Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp - time to get rid of all the Valentine's treats!

[BIWI]

I rather suspect that a lot of us have been so far off the wagon this weekend that it's disappeared over the far horizon!

having to post on the spreadsheet may sober us all up, in more ways than one!

I hope any cheats were enjoyable. There's nothing worse than deciding to cheat and then not liking it.

But from now, it's time to buckle down and get back into the swing of things. If you did cheat, please don't complain that the scales aren't being kind to you. It's an inevitable consequence.

So let's focus on a really strict week, recognising that this is the end of our first half of Bootcamp.

Good luck to us all

I’ve been feeling really lightheaded and a bit weak today. Not sleep related i dont think, could it be that my electrolytes are out of whack?

@cheeseisthebest I made the almond crackers from the Rose Elliot low carb book. 100g ground almonds, some chilli powder and oregano and 4-6 teaspoons of water to make a dough. Roll out between baking paper. Remove the top bit of baking paper. Pop the other one with rolled out dough on a baking sheet. Score with knife to make about 24 crackers. 180C for 8ish mins. 8.5g carbs if you ate the whole lot. Not great, but much better than actual crackers...

Ah sorry BustleInYourHedgerow! I find it really hard to leave any wine in the bottle too. Sorry you’re feeling it today. I hope your hangover goes away.

I made creamy cauliflower soup today - and dinner will be something with herring, which I only JUST learned is the same thing as kippers? But sometimes sold as both herring and kipper in supermarkets? A confusingly delicious fish.

I keep forgetting to post my food. Yesterday was:
L: crab and prawn soup, kefir
Snack: low carb cheese muffin
D: baked fish in cream, celeriac and leek mash, green beans
Then DH made chicken wings in the evening and I had five even though I wasn't hungry. It's incredibly difficult to sit beside someone eating something yummy and not have any. I've tried holding my nose before but it doesn't really work.

Today was:
L: French onion soup, low carb cheese muffin, kefir, odd bits of cheddar left over from grating cheese for dinner
Snack: Divine hazelnut dark chocolate which is really nice
D: sous vide chicken breast, celeriac dauphinoise, green beans
Currently having a Teapigs mint and chocolate tea feeling determined not to be tempted by DH tonight.

Lyrata a kipper is a smoked herring. No idea why when all other fish have the same name whether smoked or unsmoked!

@StuntNun you need to tell Sainsbury’s! www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/smokedsalmon/sainsburys-smoked-peppered-herring-approx-150g-

I think that's different. I think it's only when it's a whole herring butterflied and smoked that it's called a kipper.

Ahhh! That’s so cool to know. I was confused as to why Sainsbury’s was selling it under two different names.

Thank you for cracker ideas! Could someone post the low carb cheese muffin recipe please?

I took a screenshot of it. This is a really good recipe 😍

Great thank you!

Hi everyone. I was doing so well then 9 days ago got Covid. So just chose to eat what felt easy and right at the time. Hope to be back on BC on Monday.

Sorry to hear that @PseudoBadger - how have you been with it?

Thanks for the sympathy Lyrata.

Oh no pseudobadger, hope you have recovered fully x

Those muffins are on my list for next week now Catwithflowers they look great!

Enchiladas for dinner as it was chili yesterday and this is what we do. I had Egg-chiladas, so same thing but made thin omelettes for mine to use as wraps. Filled with chili (picked out most of the beans), topped with soured cream and Mozzarella and baked.
Zoom bingo again, had a vodka and soda while we did it and I did win one of my mini wines which I have drunk now. Cabernet sauvignon which was meant to be one of the lower carb reds, but tasted so sweet! I usually really enjoy a cabernet sauvignon so either my tastes have changed or it was just having a different brand. Either way, I have a headache now as that was the first booze in over a month. Glad it was only a mini wine so I wasn't tempted to drink more!
Had a square of 85% chocolate too as everyone was eating chocolate. Didn't get around to making the ratatouille so that will have to happen tomorrow.

Thanks @BIWI and @BustleInYourHedgerow - I haven't been too bad really, but poor DP is pretty poorly.

@PseudoBadger sorry to hear you have been unwell. I hope your dh is on the mend.

Going to try posting meals in the eve ing/next day as now I am in the swing of things it might be more accurate as I
Do change things up depending on hunger.

Yesterday:
Creamy coffeee (this.ow gets called weekend coffee here!)
L salad with left over roast veg, chicken, almonds and mayo
S slice of pate
D thai pork in lettuce cups, katsu curry (breaded with almonds) cauli rice. Greek yog and a square of dark choc. Couple of gins and sparkling water.

I have given up cheese for lent, which.means I can have it today. I think key for me is to use it in a meal, not snack on it endlessly. So will prob have some at lunch.

I have been really enjoying going through lots of recipe books borrowed from a friend. Finding Jamie Oliver books pretty easy to adapt so will report back on recipes. Have a good day everyone

I like the sound of your egg-chilladas Ragz, definitely going to give those a go.

Bit confused this morning. My dad had a big birthday yesterday so we had him over for a roast dinner for the first time since Christmas. I mostly stuck to the plan (no roasties, everything else on the main course was BC friendly) apart from a (planned) small glass of red wine and and even smaller portion of pudding (which was absolutely worth the full week of strict BC before it). It was the first time I've had anything like that since I started bootcamp, have previously been limiting myself to the odd square of dark chocolate.

The scales haven't really been shifting for me this week so I had reconciled myself to another slow week or possibly a gain, but this morning I have lost 2lbs overnight. Am hoping this is just an amazing coincidental whoosh and that there won't be a delayed reaction to the wine and Bakewell tart but we will see tomorrow morning on weigh in day. Lots of water and FLGV for me today. Heading off out on a walk now which has a lovely hot chocolate place on the route. I will limit myself to coffee and just enjoy it with regular milk instead of almond.

Have a good Sunday all

Hope you and your DP are feeling better soon PseudoBadger.

Those enchilladas sound amazing Ragz how do you get make your thin omelettes? I've never had much success when I've attempted them. I still haven't been able to get hold of a celeriac for your dirty fries - most put out!

I made ouch's swede dauphinoise last night with duck breasts and fried sprouts. Didn't have any bacon but still absolutely delicious. Got some leftover which I'll be having with my roast dinner later - yum.

First attempt at the recipe challenge. This is a carrot side so a bit carby for BC? @BIWI

Curried carrot mash with brown butter. It’s from the Ottolenghi Flavour book. Xmas present from DH. But simplified for what I had in.

400g Carrots steamed for 30mins then puréed with 1/2 tsp Garam masala and pinch ground cinnamon with a stick blender.

While the carrots are steaming put 15g butter 2.5G fresh julienned ginger, 1/4tsp fennel seeds, 1/4tsp cumin seeds, pinch of salt in a small saucepan on a medium heat. Cook on medium heat for 3-5 mins until butter begins to foam and turn light brown. Set to one side you may need to gently remelt to serve. Spoon the mash on plates, makes dips in the surface, pour over the butter with ginger and spices then a squeeze of lime juice. We had it with pan fried mackerel, harissa roast cauliflower, and crispy kale.

I am planning celeriac steaks with café de Paris sauce from the same book tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Whoever posted about roasting radishes ages ago - thank you!! They're so good and easy as there's no peeling like celeriac.
Had a 2lb woosh this week taking total loss to 4lb after the last 2 weeks of gaining a lb each.
Am so grateful to this bootcamp thread for all the info that's helped me stick instead of giving up- im far more a taker than giver of advice - so thanks!!

Yes that can happen Ouch and also when someone has a big night on the booze then the scales unexpectedly drop the next day. It's to do with triggering a reduction in water retention. It's unpredictable but some people do try carb refeeds or alcohol to bring about a whoosh. We don't recommend it on Bootcamp because the weight will come off by itself without the risk of derailing yourself or even gaining weight.

Was planning a fasting day (23hrs from dinner yesterday till dinner tonight) but then I was reminded of the cheese muffin recipe which I hadn't tried... I added some oregano.

Oh they are delicious! I made mini ones (because that's my best non-stick tray) so I made 14.

12 left.

@PseudoBadger hope you and DP get better soon.

Oh wow! I just nipped on to say I had an incredible and unexpected whoosh twice this week, then i saw your post @StuntNun! I had no idea alcohol caused a significant drop in weight.

I was 14st 12 on monday, AF arrived too and went up to 15st, so didnt expect much weight loss this week. Been weighing most days (cant help myself!). Weight hardly budged until saturday when I had a big whoosh down to 14st 6, then another massive whoosh to 14st 2 this morning!

I had a drink on friday to celebrate submitting another awful assessment (which is why I haven't been on and a bit behind with the chat) and I had another smaller drink with DP last night

Does the weight go back on if its dropped because of the alcohol?

I saw BIWI's recipe challenge. I do have a keto recipe book but found a chicken in mustard sauce recipe online I wanted to try after someone posted near the start they had mustard chicken. Thankyou to that poster, sorry I can't remember who! It was delicious and will become a regular meal now.

I've been very good with my food and water this week. Before reading Stunt's post I was giving myself a pat on the back 🤦‍♀️😂