Jan '20 - Low Carb Bootcamp - The finish line!

[StuntNun]

We've reached the end of the Low Carb Bootcamp so how did you do overall? Add your weigh-in to the Spreadsheet and let us know your plans. Would you like to keep losing weight over the coming week and months? Are you thinking about giving weight maintenance a go? Have you considered introducing intermittent fasting? This thread will continue until the next Bootcamp starts so there will be plenty of support for you.

PS - Is there an in-between-bootcamp thread? @stuntnun @BIWI

We'll just keep this one going till the next Bootcamp, @venusandmars

Hello all. I fell off the wagon with a vengeance on Friday and Saturday due mainly to lack of eggs or anything else nice and low carb. Back on since Sunday when Sainsburys provided.

Still trying to get below 12 stone before the summer but those 2 days were baaaad!

Well I’m officially bored of all my food but will carry on. Pork steaks today with spinach, frittatas stuffed with veg and some asparagus in the offing. Lamb tomorrow perhaps.

Why are you bored @DietChic?

Well... it’s probably generalised bored and I’m taking it out on food.... but I can’t get any salmon which is irritating. I’ve eaten pork shoulder steak, I’ve got lovely fatty beef mince but I’m fed up with bolognese / chilli / burgers. We got a massive chicken as a substitute last week which I’m sick of the sight of the leftovers (can’t get DH to eat it fast enough) and the one thing I DID want was lamb, which I left in my handbag by mistake because I didn’t have space in the bag for life and has probably become wonderfully dangerous to eat. Obviously if I were doing a top up shop daily based on what I fancied, I’d have found the lamb sooner! And I am STS and have done for a week, so am contemplating the lamb anyway to see if a solid food poisoning does anything for the waistline! (Not really). I used to love the frittata I make but I’m completely sick of it now.

Essentially, I’m just whingeing that I can’t go out for dinner and have a lovely tuna tartare or black miso cod or salmon sashimi.

I think Alpine Eggs tonight a la Delia, and probably another bloody burger for lunch. Before going back on the frittatas for lunch tomorrow!

Alpine eggs sound lush. Do you serve them with salad?

I seem to remember there being some baking recipes kicking about on here, can anyone point me in the right direction? I'd like to fill some time with baking, but it would be nice if I could eat at least some of the results.

They are very good - very rich, filling, cheap and a perfect easy winter dinner. Not much washing up either! Yes, with salad or I’ve sometimes put some spinach with it blasted in the microwave.

@DietChic I know it's more challenging right now, when you can't just go to the shops and buy what you want - but why not go and have a read of the Bootcamp recipe threads for some inspiration? See what you can make with what you've got?

Why not use the mince to make meatballs - whizz them up in the food processor with any veg you have - ideally shallots/onion, garlic and a green pepper, but any veg will work. No need to add any breadcrumbs for a filler.

Form them into balls and then bake in the oven - serve with a tomato sauce (if you have any tinned tomatoes!) or a cheese sauce.

Lovely @BIWI - I’ll have a go at that. It’s good to be forced to ring the changes after all, thank you!

I finally faced the scales, I'm so brave...

Since falling ill at the beginning of Feb, and a sloooow recovery that still isn't there, I have now put on 9lbs.

9lbs of carbs and wine, and wheezing around from room to room.

On the plus side, I am beginning to feel much more normal, some of my seeds have germinated (hello sprouts, kale, leeks, and perpetual spinach!), and it's not like anyone else has been having any fun either

I am SO pleased to see you all still here, bundling along

I am SO pleased to see you all still here, bundling along

Awww. Glad to hear you’re on the mend. Sorry about the 9lbs. It happens.

My own daily weigh in and experimentation with “maintenance” cheating has hit its limit, which seems to be two burritos. Not a burrito salad, as planned, but burritos. Oh, and an ice cold Corona to wash it down. (Yes, we bought some Corona )

2lbs up today but that’s the first gain since this lockdown gubbins started so it’s given me a good indication of what I can do and still maintain.

Next step is for me to decide if I’m wanting to actually lose weight during this period, gain a light tan in all this sunshine, maybe hop onto some of the many fitness options available, and emerge swan like from isolation—except for my hair, whose natural colour will see the light of day for the first time in decades.

Or whether I want to keep gaining 2lbs every two weeks and stop taking care of myself.

Not a difficult choice!

Sunshine!?

Bah. Lovely grass-greening, veg-watering, drizzle here.

Being a bit of a fence-refuser at 'beauty products', and someone who takes the scissors to the ends of my hair, I can confidently claim to look pretty much exactly the same from one end of the pandemic to the other, i.e. a bit underwhelming

My food plan is - to get back on track as far as possible. The caveat is because, even with some Soviet Style queuing and interrogation of shop staff, there is only a limited amount of time in the day when green veg is on the shelves before it disappears. Root veg is less popular and so I'll be eating a bit more of that until my home-grown stuff, er, grows.

Glad to see you back @AthelstaneTheUnready, and very glad you're on the mend.

I sat in the garden for my morning coffee yesterday (yes even in Scotland) it felt like a nice moment of peace and normality.

dh is working from home and driving me a bit mad but my revenge is planned... He didn't manage to get his hair cut before all of this so he is looking like a cross between an aging hippy and a mad professor. Thank you online shopping - I now have hairdressing scissors, thinning scissors and electric clippers. No idea how to use them dh will be glad of social isolation and I think he won't have the picture showing on his video calls (unless he's wearing a hat)

I'm joining in a virtual birthday party at lunchtime today. Good thing is that while some eat dumplings, some eat cake, I'll be tucking in to smoked salmon, prawn mayonnaise and salad.

mmmm partyfood @venusandmars - I'd like to be self-isolating at your place today.

Lovely to see you again @AthelstaneTheUnready - sorry to hear the last few weeks have been so tough.

I'm mentally flitting between trying to work and :
-wanting to bake and eat all the comfort food as soon as possible (before inevitable and imminent demise)

-panic about not being below BMI of 25 - for best chances according to some internet 'news' (and worry about literally being a great burden on the NHS if I need a stretcher)

Taking deep breaths
-and remembering that eating properly feels good (and why make things worse right now)

-and that WHEN emerging from all this I don't want to be several stones too big to fit into anything but pyjamas.

And I'm glad you got your holiday safely done before borders closed, BIWI!

Yesterday was nice in Scotland, wasn't it Venus - today, not so much.

Heartsease, I'm really struggling with WFH motivation at the minute. But I am finally pulling out of the eating crap slump, sparked off when I did, in fact, go and change my jeans mid-evening for my pyjamas, because they were too tight and uncomfortable

So. Last shop I did was random on the veg, and I've picked up an iceberg lettuce, for lack of much else. I've always considered these nothing better than coloured water so don't every buy them, and it is not inspiring me now.

What's an interesting thing to do with lettuce?

It's all about the dressing, @AthelstaneTheUnready! Personally I love iceberg. I love the taste as well as the crunch. My favourite dressing is made with extra virgin olive oil, red wine or white wine vinegar, finely chopped shallot and sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sometimes sprinkle some grated Parmesan over the top as well.

I'm with you on lettuce especially when it is chilly/grey outside. However, pretty much anything is good with garlic mayonaise.

My mum makes soup with lettuce - for my Dad who happily grows salad but does not eat it. The result is good.

Lettuce soup

I think not.

I do have mayonnaise and some garlic puree kicking about though, and some roast chicken bits in the freezer somewhere, so that could deal with some of it, thank you!

I have all those things, BIWI (except onion for shallot). But I suspect I would make it, look at it, and then go and put it out on the bird table.

You've never led me wrong yet though, so I will give it a whirl with a small amount.

athelstane how about a blue cheese dressing? make it with blue cheese, cream, mayo or just buy st agur cream.

My lunch today was a riot - necessitated 'a wee lie down' before tea which was lovely veg and cheese omelette followed by rhubarb fool.

Lettuce is a good source of vitamin K2 so not just crunchy water. I use it as a wrap. It's divine with leftover roast meat re-fried and then topped with mayo.

@venusandmars - it is all very quiet here and I now quite fancy a riot for lunch. Are they high in fat and low in carbs? How long does it take to prepare one - from a standing start? :)

I am assuming that they go well with garlic mayo and a lettuce wrap!