Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 8 - the last three weeks!

[BIWI]

Morning all.

The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Hope it's been a good week - lots of challenges going on! I challenged myself to cook something different with cauliflower yesterday as I was getting bored of the same old same old, and so found a recipe for Bang Bang cauliflower, which I adapted slightly to make it more low carb friendly. I shall post that later.

In the meantime, I hope that the scales or the measuring tape have been kind to you!

Here's to a good next week. Remember we only have three left, so if things are slacking a bit, time to get stricter again.

I have also put back on my 2lbs. So sick of them! Although they are now my higher ‘set point’ as they used to be the lower weight so I am moving infinitesimally downwards!

I suspect not enough fat - yesterday I was too full from the day before to eat before dinner, which was a pork belly stir fry. Plus two chocolate batons dipped in almond butter. Plus a glass of red wine which I did not remotely enjoy.

So today for dinner I’m planning boned chicken thigh stuffed with garlic butter, fried leeks with Boursin, cauliflower purée with butter and a bit of cream cheese, and some roast broccoli.

We're still working our way through the wine that we didn't drink during our virtual Zoom meal with friends on Tuesday. Dh has had a few glasses of the red and I helped him finish off the white last night, rather than having our usual bottle of Cava.

It does mean that over the week we will have had 4 bottles of wine - but in my defence, dh didn't refill my glass as often as he filled his and I didn't have any when he had some on Thursday night neither of us felt like wine on Wednesday night

today for dinner I’m planning boned chicken thigh stuffed with garlic butter, fried leeks with Boursin, cauliflower purée with butter and a bit of cream cheese, and some roast broccoli.

That sounds delicious!

It wasn't me reviewing the hot cross buns Ninkanink I've never been keen on them actually.

Spooks my mum has the DFS Velocity sofabed and it is absolutely lovely to sleep on. Even better you can fold it up with the bedding still on so it's handy when you want to be able to use the room during the day - my mum's guest room is quite small.

What a palaver Ditavonseed. I'm sure they see all sorts of odd things at A&E.

I tried 100% dark chocolate today - Montezuma's absolute black. Only 7% carbs but it's so dry and chalky to eat. I took a small piece and let it melt on my tongue to get that chocolate 'hit' but I have to say I don't think it's worth it. I usually buy Sainsbury's 85% that comes in a pack of five 25g bars but they seem to have stopped selling it unfortunately.

I've been so busy at work that I'm losing track of food this week. Today will be:
B: almond cheese muffins with lots of butter, kefir and sauerkraut.
L: lambs liver as I think I might be anaemic after a very heavy period this week. I've been hungry all week which made me wonder if I was low in iron. I've made yet another appointment with the GP but they just want to stick me on the pill and not do any investigations into the cause. It was so heavy on Saturday that I told my DH to take me straight to hospital if he found me passed out.
D: it's family movie night tonight so I have some pork belly slow roasting to make pork belly crack in the air fryer later. I also have olives and cherry peppers stuffed with cream cheese to snack on while we're waiting for the pork to cook!

@stuntnun I think I was thinking of @Pleaseandthankyou!

StuntNun I had a similar experience with the 100% chocolate but it's amazing in chocolate mousse or brownies, if you have some left!

Anything over about 80% I don’t even really count as chocolate (except for making desserts/drinks) - I need a chocolate hit in terms of taste/texture from it so it just wouldn’t make sense to even bother. I’d rather have just a little of something that actually hits the chocolate spot.

@Hopeislost

StuntNun I had a similar experience with the 100% chocolate but it's amazing in chocolate mousse or brownies, if you have some left!

Second that - I made most of a bar of montezuma 100% (with orange bits) into a mousse and it was just amazing.

But I quite like eating it anyway.

Might do that again actually, since I bought eggs from the butcher yesterday, but a neighbour has just walked round with some more from her hens.

@StuntNun

If you have an Aldi near you, they do one with 5 individual bars here . I prefer it to the Sainsbury's one actually - it's a lot smoother.

My favourite is Lindt 90%. I never ever thought I'd like dark chocolate, never mind one with such a high cocoa content, but your taste buds really do change once you give sugar a major swerve.

My ping pong pounds are creeping off again I wonder which way it will fall come weigh day?!!

Was hungry this morning unusually so had buttery eggs and a leftover 1/2 slice of smoked salmon.

My first SLC delivery just arrived!!!!! I am so excited to try the hot cross buns although compared to everything else I'm eating they are very carby. Guess I need to choose between my mini dark choc bar (Fri and Sat) and one of them?

Dinner is steak, celeriac chips, Parmesan & rocket salad and mushroom I can't wait!!!!

Mighty try the infamous dirty fries

I’ve been low carbing for about 9 years now and I still like my chocolate to be chocolate, not straight cacao in bar form. I guess I’m beyond help on that count! 😁 but I might give the ALDI one a go if it’s smoother.

I rate Sainsburys 90% dark choc. 2 squares are 4.1g of carbs and sometimes I'd struggle to eat both

Day 1 Week 4 of C25K done today. I didn't realise - until I was already out of the door! - that today should have been a rest day

But I did it anyway. 3 minute run, walk, 5 minute run , walk, and repeat both runs. It was cold and very windy so not really especially enjoyable - but I did it. Just have to do it again, twice more!

I've always loved dark chocolate though and would rarely have bought Cadburys etc

I love dark chocolate. But I like it to be rich, creamy and smooth. If it’s chalky I can’t stand it.

I just like any chocolate

No weight loss here as I've been taking too much ibuprofen. Period pain from hell here. Every time my bowels move/wind passes through etc it's agony, I was almost in last night, despite cocodamol/paramol and ibuprofen. Resorted to a small bottle of wine and a cigarette (I gave up years ago for vaping, but for some reason a cigarette really helps with pain, unfortunately I didn't have anything stronger to add to it!) which meant I could at least sit and watch TV for bit.
Woke up this morning feeling fine until I walked to the toilet, then I was in agony again. Managed to find a hot water bottle though which with all the painkillers I can find, had made it bearable as long as I stay still. Had to cancel my vaccine clinic shift this afternoon.
I wasn't going to eat, as digestion seems to set the pain off, but I thought I should soak up the painkillers so I had some crispy bacon. No veg, that seems like asking for trouble!
Am sitting in bed with a face mask and foot mask, trying not to think about drowning my pain in pizza and chocolate!
DH has 95% chocolate, a square a day for health benefits. I don't like it, but Aldi's 85% is nice. Not as nice as Green and Black's which is gorgeous and Lindt 90% as mentioned is also very nice.

Have you been checked out for endometriosis, @RagzReturnsRebooted? That sounds hideous.

I really recommend the Hotel Chocolat 85% batons. Not cheap but delicious.

That sounds hideous @RagzReturnsRebooted has this woe helped at all? I have just had the arrival of my period, second one since going low carb with absolutely zero symptoms. No pmt, no sore boobs. Hot water bottles are brilliant.

I second @BIWI on the aldi chocolate.

Ran today, 5k. Delicious roast veg and halloumi salad for lunch then meat balls and courgette for tea.

For those of you who like an animal pic I thought you might like to see what my beautiful girl thinks of diet books. She obviously shares your views on calorie counting @BIWI 😂 How many carbs in paper, I wonder?

Naproxen is supposed to be good for period pain. Only reason I know is that dh has just started taking it for hip pain he needs a hip replacement but Covid has meant that he still hasn't seen the consultant even though he was referred last January and was looking it up (as was my dad, who is a retired radiologist). You should usually take it alongside an antacid to protect the stomach. It's much more long lasting than Ibuprofen but is prescription only in the UK.

I had given up chocolate after a scare at the dentist - a threatened filling! But I've been craving it again this week which I think is because I'm low in iron. I'm really focusing on iron rich foods so hopefully that will sort things out and I can ditch the chocolate again. I hadn't realised that some supplements such as magnesium and zinc interfere with iron absorption so I'm taking my vitamins at a different time of day to my main meal. I've got cavalo nero to have with roast lamb tomorrow so that combination should have a fair amount of iron in. Any tips for cooking the cavalo nero? DH did some kind of garlic dressing last time and it was inedible.

What a coincidence, I am just back from Tesco with a selection of high cocoa % chocolate including montezuma 100%. I plan to make Stuntnun’s chocolate mouse recipe. DH and I have had a tiny taste of the montezuma each and DH pulled a face. I quite liked it. But not enough to have a lot. DH could have a bar of dairy milk on his desk all week and just have a square every few days. I on the other had would eat it all in seconds. So I do t buy it any more.

DD coming today as she has to stay here when attending practical part of her Uni course. Haven’t seen her since before Christmas so making a special meal.

Mains from Otelenghi Book Flavour.
Celeriac Steaks with café de Paris sauce and iceberg wedges with aubergine cream. Followed by amazing chocolate mouse, raspberries and cream.

Well done with sticking with the running @BIWI despite not enjoying it.

@prettybird I really like today’s earrings and and very much enjoying each instalment of the earring memoir.

@RagzReturnsRebooted that sounds truly awful. Is this a one off or is it like this every month?

My March challenge has resulted in a pile with 12 items in it so a day behind and several unearthed items that I had completely forgotten which are still to be worn or discarded. I am wearing a top today that may not be a keeper. There is so much black in my wardrobe. Some hardly worn bras that are too big are all going to be posted to a bra recycling charity.

Today’s top not sure if it’s a keeper. This stupid indecision is why I have far too much stuff. Quite like it. Don’t love it. Will see what DD says.