eggs scrambled with butter
Nuts and cheese as a snack in the car
L: Waitrose deli bits, all low carb
D: cafe rouge: sirloin steak with bearnaise and garlic buttery green beans

Off to check in to fawlty towers, fingers crossed for a good breakfast!

Just checking in to add dinner to today’s food that I posted earlier. Made a mushroom ‘risotto’ with cauliflower rice. Didn’t smell the best but was pretty tasty and really filling.

Thanks @BIWI, I suspect I'm not adding enough salt and will look at the tabs in town tomorrow.

Nononon, I've taken beta blockers before, but do be very careful with them, they can push your blood pressure down even further. I had to come off them because the calm was great but I was going dizzy every time I changed level and I hit the deck a couple of times, thinking the fuzzy dots were going to close over my head.

greenwillow and nonononon I had high blood pressure which has been reduced by this way of eating, so maybe if you're starting with low blood pressure... make sure you have enough salts, enough fat, and take it slow...

Thanks all

Yeah I did think that about the beta blockers, with my blood pressure being on the low side. But I guess they'll be able to check properly with the ECG.
I eat plenty of salt, actually I love the fact that I can add salt now and not feel guilty as I've always been a fan of salty food!
I was taking a zinc, magnesium and b6 supplement and you've just reminded me about them as I've forgotten them the past week or so, could very well be that!
I was feeling great up until about two weeks ago.. I did start on lymecycline (for acne) a couple of weeks back so may be that??
Who knows! Could be anything or nothing.

Well I had dinner which was glorious, maybe too much cheese and had some yogurt afterwards too but feel no gulit, I felt like I needed it and will be stricter from tomorrow onwards.

[grin]thanks@Twit. I'll look out for it.

Had an unexpected meeting so ended up with 9 garlic stuffed olives for lunch

Dinner was chicken fillets cooked in butter, roast butternut squash with rosemary (not the best for low carb I know but everything else was low) tenderstem brocolli and courgette with a little tomato sauce around it.

Thanks @venusandmars, I might pop to the GP today and have a quick go on the blood pressure machine. I'd like to know what the deal is. I had a healthy blood pressure in June, despite being 3 stone over my max healthy weight, so I suspect it's dropped with the weight loss.

I'm going to try not to overthink this WOE today, it's getting hard to eat. I've started with coffee with cream, bacon and buttery mushrooms and 500ml of water with vits C &D and magnesium. I need to remember this is about healthy food that suits me, not eating to anyone else's agenda.

Wow I feel much better today. Took 2 magnesium, zinc and b6 supplements last night so maybe it is that?? Been out on a big walk and just about to head out for another one. Need the sunshine and fresh air. And some nature.
L was: bag of mixed salad leaves, half an avocado, some bacon, butter fried mushrooms and some feta.
I also had two slices of yesterday's roast pork too.

D: will be, Bolognese with kale and parmesan.

Forgot to post: stayed the same this week A bit disappointed as I'd been really focussed all week

MIL died last week: no tears lost on DJ's part and none on mine as I've seen the damage she did to him (to date, it's cost us £3,000 in his counselling) but it is still discombobulating. He opened wine last week which I ended up sharing (still only 4 glasses over the whole week, including a fancy very good bottle of Georgian wine at the weekend).

Funeral is tomorrow but I'll be fine to pick out the innards from the sandwiches at the purvey - if I have anything at all.

At least I've lost enough that I can get into my "funeral" outfit comfortably - although the purple shirt's buttons will still be straining a bit

So, reminder to self to KOKO with a and to keep on drinking the water

Sorry to hear about the MIL @prettybird. There may not be any tears shed, but it's still sad

Lovely dinner last night (that also did for my lunch today!)

2 large aubergines, cut in half lengthways, and then the flesh scored in a criss cross fashion; drizzled generously with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper and roasted in the oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes I added a second lot of olive oil, in which I'd infused finely chopped garlic, fresh thyme and some chilli flakes. After 20 minutes in the oven the aubergines are soft enough, and starting to open up around the cuts in the flesh, so they absorb this oil well.

Another 10 minutes in the oven, then topped them with some finely sliced feta cheese; baked again till the cheese is softening nicely.

I served this with mixed peppers that had been fried in olive oil till they started to brown nicely, then sautéed with the lid on till they softened. Pan deglazed with a bit of red wine vinegar.

Then baby fennel: par-boiled and then sautéed gently in butter till they started browning, with the juice of half an orange added for the last 10 minutes or so of gentle cooking, with the pan lid on.