Week 2 - Leaving Lockdown Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Sunday night here is games night, so better that I start the thread now, before I forget as I've gone to bed so late!

I truly hope that this link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness works!

Apologies if it doesn't, but hopefully someone will come and post a working one if it doesn't!

I love week 2, as for those who haven't low carbed before the results are often spectacularly incredible!

But even for those of us who are more used to low carbing, hopefully this first week has seen you make a good start.

It's looking like some warmer weather is heading our way, which always makes things seem more positive - but also focuses our minds on things like skimpier clothing, so hopefully will help to keep us toeing the line!

I hope the scales have rewarded your hard work, and here's to a good week ahead

@Jellycatspyjamas

Ibuprofen definitely makes heavy periods more manageable both in terms of heaviness and pain. I too usually start taking it a day or two beforehand though I’m hoping HRT means things will be lighter and less painful. I also found this WOE helped hugely in stabilising my hormones more generally so I was less moody and tearful.

Another one here who cannot believe this revelation- I will be giving this a try !

We had the fabled chicken Alfredo tonight too. Absolutely delicious- not sure who to credit with sharing it on here first but thank you.

Oh how I wish that period pants had been in existence while I was still menstruating. I also wish I knew that I'd not reach menopause until I was 56, in which case I would have taken up the offer of a hysterectomy at 37. In the last couple of years (before the end) I'd stream ibuprofen and paracetamol to the max (and occasionally more) for 4/5 days. Still the pain was so intense that I'd projectile vomit. Once I got on a plane with 'period pain' turned out to be acute appendicitis (emergency landing and ambulance to hospital). Docs couldn't believe that I thought that level of pain was 'normal'. Agree with @nowlook if this was menz...

@Random789 I like a wee cheese and ham sandwich: a slice of buttered cheese, a slice of ham, slices of cucumber, another slice of ham, another slice of buttered cheese. Cut into quarters. The most fulfilling 'sandwich' ever.

@OnceUponAMidnightBeery I think 'grit' is really good for you - the little bit of compost on a mushroom, the small amount of soil on a carrot.. Full of stuff that helps our immune system you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die

@FinallyHere a GP friend of mine once said 'it's OK to feel a bit hungry, it's a sign that your body is working normally. It's not a sign that you need a BigMac and a McFlurry'

I'm with @Makegoodchoices on the chicken alfredo not quite the exquisite dinner I was anticipating.
I think there was quite a bit of 'operator error'. So I cooked my 'spinach' separately because it was ruby chard and I didn't want the whole thing to turn a bit pink... It was all looking OK until I added the parmesan, at which point the sauce split. And it was under-seasoned.

It tasted great, and I added some of the 'split' oil back in, but it was quite a lot of effort for a 'not-quite-right' dinner. Apologies to the 'Freddy' lovers.

Is there a slow cooker version of the same?

@Angliski it is great that people post their daily menus, I find it inspires me to cerate new dishes. However, I sometimes read listings and think that there are not enough veg, or there's not enough fat, or that overall there is just not enough food.

I rarely think that people are eating too much.

What you are eating sounds just perfect. Do you feel well? Do you feel satisfied and satiated? Then great.

Maybe by week 7 or 8 of bootcamp if your weightloss has stalled then post your menus, limit your dairy, reduce your portion size. But for now, just believe in the process, and keep on doing what you are doing.

@venusandmars like the 'ok to be hungry'.

It's such an unaccustomed feeling.

I've done a few boot camps now and like the sense initially of having no limit on what I can eat, no sense of deprivation. I also love how once limiting grain based carbs, that dreadful urge to eat evaporates and I find that eating three times a day becomes a bit of a chore and 16:8 feels entirely natural.

It's all good. 😀

I'm hanging in.
to all who are poorly/stressed. Well done for hanging in as best you can. Lovely garden pictures& pretty impressive brows. Happily I'm beyond needing period advice, but ghastly pain memories too.
When I had DS1, I asked the MW, 'is this it? Am I in labour?' because it was like period pain. I think the pain is your uterus contracting. Anyway, I reckon my uterus was the equivalent of an Olympic weight lifter, because baby popped out fine. So that was my upside to awful period pain.
I can't keep reading the recipes, but might give the Alfredo a go.

Today,
B. Protein bar, out cycling. 1g carb.
Lunch. 3 egg omelette with spinach & feta. Tomato soup. (I was starving !)
D. Leftovers roast chicken, green veg, coleslaw, olive oil.
2L water drank.

Morning all, just checking in to post my food for yesterday:

L: omelette made with salami and FLGV with grated cheese
D: shepherds pie topped with leek and celeriac mash

I'm actually leaving the house for work today for the first time in over a year! Off to refresh my office first aid qualification IN PERSON and I'm beyond excited about the chance to sit in a room full of strangers for 2 days

Oh no, I’ve woke up with a stuffy and runny nose. Each nostril the opposite to the other, just to really cheer me up. Can’t taste anything.
It’s annoying, I look forward to food so much these days, it feels a bit meh when you can’t taste any sodding thing feels like a waste.

Just popping on (a bit belatedly) to comment on a couple of questions I've seen.
Someone asked (ages ago) if anyone had tried the Seriously Low Carb porridge, I have and I wouldn't recommend it, very odd texture and not really porridge like, it's first ingredient is Chia seeds (in order to thicken it I guess) then desiccated coconut (flaxseed, erythritol and oat fibre) so even after cooking has an odd crunchy texture. Maybe others like it but its not for me. But I use a tablespoon as a topper for yogurt (when on BC lite) which is nice, but wouldn't buy again. There's another bootcamper that has perfected her own recipe I think, so I'd be more inclined to try that next time.
Someone else asked about alternative things to do with Smoked mackerel - Nigel slater does a potato dauphinois with flakes of smoked mackerel tucked in it, I've made that using celeriac, and I've also done it using the swede and cabbage bake someone else posted here, both options make a really tasty one dish meal.

I was another that tried the Diet doctor 5 ingredient chocolate cake - and fur the first time ever had to throw a cake away.

Love how busy the thread is, thanks to everyone for all the inspiration and recipe ideas, I have too many to try - I want to commit to trying one new recipe a week.

@FinallyHere, I really like the advice to just 'feel the desire to eat'. It was good to have that urge and to see it eventually subside. A lifetime of panic in relation to appetite makes me want to banish it but as they say in mindfulness teaching, it is good just to sit with it, welcome it in, notice it and move on.
I'm guessing that gets easier the more times you do it. Exposure reduces the fear -- like when a CBT therapist treats arachnophobia by creating controlled and very gradually more challenging encounters with a spider.

@venusandmars, the cheese and ham 'sandwich sounds great. Might try it -- or I suppose I could go for a ham and cheese sandwich, ie two slices of buttered ham with cheese in the middle.

I'm really worried about posting too much, especially into a group of people who know each other well. But it is really good to get certain things down. It helps me to notice them and make use of them. So one other bit of brain dump: I love it how, once you stop overeating and snacking, your body responds differently to a meal. At best, I have this wonderful creeping feeling of wellbeing and restfulness and energy after eating, just like the sensation you get after drinking the first coffee of the day.
I wonder if, historically, that is part of the attraction of coffee. In situations where food was moderately scarce the little lift it gave hungry people was one that they recognised as being similar to the lift provided by eating? We often don't see that now because our bodies never reach the point when we can experience that lift from eating.

Good morning everyone.
Hugely busy day for me yesterday, had to work right through dinner so didn't get to eat until 8pm, by which time I was almost too tired to eat. Then DP sat in bed eating lemon cheesecake- I tried a bit but it just tasted of chemicals, I wasn't missing much. It did make me wonder if a cheesecake might be possible to make low carb, although I'm really not a fan of artificial sweeteners at all.
In good news I was offered the job I interviewed for on Tuesday- better terms and pay, so I was thrilled about that. I'm just a little (very) scared about handing in my notice: they've lost so many nurses (because they're SHIT), it's going to be really difficult for them.
Day off and a very exciting trip to IKEA today. Not quite sure what I'll get for lunch so will have a big breakfast just in case.
Had a sneaky weigh in this morning and appear to have lost another 5lb, I'm not sure I believe this, but we will see on Monday!

Morning everyone.
Sorry to everyone who has terrible periods. I get very angry about how women's problems are given less priority by the medical profession. I am lucky that I have pretty much no period pain, but hearing others experiences is saddening.

@FusionChefGeoff I have similar issues to you around timings of food fitting in with family life and school days. I try eating only when hungry but then I am out of sink with everyone! I do kind of find after a while if I eat at the alloted times (breakfast tonly if hungry, lunch would be 12.30 at weekend, 1 at work, dinner about 6pm) my hunger does kind of regulate. I do sometimes eat in the evening if I am hungry, and if I do that I am less likely to have breakfast so almost like that's my third meal.

Plan for today
B skip. But have some boiled eggs in case as I am swimming at lunch time so want a snack available
Late lunch probably courgetti and tuna again as I am really enjoying that
Dinner tofu stir fry and Greek yog.

Have a good day everyone.

@Random789 don’t worry about posting too much. I am really enjoying your thoughts. I am also learning a different mindset in relation to food and your posts are chiming with me and helping me reassess my attitude. Like having to keep remembering that depriving myself is not a good thing.

B black coffee
L manchego avacado and big salad, Greek yoghurt
D celeriac steak with café de Paris sauce and flgv

I'm really worried about posting too much, especially into a group of people who know each other well.

I can understand that @Random789, I don’t find the group cliquey but there are folk who are boot camp stalwarts who are well known and know others which can be tricky to navigate because it feels like I’m inserting myself into an ongoing conversation, if that makes sense?

I remind myself that at one point no one knew anyone, and if I don’t post no one will know me either. The support on the thread is such an integral part of boot camp, and boot camp has helped me so much - it’s literally the only way I’ve lost and kept weight off - it feels important to try and be visible.

If it’s helpful, I enjoy reading your posts and see you as an important person on this boot camp because you’re sometimes asking things I’m not sure of or you help clarify my thinking.

I’ve noticed the same thing about feeling like eating - instead of rushing to eat something I can sit with the feeling and if it doesn’t pass I know I can have something, but it often does pass. Not reaching for a sugary hit of something is a discipline at times but that’s ok, I’m teaching my body to respond differently to food.

Busy work day today, food will be

B. Greek yoghurt
L. The watercress soup I made yesterday (which was bloody lovely - had to stop DH taking it for his lunch today)
D. Pork in some kind of creamy sauce, with kale and tender stem broccoli

I’m finding that planning my meals for the day and writing down is helpful, even if it doesn’t work out the way I planned, the intention is there from the start to avoid carbs which makes it easier to follow through.

**I’m finding that planning my meals for the day and writing down is helpful, even if it doesn’t work out the way I planned, the intention is there from the start to avoid carbs which makes it easier to follow through.

So true. And it encourages planning at the start of the day.

Oh, @Random789, and anyone else who feels the same way - don't!

Nobody 'inserts themselves' into an ongoing conversation - they are part of that conversation!

Because there are lots of us on the thread, the conversation does tend to split into different directions, so you can get multiple conversations going on - I find that a little harder to navigate, since I never know if I'm about to post just after someone's big reveal. Making myself look a right tit.

So I just don't worry about it, and nor should any of you

Ah yes, the days of period pain, thankfully behind me. Recall the time my husband found me near-insensible and going into shock on the bathroom floor - cue gas and flashy lights to the hospital. And a bunch of doctors insisting I couldn't possibly have thought it was 'just' period pain.

B: an Everest of coffee
L: more fantasia salad
D: not sure, fancy some sort of cheesy leeky mushroomy combination though

And all the water, natch.

Someone had asked how to eat eggs with butter. I have this most mornings. I boil the kettle. Put hot water in a pot and pop in the eggs. Set timer for 7 minutes. I then put some water in a small cup to heat it up. After drying the cup I put a large knob of butter in it. Peel the hot eggs and then mash in the butter with salt and pepper. If I don’t have time I just scramble them in butter but I still put them in a warm cup so they don’t get cold. Just call me Nigella 😂

Thanks, everyone, for being welcoming and reassuring about me posting. Athelstane, yes, I have that worry too, about posting in the middle of someone's big reveal, or worse their requests for support in relation to things that adre difficulet and distressing for them.

I also worry about cross-posting with someone who has kindly offered me tips and support -- so that I fail to thank them. As if my posts had to be some great big Oscars acceptance speech, tearfully acknowledging everyone who has got me where I am today. If you offer any remarks directed to me and I don't respond properly, please take it as read that I appreciate them very much.

Yesterday:
Breakfast: egg cup
Lunch: tuna Mayo sandwich on seriously low carb roll
Dinner: broiled chicken breast skin on, broccoli
Snack: mozzarella cheese balls and 4 grapes! I started eating them without even thinking!

@OnceUponAMidnightBeery @venusandmarsappreciate your feedback. Just want to see the number go down! When I did fast 800 or even 1200 calls low carb it moved often. This woe is new and has yet to deliver for me, so I am nervous! Last week was the start of my cycle though, so that could be a factor.

I do feel sated and energised. I’m very grateful not to be in the grip of a major carb addiction. I used to find I could eat slice after slice of toast. Even as a very small kid, one of my first memories is getting constipation from eating too much white rice. I am a true Cathy Twat Addict.

I’ve a secret to share.... I’m on day 1 of new fertility treatment cycle. I had my son after five years of hell and we are trying again. We cannot try naturally at all ( long story) so this is ‘our chance’. Most other folk have a chance every month, we have one about twice a year. By the end of boot camp, we will have a result, either way. It’s a big journey for me, I’m emotional and frightened, but as I’m on the bus with you all, I’m going to whisper it on your ear.

Whisper.... I’m having an embryo transferred in a few weeks, it might become a person. Please keep your fingers crossed for me xxx

I love your messages @Random789 you always make me smile with your enthusiasm, positivity and honesty - I'd love to meet you . As someone else said, the questions are so important for everyone to read and learn so please stay exactly as you are!!!!

@Bestbees thank you - I did eat last night and it was very late so I think I might need to try just eating a very small amount even if I'm not hungry (I know that goes against the grain a bit) but then I should be OK.

The bigger problem was the psychological issue of feeling bored / deprived because I potentially wasn't going to cook and eat food!! I was looking forward to the meal so much, my greed / boredom drove me to eat it regardless of my actual hunger.

That will need much more work.

@BIWI your frittata recipe / inspiration was ace. I added a small amount of chorizo and a grate of Parmesan. Have 1/2 left for today / another dinner too woo hoo.

Right - today should be a good day as I'm completely in charge of my time, shopping yesterday, kids here so routine back

L: chicken, bacon, avo salad with hm Caesar dressing
D: chicken and steak fajitas on shredded lettuce with all the sides

Worked out how to use my watch to track water - already at 1100ml (and 2 cups of tea but am trying to leave them out of overall count)

That is supremely exciting, Angliski! Keeping everything crossed for you 🤞

Oh so much to catch up on!

Cathy Twat and I had a lovely day yesterday. Suffice to day, I will be embracing Pam Choi for the next few days.

In other exciting news, I have my second jab today

Will read all posts and report back shortly ...

@Angliski🤞