2020 Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp. The first week!

[BIWI]

Welcome all.

Well what a strange year this has been! If you're anything like me, food, meals and eating have been all over the place. And that's before we think about the booze.

I found lockdown an odd mix of feeling like I was on holiday but it was also the end of the world. So what was the point of worrying about my diet?

I am lucky, relatively, in that we don't have small children to worry about educating. We also have a nice house and garden, and as me and DH have recently retired, don't have to worry about work. So we were very much advantaged over many people.

But still, the diet/drinking was all to pot. And with the inevitable result.

So we're now in the run up to Christmas - traditionally a time when diets go out of the window, and we start to indulge ourselves. Who knows what's going to happen this year though?!

So with that in mind, it's a good time to try and be focused and aim to have a bit of discipline! This Bootcamp, as with most others, will last for 10 weeks, which will take us right up to Christmas week.

(I truly hope that we'll all be able to spend Christmas with our loved ones, but who knows?)

With grateful thanks to @AthelstaneTheUnready, here is the Spreadsheet of Exceptional Fabulousness .

You should find that you're on the spreadsheet. A couple of things:

• if you don't want to record your weight every week, that's absolutely fine. Just don't do it!
• if you're not on it, just add your name to the bottom - don't try and re-alphabatize it - we'll sort it out later

The spreadsheet isn't just a place to record your weight though - have a good look at it, and the tabs - there's loads of information on there, including a veg carb counter and lots of stuff about low carbing in general. You'll also find Bootcamp rules there.

@Notwatchingtvtoday that stew sounds amazing! Could I make it in the same way but using a slow cooker (adjusting the cooking time of course) or would I need to defrost the meat first?

Unfortunately I had the night from hell, both my 1 and 2 yo were up all night. I think if you piece all the minutes together I got half an hour sleep 🙈 I'm so glad I'm doing this WOE because this morning I couldn't have managed if I had felt sluggish! Managed to nap 2 hours with them so feeling ok now.

B. Bacon, fried egg and a celery stick dipped in pate while waiting for it to cook.
L. Bulletproof coffee.
D. Will probably be a steak dinner with mushrooms, tomatoes, cauliflower mash and pepper sauce.

Can I ask how everyone is making their bulletproof coffee? I'm adding a teaspoon of butter, teaspoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon of double cream and blend. I put these ratios in a carb counting app and it implied my coffee nearly wiped out my daily fat allowance 😂 On BIWI's advice about dairy I'm going to leave out the cream in future.

Wow this thread moves so fast - just read all and need to try the Cheeseburger Pie recipe - does anyone know if it freezes? Its just me that I cook for, so although this looks great - three/four nights on the bounce could be challenging.

Trying to stay positive here, just had a fab meeting and catch up with my boss, who seems happy with life so that's good, also bought a mini trampoline, not sure why - feel like my life will be better with one.

Can someone give me a tip for what to drink tomorrow night please, I can happily go booze free all week - Friday night I like a bottle of red - I know its two weeks, but since Monday its been two black coffees, 3 litres of sparkling water with lemon, and a camomile tea after dinner each day. Do i just mix it up tomorrow night and add a slice of lime, or is there an awesome tasting LCHF Friday night tipple I can indulge in??

Also what's the scoop with alcohol free wine and Seedlip - is this OK?

I feel the Black pudding pain - this in a roll with square Sausage, and a tattle scone will be my first breakfast when I move home at Christmas - I am literally counting weeks (9 on Saturday) and 11stones will be me, in my Levi's looking the Mutts Nuts,

Chin up everyone tomorrow's the weekend!

@Stuntnun and @BIWI thank you both - definitely won't be eating black pudding again for a while

Neither of those apps are available on Android . So frustrating, I'll have to do some research and find something similar

@BuffyTheBuffetSlayer

Can I ask how everyone is making their bulletproof coffee? I'm adding a teaspoon of butter, teaspoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon of double cream and blend. I put these ratios in a carb counting app and it implied my coffee nearly wiped out my daily fat allowance 😂 On BIWI's advice about dairy I'm going to leave out the cream in future

We really don't recommend bulletproof coffee in the first two weeks of Bootcamp, as there's so little real nutrition in it.

But ...

Why are you using a carb-counting app?! We don't count carbs.

And what on earth is a 'daily fat allowance'?! Please don't try and limit your fat. Remember, this is a high fat way of eating. (With medium protein and low carb)

Sorry about the lack of sleep - that sounds brutal

@plumstone

Also what's the scoop with alcohol free wine and Seedlip - is this OK?

Seedlip is zero carb, so that would be the better option, as alcohol-free wine still contains (quite a lot) of carbs. From the ones I've looked at, they're around 7g carbs per 100ml/g

Good afternoon everyone am struggling a bit to keep on top of the thread but am here feeling good and very motivated by everyone's contributions!

I already do feel so much less bloated it's a huge incentive to keep going.
I have told a few people including my DM that I am doing this so that also boosts my sense of accountability- she has been quite vocal about me needing to lose weight !

Thanks @Mimosa1 for the Hoogly tea recommendation and @RitaEllen for the cold brew idea - I have now spent a fortune on various teas to try. It felt extravagant until I reminded myself it was less than the bottles of wine I normally added to my Ocado order without a second thought.

Might have to try the cheeseburger pie for dinner tonight as I don't yet have a plan!

Also @plumstone alcohol wine is not envy

@prettybird wow that's amazing I am praying for a result like that on Monday !

BuffyTheBuffetSlayer I’m not sure how it would work in a slow cooker, I have to admit I’ve never used one. I have too many memories of watery casseroles that my husband’s family used to make 😀.

I stopped browning meat in casseroles and stews, as Jamie Oliver doesn’t brown the meat. I suspect that it would work fine, but that you would not be able to use frozen meat, I’m sure someone more knowledgeable will come along soon.

The instant pot works well for me as I can have a beautifully tender casserole/stew made and on the plate in under an hour, with no all day long cooking smells, or having to prepare dinner too early. However, if your out all day I suspect a slow cooker is fab as you can put it in in the morning and then have it ready when you walk in.

As an aside, with pressure cooked recipes you don’t add thickening ingredients like flour as they burn, so the recipes are usually very good for LCHF. You just have to tweak them to make sure they are low carb. I’m not sure if this is the same with a slow cooker. It is worth following pressure cooker recipes as there is no evaporation of water in the cooking, whereas I suspect that there is evaporation with a slow cooker, so worth following a slow cooker beef stew recipe and tweaking it.

I honestly don’t work for instant pot, but I do love it especially in the winter months, because you bung it all in, set the time for pressure cooking, then just push a button, the pot then does everything else, so releases the pressure very gradually so no steam or cooking smells and then automatically switches to keep warm until your ready to eat, this works so well for me as I am very lazy 😀. Added bonus is that it tastes like you have lovingly cooked it and fussed over it for several hours. Which gives extra time for doing unproductive stuff like Mumsnet 😀

Thanks @BIWI will investigate Seedlip to "jazz-up" tomorrow night @Margaritawithlime that's what I though - I like to drink wine to relax, unwind and feel slightly tipsy. I'll give it a miss and have one to celebrate moving in December.

Also - do we need apps and tech stuff to do this, I am using a spreadsheet to meal plan and sticking to meat, fish, veggies, dairy, and eggs, water, coffee, possibly Seedlip and plan to just record on here - do we need to track on an app too? i've dabbled on MFP and quite frankly far too much effort - I'm very lazy and just want to eat three times a day and drink the required liquid. thanks

If you're drinking a lot and still thirsty, this is a sign that you need more sodium.

Thank you, BIWI, that was perfectly timed, as I was just wondering why I was still feeling thirsty straight after sinking pint number four of the day!

Lunch today was chicken and vegetable soup, I think supper is chicken and leeks in a cheese sauce and lots of veggies.

My energy levels are up loads. So far today I've walked the dogs, picked up a barrowload of horse manure, caught and treated a sheep with a slightly sore foot (involved dragging four 6ft metal hurdles out of a nettle patch and lifting them onto the back of the quad bike), had a 90-minute site meeting walking round a building site for a community project I'm involved with, and in a bit I'm off to hitch up the field trailer to the quad and go and move the component bits of about half a collapsed field shelter, which I was taking to pieces on Sunday afternoon. Who needs sugar??!

Oh, and lugged 72 litres of water up from the field well, which involves scrambling about 30ft down the side of a very steep hill with a couple of buckets, dunking a saucepan to fill the buckets with, and then scrambling back up with a bucket holding 12l of water in each hand, trying not to (a) spill any, (b) miss your footing and fall backwards onto the rocky little beach at the bottom of it. Good leg workout!

@plumstone

Thanks *@BIWI* will investigate Seedlip to "jazz-up" tomorrow night *@Margaritawithlime* that's what I though - I like to drink wine to relax, unwind and feel slightly tipsy. I'll give it a miss and have one to celebrate moving in December.

Also - do we need apps and tech stuff to do this, I am using a spreadsheet to meal plan and sticking to meat, fish, veggies, dairy, and eggs, water, coffee, possibly Seedlip and plan to just record on here - do we need to track on an app too? i've dabbled on MFP and quite frankly far too much effort - I'm very lazy and just want to eat three times a day and drink the required liquid. thanks

No tech stuff needed unless you want it! I don't use anything other than my own spreadsheet.

Don't bother with MFP. First, Bootcamp isn't about weighing or counting anything - and second, because a lot of the carb counts on there are very dubious.

@ZiggZagg

Has anyone tried the skinny food co, low carb bread mix? It says 2.5g carbs per roll, so I have halved the roll, making more at 1.25g per roll. They are delicious with some full fat Philadelphia on.

I haven't tried that - what concerns me though is that there's nothing on their website about the nutrition or the ingredients.

Could you take a photo of the back of pack and post it here, please? It would be really interesting to know both nutritional and ingredient info.

@plumstone - I can't see any reason why the cheeseburger pie wouldn't freeze, although I haven't tried it myself.

Buffy if dh eats soup, you can chuck in chunks of butter and whizz it with the blender - extra creamy and smooth, he'd never know!

Anotherducker Dietdoctor reported on a BMJ paper HERE

Brunch - butter coffee, coronation chicken and salad
D - a feast of delights from my favourite restaurant's 'dine at home' initiative can't eat out as Nicola has closed everything in the central belt!
So... oysters, then crab bisque with confit squid and chive oil, then glazed beef short-rib with carrot puree and cavalo nero, then cheese. Yum, yum

my friend has just dropped round mars bar cake.

Luckily I have 4 other people in the house to eat it.

Bloody hell it looks lush.

will not eat will not eat

@BIWI sorry I thought I had attached pics

Sounds fine, @ZiggZagg but given that it's full of seeds, I'm afraid that's not allowed for the first two weeks of Bootcamp!

@ZiggZagg that looks interesting, just wondered what is 'cream yogurt' that you add to it? Full fat plain yoghurt do you think?

Today lunch was leftover roast courgettes and celery with melted cheese, and buttery spinach on the side. Surprisingly yum!

Must. Drink. More. Water. I'm so bad at chugging it back, especially when looking after the toddler. Ironic as I'm always chasing her around to get her to drink

@Plumstone the cheeseburger Pie original recipe says it freezes well so give it a go !

I just got offered a free gift of seedlip something on Ocado - the reviews said it was truly awful ! Might be a different thing you are thinking of though ..

God, is anyone else horribly sweaty or is it just me? Pouring buckets on the way home

Good day today. Had scrambled eggs and salmon for breakfast, a massive Caesar salad for lunch, and salmon with green veg in butter for dinner.

@Midlifemission this is good to know, I will investigate for next weekend. I menu plan Friday - Thursday and food order is delivered every Friday - I am boringly organised, but it means little though is required when cooking.

Re Seedlip, i have added a small bottle to the weekly shop, will try and report back - reviews from friends have been very mixed.

I've drunk loads today and was still feeling thirsty, so it's good to read that might be about needing more salt. I'll have myself a little salty snack now then. I love chunks of cucumber with loads of salt on, weird but so satisfying.

I skipped breakfast today as I slept in.
Lunch was covent garden mushroom soup which was lovely. I added some cheese to up the fat content, and it was a very nice addition. Starting to feel a bit hungry now, and dh isn't here to cook my dinner (that's his job, I do other things, cooking is not my forte ), so now is a good time to have my salty cucumber slices.

IPD moussaka is in the oven and smells great. I had to use jarred aubergine because I couldn't get fresh, so we'll have to see how it turns out...