Week 4 - Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - time to focus

[BIWI]

The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Morning all. Sorry for the late start - had a bit of a bad night so slept longer than usual.

I hope that the scales were kind to you this morning, but please remember week 4 is notorious (along with week 3) in that you are very likely to have seen no loss, or even a small gain

If this has happened to you, DON'T PANIC!

This is your body adjusting to a new WOE, and from now on you should be burning fat. So don't change what you've been doing and things will get moving again; you should expect to see 1-3lbs losses each week (depending on how much you have to lose)

However, it's also important to be scrupulously honest with yourself. If you have had no loss, or seen a gain, go back over what you have been eating and drinking. Have you been following the rules? Have you been keeping your fat levels high? Have you been drinking all the water?

Good luck to us all for the following week as we go into lockdown once again. I know it's not going to be easy, and the lure of carbs (and all the alcohol) will be even more ever-present. Post here if you're needing support to stay away from them and together we can help each other. Remember, you're not alone!

@Superspecs

My weight is still staying the same :-( I know week 3 and 4 can do that but it's a bit disheartening. May you please critique my typical food?

B. FF yog and berries

L. Big salad of lettuce, cucumber, shallot, radish and a protein either chicken, feta or cheese omelette.

Snack. Slice of Gouda (or two) or some cottage cheese.

D. Meat of some sort and veg, eg gammon and sprouts or tinned stew and cauliflower rice with broccoli or cheeseburger pie with salad; then a bit more FF yog and berries for pudding.

Written down I think maybe the FF yog and berries twice a day is too much, though I love having the 'pudding' after dinner. I'm also not sure if it's too dairy heavy. I also have about 4 cups of coffee, some with cream some with lacto free milk (lower carb). Also my portions are big, should I be trying to moderate them down?

Thanks so much!

Your food looks fine, so it could just be a matter of tweaking.

However

How much fat are you eating? Are you using an oily dressing on your salad, as well as any mayo? Are you frying your veg and/or adding butter to them?

If you're still needing to snack, this suggests that either you're not eating enough at lunchtime, and/or you're not getting enough fat. You shouldn't be hungry between meals by now.

How much water are you drinking? At your weight you should be drinking 4.5 litres - there's no mention of water in your post, which leads me to wonder!

There's also a lot of dairy in your day - I'd definitely cut out the yoghurt from one of your meals, and I'd try a couple of days without cheese to see what happens.

Remember - the whole pudding thing - we're trying to train our tastes away from sweet things, so aiming for some sort of dessert goes against this anyway.

@poorbuthappy you could try putting vanilla in it - I use this paste which is 2g carbs per teaspoon. I generally use 1/2 teaspoon, so it really doesn't add many carbs

Alternatively, how about peanut butter? As long as you choose one that's low in carbs, it adds a nice sweet and salty (and crunchy) element to the yoghurt. Just don't go mad and add half a jar!

@biwi thanks for that..I am not using oily dressings or mayo much so will change that.

I think the afternoon snack and pudding is habit more than anything I'm not hungry I just want something.

I guess I need to work on this.

I'm tempted to skip breakfast or change to eggs so i can still look forward to my evening 'pudding' but from what you've said it would be better to try and stop having a pudding altogether.

Hmm, food for thought.

And water, I'm making about 3l but will up it some more!

Thanks so much!

Morning all - sorry to those who are struggling with Lockdown blues and food cravings either as a result or for other reasons.
It's difficult to transform old habits at the best of times but 2020 is definitely adding to the challenge.
After my wobble re lockdown at the weekend I feel ok and am feeling grateful to have started this journey already as my determination is set now.

Had a couple of NSVs yesterday ..
I managed to meet my DM to take her to a few shops pre lockdown. We both love clothes and she has been quite vocal about my weight gain. I told her I am doing this and she doesn't understand at all ( she gave me a shepherds pie she had made for us to save me cooking !) but she told me I looked nice in my clothes and then said you actually really look like you have lost lots of weight - high praise indeed , I felt like a million dollars .
Then I got home after that just before three and realised I was hungry and I hadn't had lunch. This is huge for me as before BC I was constantly hungry ! I would never ever skip a meal and IF felt like something I could never do . It wasn't ideal as I ended up eating a pot of Ff yoghurt for lunch so need to make up some extra FLGV today but it was a good surprise.

Delayed response to @MrsKoala for showing us your boobs - you look like you have a great figure now and I hope the op has given you the changes you hoped for !

@Anotherducker I still have days where I feel extra weary - I try to up the water and I find some days I feel full of energy so hopefully it will even out .

it's my birthday at the weekend and I have ordered from Cote at home for a restaurant at home feeling.
I think it's quite friendly for BC I have ordered pork rillettes with gherkins followed by Breton chicken with green beans and creamed spinach and then some fancy cheeses - which may be a course too far but they will be a nice treat another time . Hoping I will get away with that but may not weigh for a few days after!

BIWI peanut butter in yoghurt sounds like something I really need to try .

@Superspecs It's crazy how ingrained we are to have something sweet after dinner, but you can overcome it! The first couple of days will be hard but then it'll just become the new normal.

If other people are having dessert then I have a creamy coffee or a herbal tea instead (Teapigs chocolate & mint is lovely!)

@Superspecs

I am not using oily dressings or mayo much so will change that

Why?!

This is supposed to be a high fat diet and keeping your fat high is one of the rules of Bootcamp. It's key because it helps to keep you full as well as giving you important nutrition.

I think the afternoon snack and pudding is habit more than anything I'm not hungry I just want something

Habitual eating like this is pointless - it's unnecessary calories so you really need to knock this on the head

I'm tempted to skip breakfast or change to eggs so i can still look forward to my evening 'pudding' but from what you've said it would be better to try and stop having a pudding altogether

No, no, no, no!!! You need to change your mindset here too - focus on your meals and stop thinking about sweet things for dessert. (You can, of course, have some kind of dessert if it's a special occasion, but it's not something that should be a routine part of your day)

And water, I'm making about 3l but will up it some more!

Yes! You do!

I'm wondering - have you really taken on board Bootcamp rules? There's a lot here that you're not doing

Print them out - make sure you know them off by heart and back to front.

@Midlifemission

Good to hear the NSV!

I have ordered pork rillettes with gherkins followed by Breton chicken with green beans and creamed spinach and then some fancy cheeses - which may be a course too far but they will be a nice treat another time . Hoping I will get away with that but may not weigh for a few days after!

I really can't see the problem with this, or why you're worried about weighing afterwards? All of this sounds perfectly low carb to me.

@Rayna37

Poorbuthappy I'd suggest trying different brands of yogurt to see which you like best as they do vary quite a lot in degrees of sweet/sour, bland/stronger flavour. I'll eat any on their own but there are definitely some I prefer over others.

Last hurrah/early birthday meal for DH at a very nice place last night not really on plan but ok; pate and steak bread and chips. Not the Saturday evening dinner we were hoping for and we had to go early evening with the toddler. He's decided we should try to recreate a "tasting menu" format on his big birthday this weekend so I'll need to give that some thought! Feeling a bit sad he's not getting the party he'd hoped for or even the fancy weekend away with Michelin stars I had! Should be nice though.

Perhaps we could all chip in with some ideas for your tasting menu? How many courses did you want to do?

I can second the recommendation of peanut butter in Greek yoghurt midlifemission, it’s so nice.

Such a shame about your Dh’s birthday plans rayna, but the tasting menu sounds fab.

Also felt a bit low about the new lockdown this morning so I took myself out for a run in between meetings and although it was a bit of slog, I’m definitely feeling much chirpier. Have decided to make a commitment to getting out for some fresh air every day

I'm hitting bootcamp comfort food today. Chunky celeriac chips are roasting in the oven, I've chucked a sliced-up fat clove of garlic in with them, and then I'm melting the last of the brie over the top of them when they're cooked.

Not sure what supper is yet, but DH has had to go into the office today because he can't connect from home and is making vague noises about 'picking something up' on the way home, which usually means he wants pizza. Suspect I might be on leftover sausage casserole!

Scales still not moving in either direction (floating between 11st 1.8 and 11st 2.6 for about 10 days now), but I'm sure they'll get going again once I'm past week 4 and I no longer have PMT. Hoping for a big whoosh that takes me straight into the 10s :)

Food today:

B - coffee with cream
L - avocado salsa (with olive oil), heap of salad leaves, tuna with mayonnaise
D - spiced beef with labneh (posted on the previous thread) with broccoli, green beans in butter and garlic

But inspired by the thought of Rayna's tasting menu. That's got me completely distracted from any work that I had intended to do
watch this space for some ideas...

Thanks for all the ideas and support! The guess maybe 7 courses? The sky's the limit but of course it may boiled down to what we can be bothered with.

Ideas I've had so far for small dishes/canapé style things, partly based on things I have in the fridge/freezer already... I will narrow it down!

Scallops
Smoked fish/caviar/mousse
Pate
Mushrooms- eg garlicky wild mushrooms
Aubergine discs with cheesy topping
Harissa pork belly
Pigs in blankets?
Chicken satay or a kebab flavours dish
Something with chorizo
A small savoury tart
Stuffed veg (a half pepper?)
Some sort of venison dish
Cheese
Chocolate pots

@biwi I will try harder, no snacks, no pudding and more water! I guess I'm not following the rules as closely as I should because I want this to be a long term woe rather than the quick fixes I'm used to, but no snacks and no pudding forever feels hard.

I wasn't adding oil because I thought I was getting enough fat from FF yog and cheese but on your advice I'm now eating a salad with FF mayo.

Thank you!

The key with a tasting menu is that everything should be very rich with cream and butter, but also very tiny, with bright colours and zingy flavours (plus bread or a side of potatoes for any hungry carb loving guests) Veg should be as important as proteins.

This would be my ideal 7 course lchf tasting menu:

• a tiny salmon / avocado. tomato ceviche (lime juice, tabasco, coriander) served on baby gem cups OR Delia Smith's hot and sour pickled prawns

• a velvety vegetable soup (spinach or pumpkin in chicken stock blended with lots of butter, and grated nutmeg. Served with a swirl of cream and a vibrant herb oil

• broccoli with toasted walnuts and melted gorgonzola

• Delia's summer fish. A small piece of sole (or similar) topped with a mix of mayonnaise, lime juice, chopped coriander, crushed capers, top with grated cheese. Grill (the hot mayonnaise cooks the fish underneath). Served with buttered asparagus

• cabbage and sausage 'lasagne'. Blanche finely chopped cabbage. In a ramekin alternate layers of cabbage and high quality sausage meat (from good sausages). Cook in oven. Cool slightly and turn out onto a plate

• Chocolate pots with orange and cardamom (first recipe in the stickied puddings and deserts thread)

• Cheese and celery

OR
Miss out the pudding and have cheese and celery, followed by coffee with Nigel Slater's classic chocolate truffles (also near the top of the deserts and puddings recipe thread).

We've got a wedding anniversary coming up later this month so I might just steal all of my own ideas and celebrate at home

That sounds so lovely 20bloodypumpkins I think you should move in with me and take over cooking

I find I am getting too tired in the evening to bother cooking. Last night I ended up having a cream cheese sandwich for dinner, which is rubbish,even if it was low carb. It meant I had 4 pieces of low carb bread yesterday and I really only want two max.
Today I've decided to make my main meal at lunch time, while I can still be bothered to cook it.
So, breakfast was 2 pieces of toast (low carb) one with almond butter/cream cheese.
Lunch chicken tikka (made with half of one of those little paste pots and 80g coconut milk) and flgv cooked in butter. I did have a line of low carb choc, which I know is disapproved of on BC bit it really does help to keep me out of the biscuit tin, so I figure it's the less bad option.
I might not eat again today - feel stuffed!

[quote Superspecs]@20bloodypumpkins I made that salad today too, the one from the londonist? I didn't add the honey but thought it was all rather too salty- any idea where I went wrong? I'm not much of a cook but I'd love to love it as I like pad Thai so much! [/quote]
Hi Superspecs, it was me that posted the Londoner Phad Thai salad recipe.
The ingredients that are particularly salty are the soy sauce, fish sauce in the dressing and peanuts. So if you used salted peanuts then maybe swap them out for unsalted ones. And play around / cut down on the amount of soy/fish sauce you use to make the dressing, add a bit of each to start then add more if it's not too salty to your taste.

Not sure if it's worth trying to look for brands that don't taste as salty as they are all generally quite salty in taste. Google tells me dark soy sauce is less salty then the light versions, which I didn't know before - every day's a school day eh?!

@20bloodypumpkins marry me

(I’m a woman if that makes a difference)

@MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously

Rule 4 of Bootcamp:

4. Make sure you are eating vegetables and salads with your food
This is where your carbs should come from, and this is non-negotiable ...

I've already pointed this out to you! You are not getting the majority of your carbs from veg or salad, but from other foods - and you're eating chocolate.

THESE ARE NOT BOOTCAMP RULES!

Seriously. I'm sorry not sorry to shout, but you really aren't doing yourself any favours, and you're not getting proper nutrition eating this way.

@lurknolinger - according to Sainsbury's, their dark soy is saltier than their light. (0.52g sodium compared with 0.46g). Amoy dark and light have the same count, at 0.8g, and Kikkoman's (my preference) is 0.85g.

But Sainsbury's do sell a reduced salt dark soy, which is 0.33g sodium per 100g.

Fantastic menu @20bloodypumpkins!

That all sounds delicious 20bloodypumpkins!

@Anotherducker 💍this is my ginormous sparkly engagement ring. Thank you xx look how big the diamond is 💎

We could be the first bootcamp wedding 👰👰 just give me a couple of years to divorce dh

Ooops sorry for the misinformation about the salt content of light / dark soy sauce. I didn't research it in detail before posting that. But good idea to try a reduced salt option one.

I wasn't taking you to task, @lurknolinger! I was just surprised at what Googled had told you, so went to the Sainsbury's website to check it out