Low Carb Bootcamp - our final weigh in (but ongoing chat thread)

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Another wet and dreary day. What happened to summer?!

Anyway, for its final outing, here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

It's not the end, of course - and I know many of you are keen to keep going until whenever the next Bootcamp starts. So post here for all the usual chat, banter, recipes, etc.

Various versions of shakshuka or flamenco eggs is a favourite here. Sometimes if I want to lower the carb average I add extra things like aubergine or mushrooms to mine and DH gets parboiled diced potatoes in his if we are extra hungry. Sometimes I put cheese on top too.

Frittata is another option - whatever veg you want, fried in a large sauté/frying pan, with cheese and then 6 beaten eggs added.

@BIWI love those recipes was pouring cheese sauce over veg but didn't put in oven must do that for next shopping day list.
Still doing mostly low carb and drinking loads of water but happy where I am so not as bothered if I have a carrot or apple or toast once a week.

Drove dd to a job interview and stopped off at a deli for lunch after. They had a delicious potato free frittata and some feta stuffed olives. I have almost now appetite. I'm not drinking enough water so having a stern word with myself today and have drunk almost 2l so far

*no

Because our routine has been mucked up with the ongoing bathroom work, I've been struggling to stay in the "zone" I will get back to it though

Tonight I'm making the courgette, feta and mint fritters using courgettes and mint from the garden Will probably have them with some fried eggs.

Current state of the bathroom: plasterboard all up, dookets created and ready for the plasterer - who unfortunately can't make it until Saturday. Tiler coming on Monday, then it's up to us to paint it and then they'll finish off fitting the appliances. I've chosen the navy: a Crown one which I'm going to get colour batched (to a bathroom blend) at a Johnston Paint Center.

Oooh everyone's in a chatty mood today!

I try to have massive salads at lunch which helps my veg consumption then at least 2 different veg at dinner.

A good habit is to make massive trays of things when you do them eg cauli cheese, swede bake, celeriac bake, red cabbage etc then freeze individual portions so it's really easy to add to low effort meals eg sausages and veg, fried chicken breast and veg etc.

Or a fry up style mix of whatever I've got out of cabbage, mushrooms, leeks, peppers, courgettes, aubergine with basil oil, garlic and a good shaving of Parmesan on top is very nice and different every time usually. So tasty and quick to serve with pretty much anything.

My exciting news is that my Erythritol has arrived so I've made a cake!!!!! The cake itself definitely needs work (more Erithyritol, less salt, less cocoa, remember the vanilla essence this time!) but @StuntNun oh my oh my oh my the icing was DIVINE!!!!

DH has a huge sweet tooth and even he was impressed - said it could be sold as an artisan high quality ganache!!

It was very filling which is good as presumably it's low carb compared to normal cake but off the chart compares to a bowl of Greek yoghurt?!

@BIWI can you expand on what Erythritol actually is and how it's good? The packet states 100% carbs but that they're inactive?! What does that mean?!

Good article here @FusionChefGeoff

Beware the digestive issues.

And remember, it's still

a) an artificial sweetener

and

b) we're trying to reduce the amount of sweet stuff we eat!

I tried erythritol and truvia and thought both were disgusting sadly. I'd love a mouthful of something sweet

@BIWI don't panic - this is not going to be an everyday thing but it was DS birthday and I've been surrounded by masses of chocolate cake since Thursday so this was by far the lesser of the two evils

I've also been rumbling along with various consultants and investigations for my bloating issues. Most recent appointment they've suggested that slow transit could be an issue so have recommended that I add psyllium husks everyday which are a key ingredient in the Keto rolls I like - so that's a bonus I'll make a big batch tomorrow!

Are psyllium husks a laxative? Because I'm a bit fed up with the constipation side of things! Everything seems rather erm sluggish

Hi, will catch up properly later sorry ive been missing. I've had a dental abscess and been quite poorly, been totally off plan but managed to maintain so need to get back on it.

They're a gentle laxative @Bryonyshcmyony or lactulose is another option to gently treat constipation.

I can't tolerate artificial sweeteners at all, they give me a stomach ache. I can cope with sugar okay though so I'd rather have a tiny piece of sugar-sweetened cake than a big piece of artificially-sweetened cake when it's one of my kids' birthdays.

@Bryonyshcmyony

Are psyllium husks a laxative? Because I'm a bit fed up with the constipation side of things! Everything seems rather erm sluggish

This is one of the reasons why including a lot of veg/salad in your diet is so important - along with the water.

Ouch, ouch, ouch @ditavonteesed! Hope you're better soon.

OK I'm going to try and eat a bit more today and drink 3l of water
1 litre down 2 to go
Just had a low carb roll lightly toasted with thick butter, bit of Marmite and cheese.
Lunch will be a tuna salad with all the salad veg
Dinner don't know yet

Make sure it has plenty of veg!

Also, another thing that will help if you're a bit bunged up is making sure you're eating plenty of fat. So make sure you have an oily dressing on your salad and also bung some mayo in with your tuna.

I have run out of mayo

Make your own? It's easy!

Recipe here

Just don't use extra virgin olive oil as that makes it too bitter - a flavourless oil like groundnut would be better.

I had a really nice dinner
2 x portobello mushrooms roasted with garlic, bacon, courgettes, cherry tomatoes LOADS of olive oil then a slice of butter and loads of grated cheese on the top. God it was good.

I try to have at least 2-3 veg with each meal (unless I'm having yog, berries and nuts for breakfast which is my only 'sweet' meal really) today I had chorizo, peppers, leeks, mushrooms and spinach fried with a duck egg and slow roasted tomatoes for breakfast. Lunch was half a bag of salad leaves, cucumber, gherkins, tuna, black olives, dressing and mayo. Dinner was roasted salmon and celeriac with runner beans and fried cavolo Nero and a seriously good salsa verde made with a bag of rocket and a bunch of parsley which both were on their way out but revived. I had a dollop of yogurt and raspberries after too.

I've not planned enough recently and had a few too many carby off pistes so I'm trying to plan ahead a bit more as altho I haven't got on the scales my derriere made it's increased presence know when I glanced in the mirror earlier.

Kids have got inset day so were at the NHM Friday. Then Saturday I have a princess picnic lunch with DD and a disco picnic concert in the evening with my parents. So that's 3 picnic meals I need to plan for. I was thinking of some almond cheese scones mentioned upthread (I've not tried them before) and maybe some chocolate muffin/lemon drizzle type treats as I will be the only one not having pudding/cake and that's when I think 'ah fuckit I'm at maintenance' despite having spent all day eating LC and not even having a sweet tooth.

Meeting an old friend for lunch today at a local gardens - hoping there is going to be something I can eat. Their food is usually along the cream teas and sandwiches vline although they used to do a very good cawl.

Let's just say I didn't manage to stop eating after I got back from Mum's on 14th June.

___

There's my line drawn :) Two days off the white stuff now and 2lbs dropped already. Another 4 to go before I'm back to the weight I was before I went to see Mum. Off down there again the second week of August and this time it is not going to get treated like a holiday.

Hi everyone!
Help, I'm in a chocolate hole. Again!

Even though it makes me feel sick?
I am reading the why we eat too much book and also brain over binge book.