Week 3 - Jan '21 Low Carb Bootcamp - time for Light?

[BIWI]

Well thanks to all the chat, I've had to start this week's thread earlier than usual

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for you to declare all

You now have a choice: you can move on to Bootcamp Light, which means you can re-introduce nuts and seeds, some fruit and alcohol - all in moderation.

However, also bear in mind that weeks 3 & 4 are notorious for little or not weight loss and this is nothing to do with moving on to Bootcamp Light. It's just something that seems to happen.

So it's up to you. You can stay on Bootcamp if you wish, or move on to Bootcamp Light, or a hybrid - so you do Bootcamp during the week but relax into Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

Whatever you decide - good luck! Here's to a good week ahead.

Really struggling with water today, 3 year old and 6 month old have been competing to see who can be more clingy, and my bottle has sprung a leak .

I think going forward I may use nuts in cooking - ground almonds seem to open up a number of different food types! Not bothered about eating them otherwise. I can take or leave alcohol, but may look back at the tonic chat for the occasional seedlip. And my 3 year old adores berries so it’ll be nice to occasionally steal one from him!

The discussion on alternative fats is helpful. I don’t always want cheese with everything (shock horror!) and don’t like avocado, so good to look elsewhere.

@MrsOmelette That fathead dough looks brilliant!

@nowlook totally missed your first post about the low carb starter box, it looks intriguing! I’m currently having to plan three meals per meal to satisfy me, DH, toddler and baby, so the odd ready meal would be appreciated!

Just had roast chicken thigh with mashed swede, sprouts, and cauliflower. Butter on the veg and lots of chicken skin.
Lunch was tuna and cucumber.
Breakfast poached egg, bacon, mushrooms and tomato cooked in butter.
1 creamy coffee, 1 cup of tea and I'VE HAD ALL MY WATER!!!

I reckon I'm totally on plan today, plenty of fat and no cheese.

I fancy trying that pizza too!

Quick question, do we count the carbs in Xylitol? As an occasional treat I would normally have almond flour and butter baked and put a mascarpone, lemon and vanilla sauce over it (it's delicious like cheesecake mixed with bakewell) the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sugar so thought a sugar substitute would be better! However, 1/2 cup xylitol has 96g carbs in according to MFP!

Did myself some nice low-carb potato alternatives with today's roast - crispy baked courgette balls and leeks in a cream and mustard sauce. Had the dark meat off the chicken and all the crispy skin.

Lots of lovely food today and a sneaky drink because (a) I'm not doing Bootcamp as I started weight training at the end of December so I'm in more of a "bulk" than a "cut" at the moment plus (b) DH and I are bucking the trend and doing dry February not because it's easier since February is only 28 days honest! so there will be no booze until March!

B: no food as I do 16:8 but lots of water plus electrolytes and a mug of decaf black coffee
L: two boiled eggs with mayo and hot chilli sauce, prawns with a little Marie Rose sauce but it's super carby so only a spoonful, kimchi, kefir, cheese and a mug of decaf tea with unsweetened almond milk. Absolutely stuffed after all that!
D: roast lamb with loads of roasted broccoli and braised leeks.

@ZiggZagg I would give that a miss!

However it’s also likely you’ll find that your taste buds will have changed quite dramatically so you really won’t need your treats to be all that sweet. I’m sure there are tried and tested (and carb approved) recipes for cheese cake or similar on the bootcamp dessert recipe thread.

ZiggZagg you don't need to count the carbs in polyps sweeteners because they can't be absorbed by the body and go straight through you undigested hence their famous laxative effect.

Today’s food as follows:

No breakfast (did have two coffees with double cream) and no lunch either. Dinner was two lamb chops, fried, served with lots of (frozen) spinach and (frozen) Brussels sprouts sautéed in butter/EVOO with garlic granules. A good amount of lemon juice added at the end.

Oh well that’s something at least - I was thinking crikey that’s a lot of carbs...Definitely listen to @StuntNun on the carb content as she knows much more about this than me (but laxative effect would put me off for sure!).

@Justcallmecaptainobvious it is!! I like cooking with almonds tbh. A rhubarb crumble with an almond top layer is a really comforting low-carb pudding.

Plus double cream!😋😋

@MrsTerryPratchett

True *@Almahart*

I think I didn't slow or stop in weeks three and four because of no alcohol. Normally I'd stall in 3.

Yes me too. Amazing innit

I don't drink anyway and don't like seeds or nuts so happy to stay on boot camp.
My aim for next week is to reduce cheese and cream intake and up my water intake - I find it so hard to drink water I start the day well then realise 3hrs have gone by and I've had none!

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal would love the recipe for the leek and courgette balls please.

Had swede mashed with lots of butter and leeks and it was delicious. Bowl of Greek yog and I feel nicely satiated.

I suspect I have gained this week as I weigh every day so can see what is coming. Therefore this week no cheese for me until Friday night.

Water all night and lots of herbal tea and a zoom with friends tonight. If hungry and hoping not then will eat some olives.

Two different dishes, so two different recipes, @Bestbees!

The courgette bites were this recipe, but I left out the bread crumbs and rolled them in some ground almonds instead (yep, little early for Bootcamp Light I realise!) to get a crunchy coating.

growagoodlife.com/zucchini-garlic-bites/

The leeks I just chopped, sweated off in some butter, then added a glut of double cream, a large spoonful of Dijon mustard, and some salt and pepper, and reduced it down over a low heat. Dead easy but very nice.

@flossiegrippiter

I don't drink anyway and don't like seeds or nuts so happy to stay on boot camp. My aim for next week is to reduce cheese and cream intake and up my water intake - I find it so hard to drink water I start the day well then realise 3hrs have gone by and I've had none!

A useful tip, given to me by another Bootcamper (might have been ShagMe?) is to drink a glass of water before you allow yourself to have anything else to eat or drink. So I have a pint as soon as I get up, because until I do I can't have coffee. If I'm eating breakfast I have to have another pint first. Lunch requires another pint, an afternoon cuppa another. If I want a glass of wine in the evening, I must have another pint first. I find it really helps!

I've just bought single glass bottles of wine MrsTerryPratchett. That's going to be my attempt at controlling.

My first attempt at Seriously Low Carb rolls today. Really enjoyed it! Better than the sliced bread. Heaven know what ingredients or witchcraft it took to make them. (Feeling slightly bloated. Ignoring. )

Found out today that BCers are not invincible 19k Long Run scheduled for today. Totally crashed at 16k. Thought that was only something that happened to carb monsters. I was dizzy and felt sick. Stopped by the side of the road for a while before setting off again slowly to finish off. Felt terrible for ages when I got home. Will experiment. Hope the problem was more electrolytes than actual food.

Onwards to week 3 folks!

Oh my god celeriac chips are GREAT. I can’t believe I haven’t been eating them for the past 5 months.

Food today has been incredible.

Breakfast: creamy coffee and Waitrose full fat Greek yogurt
Lunch: chicken and coconut soup with courgette and bell pepper
Dinner: three courses: oysters followed by curried mussels followed by salmon with vegetables and samphire (and wine. One day early!)

Ohhh @Lyrata that’s my kind of dinner!

Wishing you well @Bumbledee

@Ninkanink it was amazing! I live near a nice fishmongers (Moxons in Islington) so I treated myself. I try and do a ‘feast’ meal every Sunday. I think it’s a nice way to teach myself to focus on low carb indulgences without the pressure of feeling like every weekday meal should be a celebration of the wonders of low carb. Because mostly I only have time to chuck some vegetables in the oven or reheat some soup during the week!

@nowlook I could do the veg box 'opening'... We've deleted potatoes from our box but that means we often get extra beetroot and parsnip...

@DulcetMoans I made confit cabbage. Cut the cabbage into quarters, and then into eighths (with the stump in, to hold it together). braise in to oven in stock and butter, turning occasionally. So delicious.

@lyrata, oh that looks amazing, I saw the oysters - and I waaaaant some.

Made Indian Butter Chicken today. I had forgotten how amazing it was. A bit of a faff, with marinating the chicken in yogurt and spice this morning, then the whole palaver of frying chicken, sautéing onions, garlic, ginger, tomato, blitzing and adding cream... But so, so worth it. I broke ranks a day early and added some toasted almonds.
THIS is the recipe I used

Added spinach to the chicken, served on cauliflower rice.