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.

@MilesJuppIsMyBitch

Well, it was a homemade latte with about 1/5 of a pint of semi-skimmed milk & no sugar.

Maybe I'll risk it once a week & drop it if my weight loss is stalling in week 5?

I was totally confused reading this, till I realised that you meant 'ducks' as in a verb, not 'ducks' as in a noun

Here is the new fasting thread for anyone that is interested.

@BIWI please could you link to it when you start the new Bootcamp thread so that people can find it easily? That should stop us derailing the Bootcamp threads with fasting chat.

Good point - will try and remember to do that. I think I'm going to have to start the chat thread this afternoon/evening, as we're rapidly filling this one up?!

And thanks so much for doing that . Off to have a read now ...

@MilesJuppIsMyBitch I make myself the odd latte with unsweetened almond milk - zero carbs! No creamy coffees here as I can't be trusted not to drink cream from the carton!

Well done @Doilooklikeatourist! When I started running, I couldn’t imagine doing even that much. And now I can run for 40 minutes without a break. I think running is one of the areas where I’ve seen most exponential growth in my ability. Good luck with it!

I'm out of celeriac (cooked the last of it last night).

My local Lidl hasn't stocked celeriac for 2 years now so I need to either make a special trip to Sainsbury's (which I do about once a month not due to go got another two weeks ) or walk along to my local expensive greengrocer to see if they have one (they don't always ). I think that the latter will be what I'll do tomorrow.

NSV - tried on my old lovely bras that I had bought when I was thinner and richer and they fit! Amazing!

I got two lovely-sized celeriacs in Sainsbury's this afternoon!

I felt quite giddy being in such a big supermarket. I get my weekly shop delivered, so have only had to pop out the odd time to smaller, local shops. it was like being in an Aladdin's cave

I want celeriac dauphinoise now, but I'm down to my last coffee's worth of cream
This probably means I've had way too much cream this week, though.
Had a big cooked breakfast this morning before going out in the snow, had ratatouille (frozen, Morrisons) with mine (with a tablespoon of baked beans ) and the last of the goats cheese crumbled on top. Yummy.
Creamy coffee and a babybel for late lunch and I'm not sure yet on dinner. Pizzas (frozen) for everyone else as I did enough cooking this morning!
Have some cooked chicken thighs, streaky bacon, chorizo slices, boiled eggs, olives, cream cheese, red cabbage, iceburg lettuce...
Could make some coleslaw, will check recipe thread and see if there's one on there.

@BIWI did you have a look at my breakdown of the carbs in my meatball dinner yesterday? I posted it shortly after you requested, but haven't seen any reply (apologies if I missed it). Hoping it's okay, as it was bloody gorgeous and I'd make the sauce for other things if so.

Oh and I was going through old photos and came across my before and after from when I was doing low carb last time. Only 3.5 years ago and I'm back exactly where I started, which is discouraging but just goes to show I should never have stopped! I've never managed maintenance...

Tesco promise me I have both celeriac and aubergine coming tomorrow, I am hopeful but don’t quite trust this to be true...

Chicken soup currently cooking in the ninja (best kitchen gadget) from yesterday’s leftover roast chicken. Shoulder of lamb prepped and in the fridge for tomorrow - have a tiler coming to do the kitchen so I won’t have ongoing access to it. So I’ll be putting the lamb in at lunchtime to cook for five hours!

Have ordered some of the seriously low carb bread + rolls. Am quite excited....

Fasted most of the day because of ahem yesterday

Just had lamb chops, Swede chips and celery with Boursin.

Also managed to get a celeriac (even though I didn't like it last time, I'm willing to give it another chance

Celeriac in abundance here! Was planning steak and celeriac chips next weekend but might switch to dauphinoise.

Hungry mouth all morning here. All allowed food except a pear. It was delicious. I am contrite. And suspect no loss due to this. Did go for a 5k run as atonement. To be honest I have felt really down today, can't really put my finger in why. Just the groundhog day hamster wheel of life at the moment. Found myself fantasising about going on a train journey. Madness.

Beef cheeks slow cooked in red wine was delicious, and the scraps are making stock as we speak.

@Bestbees sorry you are feeling down.

I've struggled a bit this week - got in very late from work on tues to find some hoffic sugar bomb cookie dough thing that dd had made during day. No prizes........
I've fought the battle since of one slip does mean its over and have been ok ish since - just not enough veg but endless cheese.
Socks up now and positive mindset for the morning. Not sure whether to weigh myself or not as I definitely feel bigger this week so I don't want to risk seeing a gain and getting all pathetic over it!

Evening all. How are we all doing?
Been a busy day today, but had a bowl of scrambled eggs for breakfast with some spinach. Lunch was a very quick affair as we were leaving the house, so a couple of spoonfuls of Greek yog... not good but was filling enough to last until tea time. Which was Bolognese with roasted broccoli on the side. Plenty of water today 😂
Sneaky step on the scales this morning, weigh the same as last week. Considering it’s been period week and it’s week three, I’m happy with that. Will officially weigh in tomorrow and see if today has had any effect.

Dinner in the end was a random selection of stuff from the fridge.
Pulled the meat off two chicken thighs and fried with a tablespoon of cream cheese and a tablespoon of parmesan, garlic granules and smoked paprika. Sauce stuck to the chicken to make a nice cheese coating. Air fried the chicken skin and a few chorizo slices until crispy. Handful of olives and salad. Was really nice.

Run out of green veg, so need to check the spreadsheet and pick some up tomorrow. I have an aubergine and two celeriac left though, so need to do chips or dauphinoise soon. Hopefully they will keep, but asda shrink wrapped them though and I wonder if that will make them sweat.

@Howdidthathappen1 sorry you have struggled a bit, I'd leave the weighing a week if you're happily back on track, as it won't help. Unless you need the shock of the hard evidence to convince you.

I've posted up the recipe for the Espresso Coffee Crème Brûlée on the Desserts thread. Make sure it's really strong coffee.

[quote BIWI]@BustleInYourHedgerow

Made a parsley and mustard sauce with some cream and sautéed shallots and stock from the ham. It was nice but sauce was a bit thin, wonder what we can use to thicken sauces?

Either:

• use less liquid to start with, or
• boil the stock till it reduces, or
• use a stick blender to blitz the shallot into the sauce, which will thicken it[/quote]

Thanks BIWI, will give that a go

Quick question for the experts. I have made a veg curry for lunch tomorrow:aubergine, onion, tinned tomatoes, spinach, coconut. Lots of oil to cook it in. Do I need a protein? Have. Some prawns I could put in. Kind of fancying a bit of a break from meat and fish!

@Bestbees

Celeriac in abundance here! Was planning steak and celeriac chips next weekend but might switch to dauphinoise.

Hungry mouth all morning here. All allowed food except a pear. It was delicious. I am contrite. And suspect no loss due to this. Did go for a 5k run as atonement. To be honest I have felt really down today, can't really put my finger in why. Just the groundhog day hamster wheel of life at the moment. Found myself fantasising about going on a train journey. Madness.

Beef cheeks slow cooked in red wine was delicious, and the scraps are making stock as we speak.

Totally with you on Groundhog Day vibes. Sometimes weekends seem even worse than weekdays! Hope you are feeling better now it's later in the day, I've definitely calmed a little xx (and fallen off wagon a bit, but will try harder again tomorrow)

@Doilooklikeatourist well done! That's a great achievement.

@Howdidthathappen1 this lockdown is so much harder. The weather isn't helping either. Fingers crossed light at the end of the tunnel soon.

B:bacon, eggs and Mushrooms fried in butter. I resisted the dirty white plastic bread we buy and demolish every Sunday.

L: creamy coffee and a slice of cheese and some ham, wasn't really hungry after a late breakfast.

D: Pork belly with cauliflower cheese, tenderstem broccoli and roasted fennel, garlic and shallot. Resisted the roast potatoes I made for DS 1 and husband. (DS2 doesn't like potatoes, I suspect he is a changeling)

Resisted the big Dutch baby with cream and maple syrup DS2 and I made for dessert. I did have a big tablespoon of whipped cream.

Was going to go for a run but I was too full of food. Went for a 6k walk with the family.

Drank all my water.
Having some green tea now and feeling smug

I feel great 4 days and haven't had any carb flu thank fuck. Worried I'm doing something wrong because I feel so good. Tempted to weigh tomorrow morning to check.

Bestbees I love a couple of hard boiled eggs thrown into a curry if you want to add some protein.

Today has been a lot of food for me...

B: sous vide egg bites, bone broth, kefir

L: Greek salad DH bought salad leaves to put into it, how come he's never heard of Greek salad before? and a packet of salt and vinegar pork scratchings OMG those are so good!

I was hungry mid-afternoon, which is why I don't usually eat breakfast, so I had some kimchi and cheese as a snack. It's been a miserable day here - snow but not settling and oh so cold - so I treated myself to a hot chocolate made from whole milk, cream and cocoa powder without any added sugar. A little on the carby side but that was the last of the cocoa powder so it won't be repeated.

D: roast pork with epic crackling courtesy of DH's rare skill, with braised celery and roasted butternut squash bless him we've only been eating this way for seven years and he still hasn't got the hang of which veggies are low carb!